Hello, I am a freshman who has been playing the flute since the 5th grade (4 years) sitting as 3rd chair in my flute section, and have been accepted to the school district honor band alongside my 1st and 2nd chair flutists.

Having had never been in Honor Band before, I knew that it would be something unlike I had ever experienced as most Honor Band attendees are usually 1st of section leader (marching band) of their sections. They come from the older schools that have been around in the district decades earlier, and I come from the high school barely 3 years old. In short, most of the Honor Band attendees from the other schools have had over two or three years of experience than I have and are either a junior or senior.

We were handed 10 different pieces to try out for what we were going to perform. The first song was entitled `Prarie Songs` and was easy for me to sight read the first sections as it was played at Andante, but once we came to the tempo transition to Allegretto, I began stumbling at the notes and pretty much ended up just fingering the wrong notes along as the other more experienced instrumentalists sight read the song with ease.

The following songs included Shostakovich`s `Folk Dance` and Berstein`s `Candide Suite` which are both played at a rather quick Allegretto.

Being a freshman, I feel that my inability to sight read as well as the other more experienced instrumentalists that I encountered at the Honor Band rehearsal. I do, in a way, feel a little incompetent being in a specially-assembled band of wonderfully talented and experienced musicians, but it`s expected as I have only been playing the flute for a mere 4 years.

Is there a way for me to improve on my sight reading? It will help me considerably with my goal of being more involved with music and will also aid me in learning music quicker. (Also, sight reading is the tie breaker for chair placement challenges, so it will help if I were to achieve the 2nd chair position in my band.)

Try playing a new piece of music every so many days. You have to think quickly, I recall a *stars method was it, in the essential elements book of years ago. Look at the key sig, look at accidentals, finger some of the notes, glance at the easy part for you and concentrate on the hard section- all assuming they gave you a minute to look it over before you played. Just challenge your level of flutism, work on hard/fast pieces if that`s what you are having trouble with, build up your comfort with the flute and notes in order to play well. Basically.....practice, practice, practice!