Sight Reading

[boskis]

First time user hope someone can help.

I'm the parent of an 11 year old who is struggling with his sightreading. Although I have some musical training I'm not really a pianist hence the plea. My son is starting his Grade 5 and all other elements of his piano playing are good however his current level of sightreading is well below Grade 5. I'm looking for ideas, drills etc. to improve this area and perhaps some clarification of the key elements to focus in the preparation phase.

hope you can help.

[Keynote_Players]

There are a few things you can do - (1)  have him compose a song and write it out on manuscript paper, (2) have him sight read easier pieces - 2 levels below the level he's on.  Make sure that he is reading the notes in groups and not just one note at a time.  If he knows his intervals by sight, melodically and harmonically, sight reading will be easier and faster,(3) repetition - the more he sight reads, the better he will become at it.  Every week he needs to play a piece he's never seen or heard before.  Hymns are great for improving sight reading.  They will force him to read a lot of notes at one time.  Good luck!

[Jo]

First, get him to read intervals. Get manuscript, no clefs and draw notes at various intervals apart. Leave them in the 5 finger position to start off with to make it easy.

Get him to actually just read the intervals first (3rd up, 4th down) then after he can read them, then get him to play them.

Sight Reading takes practise, and students never practise it. Give him music he's never played before, away from the piano, and point to notes and get him to just read them.