Help ! How to improve sight reading

[sammmue]

Hi ! Alittle background. I learn piano when i was 7 to 9 but with no improve then I start learning again at 13 during 2010. So after 5 1/2 i finished my grade 8 with a decent score.

But I want to know how to improve my sight reading, because i can play grade 8 songs with ease but i take longer to learn so the problem is with my sight reading.

How do I improve ?
What songs should I train my sight reading?


Thank you !

[adodd81802]

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[pianotv]

Hello!

My sight reading used to be VERY poor compared to my playing level. I'm still not an amazing sight reader, but I'm significantly better than I used to be. I think the best way to improve is to just do it every single day. Devote 15 minutes or so to playing through a piece, or several pieces. I think it's best to start with easier repertoire, and then once you get better, slowly make it more difficult. Even going back and sight reading grade 1 pieces is good practice (moreso than trying to sight read very difficult pieces where you constantly have to pause).  The long-term results of this are great!

[groggy]

Good recommendations.

Go to the easiest level where you can successfully sight read getting notes in moderate time, not slow.  This may be grade 1 or even lower.  Every day sight read whole songs for 10 or 15 minutes. Do each song once, go on to the next one.  Play with success before making it harder.  You need to wire yourself to immediately recognize and figure out notes/fingering/rhythms.

I was paid by the learned page to play as a child and was greedy enough to play for hours, learning to sight read for money. I can sight read grade 8 - playing a piece 3 or 4 times to know a piece - which is to understand it lyrically and get the fingering. Sometimes I struggle to understand music lyrically which takes longer.  I only play from sheet music and know 1000's of pieces.  I have 6 grade 8 books I play cover to cover.  I am now trying to that in grade 9 books which is slower because of fingering and more notes.

[pianotv]

I was paid by the learned page to play as a child and was greedy enough to play for hours, learning to sight read for money. I can sight read grade 8 - playing a piece 3 or 4 times to know a piece - which is to understand it lyrically and get the fingering. Sometimes I struggle to understand music lyrically which takes longer.  I only play from sheet music and know 1000's of pieces.  I have 6 grade 8 books I play cover to cover.  I am now trying to that in grade 9 books which is slower because of fingering and more notes.

That's a pretty great system actually, I might have been a better sight reader with that.

[dcstudio]

money is a great motivator isn't it? 

I learned to sight-read by accompanying...  the longer I had to spend learning the pieces the less money per hour I would make.   So I started sight-reading every day...  and eventually I could do it pretty well...I am no super monster sight-reader and  I may leave out a note here and there...but.. whatever. lol  I still get paid

[coherence]

My sight-reading level used to be way, way below my playing level. (My first teacher had taught me to rely heavily on learning pieces hands-separately.) Then I picked up a hymnal and sight-read at least one piece a day, slowed down to a speed where I was just barely not making mistakes. By the time I got to the end (about a year), I could play a hymn on sight at a normal tempo, and my more difficult pieces at a slower one.

A big part of this was learning to intuitively "chunk" the chords and progressions, which the hymnal was a good choice for since choral music is so well-ordered. Rather than seeing "ok, I need to play this E, this G, this C" I learned to see "C Major, first inversion" (without *thinking* those words) and anticipate the chord after it.

Hymnals are also nice because you can adjust the difficulty down very easily -- ignore everything but the highest and lowest voice, for example.

[dcstudio]

I used to analyze the chord progression and write in the symbols above the treble clef to aid in my reading.  Even classical works...  that helped a whole lot--after a while I didn't need t write them in anymore.  I usually will take a moment if I am handed something to play--determine the chord progression, look for any big surprises...listen to the melody in my head a bit...  and then play it.  As I play I will say the chord progression in my head... I-vi-ii-V or whatever--sometimes I will say the chord names instead. This really reduces the song into very simple terms... then when you look at the sheet music--you are seeing the whole piece--not just a mass of black notes that must be deciphered,   

know your chords... and your scales, too.   People complain that its stupid to practice that stuff... but when you know your scales, and key signatures and arpeggios, and chords--all the notes within a given piece relate to each other...  your eye picks it right up... and so does your ear, and so do your fingers..

