Read and play at sight short, easy pieces at a regular pulse, beginning to hear some of the elements internally and attending to expressive details, including articulation and dynamics

Encourage learners to read short, simple passages/pieces at sight, making sure that they are well within their technical range.

Before playing through passages/pieces for the first time, help learners to hear in their heads the overall sound of the music by asking them to:

• identify important notational features of the music, e.g. time signature, key signature, accidentals, dynamics
• clap or tap rhythmic patterns
• tap the pulse while other learners tap the rhythm, and vice versa
• note the shape of the melody and the melodic range
• identify, from the notation, intervals larger than a second
• sing/hum the larger intervals, having given them one of the two pitches

Emphasise the importance of steady, fluent reading, i.e. maintaining a regular pulse, and of allowing mistakes to pass without hesitating.

Ask learners to sight-read in small groups (in unison) or in parts, perhaps with simplified filler lines.