Need tips on Major piano Problem?

[jeowiii]

I need tips on how to improve fast sight-reading of pieces. Because everytime i play piano it takes me a lot of time to count on the Letters on the lines before I can play a piece.... could anyone here be so kind to be able to give me tips on how to improve fast sightreading...??

[newsgroupeuan]

Maybe you should recognise the "letters" as keys on the keyboard,  not as A, B, or whatever.

[newsgroupeuan]

Maybe you should recognise the "letters" as keys on the keyboard,  not as A, B, or whatever.

yrs faithfully

[eddie92099]

What a way to build up the post count!
Ed

[Noah]

Indeed !

[Noah]

Indeed !

Quite!

[cziffra]

Indeed !  

Quite!

Rather!

[eddie92099]

Rather!

Indubitably!
Ed

[bernhard]

Here a few threads in this forum that deal with this problem:

http://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=teac;action=display;num=1069725044

http://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1071914342

http://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=teac;action=display;num=1057746417

http://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=teac;action=display;num=1045438109

http://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1061861871

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[jeowiii]

I know the keys very well, but the problem is not on the keys its the ability to read a piece in a glance. u know?..... I usually play through imitation using chords and not on note reading... But now i do like to learn how to read pieces in a glance to be able to play it harmoniously.......

[leemay001]

Indubitably!
Ed

This is getting ridiculous...
 ~Lee~

[leemay001]

I know the keys very well, but the problem is not on the keys its the ability to read a piece in a glance. u know?..... I usually play through imitation using chords and not on note reading... But now i do like to learn how to read pieces in a glance to be able to play it harmoniously.......

I have the same problem. I can't seem to get anything to work for me and nobody has given advice on exactly that.
  ~Lee~

[bernhard]

I thought I did

As far as I know there is no “fast” way to improve sight-reading. (If someone out there knows of a way, please speak up!). However complete mastery is possible with time, patience, consistency, determination and practice. Depending on the person/application/use of correct methodology, it should take anything from three months to two years to get good at sight-reading.

Sight reading (not to be confused with reading music) is in many ways similar to learning a foreign language, both in process and in the difficulties that you will encounter. You cannot learn it fast (say in two days), but you definitely can master it if you put enough effort into it.

Rather than telling you what to do, I would direct you to Howard Richman’s “Super sight-reading secrets”. Follow the book and you will get there. (I think you can get it from Amazon, and also from his website – just google search for Howard Richman)

[Hmoll]

 Rather than telling you what to do, I would direct you to Howard Richman’s “Super sight-reading secrets”. Follow the book and you will get there. (I think you can get it from Amazon, and also from his website – just google search for Howard Richman)

Quick question: Did you go through that book? What id you think of it?

Sorry, that's two questions.

[bernhard]

Quick question: Did you go through that book? What id you think of it?

Yes, I did.

I could already sight-read well when I came accross it. I wanted a new approach to use with my students, since in my experience sight-reading is perhaps the single biggest stumbling block  - and one that should be met early on. I was dissatisfied with the several methods around.

My own mastery of sight reading was pretty much unsystematic. The single thing that helped me the most was accompanying other people. It was like not knowing to swim and being thrown at the deep end of the pool. Either I learned fast or I drowned. I learned how to swim.

When I came accross this book a couple of years ago I already had figured out much of what he has to say, but boy, I wish I had it when I was younger!

So, yes, the book is very good, in that it presents a highly systematic approach to sight reading. Do not be fooled by its size (it is only 50 pages or so), working to through the material will take 3 months - 2 years.

It also presents very good strategies to deal with all sorts of stumbling blocks. For instance, he suggests that you do not approach the staff in an alphabetical way, that is, first line E, first space F, second line G, second space, A and so on, but rather that you meorise the lines EGBDF and the spaces FACE. This may seem pretty obvious to a lot of people, but you would be surprised how many pianists approach the staff alphabetically simply because they have been taught this way.

Another nice thing about this book is that it starts from scratch, assuming you do not even know how to read music. He then proceeds to give some excellent strategies (like the one above). Many times poor sight readers have inefficient strategies built up very early on, and they have become unconscious. So I would suggest that even veterans go through the book from beginning to end so as to uncover bad strategies and replace them with more appropriate ones.

He also puts a lot of emphasis on interval reading, ear training and understanding the structure of the music you are trying to sight-read (so scales and chords feature prominetly in the book).

I would highly recommend this book even to good sight-readers - and especially to teachers.

My only criticism is that the diagrammation of the book is somewhat poor - you have constantly to go back to the explanation pages in order to follow the drills. I guess economic considerations may have stopped the author from making a more user friendly book. But this is really a minor point. I have not yet seen a better book on the subject. Or should I say a book that I personally liked better.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Hmoll]

Bernhard,

Thanks for all the detail and explanation.

[bernhard]

You are welcome.

[surendipity]

Give me a B
Give me a C
Give me a F

Give me a drink


Sight reading music is one of hardest challenges we face in music.  You sit there and stare, repeating "All Cows Eat Grass".  Getting glassy eyed and bored and eventually discouraged.  

Don't we all suffer from the dreaded black dot syndrom.


I think the best way is through composition.  Write out a song and play it.  Also change it if you wish, right there at the piano.  If you write down small compositions or just a one hand melody line you'll get the hang of reading music much faster.  Why, just because It's your's.  The ego always wants to look good, even to itself.....

Try it for just one week and judge for yourself.






Try

[bernhard]

Surendipity is absolutely right, this is excellent advice.

We usuallly get so focussed on "reading" that we forget about "writing".

Even if you do not want to compose as she suggests, you can still simply copy the piece you are working on. This will have other fringe benefits as well, like getting you very familiar with the piece structure. And if you really want a big step forward, try taking dictation, that is, you hear something and you try to write it down. If it's your own tune, you are following Surendipity adice to compose. If it's someone else's tune (like the piece you are currently working on) you have the advantage of checking afterwards if you made a good job of it, and of learning from your mistakes.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Tinkerbell]

I always coul read treble clef, because we used to messa round with lil dinky keyboards when we were little.  but bass clef i had to teach myself from the start.  ithink its easier if you already know one, as you can use the relationship between them.  if i was ever unsure of a bass clef note, i would just well if it was treble clef, the note would be an F, so therefore F to G to A, it is an A...counting up etc.

Buy as many song books, classical pieces etc as u can......  start with stuff you know so you can know what the note probably will be.  then build from there.  thats what i did, and it is my excuse for buying soooooo many music books!  .........best advice you can ever take on board:

go play piano!!