Sightreading

RIP · 2021-10-12T13:10:36+00:00

In the spirit of making this forum the best (since the best people, aka you, decided to move here), I am forcing myself to post at least one non-meta non-OT (that is pianistic) post each day. Some days I may repost thing that you might have already heard from me somewhere else but not today. I suggest each one of you do the same, otherwise I predict that the forum will fizzle 🔥 after we get tired of the "otherwise you will be banned" jokes. Small background (more on that in a future post): I am an adult learner, with a (remote) teacher and I am making progresses on all fronts but reading. I tried a plethora of sight reading systems and exercises and I've found only two "good enough" to mention: https://www.amazon.com/Sight-Read-Rhythm-Instantly-Mark-Phillips/dp/1575605155 which covers only rhythm and really well and https://www.amazon.com/Super-Sight-Reading-Secrets-Step-Step/dp/0961596309/ which covers everything with progressive difficulty, some things better than others (poor on rhythm but there's the other one) Actually I should also mention https://playpianofluently.com/ which I am also doing, but that is a completely different approach and I am not sure I am utilizing it correctly. Phil is Best (pardon the pun). I should get a private lesson with him, but he is really a maverick and I'm sure the first thing he'll say is to not do anything else but his stuff or forget any progress. Has anybody else done (as he asks or on your way) any part of his course? Back to the books. Both of them are extremely poor on exercises (in that, there are only a few and you need very many). Moreover, with an exercise, you never know if you played it correctly. Think learning to read and misread most words in a way that still makes some sense and not realizing it. Are you still learning? So, I started writing an Android app which used the ideas from both (and a few others from myself) to automatically generate exercises and use MIDI to check that you are playing it correctly. It's in a very preliminary stage, but it seems promising (more on it in a future post). For now, the question is: how have all of you learned to read, how are you doing (or not doing) it now, and what else do you care to share about it? As of myself, I am extremely poor: I can read one hand or the other separately (never together), at a very slow tempo, and only if the rhythm is simple. This is really stifling my progress: I spend 90% of my time learning a piece between reading and memorizing (another topic for another day) it. My teacher simply says, try to do it, memorize for now and it'll come to you. He's a great teacher and I fully trust him, so perhaps it will, but I am asking you about your current situation and (especially) your past. I'm particularly interested in people who learned to read music as adults, since the adult brain learns different than the child's.

MacMacMac

Sight reading is my weakness, too. 🙁

David B

MacMacMac Sight reading is my weakness, too. 🙁

I can sight read one note at a time. Beyond that the skill is nonexistent. 😢

God Bless,
David

MacMacMac

David B I can sight read one note at a time.

Funny. That's like saying you can sprint ... one hobble at a time. 🙂

HZPiano

Hello,

David B sight read one note at a time. Beyond that the skill is nonexistent.

Same here. I study pieces, annotate octave numbers and note names and everything else I guess I should know (all on copies of the original pages) in pencil.

Then, start learning and memorizing the piece until I get the hang of it. It feels free and airy and more expressive to 'just' play from memory and muscle memory without anything in front of my nose.

Cheers and happy lines, dots and whatnot,

QuasiUnaFantasia

HZPiano It feels free and airy and more expressive to 'just' play from memory and muscle memory without anything in front of my nose.

It's the same for me; I am not entirely happy about my work with a piece before I can play it with my eyes closed. There is a level of intimacy with the music that I can't get to with my eyes open.

MHirsch

I can sight read at half speed the right hand (because I'm an ex-violin player since I was 6 yrs old)

The bass clef I still sometimes translate… 😅 And I also do write down notes like C1 - C2.

Pete14

QuasiUnaFantasia There is a level of intimacy with the music that I can't get to with my eyes open.

I wonder what else you ‘can’t get to with your eyes open’?

This is a family-friendly place, sir, and I will not allow you to come here and disrupt the balance with this kind of incendiary -R rated- talk!

QuasiUnaFantasia

Pete14 I wonder what else you ‘can’t get to with your eyes open’?

Basically anywhere, if I'm driving. The traffic scares me so much, I just keep my eyes closed until I get to the destination.

oshogg

Pete14 This is a family-friendly place, sir, and I will not allow you to come here and disrupt the balance with this kind of incendiary -R rated- talk!

Pete, You wouldn't think that if you saw the other post about "Sexiest Pianists" (I am not gonna link it - you will have to do the work to find it if you want 😀 )!

Osho

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