I need to improve sight reading skills

[spenstar]

I have never practiced sight reading except maybe a few hymns for church. Anyways, I'm pretty terrible at it and can't even sight ready easy stuff perfectly. I have never practiced it because learning recital pieces I always just memorized them right off the bat. So obviously I need to practice sight reading... What is the best way to go about doing this?

[themeandvariation]

Hi Spenstar,
The church hymn books are a great place to get started, if they are not too complex to start with, meaning that you are able to keep a relatively steady beat - even at a slow tempo..
What's also good about hymn books, is  there are like 700 hymns - so you could do 5, 10 or 20, each day, and not exhaust there book for quite some time… They are usually about the same difficulty, so by the time you reach the end, your natural tempo will have picked up noticeable. or your sense of ease, greater.
After that, try Bach…  48 , etc…..

[adodd81802]

.

[michael_c]

Lastly, and this was advised from Josh Wright and I agree with it, feel free to sight read a piece a couple of times. It is still sight reading, and the general idea of sight reading is to improve recognition of notes, which is more easily done if you work with the same combinations multiple times.

This is a good idea. I would go a step further: take a piece you do not know and first read through it silently, not at the piano. Reading is about pattern recognition. See if you can recognise familiar rhythmic elements, melodic elements or harmonies. Then try to sing the melody (always without the piano). Also look for anything that might be tricky: a change of key, some sudden fast notes, a rhythm you aren't used to, or a passage with a lot of accidentals.

Now sit down at the piano and read through the piece. Do your best to keep a constant tempo, but don't make it too fast! Concentrate on the essentials: rhythm, melody, harmony. When you've read through it, take a moment to reflect on how it went. Were there passages where you lost the tempo? Did you catch all the important accidentals? Were there passages where you totally panicked?

Now read through it again. You might play it a bit faster, but this isn't the most important thing. The second time through, try to pay more attention to expression and dynamics. Try to get to the essential of what's important in the piece.

As to the choice of pieces to read, be adventurous! Of course it's good to read pieces that are within your technical limits, but sometimes it can both fun and instructive to try something that's probably too hard for you, even if you play it slowly with loads of mistakes. The important thing is to read good music and try to instantly make sense of it. When you get to the stage where reading through a piece gives you a pleasurable, emotional musical experience, nothing will stop you: you can spend countless hours going on wonderful voyages of discovery.

I saw that somebody had invented an app that was meant to help with sight reading. It would give you ever-changing random combinations of notes and rhythms. The idea was that you would be really, really sight reading since it was sure that you would always be presented with a combination of notes you had never seen before. I think this is a dreadful idea: it's like trying to learn to read a language by ploughing through random combinations of letters. To learn to read, you need to read things that make sense, that tell a story. With music, it's the same.

[briansaddleback]

Reason why I don't recommend hymn books for sight reading is bc the pages they are on and also there usually are song words printed in between the bass and treble clef. This makes it extremely difficult to sight read it as your eyes will be constantly jumping up and down. I recommend if they were printed regularly like sheet music if there is a way to purchase it from some publisher

[themeandvariation]

Brian, that is true.. but one quickly gets over that.. (i think)..
The other advantage to the hymn book, is that the movements of the hand positions are minimal, so one doesn't have to (very much) let the eyes leave the page.. and to get used to 'feeling around' … this is very helpful to the development..
Also, it may be more polyphonic, which is also a strengthener...

[adodd81802]

.

[michael_c]

I have heard others swear by hymns and chorals to develop sight reading

If you read only hymns and chorals, you will (unsurprisingly) get particularly good at reading hymns, chorals and similar stuff. You'll get a good grounding in traditional harmony and a feel for voice leading, but not so much help for other styles of music. You won't learn many varied rhythms, nor will you have any practice in reading typically pianistic figurations.

Look for music in all sorts of styles. Collections of pieces for learners, baroque pieces, dance music, jazz, film music, anything you can lay your hands on. Get hold of old ABRSM syllabuses if you want some help choosing the appropriate technical level.

[perfect_pitch]

Always aim to maintain tempo, so be realistic and pick a tempo at which you can sight read the fastest part of the score (despite what people tell you, sight reading is still sight reading even if you have looked at the score already)

That's probably the only point I would disagree with. If you have looked through the score already, then technically parts of it may be just memory recollection.

For me, sight-reading is literally looking at a score I've never seen ever and trying to play through it.

But your other points are very useful for the OP.

