Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Developing the basics for sightreading.

Thanks everybody for giving me more thought for food. My head is already spinning, but it has to live with it….

Bobpickle@ Nope I'm certainly not the best of sight readers. I'm hardly a reader even. When I learned the recorder and the guitar, I relied too heavily on my ear. When the music became too complex for that, I gave up. I didn't understand it then, but I think that is the reason why practicing became a chore instead of a joy and I quit, because I felt overwhelmed. I *had* progressed, but my reading skills were still on a total beginner's level. I deduced that I had no musical talent and quit. I hope that having realized what the root of a lot of problems is will help me. I love the piano more than I ever loved the recorder or the guitar. I don't want to give up again.

nicolakirwan@ I think I agree with you in that what the teacher teaches sometimes or even often is not all you need to learn. For the time being, I feel I *need* a teacher, but I also believe that I should be working on things without her help. If only to learn how to learn things without a teacher, because there will not always be one at my side.

Ed@ Piano playing feels to me like a web: reading, sight-reading, feel for the keyboard, musical theory, technique…. everything is connected. Improve one thing and the other will improve, won't it? On the other hand, I would think it would also follow that neglecting one aspect will hold you back, not only aspect, but also in regards to other, doesn't it? When I don't practice scales, I probably won't be able to recognize small scale parts in a piece or quickly practice a reasonable fingering for it and so forth. Which is the reason why it frustrates me so much that neither teacher one nor teacher two had/has me do scales, arpeggio and such exercises….

^^^Oh I didn't mean to suggest that going without a teacher is preferable, only that until you've reached a certain level, it can be difficult to know whether what is being taught is taking you where you want to go. *And* it's not uncommon for musicianship skills (of which sight reading is a part) to be overlooked by piano teachers.

It's all about the genius of the *and*. Things are rarely "either/or" but are more often "both/and".

What I think you're saying is that, for example, a third with a C in the bottom in the key of C feels very different from a third with a C in the bottom in the key of Bb. In other words, you are seeing the same interval but playing C and E in the first case, and C and Eb in the second.

I had the same objection, and the solution, according to my teacher, is to "think in the key." That is, you come to have this feeling for where the notes are in Bb, and your fingers will automatically go to the C-Eb when playing in that key.

That's the theory, anyway.

She also emphasizes that you may not always be concentrating on intervals, it's just one arrow in your quiver.

Another place that seeing intervals helps me is when the clefs change. I have a tendency to read the top clef as treble, and the bottom as bass, so when one clef changes, I can be in trouble. But, if I'm looking at intervals instead of notes (for example, seeing that the lower note goes down a second, and the upper note goes up a third) then a disaster can be avoided.

Believe me, I was sure that "just do it and you will get better" was the ticket, and followed that for 2-3 hours per day for years. That may work for others, but it did not work well for me.

I really like that WEB simile. Improving? Yes. Neglecting? Certainly. And of course, I have no knowledge of your teachers.

A teacher has to pick YOUR battles. During the time when I was teaching music (SOOooo long ago!), I attempted to focus on keeping the student “balanced” in development. These were not kids. In practice, this typically meant working on a student’s weak points, to bring those up to a par with her/his strengths. Frequently, there simply was not enough lesson- or practice-time to cover it all. Some things had to fall by the wayside, and, based upon the student’s goals and direction (and audition deadlines!), I had to pick-and-choose.

Perhaps - just PERHAPS - based on your mix of strengths and weaknesses at the time, your teachers felt that sight-reading was fairly low on your priority list.?.? All conjecture . . .

Ed