[polykaza]

You are able to sit down at a piano and just PLAY - Ballads, Pop, Blues, Jazz, Ragtime, even amazing Classical pieces. You can do it in months not years without wasting money, time and effort on traditional Piano Lessons.

[torandrekongelf]

What helped for me me is playing fugues by Bach. Polyphony music in several voices are pretty much the hardest stuff to read. So when I mastered to read that at a slighty better pace, sight reading Mozart and Beethoven felt alot easier.

[dcstudio]

You are able to sit down at a piano and just PLAY - Ballads, Pop, Blues, Jazz, Ragtime, even amazing Classical pieces. You can do it in months not years without wasting money, time and effort on traditional Piano Lessons.

are you referring to me personally? or people who sight-read in general...   because it doesn't  take months..not even days.  and I still waste plenty of money time and effort--just not on piano lessons...

or are you advocating a new method or perhaps a pill maybe that does this? lol. 

[groggy]

Something I have noticed about sight reading is that I generally use different fingering than is written. Frequently, I use more fingers.  A simple example is fingering like 12312 and I would use 12345 if it stopped going up at 5. I get the feeling my forth and fifth fingers are better then the fingering guys expect.  I will look at fingering to solve the occasional problem and becomes part of my memorization.

Sight reading well compliments my inability in memorizing a piece of music.  Really bad with names too.

[pencilart3]

https://sightreadingmastery.com/blog/4-sight-reading-tips-liszt-wants-you-to-know

[dcstudio]

those are excellent tips. 


for me... harmonic analysis was the key.  I used to have do so much of it in theory class that I kind of liked it and I would do it for fun. My eyes became very accustomed to recognizing block chords and inversions, and the progression would just jump right out at me.   At first it didn't help my reading because the information was stored visually... but when I started imagining and feeling the chords in my hands while I did my analysis...things got easier very quickly.

if you try this...and it works.   tell others 

[domain4325]

My personal method is very simple and effective, at least for me.

I simply play a variety of pieces, not just simply glazing over them, but to learn them till a "performance standard" piece. The idea is that, the more you play, the more adaptable the eye hand coordination gets. Being exposed to different note arrangements also helps in future reading!

The idea is that, when was the last time you read a novel? If you do not have the habit of reading, you will lose the ability to read through a book!

[outin]

The idea is that, when was the last time you read a novel? If you do not have the habit of reading, you will lose the ability to read through a book!

Not really...

[ulymoon]

My personal experience,

The secret formula of successful sight reading as I learned from some music experts and as I've first hand experienced:

[[read a piece at your learning level+ always look ahead (even if one note ahead)+never go back or stop]].

Notice that you need to develop short-term memory of what's coming next; that's what looking ahead enables you to do; it enables you to look for patterns and it forces your visual memory of what's coming next to get better.

Reading a piece more than once is a good idea (I mean two or three times), it helps you develop short-term memory of what's coming next and it reinforces your learning of patterns and quick recognition of notes.
A good idea is to play 10 pieces, one time each, then go back and do it again (you'd find that you forgot the first piece and it would seem a new piece for you).

Good luck

[dcstudio]

My personal experience,

The secret formula of successful sight reading as I learned from some music experts and as I've first hand experienced:

[[read a piece at your learning level+ always look ahead (even if one note ahead)+never go back or stop]].

Notice that you need to develop short-term memory of what's coming next; that's what looking ahead enables you to do; it enables you to look for patterns and it forces your visual memory of what's coming next to get better.

Reading a piece more than once is a good idea (I mean two or three times), it helps you develop short-term memory of what's coming next and it reinforces your learning of patterns and quick recognition of notes.
A good idea is to play 10 pieces, one time each, then go back and do it again (you'd find that you forgot the first piece and it would seem a new piece for you).

Good luck

yes!