I definately have the ability to sight read the easier method books fairly easily, the reason I said "from scratch" is because a vast majority of the sheet music on those shelves is waay too advanced for me to play.. I'm looking for some of the very easy pieces that I can continue from the easy method books, because I need some more easy songs to play that I haven't practically memorized
I disagree, I think that reading music that's much too tough forces you to go too slow, without actually making much progress with the actual process of learning. I was unsuccessful trying to learn sight reading from a couple chopin mazurkas and waltzes... I could play them just fine because I played such small parts at a time that it just forced me to memorize them. After that I noticed no noticeable change in my sight reading skills.
Hi goalevan,hmmm...my situation is a little different. When I try difficult pieces for me (eg. Liszt - Tarantella), my standard goes up. Like I said before, it takes a hell of a long time to notice any change. If someone is in grade 5 piano and all of a sudden expects to be able to play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto NO.3, they will try once and feel sick with defeat. HOwever, if they "chipped away" at Rach 3 over the next year, they will become accustomed to playing difficult music. People don't get better at playing piano by playing music at their own level.
I met an amazing pianist while my family and I were on tour in earlier this year. He started playing at age 12, and often during his teen years he took pieces of music and wrote the letter of each note next to the note. After many times of going through new pieces and writing all the notes, he would recognize much more quickly each note, and be able to sight reading much faster.
One thing that has helped me Tremendously is listening to the recording while reading the sheet music. Since you're relatively new to the piano, listening and reading it can relly help you're rythm and help you picture what it will look like playing it. Try it, it helps.-Tony-