All-State Senior Sightreading Guidelines

Objective – Sightreading examples should be challenging enough to separate the top few players from those who play only scales and solos at a high level of proficiency.
1. Range – is determined by the range required in the chromatic scale.
2. Key signatures – are chosen from the required major scales but may reflect the minor mode.
3. Accidentals – will be used, possibly more than once in a measure.
4. Tempo marking – to be chosen from the terms list.
5. Time Signature – one example primarily in simple (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, or Cut time) meter and one example primarily in compound (3/8, 6/8, or 9/8 – dotted quarter pulse) meter. Time signatures may change within a given example and measures of asymmetric meter (5/4, 5/8 or 7/8) may also be used.
6. Rhythm patterns – The rhythms indicated below may be used in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, or 5/4 time and may be used in any combination. Rests may be chosen from whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, eighth rest and sixteenth rest and may be used in any combination with other rests or notes.
SRNotes9.gif (4639 bytes)
Sixteenth triplets and Thirty-second notes found in percussion parts only.
7. Rhythm patterns – The rhythms indicated below will be used in Cut time and may be used in any combination.  Rests may be chosen from whole rest, half rest, quarter rest and eighth rest and may be used in any combination with other rests or notes.
SRNotes10.gif (3647 bytes)
Eighth note  triplets and Sixteenth notes found in percussion parts only.
8.  Rhythm patterns – The rhythms indicated below will be used in 3/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, and 9/8  time and may be used in any combination.  Rests may be chosen from, dotted quarter rest, quarter rest, dotted eighth rest, eighth rest and sixteenth rest and may be used in any combination with other rests or notes.
SRNotes11.gif (3861 bytes)
Sixteenth triplets and Thirty-second notes found in percussion parts only.
9. Length – Examples primarily in 2/4, 3/8 and Cut time will be 16 measures long. Examples primarily in 3/4, 4/4, and 9/8 will be 8 measures long. Examples primarily in 6/8 time will be 12 measures long. Some examples may contain pick-up notes.
10. Slurs and ties may be used in any combination.
11. Dynamics may include  ff,  f , mf, mp, p,cresc.gif (82 bytes) and decresc.gif (83 bytes).
12. Other musical notation and terms such as accents, ritard, accelerando, style markings, breath marks, etc. may be used.

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