Questions tagged [sight-reading]

Playing or singing a piece directly from sheet music, without prior rehearsing or studying.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
7 votes
9 answers
802 views

How to teach the staff to a teenager?

A friend of mine who is 18 has played guitar for practically his whole life, except he's only played by ear and tablature. He's been playing piano for a year and a half now, but he's never learned to ...
4 votes
7 answers
3k views

is my sight reading approach correct

I practice sight reading for an hour everyday from the Paul Harris Piano series and I currently am at Level 1 of sight reading. I find it hard to recognize notes, so I pause till I get the note right ...
0 votes
2 answers
570 views

Sight singing at first sight

I have a very good ear, and can sing anything that's given to me (without ever hearing it before, if it wasn't obvious). However, the aspect of reading music from a staff instead of commands which ...
0 votes
2 answers
547 views

How can I sing multiple notes at the same time?

I am teaching myself sight singing right now, and I know how to sing single note(the left one as pictured) on both treble clef and bass clef but get stuck in multiple notes(the right one as pictured). ...
2 votes
2 answers
250 views

For sight reading, do I need to start at the beginning?

I'm taking a look at the following books: Sight Reading & Rhythm Every Day Improve Your Sight Reading - Paul Harris I just want advice whether it is necessary to do books 1 and 2. I want to ...
4 votes
7 answers
1k views

sight reading music

I've always struggled with sight reading, but my ears usually help me through. It's also not the strongest of my teaching strategies. What secrets do others have to help their students? This could ...
9 votes
11 answers
4k views

Is it recommended to practice sight reading by "feeling out the music" instead of counting

I've been learning how to sight read the traditional way, by counting. Unfortunately, if there's ever a rest that less than a eighth rest, I automatically get thrown off, mostly because I'm only ...
4 votes
2 answers
701 views

Should you play open strings in first position?

I'm working through Alfred's Jazz Guitar Sight Reading Book. It is asking me to play swing riffs in First Position F Major. Should I hit open notes since many notes in standard tuning are in the F ...
35 votes
12 answers
43k views

Can people really sight-read advanced pieces?

I find it hard to read a staff and play it on the keyboard fluently. The most common scene for me is that I read one note on the paper and then lower my head and find out the location of that note ...
0 votes
2 answers
132 views

Where to find quality beginner sheet music for guitar? [duplicate]

I am trying to improve my sight reading skills on guitar. Any recommendations of books or websites is appreciated. (I would prefer the sheet music to be without tabs beneath it if that's possible)
3 votes
1 answer
242 views

Performing a "reading"

I'm in a university chamber music group and our director is ambitious, consistently giving us many pieces that are above our level to play with insufficient time to learn them well before performance. ...
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Reading music without an instrument

I can read music with my guitar, but I'm absolutely hopeless otherwise. I want to be able to hear notes in my head. What are some good ways (preferably free) for learning how to do this? Based on ...
-2 votes
1 answer
98 views

What do I look over when looking at sheet music? [closed]

Imagine I was just handed a piece of sheet music, and I had however long I'd want to look over it before I actually started playing. What exactly would I look over so I'd sight read better?
3 votes
1 answer
678 views

How to use sight-reading to develop improvisation skills

I can play a lot of songs on the piano when I see them for the first time as sheet music, including a lot of original jazz arrangements and classical pieces. My sight-reading is pretty good but I do ...
14 votes
2 answers
582 views

When did keyboard partitions start to use the G-clef for the upper staff ?

When you look at very old sheetmusic (for harpsichord or organ), you see that the upper staff has a C-clef, first line. The lower one is the familiar bass F-clef, fourth line. Why and when did the ...
5 votes
4 answers
5k views

Learning to read music, please help, understanding time signatures

I am attempting to teach myself how to read music and have hit a wall. My trouble is time signatures and it was described to me as this: Imagine you are walking and you walk 1-2-3-4. This would be ...
1 vote
1 answer
271 views

Tchaikovsky symphony No1 movement 1 time 2/4

I'm busy with the first symphony of Peter I. Tchaikovsky. In movement 1 the time signature is 2/4. Can someone explain the choice of putting 2/4 instead of 4/4. If it goes with the feel I don't feel 2/...
2 votes
1 answer
431 views

How to transcribe a score without a rigid tempo?

