REVIEWS
"The Sight-Reading Workbook is a 'must have' for every musician. As a university undergraduate student, I am using it as part of my everyday warm-up routine. The book's design helped me to develop many technical skills simultaneously: ability in reading different rhythms, quick transitions in key and time signatures and different articulations. I recommend the Sight-Reading Workbook as an indispensable tool for an instrumentalist's career."
Vitalie Gumeniuc
Undergraduate Music Major
"The Sight-Reading Workbook is a must-use tool in my private teaching and personal practice. This workbook is exactly what I have been looking for to improve the reading ability of all my students. The examples are concise and packed with material that challenges even my best students. Highly recommended! I really love using it in lessons!"
Brina Faciane
Southeastern Louisiana University
"The Sight-Reading Workbook contains 161 very brief progressive exercises in sight-reading. Numbers 1 through 155 are only two lines long and the last six are five lines long. These exercises remind me of the French publications Lectures Exercises (c. 1964) by Barboteu and the 65 Etudes-Dechiffrages (c. 1967) by Thévet.
Schwartz's collection is a good value: it is available as an eBook for $12.99 and as a paper copy for $19.99. Rather than trying to describe the progression of the difficulty level, I recommend looking at the website, where the first thirty exercises can be previewed."
The Horn Call
"The Sight-Reading Workbook has drastically improved my sightreading all-around, but especially in dealing with subdivision and meter changes. Within about 3 months I have almost completed the book, and can now sightread advanced-level music. Oh, and I just made 1st chair in District IV Round 1 on Alto and Bari saxophone!"
Daniel Walker
High School Student
"The Sight-Reading Workbook is a helpful aide in audition preparation and developing sight-reading skills. Organized in two parts, this 36-page collection of over 150 examples will challenge many collegiate and professional players. The first part has exercises with only notes and rhythms, while exercises in the second part include articulation, dynamics, and other expressive elements. Although the range is not overly demanding for university or college students, other factors in this workbook are more challenging. Even though this book probably proves useful for instrumentalists developing their sight-reading skills, some of the exercises seem purposefully difficult and complicated. They contain seeming random changes in meter, key, and articulations. With that in mind, however, players who can successfully navigate these exercises should have few (if any) difficulties sight-reading more straightforward music. It will provide useful sight-reading practice for university or college students, especially if they routinely apply themselves."
International Tuba Euphonium Association
"Dr. Schwartz's book will be a beneficial suppliment to private instruction in the developement of sight-reading because of the logical presentation of the material. The introduction of new rhythms is logical and exercises that follow continue to use the new material. A wide variety of meters is used throughout the book. Continuous playing with occasional rests of less than one beat is required in each exercise...the publication will be useful for high school and college level private lessons because of its short, logically developed exercises with engaging musical material. The workbook will also be useful for active performers wishing to have stimulating sight-reading material on their music stands."
The International Double Reed Society
"It is too often stated that the only way to improve as a sightreader is for them to sightread. However, this is easier said than done because most music has small pockets of material that challenge our sightreading skills, separated by long passages of more simple or predictable writing that is not as helpful in sightreading training. Schwartz's book focuses on those challenging moments, packing them into 161 brief passages."
David Demsey
Saxophone Today