[michael_c]

For me, sight-reading is literally looking at a score I've never seen ever and trying to play through it.

Sight reading is a whole set of skills. Playing totally "prima vista", as you describe above, is the hardest and most stressful form of sight reading, and sometimes we have to do it. But in most cases we do get at least a short chance to look through the music before playing it. Learning to do this in an efficient manner is also part of sight reading.

In years of playing rehearsals in a large opera theatre with an extensive, ever-changing and often very difficult repertoire I have spent many hours sight reading at the piano: there just isn't time to practice everything. If you're in a rehearsal ploughing through a new piece, there can certainly be moments where you are really playing something you have never seen before without any preparation at all.

But as soon as the director stops to explain something to the singers, you have a moment to look ahead. Quick: what are the next important things coming up? You look for a key change, you check out a passage that seems to be drowning in accidentals (oh, I see, the composer has just modulated into Db minor: how practical), you look with horror at a section marked prestissimo (OK, I'm not going to play those left-hand arpeggios, let's see how I can simplify them). Being able to use this short time in the most efficient way is one of the most important skills of a good sight reader.

You're just working out how you are going to fake a particularly nasty-looking bit when you hear something like "OK, we'll take it from the point where she drops the spaghetti" (have you been paying attention to the staging while you were playing?). We work out where that is in the music and we're off again. You are now playing a section that you've just played, but you certainly didn't have time to memorise it as you were reading it. You have a bit more of an idea of what's going on, but you are still sight reading.

[evannn]

Doing everything above is a good idea. Try out the suggestions for a while, and once you see which ones work best for you, do them.

What you sight read depends heavily on your personal preferences and goals. If you want to pick up any piece of music and play it, then you'll need to practice sight reading on a lot of different genres of music. If you want to play music that is in one particular style and aren't fussed about the others, then do this focus on this one type of music. I find I can sight read Classical and Romantic era pieces quite well, because that's what I play and practice sight reading on mostly, but give me some Russian music like Bartok, and I can sight reading some of the easiest pieces - but then I never intend to play Bartok, since I'm not a fan of him.

This being said, playing different styles of music (romantic, classical, jazz, folk, modern etc), even if your focusing on one style, will benefit you, in that you'll get more accustomed to playing music that looks/sounds completely unfamiliar to you.

Here's some free sight reading stuff I found a while back:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Sight_Reading_Exercises,_Op.45_(Sartorio,_Arnoldo)
https://www.soundswell.co.uk/pages/swsightr.htm
https://imslp.org/wiki/Mikrokosmos,_Sz.107_(Bart%C3%B3k,_B%C3%A9la)
https://www.belmont.edu/music/admissionaudition/piano_sightreading.html

And as someone recommended above, czerny's progressive studies:
https://imslp.org/wiki/100_Progressive_Studies,_Op.139_(Czerny,_Carl)

[quantum]

Reason why I don't recommend hymn books for sight reading is bc the pages they are on and also there usually are song words printed in between the bass and treble clef. This makes it extremely difficult to sight read it as your eyes will be constantly jumping up and down.

Which is excellent training for sight reading - even more so a reason to play through hymn books. You don't want your eyes glued to one spot on the page, or the note you are currently playing.  You want to mobilize your eyes across the entire page.  Sight reading involves mentally organizing and prioritizing items on a page: sometimes you need to mentally separate all the other stuff from your part, sometimes the other part is more important than your own part.  If you ever accompany singing, ignoring text is a very bad idea - just because you don't play text on the piano doesn't mean it is unimportant to the piano part.  

[evannn]

A good theory base I find useful personally.

Understanding a piece from a theory standpoint can make playing it a lot easier. If you have time to go over a piece and analyse chord progressions, cadences, harmonic/melodic decorations, modulations etc, then playing it will be easier. If you don't analyse it, then still playing it and understanding the basics of the theory behind the piece will make your life a lot easier also.

At least that's what I find, and I'm guessing other people find similar results.

[reiyza]

Doing everything above is a good idea. Try out the suggestions for a while, and once you see which ones work best for you, do them.





