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So, after 200+ hours of sight-reading in the past year, I'm not satisfied.

I've played all the easy stuff in the international piano library, all my old kid books, some hymnal bits, the entire jumbo easy piano song book, some stuff I've printed off.

I've tried Howard Richman's super sightreading secrets, but gave up because I can't play bach chorales. How can any one play quickly moving 1oths, 11ths, and sometimes 12ths, especially at sight?

I know the basics. Don't stop, look ahead, keep your eyes on the score. I don't stop often because I try to play stuff that I can play fluently, I try to look a head but I find reading and playing different things at the same time hard to do. How does one practice this if it's too hard to do in the first place unless it's really easy music? I NEVER look at my hands when sight-reading.

I've got All-State Jazz try-outs coming up and am considering not trying out because of the bad experience I had at All-Region due to my lack of the expected sight-reading skills.

To give you an idea of where I am, I can s-r easier schubert waltzes, some easy kuhlau and clementi sonatinas, and most hymns as long as I'm not playing at 80bpm and all-of-a-sudden there are 8th notes flyin' around in both hands.

What should I do? I'm no beginner but I am quite the slow progressor.

Thanks

Oh yeah, I've also tried the 4star daily sight reading series. It goes way to fast for a song a day, they expect you to be a session pianist in two months. One day it's mary had a little lamb in G, next it's 3 part allegro with at least 8ths in E. It just doesn't work.

What I need is like...around 10,000 pages of music very carefully graduated, so I could just start one one page and keep playing, never noticing it get harder.

200 hours a year is not enough sight reading if you wish to get really good. I've always done well in exams but, like most, I've never been happy with my level ability. I am convinced the key is to have an interest or something your looking for. I'll often read straight through a set of six sonatas by CPE Bach or Clementi or others to see how they handle particular problems of structure or some other element. If you have something to search for (and a good library) scores becomes a kind of reference library.

Well, I'm doing a lot more than I did. 200 is probably an understatement. I've done about 100 in the past month or so.

I don't have any music in my S-Ring range that I haven't played, really.

Am I making progress even if the music is too hard? would it do me good even if I just sludge through it and can't play it fluently? I have plenty of music with which I could do that.

I'm saying you need a reason to sight read.

The reason (I expect) for most of us sight readers is that we hate to practise and we get a bit bored spending hours on one piece.

I have spent way to much of my life sight reading and have lately tryed to knuckle down and actually learn a piece or two. My only clue about sight reading is that it is not something you can 'learn'. It does seem easier for some pianists right out of the gate. And after a few years, you become even more adept. Fools gold.

There are no shortcuts. Sight reading can be fun but often you miss some real insights into the music you are playing.