Strategies for improving your Sight Reading at the Piano 🎹🎼

Sight reading means to read unseen music sheet successfully. It is a skill of being able to transfer the notes, rhythms, articulations, dynamics, pedal markings and other details on a music sheet onto the instrument on a steady tempo. It is crucial in developing musicianship.  It takes consistent practice to get better at sight reading. When you are new to sight reading piano sheet music, start with easy sheets such as a hands alone, simple rhythms, fewer articulations and dynamics. Then up your level of reading only when you feel ready.

Here are a few steps you can follow before you start playing:
1. Glance through the sheet to recognize the key, and meter and whether they are changing anywhere.

2. Scan through the piece to identify the direction of notes (interval recognition), repeated notes, scale or chord patterns, and changing rhythms. Clapping back a tricky rhythm is a good idea at this point.

3. Map out the excerpt to find any repeating passages or phrases.

4. Find your starting position (ideal fingerings). Silent practice can be done to find out hand position changes, big leaps, chord patterns and so on.

Now is the time to put your hands and start playing. The following tips will serve you better-
1. Practice playing without looking at your hands.

2. Follow a slow and a steady pulse (e.g. metronome beat) and if you make mistake don’t stop but keep going.

3. Look ahead by a few notes, just the way we do while driving.

4. Practice regularly. Daily practice for a few minutes is enough in the beginning until you build up your attention span.

5. Make your piece sound as expressive as you can.

There are many resources that you can use. These days apps are very popular and many of them have sight reading examples arranged level wise. RCM four star sight reading books are also a great resource as they are available level-wise.

Read, read, read, as much as you can. With consistent deliberate practice, you will see ourself getting better.

Happy reading!