These music reading exercises were written to address the gaps and weaknesses presented by traditional solfège methods. The main problem with various solfège methods is that even after years of practice, they do not sharpen the perception of the primary and fundamental elements, the components of any unit of notes, whether they are traditional melodic lines and chords or modern constructions from sequences or combinations of notes.
These primary and fundamental elements are intervals. Although the study of intervals often appears as the foundation of exercises in traditional methods, the structure of the exercises is such that the interval loses its significance, to the point where its presence is not even recognized, thus completely weakening its functionality in the process of musical perception and reading.
This occurs because the degree of "melodicity" of the exercises is so high that they are perceived and learned by practitioners as units, larger or smaller, and ultimately as musical pieces, resulting in the unawareness of the progression from note to note, which leads to grasping the unit. And it is precisely this "note to note" progression that is the essence and foundation of every musical reading, which is facilitated by the recognition and ability to accurately express the "note to note" distance, i.e., the interval.
Thus, the correct process of musical reading is the immediate, as automatic as possible perception, internal sense, and corresponding ability to accurately express the intervals between notes that form a unit. Therefore, the exercises in this method use interval compositions with restricted melodic content, at least in the traditional sense, and with a structuring that leads directly to their awareness and the automation of recognition-sensation-expression.
In the sequence of exercises, newly appearing intervals and rhythmic patterns are combined with those already known from previous exercises. The measurement of rhythm is done with traditional hand movements that correspond to the parts of the measure. The speed of reading is not fixed but should be related to the fluency in recognizing the intervals. Consequently, it will initially be slow and later become faster.
Exercises should initially be done without instrumental accompaniment. However, it is permissible to check the correct performance of the exercise with the help of some instrument, provided that this check does not facilitate the reading. It is self-evident that a prerequisite for musical reading is an accurate knowledge of musical notation and the theory of intervals.
Finally, these exercises should also serve the teacher as a model for the improvisational composition of similar exercises, which the student or students should read at first sight but must also be used for musical dictation, thus completing the sharpening of both reading and listening skills.
