Newbie - Having a bit of bother! please can you advise

[strugglingsally]

Hi All

I am new to this site so a hello all!

I have been learning piano for a short while, about 6 months. I dont have a teacher (did but due to work commitments was impossible to arrange suitable meetings) so have been teaching myself. Just on a stage 1 book at the moment and love playing but I wondered, I am near the end of the stage 1 book and when I flick through to earlier songs, it's like I am playing them for the first time. I have to literally go through each song note by note as and play slowly.

I think the problem is the note recognition is just not staying. Should, by now, I be able to look at some basic music and just play on?

Thanks in advance

[Bob]

It can take awhile if you're doing something more like sight-reading.  That didn't happen for years for me.  I wouldn't worry about it.  Keep working on pieces that you engrain and cycling through ones you don't absorb so deeply (so you cover more music). 

[strugglingsally]

Thanks Bob, I will keep on. I saw someone recently just pick up a piece of music and just play despite never seeing it before and worried that I can't do that.

[Bob]

That takes time to develop.  I don't remember doing that until after I was out of method books and had some theory down.  You can see more patterns and take in more once the better you have theory down.

[strugglingsally]

That's promising then. I have stayed on book 1 because I couldn't remember the music instantly just by looking and thought that I should be able to play it right first time round by just reading it. Maybe I should go a bit easier on myself then!