Sight Reading tips and advice

[pianist7s]

Hello Everyone

I'm Marlon Brown and I been playing the piano for almost 3 years, I am self taught and can play by ear. I can play Beethoven - Fur Elise, Bach Prelude in C major, Mozart Sonata k.545  Adele - Someone Like You, Half of Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement, some of Mozart - Turkish March, C.P.E. Bach - Solfeggietto in C minor, some of River Flows In You. Most of my piece still need improvements but I will work on those later. But I memorize all of them, I have taken a piano class in my freshman year of college 2 years ago. That piano class did help me learn basic of Music Theory and also learn notes for Treble Clef. I have problem learning and memorize the Bass Clef notes that's my weakness and also of course sight reading.

 My goal is to learn to sight read the correct way instead of reading the notes in note names, because that's another way of how I was able to play those difficult piece I listed above.

 I did took piano lesson from private teacher few months ago. But the problem was that teacher didn't help me with my sight reading. So, I left her and decide to find another teacher. I'll be meeting with my new teacher on Tuesday. She did ask me what was my goal, I told her to be able to put any music in front of me and to play it. I have tons of time to practice and I always practice everyday for 1 to 2 hrs a day.


Just wants some tips and advice toward sight reading. I do have few books from my previous piano teacher and I been reading and studying those too.


If anyone would like to see playing the piano:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6sS5afS5nIwtDRya2Uhrg

[erikd2y]

Just take some easier pieces to start with (like the Adele one), increase the difficulty and you'll learn how to sight read, even if it takes a lot of time and patience. Or you can also just learn to recognize every note like you learn to read letters, but that's the boring way.

[xdjuicebox]

Learn your chords! The vast majority of music is tonal, and learning chords could simplify things from reading notes to reading chords, which is way faster.

[pianoplunker]

Learn your chords! The vast majority of music is tonal, and learning chords could simplify things from reading notes to reading chords, which is way faster.

I agree with this advice about knowing the chords. That way you can also understand broken chords vs. note by note. Such as Moonlight Sonata, Someone like you. When I read Someone like you, I dont read A  C# E - G# C# E - I read it as A major, C#minor.  I dont consider myself a great sight reader but I get much further knowing the chord that the notes make up. Eventually you can get to a point where you can get a simple lead sheet with only the chords listed and figure out by EAR if you understand the notes of the chords.   Either way it will do you well to know the chords and inversions.     

[pianist7s]

Okay thanks everyone. I met my piano teacher and she's amazing. She pick a page out of my piano book and was able to sight read both hands and did decent. But going to sight lots of different music everyday.

[wynton]

I fully agree  with pianoplunker that learning the chord system is a big step on the way to good sightreading and to the use of lead sheets.  However, to take it a step further, how do we proceed from just playing block chords in the left hand which quickly becomes boring, to create a good accompaniment.

[pianoplunker]

I fully agree  with pianoplunker that learning the chord system is a big step on the way to good sightreading and to the use of lead sheets.  However, to take it a step further, how do we proceed from just playing block chords in the left hand which quickly becomes boring, to create a good accompaniment.

Passing tones can make block chords more interesting in an accompaniment. But the way we use the chords is the heart and soul of creativity and musicality. Sometimes we dont want block chords completely, too many notes. Sometimes block chords are what we want. It is all about voicing and resolution as well. I dont like just saying it depends, but it depends. 

[lostinidlewonder]

Find music you are able to sight read, this might be very very easy music compared to what you currently play. Start as easy as possible with your piece selection so you can read without problems. From here you can build, it takes a lot of humbling to lower your level but this is the best place to develop. There are methods to practice reading with more challenging pieces but in my professional opinion I would say studying hundreds of easier pieces, this will help you a great deal more to start out with.

