3. Sight Reading
March 15, 2015
3. Sight Reading (daily routine)
Sight reading should be a daily habit, even only a few lines of music. Ideally a page or more daily is recommended. A highly respected teacher friend of mine told me that 5 mins. per day would have yield a significant result in as little as a month. Reasons for doing this daily include growing in one's fluency with getting the music off the page and through the fingers into music accurately. This is especially useful for things like accompanying other musicians (aka 'Collaborative Piano') which I have done over the past few years with singers, violinists and choirs.nbsp; Doing this daily sharpens the ability to read so that the music is able to be played at closer to the intended tempo with fewer 'clams'(sour notes according to Billy Joel!).
So, the effective sight reading process ideally starts with a '1 minute analysis' of the piece of music. A first main thing to look for are the key(s) of the music, so what scale(s) is it using- (key signature and starting/ending notes of the piece), then visualize that scale when you play the piece. But before starting, also check how the clefs are thru the piece; always treble on top, bass on bottom or other? Also, time signature, so # of beats in the bar and what kind(1/4 or 1/8th). Then note the overall style, smooth legato, unslurred detached, staccato? What's the LH style? Solid chords, arpeggiod, Alberti bass(root, 5th, 3rd, 5th often, in sequence), or other patterns?One more thing to look for which may be helpful is hand position changes(if there are only a few of them). That's probably most of what you want to take the time to absorb before embarking on your reading of the music to play it.
Sight reading is most effective if done with music which is 2 grade levels or more below your current piano playing ability level.
Hope you enjoy your daily 5 minute cruises!
Sight reading should be a daily habit, even only a few lines of music. Ideally a page or more daily is recommended. A highly respected teacher friend of mine told me that 5 mins. per day would have yield a significant result in as little as a month. Reasons for doing this daily include growing in one's fluency with getting the music off the page and through the fingers into music accurately. This is especially useful for things like accompanying other musicians (aka 'Collaborative Piano') which I have done over the past few years with singers, violinists and choirs.nbsp; Doing this daily sharpens the ability to read so that the music is able to be played at closer to the intended tempo with fewer 'clams'(sour notes according to Billy Joel!).
So, the effective sight reading process ideally starts with a '1 minute analysis' of the piece of music. A first main thing to look for are the key(s) of the music, so what scale(s) is it using- (key signature and starting/ending notes of the piece), then visualize that scale when you play the piece. But before starting, also check how the clefs are thru the piece; always treble on top, bass on bottom or other? Also, time signature, so # of beats in the bar and what kind(1/4 or 1/8th). Then note the overall style, smooth legato, unslurred detached, staccato? What's the LH style? Solid chords, arpeggiod, Alberti bass(root, 5th, 3rd, 5th often, in sequence), or other patterns?One more thing to look for which may be helpful is hand position changes(if there are only a few of them). That's probably most of what you want to take the time to absorb before embarking on your reading of the music to play it.
Sight reading is most effective if done with music which is 2 grade levels or more below your current piano playing ability level.
Hope you enjoy your daily 5 minute cruises!
Posted by Doug Evans.
