how dO I LEARN TO FKING SIGHT READ???

[swagmaster420x]

sightreading is so damn hard, how are pros able to sightread music so easily? is all that it takes practice??

[awesom_o]

Hello swagmaster420x,

I used to be bad at sightreading and now I am good. I would say it is mainly related to overall technique and musical development. Music is a language, and skilled players read sentence by sentence, rather than one note or chord at a time.

One thing that really helped me to get better was developing an interest in the four hands repertoire.  

Also, you may want to quit the swag. High grade kush is more helpful for musical study if your mind can handle the fury...

Of course the most important thing is to not look down at your hands!!!!

[theholygideons]

what's the point of sight reading? If you're gonna properly learn a piece,you'll have to memorise it bar by bar anyway. Your sight reading should get better by expanding your repertoire.
 

[awesom_o]

What's the point of sight reading?

A better sight reader will always have a bigger repertoire than you.

A person with a bigger repertoire than you will always be a better sight reader than you.

 

[swagmaster420x]

Hello swagmaster420x,

I used to be bad at sightreading and now I am good. I would say it is mainly related to overall technique and musical development. Music is a language, and skilled players read sentence by sentence, rather than one note or chord at a time.

One thing that really helped me to get better was developing an interest in the four hands repertoire.  

Also, you may want to quit the swag. High grade kush is more helpful for musical study if your mind can handle the fury...

Of course the most important thing is to not look down at your hands!!!!

im would say im pretty developed technically/musically... but hte way i practice is i focus on grinding out parts note by note and don't really "sight read" it for real so im not in the habit of reading sentence by sentence , as u say

[outin]

sightreading is so damn hard, how are pros able to sightread music so easily? is all that it takes practice??

Practice sight reading something daily starting with easier material and only as long as you can handle without feeling tired and frustrated. After a while it may even become fun to go through new material.

2 months of daily practice did wonders for me this summer, but unfortunately after lessons started and work is busy again I have too much else to do and my eyes are too tired in the evenings...I am not as bad as I was before, but I haven't got better either...I really should get back to it...

[faulty_damper]

If it's that hard, I bet you can't find middle C in less than .5 seconds.  And that's the problem.  It's like trying to do algebra by counting on your fingers.

[justanamateur]

The best way is, of course, to sight-read more!

IMSLP is swamped with early-middle intermediate scores you can sight-read easily; download those to play one every day. The bonus is that you get lots of different composers, so you try out different styles.

Also, Amy Beach is probably an unfamiliar name to most, but every single one of her works looks like a sight-reading exercise (albeit a particularly long one).  Renaissance composers (Byrd et al.) also offer good sight-reading exercises - the styles are unfamiliar, including rhythm and tonality, but there are very few technical roadblocks or musicality challenges.

As for technique, it is advisable to ALWAYS READ ONE BAR AHEAD! It's hard at first but easy to get used to.

Get one of those ABRSM sight-reading preparation books, for starters!

[prestoconfuocco]

Some people have natural talent sightreading (I hate them!) but for most people it's just about practicing.
Good pieces to sight read in order to improve are Chopin's easier waltzes and easier preludes. Bach's preludes from WTC are great once you get a little bit better, and slow Debussy pieces are good too. Some of Beethoven's second piano sonata movements are also great.
You can also try playing the voicing of Bach's chorales, they're pretty helpful.
Good luck!

[awesom_o]

im would say im pretty developed technically/musically... but hte way i practice is i focus on grinding out parts note by note and don't really "sight read" it for real so im not in the habit of reading sentence by sentence , as u say

Judging from what you've written here, I wouldn't say you're pretty developed technically and musically. You may think that you are, but you wouldn't be a weak sight reader if you actually were quite developed musically and technically.

Do you play much chamber music? That should really help.

I should also add that learning all 24 Chopin Etudes helped me to become a better sight reader. If you are pretty advanced technically as well as musically, then you probably know most of them already.

[gregh]

Ever learn a foreign language? At first there are lots of words you don't know. Then, when you see a paragraph full of words that you know, sometimes you have to think about it for a while before they come to you-- just because you technically "know" the words doesn't mean that comprehension comes easily. With practice your eyes will glide over one sentence after another and you won't even think much about the words, you'll be thinking about what they mean.

Reading music is like that. Just like that. If you're new to the bass clef you might have to stop and count: "Good Boys Do Fine Always... That's an F." It takes practice before you can instantly name the note and hit the right key.

Chords are not really collections of notes-- they're a new set of notes that you learn. You recognize the pattern just as a gambler never has to count dots to figure out which numbers turn up on the dice. You also recognize broken and arpeggiated chords, sections of a scale, and other structures.

Beginners read one note at a time while advanced players read ahead of their fingers. You don't develop that skill by practicing reading ahead of your fingers, it comes naturally as you improve.

Practice on very simple tunes. Play it once, if slowly, then move on to the next one.