Here's some free sight reading stuff I found a while back:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Sight_Reading_Exercises,_Op.45_(Sartorio,_Arnoldo)
https://www.soundswell.co.uk/pages/swsightr.htm
https://imslp.org/wiki/Mikrokosmos,_Sz.107_(Bart%C3%B3k,_B%C3%A9la)
https://www.belmont.edu/music/admissionaudition/piano_sightreading.html

And as someone recommended above, czerny's progressive studies:
https://imslp.org/wiki/100_Progressive_Studies,_Op.139_(Czerny,_Carl)

Hmm, since bartok's mikrokosmos is brought up, did any of you guys use it? How did you guys find it's musicality? I know it's easy to read judging from it's progressiveness, but I couldn't understand what I was playing. I have been using czerny 599, 139 and one or two mozart sonatas to practice reading, but alas, no improvement whatsoever. Czerny beginner books are good but I find them somewhat lacking in areas of the bass clef. (or maybe I haven't just reached the sections that has bass clef etudes)

[xdjuicebox]

This approach isn't for everyone, but it most certainly worked for me. I'm sure you can find a pdf online.

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Sight-Reading-Secrets-Step-Step/dp/0961596309

The part that especially did it for me was that he had a step by step routine for you to develop the ability to play without looking at your hands which REALLY helped

[kalospiano]

some good material has been provided already, but I believe the most comprehensive collection of links can be found on a spanish piano forum. I'm copy-pasting the whole thing here:

-F. Beyer 101: https://imslp.org/wiki/Vorschule_im_Klavierspiel,_Op.101_(Beyer,_Ferdinand)
-C- Czerny 777: https://imslp.org/wiki/Les_Cinq_Doigts,_Op.777_(Czerny,_Carl)
-Michael Kravchuck: https://michaelkravchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Two-Hand-Five-Finger-Sight-Reading.pdf
-Himnos: https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/english/pdf/callings/music/hymns-made-easy/Hymns_000_HymnsMadeEasy_eng.pdf?lang=eng
-piezas varias: https://makhorina-music.narod.ru/Beginners.html
-ejercicios de super: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZf_1SRHe7M70zyi-1GDor2fc205LtLOTsUVqAuu94s/edit?pli=1#gid=1
-Czerny 823: https://imslp.org/wiki/Le_petit_pianiste,_Op.823_%28Czerny,_Carl%29
-Himnos Navidad: https://openhymnal.org/OpenHymnalChristmas2012.pdf
-The Open Hymnal 2012: https://openhymnal.org/OpenHymnal2012.10.pdf
-The Bible Hymnal: https://www.t-cog.org/Articles/hymnal.pdf
-Duetos a primera vista: https://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/5/54/IMSLP91146-SIBLEY1802.13217.5caa-39087011192087score.pdf
-Himnos Cristianos: https://ia600500.us.archive.org/22/items/MN41363ucmf_3/MN41363ucmf_3.pdf
-Open Hymnal2011: https://openhymnal.org/OpenHymnalEaster2011.pdf
-Corales Bach: Bach Chorales]https://www.jsbchorales.net/down/sets/pdfpno.zip]Bach Chorales
-Mas corales de Bach: More Bach Chorales]ttp://www.el-atril.com/partituras/Bach%20JS/Corales_de_J.S.Bach.rar]More Bach Chorales
-Mas himnos: Hymn Arrangements for the LDS Pianist]https://chapelmusiconline.com/shop/Download/245]Hymn Arrangements for the LDS Pianist
-Holiday Hymns: Holiday Hymn Preludes (Piano) book]https://chapelmusiconline.com/shop/Download/244]Holiday Hymn Preludes (Piano) book
-ejercicios de christian schafer:
-libro 1 https://imslp.nl/imglnks/usimg/2/26/IMSLP275063-PMLP446702-Sch__fer_Sight_R._Exercises_1.pdf
-libro 3 https://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/7a/IMSLP275079-PMLP446702-Sch__fer_Sight_Reading_2.pdf
-este habla sobre tecnicas de lectura: https://www.mtna.org/media/52222/2013_article_of_the_year.pdf
-Schmoll: https://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/b/b2/IMSLP346710-PMLP559986-Schmoll-Album_de_Lecture.pdf
-este tampoco tiene ejercicios sin que habla de distintos temas: https://anthonymaydwell.com/Faith%20Maydwell/images/SightReading.pdf
-standard graded course - william smythe: https://imslp.org/wiki/Standard_Graded_Course_of_Studies_for_the_Pianoforte_%28Mathews,_William_Smythe_Babcock%29

Puedes echar un vistazo a la hoja que enlacé en este comentario:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2535&start=24#p27073
También puedes añadir el Czerny 823
Aquí tienes 354 ejercicios de 5 dedos: https://michaelkravchuk.com/wp-content/u ... eading.pdf
Himnos simplificados: https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/e ... f?lang=eng
Más madera: https://makhorina-music.narod.ru/Beginners.html




To which I can add the very good book below:

https://imslp.org/wiki/Gradus,_Progressive_Piano_Repertoire_in_12_Volumes_(Manookian,_Jeff)

And of course the already mentioned Mikrokosmos (which honestly I didn't find very musical).

