In today’s episode, sight reading specialist Rebecca Stewart joins Tim and shared with us her top five tips for sight reading (with really cool names). Rebecca has authored and published Sight Reading Secrets, which has now nine books in the series. She also founded Imagination Regeneration to give rural students meaningful learning opportunities at no cost to their families. This episode explores the importance of sight reading and why we should still intentionally teach and practise it. And Rebecca talks about how to teach sight-reading in a way that makes it fun, but also interesting and engaging for everyone involved!

• Rebecca shared a brief overview of her studio in New South Wales.
• How she founded Imagination Regeneration program for rural students and what it’s all about.
• The importance of sight reading and why we should still intentionally teach and practise it.
• Rebecca’s 5 tips to sight reading success:
  • TIP 1: Using language learning technique approach to teach sight reading.
  • TIP 2: Tangible ways that parents can follow up what teachers require for sight reading practise.
  • TIP 3: Having a systematic sight reading curriculum using the idea of growth mindset and extrinsic motivation to boost students’ confidence.
  • TIP 4: Having a repertoire-rich teaching approach and learning pieces during a year, not just for exam pieces, positively affects your sight reading ability.
  • TIP 5: How integrated creative/chord playing, improvising, composing and playing duets improves sight reading.
• A quote from Dr. Martha Baker-Jordan from her book, Practical Piano Pedagogy.
• Rebecca’s sight reading workshop inside TopMusicPro Academy.

Links Mentioned

• Rebecca Stewart Website
• Rebecca Stewart Instagram
• TopMusicCo TikTok
• TopMusicCo Instagram

Member Links Mentioned

• Sight Reading with Rebecca Stewart
• Related: A Piano Teacher’s Guide To Teaching Sight Reading

Today’s Guest

Rebecca grew up listening to her three older sisters practice their musical instruments. She delighted in her childhood music lessons and wanted to teach young children in a fun and creative way. Her piano teacher at Melbourne University recommended the Yamaha method, and Rebecca taught with Yamaha Music Education Centres from 1998 to 2018. She loved being a national teacher trainer with Yamaha. She also enjoyed opportunities to travel to Toronto and Tokyo for Yamaha teacher development events. Rebecca is also a qualified practicing Yamaha grade examiner.

In 2016, Rebecca went to Jakarta where her eight-year-old Yamaha student performed his original composition at the Asia Pacific Junior Original Concert. Her first book “Sight Reading Secrets Grade One” was published in 2004, and there are now nine books in the series. Following the 2020 bushfires and the COVID pandemic, Rebecca founded Imagination Regeneration to give rural students meaningful learning opportunities at no cost to their families. These experiences of musical improvisation, composition and performance, as well as creating original musical works, helped students express themselves following a period of trauma and being isolated.

Thank you for tuning in!

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