I usually show my students “Joy to the World’ for illustrating the importance of rhythm. The opening phrase is just a descending C Major scale, so I play it with even quarter notes and ask them to identify the song, which of course they can’t. “What do you mean you don’t know what I played? I played every note correctly!” They pretty much understand the point after that 😂
I agree that the emphasis should be on rhythm more than melody. It always bothered me as a singer when the piano player would be going along and then slow way down. I was a kid at the time, and couldn't understand why they played some parts so slow then sped back up again. It messed up the whole rhythm and timing of the song.
I absolutely love your videos. I have been studying piano for 8 years (as an adult is not easy) but your videos gave me the confidence to practice sight reading and not looking at the piano. Great tips !!! ❤
I wonder how much of the lack of intervalic playing stems from how we teach beginners. I've had students come to me who were completely unable to play anything new without going through and naming every single note first.
So true! Some method books are better at teaching intervallic reading than others. I'm from the generation who grew up with the John Thompson, "middle C" method, and I didn't learn what an interval was until much, much later in my musical training. Would have been nice to learn it from the very beginning. A colleague was just saying to me the other day - "Your most important piano teacher is your FIRST teacher." It's essential to get those foundational elements in place from the beginning!
I've been sightreading Bach Chorales, and my level is two voice. I'm getting a little better, but my rhythm is arrhythmic. I'll work on it. My teachers wants me to also try out the 3 and 4 voice chorales at the same time, even though they are above my level. Today I went back to Czerny, since I've left it aside since I got the Bach book. I was so frustrated with all the finger changes, but now I'm finding it easier to incorporate them as well as playing them better.
Great tips! I learned how to sight read effectively when I started playing Tango in an ensemble. This was the best setting: The rythm was naturally the most important part and it didn‘t matter when you played some wrong notes. Also you had to always continue playing since you were playing with others who relied on you being on time. After some while you start to understand what is important to play and what you can leave out if there is too much to process.
Great tip! Coincidentally, I was at a tango lesson 2 weeks ago when I was teaching at a festival in Greece, and the other pianists were taking turns improvising tango music so everyone could dance. I made a mental note to learn to play tango - it looked like fun! And I see your point - the rhythm is absolutely the most important thing, and as long as you play the chord progression, the faster notes are not as noticeable if they contain some errors.
The framework is extremely helpful, including the advice to remain within a range of ability. I'm an experienced amateur chamber player. I often find myself in situations where other instrumentalists harbour unreasonable expectations about what the pianist is able to sight read. Just two days ago, a clarinetist and cellist wondered if I'd read the Brahms Clarinet Trio on the spot. This music doesn't intimidate me at all - even with it's dense textures, shifting polyrhythms, etc. - when I have weeks/months to prepare. But as a mere mortal, I have to wonder whether there are just some works where it's not worthwhile to attempt this sort of reading? (I hate to be a refusenik in situations like that; but there must be limits to what can be reasonably sight-read!)
This is a good question! It all depends on your comfort level and the mindset of the other players. If you feel like you can keep reading and keep up, and if the other instrumentalists are understanding of the fact that you will be leaving a lot out and making errors, it could be a valuable experience. This can be an opportunity to learn to leave strategic things out and focus on the bass line and melodies, for example. However, if you anticipate that you're going to feel bad about it because you have to leave so much out or because you are going to make errors or not keep up, it may be worthwhile to ask people for a few days' lead time. These days when I read with people recreationally, we will often choose the rep ahead of time so I can look at some of the harder licks before we get together. This makes it more fun for me and makes the reading experience more coherent and enjoyable for the group.
Stopping and re-starting is my biggest bugbear. I can't deal with the dissonance when the music doesn't sound right. Looking forward to your advice on resources.
The dissonance is a real drag - you'll find that you can avoid some of the dissonance if you leave out extra notes and focus on things like accuracy in the bass notes and melody. Resource video is the next one! Working on it now! 😊
Great vids! I struggle with sight reading. Your last point about ease is 100% accurate. Also playing without looking down all the time. Try to keep your eyes up - also facilitated skill by reading so called 'easy' music
Great lesson! I printed out your checklist right after your lesson and have it next to me as i sightread - which has improved. Now I’ve added RICE on the back of that paper. I must see intervals and not name the notes! Thanks so much!
Hi Thanks so much for your videos! I'm an 55+ adult intermediate player (played 3+ years back in college) and recently started practicing again. I struggle with sight reading. I try and take all your RICE steps into account and I also try not to look down (navigating by touch is odd). When I do find pieces in my sight reading "range", I slow down the tempo a lot and look for the shortest note values in the passage/exercise (currently using old, lower level method books I find in PDF format on the web and put on my tablet). Two thing I find really challenging are 16th+ note patterns and reading when both bass and treble note passages are at the ends of the keyboard (ug). The other thing I do to "force" myself to keep going is to use a metronome (at a slow tempo). Some days I feel successful...other days not so much. I've also signed up at a web site called Sight Reading Factory (www.sightreadingfactory.com). The site is useful since you can pick levels, keys, and tempos but the exercises are not "pianistic" so its not the same as trying to read a real piece of music. Anyway thanks again for all your tips.
