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How to Practice Sight-Reading
A very important part of playing any instrument is to master sight-reading. Musicians
without sight-reading skills are hampered in all they do. Approaching every new work is a hassle. Picking up
a piece of pop music is a chore and learning it is equivalent to learning a piece of the standard repertoire.
Many entertaining options, such as playing improvised duets with other players or playing requests f or
f amily members and f riends, are not easily accessible.
That's why all students need to learn to sight-read. As soon as a student discovers it's easier to begin a
new piece, he gains appreciation f or the importance of good sight-reading. Now, it is true that there are
many f ine musicians out there who are not good sight-readers. However, these people need to do a lot
more woodshedding to get ready f or rehearsals, whereas good sight-reading abilities can save you a
great deal of time.
But there's more to that. It is a common myth that, apart f rom convenience, sight-reading of f ers no real
artistic value to a perf ormer. However, a great advantage to a good sight-reader is that the rhythms, the
phrases, etc. are all quickly apparent, and this ability to see the big picture can actually be very benef icial
to musical interpretation.
Last but not least, let us point out that in a lot of auditions you're actually given a piece to sight-read, and
your f inal grade is based on how well you can do that.
What Sight -reading is (and what it is not )
Sight-reading can very simply be def ined as the ability to play unf amiliar music f rom scores. It is very
important to understand that the ability to sight-read is not something a player enjoys f rom birth. There's
really nothing magical about it. It is a skill like any other, and virtually anyone can learn how to do it.
What sight-reading practice does is speed up the message f rom the page through the brain to the f ingers.
In a way it is a mechanical skill, not unlike touch-typing which, although less complicated, equally involves
getting the message f rom the written page to your brain to your f ingers.
Although physical agility is required to some extent, sight-reading is primarily a mental activity. An advanced
physical f acility on an instrument does not guarantee the ability to sight-read. In f act, students who can
learn to play dif f icult literature of ten cannot sight-read music beyond the most elementary level.
Of course, a little theory is also a necessary background f or ef f ective sight-reading. It is theref ore very
important that you get f amiliar with musical notation and that you memorize how the most common rhythmic
units should sound. This is simply accomplished by paying caref ul attention to how they sound in pieces
you have already studied.
How t o Prepare f or Sight -reading
A correct practice routine can help you be more successf ul at sight-reading. Unf ortunately, many students
adopt a routine that is actually detrimental to the development of this important skill.
The f irst thing that can seriously ruin your work is bad tempo. You should practice your etudes and solos
patiently, choosing tempos within your reading capability. If you practice at too f ast a tempo, you will
reinf orce bad reading habits and learn pitches and rhythms incorrectly.
Studies have shown that the overall sight-reading ability is closely linked to the capacity to read rhythms,
and that the greatest number of errors occurs in the category of rhythm. Theref ore, you should make an
exercise out of every rhythmically dif f icult passage you encounter. Bef ore playing the passage, clap or sing
the rhythm while tapping the beat with your f oot until you can easily execute the passage. Try to memorize
every new rhythmic unit, so that when it will come up again you will know how to handle it.
Learning to play your scales by memory is another very important element that can greatly improve your
sight-reading. Little by little, you should start out with some major scales, then include minor scales
(natural, harmonic and melodic f orms) as well, without f orgetting chromatic scales. You don't need to study
the more complex scales at f irst; instead, f ocus on scales that have just a f ew sharps or f lats in their key
signatures, and strive to learn these perf ectly. The next step consists in playing the same scales in thirds
and arpeggios; probably the best source f or this kind of exercise is Taf f anel and Gaubert's book (the title
is in French, but English instructions are included!). As you may already have noticed, scales and arpeggios
make up much of music, so if you know them in advance everything will just sound better.
It is also important to know the def initions to the most common musical terms that you may f ind on a
score. Theref ore, every time you encounter a direction that you don't know you should look it up on a
music glossary.
Finally, and this applies to everything you do, never lose concentration. Good sight-readers are always
sight-reading, even music which is well rehearsed and of ten perf ormed, because sight-reading every time
helps even old warhorses remain f resh.
Of course, the tips outlined above are not enough by themselves: to become a good sight-reader you need
to do some actual sight-reading. For this reason, you should devote a small part of your daily practice
routine to sight-reading pieces you have never seen bef ore. This is best done at the end of each practice
session, and should not take more than a f ew minutes a day.
In f act, when sight-reading it is best to keep going on to new, unf amiliar material, rather than replaying a
score to perf ect it. In any case, replaying the same piece more than two times can no longer be considered
sight-reading.
Fortunately enough, on f lutetunes.com you can f ind something new every day.
What t o Do Before Sight -reading
Unless you are obliged to, you should not just plunge into reading an unf amiliar score. On the contrary,
don't be af raid to take some time to look at the music. If you are sight-reading f or an audition, take as
much time as the judges allow. Spy out the lie of the land, and make sure that everything is within your
capabilities to perf orm. There are many things that you should check bef ore you perf orm. You won't always
have the time to check them all out, but you should really try to get the most inf ormation you can about the
piece bef ore you start playing it.