[coolpianoman]

I absolutely agree about learning the chords and am trying to improve my music theory right now for that very reason.  However in my experience another key requirement is to have a thorough understanding of the geography of the keyboard so you dont look down.  It is called sight reading - now if you read a book by looking away from the text every few words you would be constantly trying to find your place again and so it is with sight reading music. I have sometimes covered up the keyboard of my digital piano with a cardboard strip raised by wire - would not do that near my Steinway B though.  I know people who have put things on glasses too.  You can also put a block under the lid of the piano and play in the gap.  Try it with the scales.  Most of us have to look down whan playing the extremities of the keyboard but you should be able to develop a keen sense of where the notes are for the middle reaches. The other technique is learning to read ahead but I personally find that very hard - my teacher reads at least a bar ahead if not two or a whole line!

[coolpianoman]

Find music you are able to sight read, this might be very very easy music compared to what you currently play. Start as easy as possible with your piece selection so you can read without problems. From here you can build, it takes a lot of humbling to lower your level but this is the best place to develop. There are methods to practice reading with more challenging pieces but in my professional opinion I would say studying hundreds of easier pieces, this will help you a great deal more to start out with.

What published selections would you recommend please?

[visitor]

good place to start is to plow through as many sonatina sets and albums as possible,
https://imslp.org/wiki/6_Wiener_Sonatinen_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)

clementi, Beethoven, etc.

[coolpianoman]

nice idea mate but at my level these are serious study pieces not the type of easy repertoire I need for sight reading where I can get through a short piece slowly with right notes in time with no mistakes.   

[visitor]

if your current standard is such that those are too much you are left w a few options
1. purchase as many progressive lessons books for other programs other than your own, ie if you are doing Alfreds, then get Bastein and Michael aaron books, etc. and get them at a level below your own so if you are Alfred's 3, then getting Bastein 1 and 2 and Michael Aaron 1 and 2 would be a good start
2. push as much as you can to improve your current standard to open you up to more literature since you are goinig to be limited to learning pieces from beginner books in the meantime. Or just go to the sheet music store and buy as many beginner 'recital' individual pieces or collections as possible.

[coolpianoman]

Thanks for your reply but I am sure there must be suggestions of collections and selections somewhere in between early grade piano courses and the sonatas of Beethoven which even Brendel gave up performing in his later years that one can run through for sight reading - just need to find some. a visit to a music store is in order I think.

[lostinidlewonder]

What published selections would you recommend please?

The internet has many selections for free a much cheaper option, you need to find pieces that are personally easy for you. For a start maybe google: "Free easy piano sheet music"

[bjenkins24]

There are some things that a good teacher can suggest to help you be a better sight reader, but in the end it just comes down to you to just sight read. My first suggestion is to get a hymn book! Open up to a random page every day and play a couple hymns. Pretty simple.

Even if it's way too hard for you at first, that's fine. Just keep doing it daily. There are many different things that will help you be a better sight reader beyond just reading as well. You might want to check out a couple of articles that illustrate this a little better:

https://www.bulletproofmusician.com/are-great-sight-readers-born-or-made/
https://yourmusiclessons.com/blog/how-to-sight-read/

The last one is my article. I've written a pretty extensive article about what you need to do to get better there.

[coolpianoman]

OK here are a few thoughts on site reading
Learn the chords as they just keep coming up in the key you are playing (already mentioned)
Be totally conversant with rhythms so you can spot them instantly
Look for patterns in the music and clusters of notes 
Sight read a number of easy pieces a day at a speed where you can do it note perfect preferably against a metronome so there is no going back and irrespective of how fast they should go - I have started doing about 20 pages every day and the difference after a few weeks is notable
Don't look down - you could not read a book effectively if you kept on looking away as it would take ages to find your place again.  Same with the piano - learn the geography of the piano so you are not continually looking up and down.
Get the habit of reading ahead (the one I find hardest) if possible get your teacher or someone who reads music to cover up the notes as you play - sorry before you play he he
Plenty of good sight reading tutorials which are grade rated - get some

Above all do a lot of it - duets are great for that and accompaniment too.

Chris