Sight Reading Factory’s Auto-Assessment Tool – HERE’S THE TRICK…

Before I discovered Sight Reading Factory (SRF), I was using SmartMusic for sight-singing homework. I liked it because it auto-graded assignments, which saved me a boatload of time. However, as I gained more experience, I realized that Smart Music’s auto-grading feature was creating more hassle for the students than convenience for my grading process. That’s when I made the switch to SRF.

For many years, SRF didn’t have an auto-grading feature. Now that they finally introduced it, it will likely become a tremendous help, but it’s not without its flaws. The issues I had with SmartMusic’s (now called Make Music Cloud) grading persisted, even with SRF’s improvements. This doesn’t mean the auto-grading feature is bad—it has its merits—but it also comes with its own challenges.

The Perks of Auto-Grading

There’s no denying that auto-grading tools can be a game changer:

  • Students can track their progress. They see immediate feedback on their performances, which encourages them to understand and work on their weaknesses.
  • Students can submit when they’re happy. They get to decide when they’ve done their best and are ready to submit.
  • Time-saving for teachers. We don’t need to sit through dozens (or hundreds) of recordings to grade them all manually.

Sounds perfect, right? But as with any technology, there are still a few wrinkles to iron out. That’s why I’ve come up with two simple tricks that will help you navigate these challenges, while creating a smoother experience for your students and saving you even more time.

Let’s break down the issues first.

Issue #1: No Auto-Grading System Is Completely Accurate

The biggest hurdle with any computerized grading system is accuracy. No matter how well a student performs, the software can’t evaluate it as precisely (or imprecisely) as a human ear. For instance, SRF grades based on pitch and rhythm, but human voices naturally waver, and rhythmic accuracy can be subject to interpretation. Yet, a live listener might hear the same performance as perfect.

SRF has tried to address this by offering three different grading modes:

  • Lenient: No points off for intonation errors and reduced penalty for small pitch and/or rhythmic errors.
  • Moderate: Balanced grading – Moderate tolerance for mistakes.
  • Strict: Toughest grading – Requires excellent intonation and rhythm.

In my experience, even these descriptions don’t always hold. I’d summarize them like this:

  • Lenient: Most likely to grade the performance accurately.
  • Moderate: Somewhat likely to see a good performance as solid, but far from perfect.
  • Strict: Good luck—perfection is near impossible to achieve unless you’re a robot.

Issue #2: Students Chase the Perfect Score, Not the Perfect Performance

In our pursuit of excellence, we all want to see a perfect score. But the problem is that many students will repeat an exercise over and over, even if they performed it well, simply because the grading tool didn’t award them a 100%.

To clarify, I’m all for students striving for improvement and practicing until they nail an exercise. However, if a student is confident they sang the exercise perfectly and the software disagrees, it’s unfair to expect them to keep repeating it to satisfy an algorithm. That’s not the kind of learning we want to encourage.

Star-Spangled Banner (SAB –  Unaccompanied) – Easy to learn, download now, full sound, rehearsal tracks available!

Star-Spangled Banner (SSA – Unaccompanied) – Easy to learn, download now, full sound, rehearsal track available!

Issue #3: We Still End Up Listening to Recordings

Since we know the grading tool isn’t 100% accurate, we’re often stuck listening to many of the recordings anyway. Once we start doing that, we might as well be grading the performances ourselves. This negates the time-saving benefits of the auto-grading feature. This was one of the many reasons I left the auto-grading SmartMusic to move over to Sight Reading Factory many years ago!

Issue #4: Exactness in Grading Can Be Misleading

How do you quantify a sight-singing performance? If a student makes one mistake in rhythm and another in pitch, does that really translate to a 92% score? Grading systems like SRF’s can oversimplify the complexity of music, reducing it to a series of numbers that don’t always reflect the true quality of a performance.

The 2 Simple Tricks to Overcome These Issues

Now that we’ve highlighted the issues, let’s talk solutions. These two tricks will transform your students’ experience with Sight Reading Factory, and will also help you manage your workload more effectively.

TRICK 1: Only Use Lenient Grading

Always set the grading to lenient. I recommend this even for your best students with near-perfect pitch. Why? Because tougher grading settings only create unnecessary frustration. Music is an art form, not a science experiment. The lenient setting makes the grading process more human and flexible, which is important for maintaining students’ confidence and enjoyment of the sight-singing process.

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TRICK 2: Create Your Own Flexible Grading System

The beauty of sight-singing is in the attempt. It’s not about perfection, but about developing the skill to keep going even after a mistake. The key is to encourage students to focus on making progress, rather than chasing a flawless score.

Here’s the grading system I recommend:

  • Set a specific number of attempts that constitutes a perfect score. For example, if a student makes 8 attempts, they receive full credit. This rewards effort and determination, while taking the pressure off their final score.
  • Grade out of 4 points:
    • 4/4: The student made the expected number of attempts (or more) and scored between 76%-100%.
    • 3/4: The student made fewer attempts but earned 51%-75%.
    • 2/4: Fewer attempts, score between 26%-50%.
    • 1/4: Fewer attempts, score between 1%-25%.
    • 0/4: No assignment submitted.

This system recognizes effort while accommodating the inevitable errors that come with computerized grading. It allows students to focus on improving their musicality instead of obsessing over the numbers.

Star-Spangled Banner (SAB –  Unaccompanied) – Easy to learn, download now, full sound, rehearsal tracks available!

Star-Spangled Banner (SSA – Unaccompanied) – Easy to learn, download now, full sound, rehearsal track available!

Final Thoughts

Even with these tricks, some students will still be frustrated that their computer-generated score isn’t perfect. That’s okay—helping them navigate these feelings is part of the learning process. Encourage them to think less about perfection and more about progress.

By using SRF’s auto-grading tool in conjunction with a flexible grading system that values effort, you’ll help your students build confidence, refine their skills, and grow as musicians. And as a bonus, you’ll save yourself hours of grading!

With these tricks, your students will get the most out of their sight-singing practice, and you’ll preserve your sanity in the process. Everyone wins!

 

One final note: Choral Clarity is proud to be an affiliate of Sight Reading Factory. If you decide to purchase a subscription—whether it’s for yourself or for your entire student body—using the code “ChoralClarity,” you’ll receive a 10% discount. Plus, your purchase helps support Choral Clarity at no additional cost to you!

Click here to learn about my 2 Minute In-Class Sight Reading Drill using Sight Reading Factory!