Hello,

I've been self-teaching for 6 months now, mostly by means of Alfred's 1 and 2 books. I've also been printing out sheet music to popular, modern-day songs and "deciphering" each individual note until I've learned and consequently memorized the song. I'm confident in saying that I know every note on both clefs, but I'm still working on the ledger lines.

I'd like to speed up my reading to the point where I don't have to always recognize the note and then find it on the keyboard, as it makes learning new songs to take an eternity.

I'm not sure sight reading advice is exactly what I'm looking for. I don't necessarily want the ability to rhythmically work through a song for the first time and complete it, but rather I simply would like to read and play the music simultaneously, I don't mind if I get it right the first or 10th time around.

Lastly, should I be trying to more quickly identify the notes to accomplish this, or perhaps learning to identify intervals (1 note up, 3 notes down, etc.) instead to quickly move through the music?

In closing, I suppose keyboard awareness/topography is what I need to get better at?

Any and all feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks.