1) Definitely. And I'm not stating that everyone should have the goal of picking up any piece of sheet music with the intent to play it without mistakes, but that was how I was trained.Ziggy587 wrote:
1) Sight reading can come later, though. You have to be able to actually play the part if you're hoping to sight read it, after all. Sight reading is a completely different area of playing an instrument. If you ever want to sight read a piece, and do it well, you would have had to already mastered that level of playing first.
2) When I was going through school...you were rated on two things separately. How well you were able to play an approved piece of music (that you got to practice for weeks) and how well you could sight read a piece.
3) And now I have Money stuck in my head.
And it's not like my teacher was behind me with a whip lashing me every and each time I missed a note..It was always my personal goal to be able to play pieces with just a glance.
And I'm okay at best. I'm big into music and see musicians very frequently who play forty minute compositions without sheet music. The music is engrained to their very brain. I can barely play twenty minutes of Gershwin without needing notes.
2) That's exactly how I was judged at a state level as well. Both tests were judged blindly, by three judges: one piece that was practiced, or "signature", and one piece that was to be played on sight. Still think favoritism could have been a factored as the judges knew your name.
3) Great song. Fun to play too!