How do you notate a score that doesn't have a continuous tempo, but ebbs and flows? How can you communicate the rhythmic intentions of the composer to future players? What I was lectured that you need ...
3 votes
3 answers
693 views

Classical Guitar. How to study from fret 5 to 12

I started learning to read music with a classical guitar. What I'm doing is to study the C scale from fret 0 to 4, and next I try to play a study based in that scale. So far, I have noted that most of ...
4 votes
2 answers
893 views

How to learn sight singing?

ABRSM grades for vocal require sight singing (grade 1). Do I need to take some special training to get this skill or is it expected to come with time? I am currently taking both vocal and piano ...
6 votes
3 answers
4k views

Question from non-musician: Is it possible to learn sight-singing without having learned an instrument?

I'm trying to learn sight-singing sheet music. I understand the basics such as the length of a note, time signatures and so on. But the only insurmountable difficulty for me is that I don't remember ...
1 vote
3 answers
6k views

Can't read but can play good

It's been long ~ 10-15 years since i started playing/fiddling around over piano. Although it's been just 5 years that i am into staff notations reading thing. I have completed 2 grades with Trinity. ...
5 votes
4 answers
1k views

Sight reading and playing by ear

I'm 15. I started violin in4th grade. I am in tenth grade now. I am very bad at sight reading music especially complex rhythms. This is not a mental deficiency because I'm gifted. Usually it is way ...
9 votes
5 answers
937 views

Is there a trick to learning sight read, i.e relate notes to piano keys

I am not asking for some unrealistic method by which a person can learn to site read over night. I know that practice cannot be replaced. I merely want to know if there are any methods that can help ...
5 votes
4 answers
652 views

Where to start with sight reading

I am an intermediate-advanced guitarist who has been playing for 8 years and can read TAB and sheet music fairly well, but I want to improve my sight reading. I am not the worst at it but I want it to ...
100 votes
18 answers
125k views

What is good software for learning how to sight-read?

I'd like to learn how to sight-read on my own, but practicing the same song over and over again just causes me to memorize it, and filling out worksheets is boring. Is there any good software for ...
20 votes
2 answers
9k views

What is a Fake Book?

The question was asked here as to why there are no Fake Books for Blues. But what is a Fake Book in the first place? What genres is it used in?
4 votes
5 answers
2k views

How to 'feel' note duration

I am a beginner intermediate flute player. I can read scores to a great extent, but I have a problem. I know the theory that a minim lasts two beats and a crotchet last one beat and all of that. My ...
2 votes
4 answers
1k views

Learning how to sight sing without prior singing

I am starting music school (masters prep program for adults who have a bachelor's degree in something non-music related) and along with theory, I will need to learn how to sight sing. I am a 28 year ...
4 votes
5 answers
1k views

Tools to improve sight-reading of rhythms

So, there are a number of tools and strategies to learn to sight-read pitch. I mean, you just make flashcards and in a while you should be able to read comfortably all notes on all staves, right? ...
0 votes
3 answers
318 views

So I *need* the music but I don't actually read it - how bad is it?

I have recently started playing again after a 10-year-ish break. When I first learn a piece I consciusly read it note by note. Well, almost note by note, if I see an ascending scale starting from e....
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Which Piano Course is Best for Me (trained musician but beginner at piano)?

