Begin by identifying the melody to audiate in silence, and then establish a consistent reading tempo. Once these are set, establish tonality by playing a few chords at the piano or “singing-into” the key (e.g. "Sol La Sol Fa Mi Re Ti Do"). Then read the selected line by audiating in silence while trying to vividly imagine the instrument or vocal timbre you are audiating. Do this without singing out loud or using an instrument to play the notes for you. It is often more beneficial for me to read one line from one rehearsal marking to the next instead of trying to read the entire piece in one go. When you get lost, don’t stop. Instead, try to improvise until you get to a familiar section of the music, and then go back and check your improvisation, it is probably closer than you think!

Once you have audiated one line, move to the next, eventually you will start to hear the other lines in the background while audiating a single line, which begins to reveal the composite of these multiple parts. During this step, you will develop a strong sense of tonal and rhythmic syntax for the piece, which will make your improvisation/guessing more accurate when reading new lines.

In instances where my audiation is unable to support reading individual lines at a slow tempo, I might jump to step 3 with the intention of returning to this step once I can sense that my audiation is starting to engage. In some instances (e.g. with music that is more experimental or atonal) it might be more practical to just listen to a recording. All of these should be acknowledged as shortcuts, the true discovery will happen when you are silently studying and audiating. Use these tools to jumpstart your audiation only when it is needed, and repeat this step daily or as frequently as your schedule will permit. 

Application:

Use the following steps with the excerpt below.

• Sing into the key and select a reading tempo

• Select a line to read

• Try to hear the line vividly in your head at your reading tempo

• Select another line, repeat step 3 until you have read all lines

• OPTIONAL: Check your accuracy by listening to a recording (not recommended for pieces you are studying for performance)

• Repeat this process as frequently as possible until you find yourself audiating the score while you are not actively studying

After audiating each line in silence, identify one line to sing while playing another at the piano. Pay careful attention to the way the two lines interact harmonically, perhaps sustaining some notes to check your intonation. Playing multiple lines while singing another is a helpful skill for hearing parts within the context of full chords, but will require practice for those with less piano experience. I often reduce chords to root position while singing at the piano.

Singing along with a recording of yourself is perhaps equally valuable to performing at the piano. The voice memo app on your phone makes this very simple, and many apps will allow you to record yourself singing multiple parts at once.

Application:

Use the following steps with the excerpt below.

• Sing into the key and select a reading tempo (refer to sequence in Silent Study Step 2)

• Select a line to sing (violin 1) and a line to play (violin 2) from mm. 1-8

• Complete the Silent Study (Step 2) process with both lines if you have not already done so

• Perform one line at the piano while singing another, allow your body to move expressively with flow to the music as if you were performing on your primary instrument/voice

• Switch lines, repeat this process until you can audiate both lines vividly

• OPTIONAL: Check your accuracy by listening to a recording (not recommended for pieces you are studying for performance)

At this step, we continue to identify form, harmonic motion, and thematic material. It is best to avoid beginning the study process with a full Roman-numeral harmonic analysis, because reading the music horizontally often reveals the deeper structure of the music much faster than looking for cadences and harmonic motion. In fact, it is often not necessary to identify every chord in a piece; an understanding of how the formal structure corresponds with shifts in harmony is often enough for developing a rich aural image of the piece. 

Application:

Use the following steps with the excerpt below.

• Identify the key center and starting chord, analyze others as needed (cadences are suggested at a minimum)

• If you have not already done so, mark your phrases and form using whatever system works best for you

• Label key theme areas (e.g. "A section, B section" or "Theme 1, Theme 2, Transition, Development" etc.)

• Try to do this with your audiation first, then check with a recording if necessary.

*The full score cannot be provided here as fair use only allows sharing of 10% or less of a full work for study purposes. A complete score can be purchased through Ficks Music. 

Experiment with your aural image of the piece by trying to imagine all possible interpretations for key phrases or lines. For instance, “What if the balance in this section was a little more horn dominant?” Or “What if the tempo relaxed here into the cadence?” You might also experiment with how you could accomplish each of these texturally, as it might prove useful in rehearsal. This stage isn’t about being correct, but it is about finding possible options for how the music might “go” through thoughtful play. This is much more difficult to accomplish if you have taken the shortcuts mentioned in stage 2 without substantial silent reading practice.

Much of this step happens away from the score for me; if I have developed a vivid enough aural image of the piece from steps 2-3, I generally find myself audiating through the piece while I am doing mindless tasks like washing the dishes, walking the dog, driving, etc. Sometimes my memory of the piece is incorrect and I will find myself missing a meter change or incorrectly remembering the contour of a phrase. When I find that I am having consistent mental slips in a particular section, that section becomes the new focus for my silent study. The fluency that results from this practice will also assist with designing the skill learning sequence activities that will be discussed below.

Application:

Use the following steps with the excerpt below.

• Sing into the key

• Pick one line and try to hear it vividly in your head at your reading tempo

• As you read, imagine all of the possible ways that a performer might interpret it. (e.g. should m. 1 move quickly through b. 1-2 and slow down through b. 3-4, or should it accelerate through to b. 2 of m. 2? How soft should the first note begin (and what would that look like for a violinist)?​​

• Move expressively as if you are performing the line, you don't need to bow or move your hands, but sometimes it helps to try

• Think from a conductor's perspective - what gesture might elicit the sound that you imagine the performers creating? How might a performer respond to the gesture you are trying?

• Repeat this process indefinitely, and engage students in it during rehearsals

• Once you have reached this point in the study process, avoid listening to recordings until at least the first rehearsal