Category Archives: Sight Reading

34/60 Christmas is a time for sudden progess

At this time of year I switch to focussing on Christmas Carols. With careful choice of book, many of the students will make great gains in confidence and motivation. As well as choosing “off-the-shelf” books, I’ve also transposed carols into … Continue reading

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84/100 Easy Piano Sight Reading in F major

Here are three short pieces in F major for learning to do Grade 1 piano sight reading. The last one doesn’t have any dynamics; so you can add your own.   They are meant to be a starting point; try adding … Continue reading

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52/100 Brushing up on Sight Reading

  I’ve just bought some of the new syllabus ABRSM piano teaching books to have a look at what’s coming up for next term. So I open them up, and start playing through – and AAARGH! where have my sight-reading … Continue reading

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32/100 Trip down memory lane

My first ever piano teacher, back in maybe as long ago as 1960 or 1961, was one of the Old School. I mean the sort who plays you a bit of the tune, and you play it back, and she … Continue reading

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Issue 91: Sight-Reading Skills

I have been doing a crash-course in sight-reading for several pianists recently. Although this is written with the piano in mind, the same process would work on other instruments. This is what I do for grades higher than 1 and … Continue reading

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Issue 87: Sight-reading skills for piano music exams

I’ve a student preparing for a grade 5 piano exam who is totally terrified of the sight reading element. Her note reading skills are good, and she is fine with rhythms. So, what is the problem? I think it is … Continue reading

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Issue 42: Help With Sight-Reading – Keeping the Pulse and Rhythm

I discovered early on – probably at about Grade 2 – that I couldn’t actually cope with counting numbers out loud “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and ” while trying to read and play handfuls of notes. I … Continue reading

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