Sight reading

[cody_wickham]

The bane of my entire piano career.  Every time I try to defeat this monster I feel as though caustic acid has been poured on my face.  My life has been plagued with one utter disastrous tactic used to make new piano players cry or flee to other countries.  It's what keeps me up at night and gives me ghoulish nightmares night and night again.  I can't seem to run far enough or get an sense of how to defeat it.  This is the only place I have left to turn to so please help.  I can't take much more of this.  I need a program or some techniques to improve my sight reading.  Just for everybody to get a sense of the level I'm at I have mastered Brahms Hungarian dances 4 and 6 for solo piano through memorization but when I tried to sight read Oesten's Alpenglow it didn't go as planned.  Another piece I tried to sight read was some of Heller's works which also went horribly.  When I start a knew piece and try to sight read I can say I play about .25 notes a second.  Is this awkward or is it the norm for most?  A full plan to correct my horrible affliction would be much appreciated.  Any pieces I can use for sight-reading in order of difficulty?  Any answers to any of the questions would be appreciated.  And last how long should it take for me to learn a piece life kuhlau's sonata op. 55.3?  Thanks

Cody

[hfmadopter]

Wow, this is really getting to you ! I have to say I have my issues with sight reading but it doesn't cause the stress level you experience. Mine is a case where I just have to take the bull by the horns because of the fact I'm aging, memorizing isn't going so hot. At 30 years of age I would just memorize as I learned a new piece. Now I can memorize a measure and it's gone tomorrow or fallen apart at any rate ! So I need the sheet for a reference, maybe you could start there ?

Not long ago there was a thread here in the forums about sight reading and some links posted to material that is supposed to help. Try a seach, it was probably about 6 weeks ago now.. Or maybe some kind sole will post the links again for you !

[jayeckz]

Is this awkward or is it the norm for most?

Even just a few years ago, I used to sight read at an even slower pace than you.  At that time I thought I had learned pieces such Chopin op. 53, Liszt's HR no. 6, Beethoven's op. 57 to a performance level, however, in retrospect they were TERRIBLY learned and performed.

One thing you do have to keep in mind though, is that I just dived into advanced repertoire with virtually no training.  It took about an hour to read through a page.

In the case of someone who has mastered a few Brahms Hungarian Dances, or any piece not considered "student pieces" for that matter, it's not normal to be reading at such a slow pace.  You should be nailing the Oesten and the Kuhlau half asleep.

It's rare to find someone who can really play the piano but sight read "terribly".  Any accomplished pianist that claims to be "bad" sight readers are comparing themselves to the very best who are absolute beasts (think of someone giving a satisfactory performance of Chopin's 3rd Sonata at first sight although they are familiar with how the piece sounds and have probably taught the piece).

And last how long should it take for me to learn a piece life kuhlau's sonata op. 55.3?

Everyone learns at a different pace.  If you've truly mastered the Brahms Hungarian Dances mentioned above you should be at the point where this is easily sight readable nearly at a performance level.