5 Things You Didn’t Know About Teaching Sight-Singing

For more than two decades, I’ve been successfully teaching students in grades 7–12 how to sight-sing. In my program, everyone learns to sight-sing. No exceptions. And guess what? It works. I’ve even been using the same approach with my fourth-grade daughter (here’s a video of her practicing).

Over the years, I’ve noticed that many choral directors struggle with teaching sight-singing—not because they aren’t talented teachers, but because they’re missing key insights that make the process simpler, more effective, and way less frustrating.

So here are five things most choral directors don’t know about teaching sight-singing—but should!

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1. Sight-Singing is Not One Skill—It’s Three

Many directors treat sight-singing as a singular skill, but in reality, it consists of three separate components:

• Decoding music notation (identifying and labeling pitches)
• Labeling and performing rhythms
• Ear-training (audiation and pitch accuracy)

If you’re expecting students to sight-sing fluently without developing each of these skills individually, you’re setting them up for frustration. Instead, treat each skill as a building block. Work on them separately before combining them.

2. You Can Develop Sight-Singing Skills Two at a Time

Once students have a foundation in all three skills, they don’t need to practice everything together all the time. In fact, breaking things down into pairs can be even more effective:

• Label the pitches, then sing them without rhythm.
• Label the pitches, then speak them in rhythm (instead of singing).

By isolating specific elements, students gain confidence before attempting the full process.

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3. The Best Way to Sight-Sing is to NOT Prepare

Yes, you read that right. Don’t let students prepare—just have them do it.

In many cases, preparation is a complete waste of time because most beginning students don’t yet have strong audiation skills. Instead of mentally preparing, they need to get used to the act of sight-singing itself. The more they do it, the faster they’ll improve.

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4. Sight Reading Factory is a Game-Changer for Self-Assessment

If you’re not using Sight Reading Factory, you’re missing out on an invaluable tool.

It allows students to:
✅ Self-assess their performance
✅ Receive an automatic score
✅ Listen back to hear their mistakes
✅ Identify incorrect pitches and rhythms

This kind of instant feedback accelerates growth because students can immediately see and hear what needs improvement.

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5. You Don’t Need a Method Book to Teach Sight-Singing

Instead of relying on a traditional method book, focus on developing the three separate skills (I provide rubrics for each of them on my website). Then, use Sight Reading Factory’s levels to guide progression.

Here’s how to structure sight-singing development effectively:

• Start with one level at a time.
• If students get stuck between two levels, move back and forth between them.
• Have students sight-sing individually—they’ll improve exponentially faster than in a group setting.

I also recommend assigning weekly sight-singing homework (I’ve written an entire blog post on how to do this in a way that’s simple for you and incredibly beneficial for your students).

Final Thoughts

Yes, I have a partnership with Sight Reading Factory, which means if you use my checkout code: ChoralClarity, you’ll save 10%, and I’ll make a few bucks. But that’s not why I’m recommending it.

I believe in this program because I’ve seen firsthand how it transforms choirs. If you follow the simple steps I’ve outlined here, your students will become strong sight-singers.

Want more guidance? Check out my online course: “How to Teach Useful Music Literacy in Your Choir“ or explore my mentorship program, where I personally guide you every step of the way.

Sight-singing doesn’t have to be complicated. Break it down, build it up, and watch your students thrive.