Super Sight-Reading Secrets - Richman, method?

[shingo]

Hi,
     I had heard about this book and read a couple of the reviews and general feedbaack on here and had decided to buy it. However for some unknown reason it has suddenly dissapeared off the face of the earth! Amazon uk does not have it except for £25 up to - £99  , and neither does ebay.uk at the moment.
     Anyway I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on the actual process used, as a player of intermidiate level and what I judge as a reasonable amount of experience (apart fropm the obvious lacking in sightreading ability  ) is the book going to really help me that much? Is it likely to inform me of things I would not otherwise know from this forum for example?
     This is a subjective question I know and it is not possible for you to rip-off the book and post the condensed version here, but I am not really enthusiastic about ordering from .com and paying and waiting extra as I wanted to get stuck in over Easter.
     Thanks for any help.

[anna_crusis]

I haven't read the book but the sensationalist title makes me skeptical. It sounds like one of those miracle weight loss books!

I think the only 'secrets' are:

- Memorise your scales and the circle of fifths
- Learn a lot of chords and arpeggios
- Don't look at your hands
- Forget about Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit
- Follow the contour of the music and think in intervals where possible. The note heads go up and down the stave... your fingers go up and down the scale. Look for patterns, key modulations, rules and regularities. Try to get into the mind of the composer.

Oh... and of course, start easy and get harder! The ultimate aim is to look at both staves and take in as much info as possible in one look... so that you've got time to think about how to play it, and what comes next.

[shingo]

Hi Anna_crusis,
     I firmly agree with you and your list that there are no 'secrets' or shortcuts but after hearing positive reviews of the book I figuered it may be worth a look. Mainly out of interests sake because if he happened to introduce a new approach or new idea which had not previously occured to me then it may be useful to the apply from then on. Obviously the method in its self won't help without extensive practice.

[popdog]

If it's not easy to obtain I wouldn't bother personally.  Whilst I used to use it, I ultimately found the Visual Perception drills incredibly boring.  And one problem I found is that those drills are used so much that I started (accidentally) memorising, which meant that I wasn't sight reading them at all. 

Having said that, the way the sight reading process is explained is very good, and I think the keyboard orientation drills are good (although this kind of thing can be practised without relying on the method in the book). 

I'm currently working on sight reading and I have got some use from the book.  But I just can't handle those VP drills, and I take my hat off to anyone who can.  Instead I am trying to get my hands on as much easy music as I can, which is a far more enjoyable way to practice sight reading. 

It's difficult to say whether you would benefit from the method outlined in the book.  I don't have a copy at hand but if you have any specific questions about it I'd be happy to help.  I wouldn't go to great lengths for this one. 

popdog.

[feddera]

I have it in pdf-format. Tell me your mail and I'll send it to you!