Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum A certain method to learn new pieces - discourage memory - encourage reading

I'm not quite sure I understand this thread, but I thought I would comment on this aspect of the original posting.

This description actually has very little to do with the way I learn new music. I almost never simply start at the beginning, measure-by-measure, and work my way through to the end.

For one thing, I don't even go to the keyboard until I've studied the piece a while. What key is the piece in? What is the overall form? Where are the repeated sections? Are there themes, harmonies, or rhythmic patterns that recur throughout the piece in various ways? Do we have a simple melody with harmonic accompaniment? Do we have counterpoint? And so on.

It seems to me that learning to do this kind of thing, even quickly, can also be valuable for sight-reading, or for music reading in general since it doesn't involve your hands, just your eyes and brain.

When I do go to the keyboard with a new piece, I rarely start at the beginning. And I usually skip around as I work on the piece. Most of this is guided by my initial analysis of the overall structure of the piece.

This works really well when I do it with my teacher, less well when I'm completely on my own since I'm still learning so much.

I can see where you're coming from when discussing technique.
However it's not that I could just cover 40 pieces a week. Eventually I progress to harder pieces that will require the techniques. It's just that I won't progress there until I improved the reading.

But I can see what you mean that I'm missing something.
What I probably missed, is that reading fluently doesn't come by it's own, and in order to do it I gotta have other things such as theoretical knowledge and technique. And those don't neccessarily come by doing pieces that are at my reading level. So to eventually read better I gotta do other things too... Like studying pieces that are above my reading level, Hopefully there are other way to acquite technique maybe through excercises or something. I'd like to sutdying pieces that are way above my reading level if possible...

packa - you're obviously not a beginner like me and therefore you have better ways to study pieces, I was talking about methods that a beginner can use too. One that doesn't know yet about harmonic structure or whatever you were saying there :X.

You'll find that eventually that your "comfortable" reading level will tend to lag behind your current technical ability somewhat. This means you might be able to play a certain piece (after some amount of practice) but wouldn't necessarily be able to sight-read it perfectly the first time. This is because some aspect of the piece (not related to the individual notes themselves) is still too challenging for you to actually read at a comfortable level (remember to read comfortably you can't be distracted by technical difficulties). After you have mastered the technical parts of the piece or passage, you might then be able to read thru and play it perfectly. Not because you have memorized it necessarily, but because your fingers can now "handle" the technical demands of the pieces you are playing.

If you are new to music then you have a lot of things to worry about right now other than becoming a good sight-reader such as proper rhythm, good tone production, etc. As long as you don't attempt too much music above your reading level and you practice reading thru and playing music that is EASY for you frequently, the sight-reading part will take care of itself. Sight-reading is just another aspect of playing in the same way that rhythm and articulation are aspects of playing as well.

Here is the paradox of "current reading level":

If you can read something fluently then it probably doesn't pose any new and significant technical challenges. If it doesn't pose and challenges then you won't improve your technical ability. If you don't improve your technical ability then your reading level won't increase...

Translation: You gotta try pieces that you can't sightread perfectly because you won't learn anything new otherwise.


You can spend countless hours doing drills or excercises to improve your technique. Personally I think it is easier to work on a piece requiring a technique that I need to improve and (in learning the piece) learn that new technique as well. This has the added advantage of killing 2 birds with 1 stone, so to speak. Some ppl also like to maintain different levels of repetoire, some that take a long time to master, some that take a medium amount of time and some that they can master in no more than a week. It all depends on how you learn. You seem to be more of a "progressive" person who likes to take small leading toward ultimate mastery. At this stage I would recommend you just buy yourself a good method book. There are many available at bookstores.

You may also want to sight-read hands alone in treble and bass clef until you have more confidence at hands together. It is easier to read one staff than two.

~pianocliff

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Translation: You gotta try pieces that you can't sightread perfectly because you won't learn anything new otherwise.

Well of course! I didn't think otherwise.

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and some that they can master in no more than a week.

A week accounts as short time? Ouch...

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At this stage I would recommend you just buy yourself a good method book. There are many available at bookstores.

Exactly what I'm going to do. Up to now I worked with things from the internet :X.

As for rhythm I understand it and comprehended it. Of couse it doesn't mean I can do a passage with 16ths and 8ths and some rests of those 2 combined into something chaotic, unless they are organized and I can see a pattern clearly.

Tone production? I guess it has something to do with playing on a nomral piano or at least a digital one that has hammer action.
I'm playing on a MIDI keyboard that doesn't have weighted keys though it is velocity-sensitive if it really helps with anything... Unfortunately I won't get any normal instrument in the seeing future. But one can dream right? Too bad I can't decide what my next dream will be about.

Tone production? ...

sorry bad choice of words. I meant more along the lines of articulations and phrasing (legato, stacatto, etc).

~pianocliff

Tone production is what my violinist son should care about more often than seeing how fast he can whip through Bach's A minor concerto.