I am an adult (38 yo) professional sound designer and musician. I went to music school for drums. I can play basic jazz chords, read treble clef, still remember theory. Now I am studying classical ...
8 votes
3 answers
10k views

Exercises for quickly identifying intervals on the staff

In order to improve my piano sight-reading, I want to practice recognizing intervals on the staff faster. If possible I'd like to combine the interval-recognition with a training for my finger memory, ...
6 votes
2 answers
4k views

Switching Gears from 4/4 to 7/8 and back to 4/4

When I count 4/4 time signatures like the one bellow, I do it like this 1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a My question is, how would I switch gears and count the 7/8 bars? How do you count 8th ...
1 vote
3 answers
2k views

How possible for someone with bass voice to sight sing?

I'm beginning to learn sight-singing by myself. I get a very low voice, and thus I think I'm NOT ABLE to reproduce those high-pitch notes. Then how is it possible for me to practise sight-singing, if ...
5 votes
1 answer
953 views

having trouble reading some sheet music

To begin with, I play an ocarina. Not many of the songs I am interested in have tabs, so I find music sheets and try to remember everything I learned in the piano class I took some years ago. Now I ...
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Sight reading of triads

I need advice on how to sight read triad chords (root position and inversions). For example, lets take a look at "Waltz in A Minor" by Chopin: In the bass clef, on the second bar there is a low A ...
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Parallel key modulation while sight-singing

Although I can recognize modulations by ear, I'm having difficulties when I attempt to sight-sing a modulating melody that passes from minor into parallel major or vice versa. An exercise from the ...
1 vote
1 answer
492 views

Sight reading by computer: can anyone suggest a usb-to-MIDI interface for Win 7 64-bit?

I'm planning to use some one of the flash-card style sight reading trainers on the net (asymptopia,etude,jalmus etc) but need to connect my laptop (Win 7, 64-bit) to my Yamaha P-70 (weighted keyboard),...
11 votes
7 answers
4k views

How To Improve My Sightreading?

I've been reading music since I was five years old, but I learned how on the piano, never on the guitar. I find that when I play guitar, I think of the notes as they relate to each other spatially: "...
22 votes
2 answers
33k views

C in Treble or Bass Clef

I see a 'C' like sign in the beginning of the staff. What does it mean?
2 votes
2 answers
680 views

the problem with pickup notes

The pickup note is generally a weak note preceding a strong first note in the first full bar. This seems to maintain the conventional strong one and third beats on 4/4 time. But isn't this an ...
4 votes
7 answers
2k views

Sight reading ("two hands") for one non-performers?

For a long time I have wanted to learn to sight-read piano music, and made a few a ttempts, but failed. The most important reason for these failures, I think, is that I have no interest whatsoever in ...
7 votes
3 answers
5k views

Same note in two staves [duplicate]

I have only just started to learn (on my own) to read music and play the piano at the grand old age of 64! Please can someone tell me how to play the same note on two staves? I keep being asked to ...
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Sources for sight-reading exercises that focus on subdivisions (emphasis on drums) [closed]

As is the case for all drummers, for me, it's a great fun to find weird rhythmic patterns and to practice over basic beats to create some tension in the straight sections of various songs. However, ...
9 votes
2 answers
3k views

Intermediate exercises for sight reading, specifically for reading ahead

I've been practicing violin casually for about 20 years and sight reading for about 10 -- but I'm still quite slow, especially when there are a lot of 16th notes and syncopation. The problem for me ...
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Software for practicing the reading of jazz chord changes?

There are now a lot of good programs out for sight-reading, simple chord progression recognition, and for jazz, even some backing track creators. But is there a program that generates chord changes ...
2 votes
4 answers
2k views

Piano player, bad traditional sight reading

I'm mostly self taught with the piano. I've only played for ~12 months. When I learned began playing, I didn't learn which notes were in what position on the staff (I only recognize a couple of ...
3 votes
3 answers
760 views

How does the use of tablatures impact one's learning and sight-reading abilities?

The first instrument I learned was the piano, where having sheet music in staff notation is sufficient to know exactly what you need to play. Lately, I started to learn the guitar and the harmonica, ...

1 2 3
4