Q&A for How to Sight Sing

Unless you have perfect pitch, it is not easy to find the exact note without a reference. Before you sing, you might want to check to see if your pitches are accurate by matching to a tuner or piano. If your problem is reading the music, on a score, "do" is the note of the key the song is in. For example, if the song is in C major, "do" would be C.

Dynamics are the volume at which the music should be sang. Some dynamics include forte (loud) or piano (soft). You can tell which dynamic the music wishes you to use by looking at the letters of symbols under the measures.

Either sing the words in the rhythm of the song or play the song on an instrument and then replay the song in many different ways with your voice.

Naturally, the answer will vary. It really depends on who your audience is: friends, fellow choir students, judges for a competition or audition—the list goes on and on.

The notes are do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, and a high do. If the starting note is a do, to sing a scale it would be reciting the solfege in single step intervals up the scale. Also, for example, if do is C, re would be D, mi would be E, fa would be F, sol would be G, la would be A, and ti would be B.

First, inhale deeply. Then, stand up straight (this really helps) and sing.

It depends on the choir. If it's a professional or semi-professional choir, probably. Usually they should tell you before you audition. (If they don't tell you what you need to do to prepare, or if you ask them and they're jerks about it, that's usually a red flag about how unpleasant the director is.)