Not reading notes at speed?

[shingo]

Hi,
     I kind of have a problem when I have to follow the sheet in a fast section where although my playing is at tempo, my eyes cannot read it so at the same speed and they get lost while my hands can keep going. This could be due to playing often without the music present after memorization or just due to my overall poor sight-reading abilities. Just wondering if anyone else had this and knew of a good way to improve.
     Thanks.


(I noticed this most when re-learning previous pieces where I knew parts but not others and it was hard to make sure I kept up with the music so I could isolate the areas which needed most work.)

[squinchy]

Perhaps make frequent "checkpoints" for yourself: places where the music clears up, resolves, or gets ready for a new section. Know what your hands are doing at these points, and know what these points look like (where they are on the page, etc). You can let your hands go on muscle memory--until the next checkpoint, where you catch onto the written music again.

[barghash]

from my point of view ,cos i had the same porblem, u can slow down the rythem untill u got use to go with the reading & then start to increase the speed gradualy

[shingo]

Thank you, both ideas are useful. Checkpoints will help me get though the parts I know quickly and allow me to focus on the 'lost' areas, where the slower tempo can be used. I will put it into effect later this evening.

These pieces were learned before I started putting a lot more emphasis on making sure I follow the sheet and not play away from it too much in attempt to improve my reading etc and reduce the amount of time needlesly looking at my hands.