Thread: How is your sight reading?

I chose the next to best option, but I'm probably somewhere between that one and the middle one. It also makes a big difference wether it's something I've heard before or not, but then maybe it's not strictly speaking sight reading anymore..

Originally Posted by Ravndal

Anonymous poll. Darn it. Who is basically "'Liszt" when it comes to sight reading?

Definitely not me.

Ah yes, that was me.

for me the difficulty is in sight-reading chords and contrapuntal lines. I can sight-read things on horn and guitar pretty well, but most piano music is very difficult for me sight-reading.

So I guess the real question is what is the fastest and best way to significantly improve sight-reading? and with what materials?

I'm just starting at reading, so I'm pretty horrible. I'm better than i was 6 months ago, but nowhere near decent.

I am only excellent on piano and oboe (this is why collaborative work is one of my favourite things to do). I can sightread classical guitar painfully slowly, but I can play nothing else.

Oh you know, somewhere in between AWFUL and DECENT.

Originally Posted by Humidor

So I guess the real question is what is the fastest and best way to significantly improve sight-reading? and with what materials?

For me what worked was simply taking stuff out from the library and trying to play them without caring about the result...
Now if you are a perfectionist maybe repeat a difficult part or two even though that is not exactly sight-reading....
You can also try to follow music scores from some videos on youtube, I actually quite enjoy doing that.

I put "decent", but I'm worse at sight reading than I should be for my playing ability. I would enjoy playing a lot more if I was better at sight-reading, but I don't enjoy playing enough to put the time and effort in.

Sight reading training was a part of my later keyboard lessons. It was in preparation for auditioning for church organist positions, where during the playing part of the interview, most always an unfamiliar anthem or hymn is placed on the music desk and the organist candidate is required to play it at sight ... and in tempo.

I've never regretted that training and can still, to this day, sight read organ and anthem scores. My choir director at church appreciates that ability of mine.

Once learned, it still has to be practiced to remain effective.

Kh ♫

I'm not that great a violinist.. but my actual playing is far beyond any ability to sight read that I might have. I can pick simple things up by ear pretty quickly, but sight reading only works when I've already got most of it by ear and just need something to fill in the blanks with.

I'm very good at sight reading compared to my piano skills... My parents, both professional pianists, have TONS of sheet music and I like reading them for fun. I think that's how my sight reading became good. This is the fastest way in my opinion. Reading a lot of stuff for fun.
It's a good thing.. However, I realized that it makes me 'lazy' sometimes. I know I have to study harder the difficult technical parts... I just go through passages quite easily and I feel less need to study because I can read it.
Now that I'm getting serious at playing the piano, I'll have to study more

This summer, I sat down and figured: "hell, I've played a series of Prelude and Fugues, and a Toccata, surely I can sightread two-voiced inventions by Bach?". Nope. Polyphony is hard.

I have been studying piano and music reading for these last years.

I've always played music by hear (popular music) but there was a time when i realised i needed to learn how to read music.

I play normally little pieces (first movmt of Moonlight sonata or a couple os Mozart sonatinas for example), but it takes a couple of days (or weeks, depending on the score) to play it from the beginning until the end.

Because i'm a very anxious person, i had to start on Bach's Well-tempered clavier. It takes me weeks to exercise a prelude or a fugue. But the problem is not reading, is the playing. And when one plays Bach is like a door which was open to an universe of such greatness.

Also i try to exercise at least one hour per day (i'm very busy all day). So progression is slow. And also i play everything in Larghetto or Andante (Allegro is to fast for me).

But what excites me most is to read while listening to music. Sometimes i try to read conductor's scores.

Just starting to teach myself how to read music.....I don't know that I will ever be able to truly sight-read since I'm starting so late, but I'll take any progress I get!!