Here are the most important elements you should look f or, listed in order of priority.
1. Key signature. How many sharps or f lats are there?
2. Time signature. This lets you know how many beats there are per measure, and what note value
takes the beat. The most common time signature is 4/4, which means there are f our beats in a
measure, and the quarter note takes the beat. You can f ind more inf ormation about time signatures
on our metronome page. Even bef ore you start playing, you should already be hearing the meter in
your head.
3. Tempo. How f ast should you play? This is usually expressed by one or two words in standard
Italian, or in terms of beats per minute (BPM). Feel f ree to play the piece more slowly if you think that
the marked tempo indication wouldn't allow good sight-reading. On the other hand, never play f aster
than the given tempo, even if you f eel that you can do it. Speed is not the important thing!
4. Overall Structure. Examine the piece and make a mental map of where its dif f erent sections start,
so that when you get to a repeat bar you know exactly where you have to go. The same applies f or
other indications like Da Capo (D.C.) and Dal Segno (D.S.). Also look out f or changes in key signature,
time signature, and tempo.
5. Repeating patterns. Look out f or repeated rhythmic patterns, repeated measures and even
repeated lines. Most music has some. Of ten you may also be able to relate dif f icult passages to the
overall musical context, by f inding out f or example that a given complex passage is actually an
embellishment of an earlier theme that has already appeared in a simpler f orm.
6. Complex-looking rhythms. Look ahead in search of rhythmical units that you are not sure how to
play. Try to decompose them by expressing them in terms of simpler rhythms. This is usually
accomplished by splitting some notes into shorter tied notes, or by temporarily tying some notes to
get a more global idea of what's going on, so that you can keep a steady pulse. Ideally, you should
be able to hear each rhythm in your head bef ore playing it.
7. Melodic patterns. Look out f or scales, arpeggios and melodic sequences you are already f amiliar
with.
8. Accidentals. Many students are put of f when they run into uncommon notes such as E# or Cb.
Don't let them catch you unprepared. Also watch out f or those accidentals whose ef f ect applies to
multiple notes within the same measure.
9. Phrasing. Try to spot phrase endings, and make a basic plan of where to breathe. When you see a
dif f icult run coming up, make sure that you have enough breath to make it through that run.
10. Style. If you know who composed the piece, or what time period the music was written, you can get
many important clues to interpretation. For instance, the time period can af f ect how trills and other
ornamentations are to be perf ormed, as well as how articulation is to be interpreted. Also, a piece
written by Mozart should generally be played more vivaciously than a piece written by, say, Dvok.
Always try to sense the mood of the piece you are about to perf orm.
You may want to f eel at home in the key bef ore beginning. Theref ore, if you still have time, play the scale
of the key, and perhaps improvise a short melody as a preparation.
Sight -reading Tips
When you f eel ready, reading may commence. You should choose a tempo that is comf ortable f or reading
the music; a tempo at which even the most dif f icult passage can be played with some accuracy. We really
cannot stress this enough. Remember, you are not perf orming, you are sight-reading. Play as slowly as you
need to incorporate every detail printed on the page. Your main goal should be accuracy, not speed.
1. Keep a steady tempo. Make sure that you are always counting, even when you have a rest. You
must know where you are in the piece at any given time. While you can't expect to play with 100%
pitch accuracy, tempo and rhythm should be maintained at any cost. Notes can be sacrif iced, time
cannot. While practicing, students of ten woodshed the notes f irst and then strive f or correct
rhythm. This can prove very harmf ul in the long run, because rhythmic accuracy should always take
precedence over pitch. At f irst you may want to use a metronome to help you keep pace, but be
aware that you shouldn't become dependent on it. Finally, keep in mind that while it is important to
play on beat, you shouldn't be af raid to put a little heart into what you are playing.
3. Read ahead. There is no reason to stare at the notes you are already playing. Instead, you should
be constantly looking ahead of what is being played. Try to memorize the music in small blocks,
playing each block while looking at the next. Please observe that you can't read ahead if you are
trying to play too f ast.
4. Breathing. Many students make errors while sight-reading just because they run out of air in the
middle of a phrase. Since you cannot plan breathing in advance, you must learn to spot phrase
endings while playing them f or the f irst time, and to breathe without breaking the musical continuity.
5. Stay concentrated. Keep your eyes on notation at any time. Never look away f rom the page. Keep
your head and body still.
6. Play musically. Phrasing, dynamics, intonation, tone quality, and musical expression must never be
f orgotten. In f act, your sight-reading ability will most of ten be judged by how well you capture the
musical aspects of a piece despite pitch or rhythm errors you might make.
7. Relax! Tense muscles make the music harder to play, so try to keep your f ingers, hands, arms and
body as relaxed as possible.
We know, all these tips may seem too hard to deal with at f irst. But don't get discouraged. As the celebrated
f lutist Marcel Moyse said, It is a question of time, patience and intelligent work!