[swagmaster420x]

Judging from what you've written here, I wouldn't say you're pretty developed technically and musically. You may think that you are, but you wouldn't be a weak sight reader if you actually were quite developed musically and technically.

Do you play much chamber music? That should really help.

I should also add that learning all 24 Chopin Etudes helped me to become a better sight reader. If you are pretty advanced technically as well as musically, then you probably know most of them already.

dam nvm then, learning all 24 etudes is hard af, i was just trying to say that my sightreadings really bad in comparison to other parts of my piano skills; i know people who can sight read better than me but who arent as good in technique.... is what i'm trying to say
( so if your sight reading skill is based purely on how developed technically and musically, then i would be better than them at sight reading, ...  .  but im not)
i asked for advice specifically on how to sight read, and ur basically telling me advice on how to play piano better overall : "play better technically and musically" nice advice genius, did u pull that out of genericshittosay.com
jkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

it could just be that i havea lack of talent; if i look at a score, it s hard for me to tell what it sounds like when i play it because my ear is bad or something and im really bad at rhytms cuz whe ni practice i practice note by note and figure out how the rhyhtm goes automatically after ive practiced it 1000000x times or by listening to recording, i found out my rhythm is really bad when i couldnt sightread simple rhythms with ease and accurcay

thats not to say i dont have a sense of rhythm, in fact i read rhythms more accurately whe nim playing them by feeling rather than by trying to read the correct rhythm off the page

[swagmaster420x]

If it's that hard, I bet you can't find middle C in less than .5 seconds.  And that's the problem.  It's like trying to do algebra by counting on your fingers.

i can find middle c in less than .5 seconds, just prolly cant find it in .5 seconds while trying to find 10 other notes in .5 seconds

[swagmaster420x]

Ever learn a foreign language? At first there are lots of words you don't know. Then, when you see a paragraph full of words that you know, sometimes you have to think about it for a while before they come to you-- just because you technically "know" the words doesn't mean that comprehension comes easily. With practice your eyes will glide over one sentence after another and you won't even think much about the words, you'll be thinking about what they mean.

Reading music is like that. Just like that. If you're new to the bass clef you might have to stop and count: "Good Boys Do Fine Always... That's an F." It takes practice before you can instantly name the note and hit the right key.

Chords are not really collections of notes-- they're a new set of notes that you learn. You recognize the pattern just as a gambler never has to count dots to figure out which numbers turn up on the dice. You also recognize broken and arpeggiated chords, sections of a scale, and other structures.

Beginners read one note at a time while advanced players read ahead of their fingers. You don't develop that skill by practicing reading ahead of your fingers, it comes naturally as you improve.

Practice on very simple tunes. Play it once, if slowly, then move on to the next one.

i agree with most of what you say, but im pretty sure you're wrong where you say you develop the ability to read ahead of your fingers naturally as you improve, i think u can imrpvoe that skill specifically if you really try. ive been practicing sightreading for just a few days and ive been forcing myself to read ahead and its becoming easier, definitely much more efficient practice than playing note by note for years

[swagmaster420x]

hggg

[faa2010]

Have you though about solfege?

In my point of view, solfege is better than sight-reading, it is more entertaining because apart from reading, you have to sing the notes and your ears will also receive training.

[lojay]

i know people who can sight read better than me but who arent as good in technique.... is what i'm trying to say
( so if your sight reading skill is based purely on how developed technically and musically, then i would be better than them at sight reading, ...  .  but im not)

What about musically?  Maybe musically, they are just that much better than you.

i asked for advice specifically on how to sight read, and ur basically telling me advice on how to play piano better overall : "play better technically and musically" nice advice genius, did u pull that out of genericshittosay.com
jkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

I lol'd, but you're a pussy for the "jkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk" afterwards.

[awesom_o]

; i know people who can sight read better than me but who arent as good in technique....

How do you know they aren't as good in technique? If they can play a piece at sight better than you, then they have better technique then you. Pure and simple.

[awesom_o]

But seriously, don't let that swag get your head, man. Get your self some proper kush and do it right. You owe it to yourself.


Look at it this way. Liszt was the best sight reader ever. Because he was the most advanced pianist, technically and musically.


He was the most advanced pianist, technically and musically, because he was the best sight reader ever.

They are two sides to the same coin. You cannot be advanced technically and musically if your sight reading is poor. It's just not possible.

Tell me you get it now and I don't have to explain it again.

[gregh]

i agree with most of what you say, but im pretty sure you're wrong where you say you develop the ability to read ahead of your fingers naturally as you improve, i think u can imrpvoe that skill specifically if you really try. ive been practicing sightreading for just a few days and ive been forcing myself to read ahead and its becoming easier, definitely much more efficient practice than playing note by note for years

Well, that's good news, then! But maybe also bad news if it means that, depending on practice habits, it might not develop without deliberate effort.

So do what Swagmaster said, then, and give it a try.

[swagmaster420x]

How do you know they aren't as good in technique? If they can play a piece at sight better than you, then they have better technique then you. Pure and simple.

