What tempo to sight read?

[shingo]

Hey,
     I scrapped my previous question as after having searched there are plenty regarding that problem and I have learned what I initially wanted to know. However I do have another question regarding sight reading.
     I have decided what I am going to do and that is to read through cover-cover some of my music books such as the Final Fantasy ones. I was wondering what tempo it is best to take these pieces at. Obviously I do not want to go so fast I am tripping over myself and hesitating all the time, but if I do it too slow will it be a pointless exercise? Also is it best to do HT straight away or to read through HS? I kind of want to read it and kep it at the same tempo throughout and play it continuously like a big work.
     I know that this is excessive but I will encorporate a smaller amount daily, this is just something I had been wanting to do anyway and also figured it could improve my sight reading at the same time.
     Any advice would be great.

[hyrst]

It depends entirely on the final goal for your piece.  Reading fast or slow will improve sight reading - reading slow will build accuracy and fluency, while reading fast will build speed reading/prediction and pattern recognition. 

The speed you choose for sight reading depends on the area you wish to improve in most at that point in time and also the goal for a piece.  If you are playing just for the pleasure or general idea, play at a speed that gives you some sense of the music.  However, if you are playing to learn a piece for performance, you will probably be better off reading every detail carefully to start with.  It is slow to start, but in the end you have to do less relearning as you realise you overlooked some concept or detail. 

[slobone]

If you're serious about learning this piece, sight read through it once, to get an overall feeling for it and see where the hard parts are. After that, take your time, learn one section at a time, and don't go on until you can play that much with almost no mistakes. If you want to bring it to performance level, expect to put in the time needed to learn it well.

As for what speed to sight read, really I think, mox nix. If you were trying to develop sight-reading skills for their own sake, I'd say keep a steady tempo and go slightly too fast. But if you're just exploring a new piece, do whatever feels comfortable.

[shingo]

Thank you for your responses so far, I will be playing through these pieces with the intention of perhaps learning them at a later date, but not in preperation to practcie so to speak. It is mainly a way of trying to improve my sight reading whilst also using material which is lighter and will possibly be revisited in the future.
     With this in mind I think I will take it ata slow pace to improve accuracy and fluency as you suggest, but what about HT/HS when trying to improve sight reading. is it best to go HS at first or will this only hinder the learning process in the end as in reality the goal is to be able to reaad with both hands simultaneously?
     Thanks again.

[slobone]

If improving your sight reading is the goal, don't make it too easy for yourself. Play HT and use a metronome. If it's impossible to play it that way, pick an easier piece.