Length of time required to first play through a new piece?

[lyricpiece]

I can play pieces at around a 5/6 Level, but my sight-reading is so poor that it usually takes me a great deal of time to even begin to stumble through each measure of a piece. As a result, I end up needing to attempt to learn a few measures each day and build slowly off of that.

Is this something that is commonly experienced?

How long does it usually take to begin learning a piece? What I mean is, how much effort does it usually take for an intermediate/advanced-level pianist to play through a new piece successfully (by sight-reading), before they have fully memorized it?

[j_menz]

There is no standard "piece", so your question is not possible to answer.

[outin]

It takes what it takes and usually far too long. Sometimes 2 pages can take me 2-3 months. I'm extremely slow in memorizing. I've seen others done the same in 2 weeks. So it's highly individual as well.

[alistaircrane4]

Having never taken any lessons myself it's interesting to note that I personally have never had this problem thinking about it now. I remember learning Chopin's Third Ballade, I got the first page done in one day of practicing. By done I mean memorized and played correctly and interpreted. In my experience I find worrying about interpretation after you finish learning a piece is bad because you can subconsciously can repeat something you did during the learning phase. But I've seen my contemporaries struggle with this issue. It took one person I know a good four months to learn the Rachmaninoff Op.3 No.2. These were only during four months that I observed him he may have been learning earlier on. It's different for everyone basically. I took a few weeks to learn most of the Chopin Nocturne Op.27 no.1 practicing only a half hour about every other day but I stopped midway due to illness. Everyone has their own paces and I find it harming to compare your own pace to the pace of others due to the fact that it might discourage you.

[pianoplunker]

I can play pieces at around a 5/6 Level, but my sight-reading is so poor that it usually takes me a great deal of time to even begin to stumble through each measure of a piece. As a result, I end up needing to attempt to learn a few measures each day and build slowly off of that.

I used to say the same thing about playing at a higher level than sight-reading. But now I think it has more to do with general piano knowledge and experience. I think sightreading is directly tied to your overall skill on the instrument. I have been "studying" only sight reading lately. No stopping to get it right - and what I have found is that I can sightread much better if I have some familiarity with the style. Looking at the keys is the doom of ever being able to sight read , even if it is finger excersises or scales, I think looking at the keys during that really scewed up my ability to sight read. I almost am thinking about re-visiting Hanon but without looking at keys. I always take time when learning a piece to play without looking but I think one must also do that with all the excersises. Basically I want to make sightreading the apex. If I can play level 5 , then I should be able to sight read  level 5.

[j_menz]

If I can play level 5 , then I should be able to sight read  level 5.

So a piece you are capable of learning in a reasonable period of time (which is what being able to play a piece of a particular degree of difficulty generally means), you should also be able to play without any practice at all (sightreading)? Ain't gona happen.

[chopinlover01]

Most "average" sight readers can accurately sight read 2-3 grades below their current level. Better readers can go less. Worse readers need a few more level drops.

[thorn]

In most cases I can sight read the gist on first sitting. If I can't sight read on the first sitting I usually struggle technically when actually learning the music.  

Sight reading is a bit of an Achilles heel for me. I have to make a conscious effort to actually *play* things rather than what I call "gisting" them. I used to have terrible problems with practice discipline and sticking to the pieces I was meant to be learning. I basically used to photocopy the piece I was learning, leave my scores at my parents house and give the photocopy to my teacher who would only let me have the specific pages I was working on.

Then I'd still go and cheekily borrow a couple of scores from the library. I was a nightmare >.< But yeah that's why I can sight read!

[pianoplunker]

So a piece you are capable of learning in a reasonable period of time (which is what being able to play a piece of a particular degree of difficulty generally means), you should also be able to play without any practice at all (sightreading)? Ain't gona happen.

I am not saying quite that. In order to sight read at whatever level would require enough practice at that level to acquire all the fundamentals and techniques for that level. Taking time to learn a piece is fine, there is no suggestion not to practice.  If I can sight read at level 3, but can play reasonable well at level 6 with some practice, then why can't I sight read level 4, or 5 ? I think it is because I need more practice and study with level 4 and 5 stuff. 

[cwjalex]

it takes me a ridiculous amount of time to learn new pieces but i think it's because i've been playing for about a year and a half.  i can play most grade 8 pieces but i can only sight read at probably grade 2 MAYBE 3 if i'm being generous. i have been thinking a lot about the fact that it takes me so long to learn pieces and i'm hoping it's just something that will get better with time.  i played guitar for several years before piano so my hands could move well but knowing where to move my fingers was and still is my biggest problem.  when i'm learning grade 8 pieces i'm sometimes playing certain measures for hours and hours before it feels comfortable. 

what i have been doing recently is playing through many pages of easy repertoire.  playing a few measures of difficult material over and over again may be improving my technique but it does virtually nothing for my sight reading ability.  this is why i've been playing through a lot of different easy pieces so i am constantly reading. it's a bit frustrating because with the guitar i can see a new piece and instantly play it but with piano it feels like the first week i picked up the guitar and it's such a slow process.