Thanks for your comment. It sounds like you're doing all the right things to make progress. You might consider sightreading pieces where the hands are closer together. And if you're having issues with 16th note passages, look for pieces to read where one hand has less to do while the other hand plays. Sightreading Clementi Sonatinas or Kuhlau pieces, for example, could be helpful, if that's at the right level for you. Good luck!!
Thank you so very much for this excellent advice. I've struggled with sight reading for as long as I can remember and I'm definitely going to implement the RICE principles!
Kate- hi! Great points- once again there is so much wisdom here. I’m embarrassed to admit that “rhythm” was an afterthought to me as a student. That was a big mistake as you cleverly show with your “mystery song”! A concept to consider for a future video: a “speed guide” to working out rhythms from 10 different measures from 10 different pieces. (Obviously this is a broad topic that could merit hours of instruction.) I’m more thinking: how does a pro like you do it quickly and easily “on the fly”, using real examples… The Chopin études have a lot of tricky rhythms; or some of the Beethoven sonatas. Great job! 😊
Thanks for this idea! I love the idea of doing a video specifically about rhythm! Just to be sure I understand: you're suggesting that I find 10 common (or uncommon?) rhythms in pieces and then demonstrate how to count each of them? By subdividing out loud, and/or playing them? Sort of like my 10 fingering solutions video? Thanks for your clarification!
Great advice, thank you ❤ Personally, there's another principle which I have found useful, which is: speed isn’t important. Would be interesting to have your thoughts on this: if I have to slow down my sight-reading to half the intended performance speed (or even less), is that good practice, or would you say the piece is really too difficult then for my sight-reading level?
If you can play it with accurate rhythms and notes at a slow tempo, I think that's great and the level is good for you. I always recommend playing through a sightreading selection several times in order to gain the maximum value from it, so if it's dramatically under tempo, you could try to increase your tempo on each subsequent playthrough.
@@ThePianoProfKateBoyd Thanks for the reply! I'll try out your suggestion of re-sightreading, which I always considered cheating, as I'd kind of know what would be coming (and how it sounds). 😆 BTW, congratulations, your channel is really taking off now!
I’m interested on your thoughts on the Sight Reading component on the Piano Marvel app. I find the extensive practice pieces helpful and fun, and the assessment component has been wonderful motivation. It’s always encouraging to see my score improve as I practice sight reading more.
It's hard to know exactly what you mean by "heavy" fingers but there should definitely be the feeling of sinking or dropping into the keys. So, in that sense, your fingers will feel heavy because they're "falling." Does that resonate with what you're feeling in your fingers?
Very well explained. I learnt the piano and organ the old school way from Victorian books and my only teacher was my grandfather who was an organist himself. He stressed a lot on scales, arpeggios and exercises to become good at sight reading. People these days don't understand that scales and piano method exercises like Hanon or Dohnayani are extremely helpful in sight reading too. Those exercises are not just meant to be learnt for a few bars and then repeated without looking at the book/sheet (which most people do). And rhythm is the foundation on which melody and harmonies rest. So, I'm of the opinion that people should slowly read basic exercises and etudes in order to gain control of the instrument and become better at sight reading. BTW, the quick reading of the horizontal river of music of 2 to 3 or more parts of music lines is far more difficult than the rain of vertical chords. 😊 Nice content and if you don't mind, then please do make a video on easy reading of horizontal music like Bach's and Scarlatti etc. which also requires high level of hand independence. 👍🏼
Thanks for sharing your story! I agree that a solid understanding of music theory and fundamental exercises is extremely helpful in sight reading at the piano. Thank you as well for your video idea- much appreciated!
![How to Learn a Piano Piece FROM SCRATCH [My 6-Point System!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VGkJoB_V1bE/mqdefault.jpg)
Watch this next: Piano SIGHT READING: Your Checklist For Success! ruclips.net/video/hwXSUz-5NwI/видео.html
I usually show my students “Joy to the World’ for illustrating the importance of rhythm. The opening phrase is just a descending C Major scale, so I play it with even quarter notes and ask them to identify the song, which of course they can’t. “What do you mean you don’t know what I played? I played every note correctly!” They pretty much understand the point after that 😂
Ha ha, that's brilliant!! 😂😂
This is one of the best piano learning channels on youtube. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us!
Wow, thanks! Glad you're finding it helpful!
Agree 100%
I agree that the emphasis should be on rhythm more than melody. It always bothered me as a singer when the piano player would be going along and then slow way down. I was a kid at the time, and couldn't understand why they played some parts so slow then sped back up again. It messed up the whole rhythm and timing of the song.
