3 ms·

Lots of people suggesting great ways to get around reading sheet music! But what's a way of getting fast at reading sheet music? I picked up the piano again af

by arjvik 4y ago

Lots of people suggesting great ways to get around reading sheet music! But what's a way of getting fast at reading sheet music? I picked up the piano again after quitting several years ago, and one thing I'm really struggling with is glancing at sheet music and being able to play a phrase—I need to step out one note at a time. And I'm hopeless with ledger lines, I have to stick my face close and count the lines to see what note I'm playing. Sightreading exercises haven't helped because they're either too easy (I can easily follow notes across small intervals, from my music theory training) or too hard to make meaningful improvement on (I start doing the pause-and-name-each-note thing).

littlelady 4y ago
You probably won't like this answer, but the way to get faster at reading sheet music is to read sheet music. It's a skill and takes time and consistent practice to develop. Sight-reading exercises are great for improving, but it seems you are struggling to choose an appropriate difficulty. A piano teacher is very helpful in this regard and can recommend books/exercises for you to work through. If that's not an option for you, there are piano music grading systems that provide some orientation. For example IMSLP[1] has music by level, according to the Royal School of Music. Disclaimer: I'm not an avid piano player, so I don't know that much about these grading systems, other than they are used for exam and certificate prep. [1]: https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:DiffPage/DiffMain/1 https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:DiffPage/DiffMain/1
saint_yossarian 4y ago
I've had good success using a mobile app which supports MIDI, the app displays random notes and I can play them on a keyboard. There's an immediate feedback loop which I think makes this type of learning very efficient. There are probably many apps like this, I went with https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binaryguilt.completemusicreadingtrainer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binaryguil...
adrianmonk 4y ago
> what's a way of getting fast at reading sheet music? I can answer because, while I'm a thoroughly mediocre pianist, I'm really fast at sight reading. First of all, realize that this is a slow process. You won't get quick results. You just have to practice it lots and lots over a long period of time. But if you do, you will eventually get there. It will gradually become second nature. Another thing is to regularly devote time to practicing the skill of reading specifically. One way to do that is to get a gigantic pile of sheet music[1] (of an appropriate difficulty level), grab something off the top, read/play through it ONCE, and then never look at it again[2]. Keep working your way through the pile as you have time to practice. Playing through a piece multiple times is great for other things, but if you want to practice reading, you need music that you've never seen before. Otherwise, you'll rely on memory, which is not reading. (Or if you've heard it before, you may rely on your ear, which is also not reading.) Yes, this process is going to feel tedious and annoying. Pausing and naming notes, like you said. But try to see that as a good sign. It means you're really focusing on the things that you're weak at. Once you've gotten the basics down through practice, there are two other things you can do to boost your ability to sit down and play through a piece by sight reading it. One is to understand the structure and theory well enough that, if you can't read every note, you can make educated guesses. If you think about the notes that you've just been playing and realize they form an Am7 chord followed by a D7 chord, then you can predict that the next chord might be a G or Gmaj7. Then you can just check that the notes you see now are in fact one of those. But, this trick has limitations. Sometimes music does clever and unexpected things, and then this trick hurts more than it helps. In those moments, you're better off just focusing on what it says on the page instead of trying to understand it. The other thing is to read ahead. As you're playing one measure, you look at notes which are a measure or two ahead. This requires a bit of multitasking and juggling stuff in your short term memory, but it's doable with some practice, and things are less likely to fall apart when you encounter a certain part that's a little more complicated. --- [1] There are lots of places you can get tons of free sheet music online. One place is https://imslp.org/ https://imslp.org/ . [2] Or do, if you want, but just be aware that that doesn't count towards practicing reading.

by arjvik 4y ago

littlelady 4y ago

You probably won't like this answer, but the way to get faster at reading sheet music is to read sheet music. It's a skill and takes time and consistent practice to develop. Sight-reading exercises are great for improving, but it seems you are struggling to choose an appropriate difficulty. A piano teacher is very helpful in this regard and can recommend books/exercises for you to work through. If that's not an option for you, there are piano music grading systems that provide some orientation. For example IMSLP[1] has music by level, according to the Royal School of Music. Disclaimer: I'm not an avid piano player, so I don't know that much about these grading systems, other than they are used for exam and certificate prep. [1]: https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:DiffPage/DiffMain/1 https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:DiffPage/DiffMain/1

saint_yossarian 4y ago

I've had good success using a mobile app which supports MIDI, the app displays random notes and I can play them on a keyboard. There's an immediate feedback loop which I think makes this type of learning very efficient. There are probably many apps like this, I went with https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binaryguilt.completemusicreadingtrainer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binaryguil...

adrianmonk 4y ago

> what's a way of getting fast at reading sheet music? I can answer because, while I'm a thoroughly mediocre pianist, I'm really fast at sight reading. First of all, realize that this is a slow process. You won't get quick results. You just have to practice it lots and lots over a long period of time. But if you do, you will eventually get there. It will gradually become second nature. Another thing is to regularly devote time to practicing the skill of reading specifically. One way to do that is to get a gigantic pile of sheet music[1] (of an appropriate difficulty level), grab something off the top, read/play through it ONCE, and then never look at it again[2]. Keep working your way through the pile as you have time to practice. Playing through a piece multiple times is great for other things, but if you want to practice reading, you need music that you've never seen before. Otherwise, you'll rely on memory, which is not reading. (Or if you've heard it before, you may rely on your ear, which is also not reading.) Yes, this process is going to feel tedious and annoying. Pausing and naming notes, like you said. But try to see that as a good sign. It means you're really focusing on the things that you're weak at. Once you've gotten the basics down through practice, there are two other things you can do to boost your ability to sit down and play through a piece by sight reading it. One is to understand the structure and theory well enough that, if you can't read every note, you can make educated guesses. If you think about the notes that you've just been playing and realize they form an Am7 chord followed by a D7 chord, then you can predict that the next chord might be a G or Gmaj7. Then you can just check that the notes you see now are in fact one of those. But, this trick has limitations. Sometimes music does clever and unexpected things, and then this trick hurts more than it helps. In those moments, you're better off just focusing on what it says on the page instead of trying to understand it. The other thing is to read ahead. As you're playing one measure, you look at notes which are a measure or two ahead. This requires a bit of multitasking and juggling stuff in your short term memory, but it's doable with some practice, and things are less likely to fall apart when you encounter a certain part that's a little more complicated. --- [1] There are lots of places you can get tons of free sheet music online. One place is https://imslp.org/ https://imslp.org/ . [2] Or do, if you want, but just be aware that that doesn't count towards practicing reading.