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Sight Singing - Sightreading and the Scottish Snap

Preparation for Unit 14 Sight Singing

Please click on the link below to access the sight singing assignment for next week. You must bring the assignment to your sight singing lesson. You may choose to print it out, or to view it on a laptop or tablet device. Please do not attempt to read the assignment from your phone in the lesson. This seldom results in a high score.

Instructions

Sightreading This will be approximately of the same difficulty level as material we studied 1-2 weeks ago. Please follow the usual procedural advice for success in sightreading.

The Scottish Snap The Scottish snap, also known as the “Scotch snap,” is a form of syncopated rhythm characteristic of the folk music of Scotland and the Scottish country dance form known as the strathspey. It is also found in music of the Scottish diaspora around the world, including the folk music in the Ozark and Appalachian regions of the United States.

The Scottish snap is like the reverse of the usual “dotted rhythm” procedure. By contrast, the Scottish snap has the short note first, on the beat. Being on the beat gives the short note the impression of being accented. When preparing the rhythmic examples, take care that the short note of the Scottish snap falls exactly on the beat.