Last but not least, I believe nowadays we can take advantage of the new technologies :-)
Here's a software that you can use if you have a digital keyboard that you can connect as MIDI to the PC:
https://www.jalmus.net/-Jalmus-software-.html?lang=en
It has various types of training, and it recognizes whether you're playing right or not.
This other one is pretty much the same thing but doesn't require a download as it's completely on the website page:
https://leafo.net/sight-reading/

Good luck with your sight reading practice!

[pianocat3]

Wow thank you for the link to Gradus progressive repertoire!  I have been working on sight reading and transposing and it takes quite a bit of time looking around for enough material if I'm only going to play through a couple times. My teacher thinks I will eventually be very good at this and claims there is demand for pianists who can sight read and transpose well. I'm thinking she means small things like accompanying high school kids, playing the score to a musical in community theatre sort of thing but I didn't get into detail on that since I still am a rotten player ;-)   Too bad I don't have a tablet computer, so instead I'll be printing off lots of music! I do plan to hit the library too, see if I can bum an old hymn book off someone too.

I see Faber has a series by Paul Harris, improve your sight reading. Anyone tried it? The look thru I can get on Amazon, it looks similar to a music teacher's association book I'm borrowing, but maybe there is unique help.

[pianoplunker]

I have never practiced sight reading except maybe a few hymns for church. Anyways, I'm pretty terrible at it and can't even sight ready easy stuff perfectly. I have never practiced it because learning recital pieces I always just memorized them right off the bat. So obviously I need to practice sight reading... What is the best way to go about doing this?

What I have been working on to help improve is not looking at the keys, even when doing scales or arpeggio warm-ups.  The church are hymns are good like others have said, mainly because no large leaps or fast complicated passages. It might be a good start to learn how you recognize a pattern and play it. However, if all you do is practice sightreading hymns, you will be very good at sightreading hymns. Very important to diversify. Try lots of smaller pieces or exercises. Maybe even try the online sheetmusic stores. They usually offer a free glimpse at a page of music. Try music that is syncopated.

[jozart]

HI Spenstar, some thoughts on reading...church music is a little difficult because of multiple
verses between the staves. I would try graded piano works starting at a level you can handle. However, if you get a chance to work for a church it will be an opportunity for growth in this area.  Maybe check the libraries for piano books.
   
If you have good foundation in theory, that will help. Sometimes you need to fill in some notes to keep everything going. Also, look for cadences to help keep track of phrases. To be successful you need to keep going without stops. If you stop you fail! Expect to miss a few notes and when you do it will be best if you release the sustain pedal.  Sometimes you may need to drop some LH notes and keep a melody line going if it gets really complex.   

Before starting to play, review the piece for unexpected events such as meter change, key changes, etc. Then set a tempo you can handle. After you start, Keep your eyes moving, always looking ahead. DO NOT LOOK DOWN at the keys. A good  exercise for playing without looking at keys is to play your memorized pieces at night without lights. Keep your hands close to the keys and be aware of the black keys.

Best advice....Play a lot...Continually look ahead...Don't stop!

[larasmusic]

You're definitely not alone! I am currently creating an online program that specifically addresses this all too common problem--sight reading.

The main points are to keep a daily practice habit and get loads of music that is easy for you to read. Read each piece only twice and whatever you do, don't stop! You'll notice a very nice improvement in just a couple months.

Try it for free by signing up here: www.larasmusic.com and let me know how you do!

[musiclessonsanywhere]

Paul Harris has a good range of books called Improve Your Sight-reading, these books are in 9 levels and are full of tips, rhythmic and melodic exercises. 

[redheadrebby]

I've always found that just picking up any music off our shelf and trying it at a slow tempo helped. It's worth doing this with a range of genres/periods as they all help differently.

For me, the best thing was using books of pieces at a lower level than I usually played, but that were often simplified arrangements of well-known pieces. The series of books 'All the tunes you've ever wanted to play' were particularly good for me.

Hope this is useful