Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum sight reading practice software recommendations

Greetings all:

I'm new to the forum, and I'm trying to teach myself sight reading. I can 'decipher' music, but I'm very slow at translating the written note to the played note. I have a 61 key non weighted MIDI keyboard that I'm goofing off with; if I pursue this and get better, I'll upgrade to a better 88 weighted key DP.

I've looked at a free program, and plan to install it on my system:

http://www.sightreadingpractice.com...ll&r=w.s/&id=5766609131&cr=1

Anybody have any recommendations on any other software programs that help make the connection between the written note and the fingers getting to the keys? Freeware is of course nice, but I'll buy a really good commercial program if it does the job.

TIA for any and all guidance.

I don't know of any sight reading software. But,I would recommend sight reading something new everyday (from good old fashioned sheet music-LOL).

You will get better with practice and doing something different every day will prevent you from (accidentally) playing it from memory.

There is a few good music software out there but for sight reading I think sheet music is better. I use books from The FJH Music Co, it's call Sight Reading everyday, it's started at books 1A and 1B till book 8B. I only do 5 minutes a day.

Serge

Check out Note Attack http://www.musicmasterworks.com/midi_video_game_sheet_music.html

Someone recommended it on this site and I found it very useful. It's freeware.

Cheers!

I'm going to be abrupt here and disregard your original question and answer another. Being that I am no authority, a skeptical eye and ear should be considered with that knowledge that I speak only from my own experience.

If your goal is to play music off the written page, no other strategy makes sense than to practice reading music from the written page. If you're going to learn at all, it won't be done quickly and it won't cost $39.95. It'll probably involve seeking out the counseling of those who have learned to sight read before, at least at first, and will cost significantly more than one book or lesson.

I think that our familiarity with technology gives credence to all sorts of shams and self-help products. Myself, I spend four to five hours a day in front of a traditional computer screen and all hours of the day connected to the internet and people via my smart-phone. I know plenty of people who spend fortunes on self-improvement schemes. I also know it's best not to criticize that but here is an instance where I don't know of one amateur or professional pianist who has been successful with learning to sight read with a computer program. I say successful and not satisfied intentionally. Sometimes, we need to have a broader horizon than the meager goals of these sigh-reading computer programs. They are putting something wonderful and rewarding into a box fit for something discounted and thrown away.

I am one of those who turned first to the internet to learn about how to play the piano. Four or five years ago I found these forums and then found a teacher. From almost two years of lessons I was at a place I could explore new music on my own but the progress is markedly slower now. I am still getting better at playing the kind of keyboard pieces I enjoy with respect to sight reading. However, I start up lessons in two weeks. I have found it's actually fun to have someone to be accountable to.

Playing even the beginner music can't be easily mastered without a facility with scales, fingering, and key signatures. These I gained by constant practice under the eyes of a teacher. Most of sight-reading is just bullshit. Really. Once you have played a scale or a chord, from sight, a few times or a few thousand, you get good at it. In fact, you get so good that you can begin to play those recognized patterns and bullshit your way to the last bar.

My only firm recomendation, besides trying out a one-on-one lesson situation and the requirement of passionate love of music, is that once you are able, sight read J.S. Bach's Chorale preludes and use it daily. They provide me the daily meditation my soul needs as well as ample practice fodder. (Fodder... ...four-part harmony is not!)

HTH

Note attack is brilliant. After using it for about a week (probably 5 or 6 hours in total) I could read music twice as fast, if not more...

There is probably not a single thing most asked than 'sight reading'. from Bryan Carneys post above; Most of sight-reading is just bs.

I have to agree but would add that if you want to dispell the bs, I found a very helpful book (Supermusicology).

Unknown to most piano players there has been an effort for over a century (and probably longer than that) to provide some insight to the way written music evolved into the bs we now use. The book explains this and offers some alternative. You will not likely adopt the alternative but it will help to understand the illogic of our music. Considerable food for thought. About two thirds of the book is available to read at the LULU site. Google lulu and supermusicology for a free look. Your brain will accept even the illogical if you can see the path to it. I bought the book as I am working with an alternative keyboard as well as alternative notation.

Another comment from a thread I started. "There are recognizable 'chunks' that go with each key signature". That was helpful to me. All of these things are relative to the irregular black white pattern of the keys. There is a better way.

James

Regarding this book, published in 1933, which has remained mostly lost in time, I have no familiarit and will have to approach it cautiously.

I won't dismiss it before I check it out today but I'd like to clarify that I don't think our method of notation is BS. To me, it makes good sense. I enjoy playing the music in our literature and I've never thought obfuscation had anything to do with our system of notation.

Maybe if I were house-bound I'd consider such an idiosyncratic scheme but I like to get out now and then.