How, and how long does it take to learn sight singing by yourself?

Question

I have been playing violin for about 6 years now, and I can read music for it pretty easily. The thing is, I attribute that to me having the muscle memory related to positions on the violin, as I don't actually understand the intervals themselves.

I have also been singing in several choirs in the last year, and this new choir I just joined accepted me even though I can't sight sing, because they deemed it was good enough that I could read the bass line rhythmically and that I could replicate the notes of my fellow basses on the fly.

However, I don't feel like it's enough. I feel like I am being a drag on the progression of the choir because I can't just grab the music sheet and know what to do right away. I was trying to figure out how to sight sing, and I was wondering if anyone had any hints on how to do it, and how long it should take, considering the following:

1. I don't play the piano, which makes it harder for me to replicate bass lines easily. (I could, of course, play on the violin but transposing is something I find exceptionally hard, specially across clefs.)

2. My musical theory knowledge is not very developed. I understand the sheer basics needed to play the violin at a recreational level.

3. I don't have a music teacher right now. I.e. I would be learning to do it by myself.

Thanks

Answer 1

Try out the methode READING BY WRITNG

In your case with basic knowledge this will mean:

Play and sing the scale of the song you want to practice and notate it on a sheet (staff and clef)

always using the absolute and the relative note-names. Sing all kind of variations of intervalls of the scale:

1. doredomidofadosodoladotidodo (the scale up and back tobthe root)

2. domi refa miso fala soti lado tire do

3. etc. the scale in fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, octaves ...

4. sing the triads and tetrads

(don’t forget to notate these exercises - later you can jump this step)

This will take you a few minutes but you can practice it mentally the whole day where ever you are and what ever you’re doing. You have to get addicted of this, it has to be burnt in your brain, your inner ear.

1. Listen to the song you have to learn
2. Play along your voice (violon)
3. Sing your part with text (only a few bars 4 or 8
4. Sing the same part just by note-names (rel. and abs.) and use the hand-signs
5. Control your singing by accompaning with the violon
6. Try to play and sing a few bars by heart, imagine the sheet music with closed eyes and with the hand-signs.
7. Notate this short phrases and compare your result with the original.

If there are too more than 3 mistakes try a shorter phrase.

You will see that you won’t have to write down the whole song, you wiil discover the benefit of this methode for the training of your inner ear, your solfege training, sight-reading and instrument playing.

One basic conditions I haven’t developed here is the knowledge of the note-lengths, as I assumed this was not your problem.

Answer 2

This sounds more of a confidence issue than a musical problem to me! How do you KNOW you're jumping to the right note on the violin, particularly when there's a change of position? I think you're 'hearing' the note more than you admit.

But we all have room for improvement! Use the violin. If you find it hard to read bass clef directly, get some manuscript paper and transpose some of the choir music into violin range. Sing as you play. It won't hurt your bass clef reading to be able to sing from treble clef as well - pianists do it all the time!