Sight reading questions

[ttpiano]

I've been practicing sight reading on my own and had a couple questions.

1. Is it better to play slow and accurately, or should I attempt to play the sight reading pieces at a regular tempo even if I make a ton of mistakes?

2. How many times can I sight read the same piece? If I have a book that I go through in 3 days, is it okay to go back to the beginning of the book and re-read the pieces again, or should I move onto a completely different book of pieces?

Thank you for any advice!

[j_menz]

1. Is it better to play slow and accurately, or should I attempt to play the sight reading pieces at a regular tempo even if I make a ton of mistakes?

Somewhat in between. You should be able to play it at a reasonable tempo and without too many mistakes (what that means varies with context and purpose). If you can't do that, change the piece (to a simpler one) rather than the approach.

2. How many times can I sight read the same piece? If I have a book that I go through in 3 days, is it okay to go back to the beginning of the book and re-read the pieces again, or should I move onto a completely different book of pieces?

Depends on your memory. If it's all still fairly "new", you're pretty much sight reading. If it feels familiar, you're not - you're just reading.

That said, reading (unmemorised) works is good sight reading practice, so do some of that as well as strict sight reading.

[ttpiano]

Thanks j_menz, that's very helpful.

[quantum]

There are multiple elements to sight reading, and both approaches will help isolate the development of certain skills. 

I would also suggest sight reading with an ensemble partner.  This will develop your skill at prioritizing tasks.  Combinations like piano duets, piano + voice, piano + violin, etc.

[brogers70]

I think it depends on what is the limiting factor in your sight reading. For me, my problem was (is) that I have trouble knowing where the keys are without looking. My teacher suggested just reading fairly difficult things at tempo even if I only hit 5% of the notes. That, I think, is the right response for someone who knows where the keys are, and can read the notes quickly, but is inhibited by fear of not getting it perfect. That approach did not help me at all. Instead I read simple things really slowly without looking at my hands. In fact before that, I just went through all the scales with my eyes closed. That has helped my sight reading a lot. Eventually I'll get to the point where I'm limited by how well my eyes move between bass and treble staves, or by fear of error and I'll have to do something different, maybe even try to read Beethoven sonatas at tempo as my teacher suggest. But not yet.

[j_menz]

Eventually I'll get to the point where I'm limited by how well my eyes move between bass and treble staves,

Haha, wait until your attempting three or four of them.