How do I improve my sight reading skills on the piano?
Mikey asked:
I read on a 3rd grade level, but I want to play more challenging music.
How to Sight Read Music
I read on a 3rd grade level, but I want to play more challenging music.
How to Sight Read Music
SpeedyMusicReading.com
the best thing you can do is to practice. A lot, all the time. Also, the left hand tends to be harder to play than the right, so start with the left hand of a song, especially if you already know the melody.
How to Sight Read Music Video Lesson
Well the best thing to do it practise practise practise !
Try taking your sheet music and just reading through it aloud saying the names of the notes.
How to Sight Read Music Video Lesson
Im not a piano player, Im a clarinet player but I think it will still be helpful to do what I do. Practice scales. It helps with the notes. SCALES SCALES SCALES!
how to sight read music
When I was in college the dean of music taught a sight reading class for pianist. She was an excellent reader and could read anything at tempo. She said she could always sight read and thought everyone else could too. She realized she was mistaken when she entered college and found that she was the exception.
Having said that, I am not a good sight reader. On a scale of 1 to 10 I am probably a 5.
Most single voiced instrumentalist are pretty good sight readers, it is the pianist that usually has the problem.
I took her sight reading class, and it did help some but I will never be considered a good reader. I think sight reading is a talent and some of us did not get all the talent that was coming to us.
First of all you need to understand everything on the page. If there are notes and symbols you do not recognize, it will slow you down or you may come to a complete stop. Always look the music over before begining.
Most of all just practice. Practice slowly. Learn to recognize groups of notes instead of reading each individual note. Sight read not only tertial music but also try reading more contemporary music. You will find the chord groupings very different and the counting more difficult.
Practice, practice practice.
how to sight read music
What you must do is play scales and arpeggios and chords. Practise Practise Practise those. The next thing that you have to do is get music that is slightly lower than what you play now which is a Gr3? level. Sight read or try to at a gr2 level. Then take a fun piece that you KNOW very well, and try to sight read it. Sight reading takes into account both scales and such and ear training. Above all else have fun doing the fun pieces. It doesn’t really matter at that point what mistakes you make. As long as you can hear the right melody and it sounds good. Enjoy. As you practise this way it will become easier and easier as you go. Having a few fun pieces that you know will help greatly. Also using these pieces will not really seem like practise. Along the way you will learn to play the melody and abbreviate the rest of the accompaniment. This is what I teach my students and in exams they usually get a very high mark in sight reading.
Sight Reading Music Lessons
I am VERY pleased that you asked this question. I am a piano competition judge and every year, have countless students who play their work very well, nail their scales, and FALL DOWN on sightreading – and it is only 8 to 16 bars!
Many of the previous suggestions have NOTHING to do with piano sightreading. You do not read in a line at the piano – you read in a rapid zig-zag, up and down ORGAN music is worse!!! So – you need to train you EYES, not so much your fingers ( if you have deficient technique, that is another issue). Best way is VERY old-fashioned. Get a hymnal. Plain old 4-voice homophonic choral arrangements of hymns. Even pick something you KNOW – like Amazing Grace. Play ONE VOICE I like soprano) in the RH – and play the bass in the LH – ONE NOTE ONLY in each hand. Now SING – however you can croak it out – a verse. If you have it memorized, it does not count. Try to sing an INSIDE verse – like Verse 3. Then try playing the alto and tenor, and sing verse 4. Your eyes and brain are now working like CRAZY. For some reason, playing all 4 voices – all of what you see – does not work as fast, even it you are singing. It is seeing, eliminating, and singing that makes your brain read, sort, produce.
This will make you nuts. Relax, and ALWAYS keep a steady tempo. Play this UNBELIEVABLY SLOWLY – your brain cannot tell time, but it can tell correct from incorrect. Once you are better at doing this, try fresh hymns. Once you can do this with homophonic works, try playing from an open score of chamber music – 3 lines – play 2, sing/croak/burp – whatever you can do , this is not the Met auditions – the other line. Try a 3-part invention, or a Bach chorale – harder than The Old Rugged Cross!
Before you start to SR piano music, realize that the most important information is in the FIRST INCH. The clef, key signature, and time signature is there! Make sure you can tap your foot in a steady beat, and clap all the rhythms. Make sure the you read the LH in the BASS clef, if so written – you would not BELIEVE how many people play the bass clef as if it were treble! And make sure you know and REMEMBER the key signature. After they play, I often pick up the book and ask them what KEY they were in, or what sharps or flats. Sometimes, they cannot TELL me if it was sharps OR flats. And I am a NICE judge!!~ I let them choose at least one of the 3 scales they have to play. I give them plenty of time. I am very pleasant – even though we are TOLD to be very poker-faced and not to praise students – just be very scientific (but kids work so hard, I figure that saying “thanks for playing today – I enjoyed meeting you!” cannot be breaking any rules.
NAIL your scales, too. That is supposed to be the *gimme* – a good ice-breaker and warm-up in the room, on a strange piano ( and some of those pianos are REALLY strange! I play the one I get – and WARN students about its wonkiness! I complain to the STATE when they are poor pianos). The pieces is going to be what it is going to be – but scales and sightreading often get neglected – and cost precious points. GOOD LUCK – I hope this helps you!