Sight Reading Frustration

[inkspot]

Ah, so first for some background:
I am technically low vision due to some hereditary nerve damage in my left eye. This causes apt of visual problems for me as far as reading goes, as when my functioning eye gets tired, I get visual symptoms mimicking something similar to what a dyslexic might go through. I do wear glasses, but because the problem is with the optic nerve, there is only so much glasses can do.

That said:
I am a bit at a loss now with sight reading. I have completely plateaued in progress and it is keeping me from learning repertoire in a reasonable amount of time, as I have to rely on quick memorization. For larger and more complicated pieces, this isn't a good option. It is also very limiting as far as gaining opportunities to play with other musicians where sight reading would otherwise be required.

I have practiced sight-reading with a metronome, which worked up to a point, but that too has plateaued. There is always a certain speed or certain skill level I cannot get over in spite of the hours put it.

What I wanted to know from everyone here, especially those of you who have learned to become good sight-readers, is how you learned to get where you are. What methods did you find most helpful? How did you push yourself in a reasonable way? What kind of repertoire did you use? Are there any other tools besides just reading music that you found helpful? Do you know anyone with visual difficulties or dyslexia that found a specific type of method or training helpful to them?

Thank you in advance-- I really appreciate any suggestions.

[outin]

Do you know anyone with visual difficulties or dyslexia that found a specific type of method or training helpful to them.

I have such issues myself. While my reading skills may have gotten better with practice, I still cannot really play for long from a score due to visual fatique.

I do find it helpful to enlarge all scores so that there's only 2-3 rows on one A4 page. But there's a downside: A lot of page turns:(

Also very bright light helps, so at home I have installed flourescent tubes above the piano. Unfortunately in most other places where I play there's never enough light. Spotlights or piano lamps won't help, they just create disturbing shadows.

[inkspot]

I have such issues myself. While my reading skills may have gotten better with practice, I still cannot really play for long from a score due to visual fatique.

I do find it helpful to enlarge all scores so that there's only 2-3 rows on one A4 page. But there's a downside: A lot of page turns:(

Also very bright light helps, so at home I have installed flourescent tubes above the piano. Unfortunately in most other places where I play there's never enough light. Spotlights or piano lamps won't help, they just create disturbing shadows.

Yes the page turns are always a problem, especially for the more advanced repertoire. Also, I find that at some point, enlarging the music makes my reading sluggish in a different way-- almost like my eyes take too long to get from one measure to the next.

Funny story about shadows: I was playing at a recital at university once with these horrible blue and orange stage lights that made the piano look like it had a triple keyboard. That was more than nerve wracking.

[inkspot]

You know, I was also just thinking for anyone who reads this: a large problem is differentiating between whether a note is going up or down when in a step-wise motion, or how much the note moved when its a jump. Chords and scale runs I usually read the shape of, but for more intricate passages such as those found in Chopin, it can be incredibly difficult.

I mean, essentially, it just takes a while for my eyes to process where a note has gone, making my reading slow. Its not a note-recognition problem, but an approximation problem. I don't register well where a note is relative to the ones corroding it.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense. I am getting a little desperate on the matter because it so greatly impacts my music. I am a fast memorizer so i can get by, but not nearly as well as I could be if I could figure out a way to fix m sight-reading. Also, its impossible to play chamber music or accompany with any kind of skill unless I find a way to resolve this problem.

[j_tour]

Am I the only one who occasionally makes copies of music, and tapes them together so as to avoid turning pages for a longer piece I haven't memorized?

I confess as I get older my eyesight is not improving, so, yes, my sympathies for those who encounter frequently the well-known issue of, after a few hours of reading, the notes just becoming more blob-like and it getting harder to see the details needed.  Bach and Debussy are the worst offenders among tonal music -- they have a way of lulling you into a false confidence, since many of their pieces don't look like the dense, many-sharped-key horror of some of Scriabin's études.

[outin]

You know, I was also just thinking for anyone who reads this: a large problem is differentiating between whether a note is going up or down when in a step-wise motion, or how much the note moved when its a jump. Chords and scale runs I usually read the shape of, but for more intricate passages such as those found in Chopin, it can be incredibly difficult.

I mean, essentially, it just takes a while for my eyes to process where a note has gone, making my reading slow. Its not a note-recognition problem, but an approximation problem. I don't register well where a note is relative to the ones corroding it.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense. I am getting a little desperate on the matter because it so greatly impacts my music. I am a fast memorizer so i can get by, but not nearly as well as I could be if I could figure out a way to fix m sight-reading. Also, its impossible to play chamber music or accompany with any kind of skill unless I find a way to resolve this problem.

I have very similar issues and I've been told such issues are commonly linked with dyscalculia, which I have. It is extremely frustrating and I know how you feel...I wish I could help but I have not found any answers myself.

[inkspot]

Just read about colored glasses as a possible way of helping reading? Has anyone heard of this or experimented with it?

[outin]

Just read about colored glasses as a possible way of helping reading? Has anyone heard of this or experimented with it?

You could try copying scores on coloured paper. Some say it helps.