How to improve sight reading?

[angelicscars]

My sight reading is VERY bad  I always had to read the notes slowly before I can finally play it. Can you guys recommend a good exercise or book to improve sight reading? Btw, I only got a 3rd grade certificate then I stopped learning and just practice at home.

[sarahlein]

Howard Richman’s “Super sight-reading secrets”

have a look also here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,6704.msg66174.html

for a list of links were improving sight reading was discussed!

[ingagroznaya]

Moving to a foreign country without knowing the local language also works wonders. You gota eat so you sight read whatever is in front of you - classic, pop, folk, gospel, exotics. I've got so good, I can sight read with book upside down.
Nothing works better than pressure and being forced.

[pianistimo]

ingagroznya's right.  just take anything and everything.  what helped my sightreading is to join a choir.  be tricky.  start by singing and then when the piano accompanist doesn't show up on time or is sick - you fill in.  you start small and then start accompanying more and more.  this forces u to practice the accompaniments and to have it ready for the next practice.  i've accompanied church chorales and college chorales.  it's great fun, too - and your musicality will also increase as the directors usually have some good sense about phrasing and the general direction of each piece.

something else about sightreading is to take pieces that are one or two levels BELOW what u currently sight read.  people usually want to do it so quickly, they are frustrated and quit.  it's a long process.  you don't just suddenly learn overnight.  maybe it's remembering to make time for it.  usually we have time for our lessons and then leave the piano.  just come back to it in the evening and do more - sightreading some of those 'easy classics' books or pop (beatles favorites) whatever, and just have a good time.

stressing over sightreading probably makes people stop, too.  just don't stress if you hit a wrong note.  i've seen people stop for one wrong note.  play through the piece and then figure that note out later.

[timothy42b]

I spend a few minutes each day sightreading a hymn.

Most I can only do HS.  Then I follow with HT, very slowly.

I try to pay attention to what I had trouble with.  Like, maybe I miss the A-E interval with the left hand.  Then the next day when I'm warming up, I try playing left hand A-E by feel all over the keyboard.  I should keep a log but I don't yet.  Anyway, each sight reading attempt should also be a diagnosis tool of what I'm having the most trouble with, and then work specifically on that. 

[princess_moose]

The way to learn how to sight read, is to sight read. Just play anything you can get your hands on.

[bella musica]

Improve sightreading the way you would improve anything else - by practicing it.

That said, here are some tips that might help you (I'm a pretty good sight-reader or so my teacher tells me  ):

1.  Look at the key/time signatures before you start, also the tempo marking.

2.  Glance over the piece and look for changes in the the key, time, or tempo, as well as looking for any parts that appear particularly difficult.

3.  Try to keep your eyes reading a couple measures ahead so your hands know what to expect!

4.  If you want to be able to sightread, it's pretty much imperative that you be able to play reasonably well without looking at your hands... 

5.  As you practice more, you will start recognizing patterns and chord shapes and so on.

6.  Whatever you do, make sure that you bring out the melody and don't overpedal. 

It's okay to miss the odd note as long as the general impression comes across.  It helps if you're good at recognizing different harmonies because then even if you don't play the exact right note, you still have a chance of hitting something that at least sounds okay! The hardest stuff for me is when the music is really fast, has really complex rhythyms, or chords with millions of accidentals on top of a 5# key signature...  Anyways, I hope these ideas help!

[faulty_damper]

Sight-reading is a very popular topic.  Do a seach for it.

Sigh-reading requires two basic aspects:
1. pitch
2. rhythm

Find out which one you have trouble with or both could be the trouble.  If that is the case, work at these two aspects separately.  If you are poor at rhythm, then take the time to memorize the sound of the rhythm.  This can be done away from the piano.  When the rhythms are ingrained you can then try to clap two rhythms at once.  If the problem is pitch, then practice only pitches ignoring any rhythm.  Practice one hand at a time so that each hand has ingrained certain pitch patterns then use both.