................... do u know what technique is

imagine this: one person practices piano by playing random simple pieces
one person practices piano by playing scales/hanon over and over (obviously they wont be needing to read music to do this, because it's just a simple pattern you repeat over and over)

the second person will definitely have more solid touch/more nimble fingers, i.e. better technique, because hes playing excercises that are specifically designed to improve finger speed and strenght
the first person will obviously be better at sight reading... cuz he reads music all the time while the second person doesn't

"if they can play a piece better than you, then they have better technique than you. Pure and simple."
it should be clear that the above statement is a gross oversimplification... how do I know if someone doesn't have as good technique? based on how clean their notes sound and how fast tthey can hit the keys. If I am able to hit the keys cleaner and more rapidly, I have better technique, "Pure and simple" < ----- to use your irritating, unnecessary, condescending sounding phrase you pulled out of ImAHugePrick.com

jk
jk that i was jk, l0l n00b

[awesom_o]

First of all, I know what technique is. I've just recorded all 24 Chopin Etudes!

I understand what you mean, of course.

But try and think beyond music in terms of wiggling fingers with great strength and dexterity for a moment. 

Are you able to play advanced music without having it memorized? A professional keyboard player will be able to do this with every single piece they know. They can also do this, albeit less fluently, with any piece in the repertoire that they do NOT know.


Do you practice regularly with the music in front of you?

[swagmaster420x]

First of all, I know what technique is. I've just recorded all 24 Chopin Etudes!

I understand what you mean, of course.

But try and think beyond music in terms of wiggling fingers with great strength and dexterity for a moment. 

Are you able to play advanced music without having it memorized? A professional keyboard player will be able to do this with every single piece they know. They can also do this, albeit less fluently, with any piece in the repertoire that they do NOT know.


Do you practice regularly with the music in front of you?

ye, i practice new pieces by playing the notes slowly one by one while looking at the music until i get the muscle memory. then i can play with using the sheet music as a reference. by reference, i mean im using the music not so much as a place for me to read from but as a reference that cues me in to parts i've pretty much burned into my muscle memory.

if theres a part that im still awkward with, it's a huge pain to practice because i have to keep plying it slowly over and over again... im realiziing that it's because im too tentative to push forward with the rhythm cuz im scared i'll burn wrong notes into my muscle memory

[awesom_o]

Honestly, everything you've written in the above post sounds good to me, swagmaster.

Attaining mastery over the keyboard takes a number of years. If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?

[swagmaster420x]

Honestly, everything you've written in the above post sounds good to me, swagmaster.

Attaining mastery over the keyboard takes a number of years. If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?

16, i used to not practice so much but i  was still pretty good for my age, then i broke my wrist and played even less. its really hard for me to perform now because i get so nervous, my hands shake

[awesom_o]

Well, I was a pretty crumby sight reader at your age.  It's been eight years for me since then, and in that time I've played a lot of music. I'm much better now.

Do you play any four hands music? Four hands is amazing for sight-reading ability because you have both hands in the same cleff, so being able to go back and forth from that to your solo repertoire makes you a beast.

You just need to find a four hands partner who you like and can go at the same speed with! All the best music in the world is arranged for four hands! All the symphonies of the masters!

[swagmaster420x]

Well, I was a pretty crumby sight reader at your age.  It's been eight years for me since then, and in that time I've played a lot of music. I'm much better now.

Do you play any four hands music? Four hands is amazing for sight-reading ability because you have both hands in the same cleff, so being able to go back and forth from that to your solo repertoire makes you a beast.

You just need to find a four hands partner who you like and can go at the same speed with! All the best music in the world is arranged for four hands! All the symphonies of the masters!

nope, sounds fun though, although i probably dont have enough time. im currently practicing toccata by york bowen, i think it s a pretty hard piece as well as shostakovich concerto f major, which is harder than i expected. anyways, i think four hands music would also be good for learning how to put together rhythms.

 the reason why im trying to get better at sight reading because im in IB music now, and i have to sight read piano music while playing with band, ofc its much easier with wind instrument because they have one note at a time.
i learned through experiences recently that im really bad at sightreading rhythms, thats definitely something i have to work on

[awesom_o]

Considering that when we sight read rhythmically complex material, we have to not only understand the correct rhythm but also find the right notes on the keyboard as well, yes.... it is very hard.

You need to have an excellent technique!

I am curious-do you improvise, ever?

[swagmaster420x]

Considering that when we sight read rhythmically complex material, we have to not only understand the correct rhythm but also find the right notes on the keyboard as well, yes.... it is very hard.

You need to have an excellent technique!

I am curious-do you improvise, ever?

nope, but i wish i was good at it like kyle landry

[theodore]

Hi Swagmaster:

How does one get familiar with the topography of the keyboard ? Are there any drills or techniques which make one practice spacial leaps, especially in the bass (left hand) ?  Some pianists hardly look at the keyboard. Is this skill due to repetition or is it through a planned motion and some sot of spacial memorization ??