Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Your Sight Reading Trials!

I just started doing this.
Been playing too long to remember, and my poor eyesight from an early age precluded reading music fluently. since I relied too much on my ears. I pick out the tune, both hands, and attempt to engrain in my head the memory of it and, section by section, with a little music prompting I play the thing.
Since having lens replacements (both eyes) I've had the best eyesight pretty much of my life.
So I decides it's time to learn to read properly, without looking at my hands!

It is harder than I thought. My wife understands; she was a good reader, but she has to listen to me now!
I selected 3rd Gymnopedie for this. It has some wide reaching notes in there. You can imagine the rest . . . .

How long is this going to take? I hardly dare ask . . .
Next! The computer keyboard. NO NO NO! Too much! I'm too blo*dy old!.

I do not have so much experience as you playing piano (only 5 months) but sight reading is something I really enjoy doing and training and have done since day 1. Having said so, I would just start with something a lot easier than the Gymnopedies. To practice sight reading I have been using Czerny op 599 and recently I purchased the first 2 books of Bartok's Mikrokosmos and I found them really useful for this (since also the difficulty increases as you advance though the book). He also adds a bunch of accidentals from an early stage which is cool for SR.
Go for music that is one or two levels below what you tackle nowadays. Given what you mention, I would consider going even below that. You will find it more rewarding that way IMO.
Cheers.

Not to worry .... he isn't using Gymnopedies for sight-reading, he is simply using it to practice playing while he is looking at the music notation.

My eyesight has gotten much worse in the last year - but the eye doctor says my cataracts are not bad enough for lens replacement yet. But my left eye can't be corrected with glasses anymore, and the floaters are always there, dancing around in front of my vision. I need strong light to see the page - which is one reason why I like using a tablet.

Enjoy your new lenses! I'm envious...

Sam

This is a misconception. You can't look at your hands all the time or even much of the time and be a good sight reader but looking sometimes is fine. All good pianists do it unless they're playing something far below their level. You have to learn to look at your hands without losing your place in the score. That is an important skill.

This is absolutely true.

Since SIGHT-READING means playing something you have never seen before .... it would be very difficult to play it without looking at it much of the time.

I have eye trouble too. I can really use some big print music scores. But then I'll have to get really good at page turning.

My optician said the same to me, but myopia was so pronounced they could no longer supply suitably strengthed lenses. Strange, isn't it? I was on the verge of giving up driving (hated it; too many near misses) and getting a 3-wheeler bike. It affected my confidence in everything I did.
Hope you can get fixed, Sam. It made such a huge difference. And the operation was quite a wonderful experience in itself.