I absolutely love your videos. I have been studying piano for 8 years (as an adult is not easy) but your videos gave me the confidence to practice sight reading and not looking at the piano. Great tips !!! ❤
Great to hear! Wishing you continued progress!
Rhythm edges out pitch- validation, thank you.
SO PRACTICAL!
"Ease" in your system corresponds to "comprehensible input" in foreign-language teaching.
Thank you so much for all your valuable tips! Your content is gold on piano learning!
Great - so happy to hear that!
Thank you for making this series!
My pleasure! Thanks for your comment!
I wonder how much of the lack of intervalic playing stems from how we teach beginners. I've had students come to me who were completely unable to play anything new without going through and naming every single note first.
So true! Some method books are better at teaching intervallic reading than others. I'm from the generation who grew up with the John Thompson, "middle C" method, and I didn't learn what an interval was until much, much later in my musical training. Would have been nice to learn it from the very beginning.
A colleague was just saying to me the other day - "Your most important piano teacher is your FIRST teacher." It's essential to get those foundational elements in place from the beginning!
I've been sightreading Bach Chorales, and my level is two voice. I'm getting a little better, but my rhythm is arrhythmic. I'll work on it.
My teachers wants me to also try out the 3 and 4 voice chorales at the same time, even though they are above my level.
Today I went back to Czerny, since I've left it aside since I got the Bach book. I was so frustrated with all the finger changes, but now I'm finding it easier to incorporate them as well as playing them better.
Sounds like you are making progress! Which Czerny are you using?
Great tips! I learned how to sight read effectively when I started playing Tango in an ensemble. This was the best setting: The rythm was naturally the most important part and it didn‘t matter when you played some wrong notes. Also you had to always continue playing since you were playing with others who relied on you being on time. After some while you start to understand what is important to play and what you can leave out if there is too much to process.
Great tip! Coincidentally, I was at a tango lesson 2 weeks ago when I was teaching at a festival in Greece, and the other pianists were taking turns improvising tango music so everyone could dance. I made a mental note to learn to play tango - it looked like fun! And I see your point - the rhythm is absolutely the most important thing, and as long as you play the chord progression, the faster notes are not as noticeable if they contain some errors.
Good option for easy but very nice music for sight reading is Streabbog. Opus 63. N1 A pleasant morning, and N7 By the seaside.
Thanks for the tips!
The framework is extremely helpful, including the advice to remain within a range of ability. I'm an experienced amateur chamber player. I often find myself in situations where other instrumentalists harbour unreasonable expectations about what the pianist is able to sight read. Just two days ago, a clarinetist and cellist wondered if I'd read the Brahms Clarinet Trio on the spot. This music doesn't intimidate me at all - even with it's dense textures, shifting polyrhythms, etc. - when I have weeks/months to prepare. But as a mere mortal, I have to wonder whether there are just some works where it's not worthwhile to attempt this sort of reading? (I hate to be a refusenik in situations like that; but there must be limits to what can be reasonably sight-read!)
This is a good question! It all depends on your comfort level and the mindset of the other players. If you feel like you can keep reading and keep up, and if the other instrumentalists are understanding of the fact that you will be leaving a lot out and making errors, it could be a valuable experience.
This can be an opportunity to learn to leave strategic things out and focus on the bass line and melodies, for example.
However, if you anticipate that you're going to feel bad about it because you have to leave so much out or because you are going to make errors or not keep up, it may be worthwhile to ask people for a few days' lead time.
These days when I read with people recreationally, we will often choose the rep ahead of time so I can look at some of the harder licks before we get together. This makes it more fun for me and makes the reading experience more coherent and enjoyable for the group.
Thanks for such good advice
My pleasure!
Stopping and re-starting is my biggest bugbear. I can't deal with the dissonance when the music doesn't sound right. Looking forward to your advice on resources.
The dissonance is a real drag - you'll find that you can avoid some of the dissonance if you leave out extra notes and focus on things like accuracy in the bass notes and melody.
Resource video is the next one! Working on it now! 😊
Great vids! I struggle with sight reading. Your last point about ease is 100% accurate. Also playing without looking down all the time. Try to keep your eyes up - also facilitated skill by reading so called 'easy' music
Exactly!
Great lesson! I printed out your checklist right after your lesson and have it next to me as i sightread - which has improved. Now I’ve added RICE on the back of that paper.
I must see intervals and not name the notes! Thanks so much!
Glad it was helpful! With some practice, it will start to become second nature. Good luck! 🎹😊
Hi Thanks so much for your videos! I'm an 55+ adult intermediate player (played 3+ years back in college) and recently started practicing again. I struggle with sight reading. I try and take all your RICE steps into account and I also try not to look down (navigating by touch is odd). When I do find pieces in my sight reading "range", I slow down the tempo a lot and look for the shortest note values in the passage/exercise (currently using old, lower level method books I find in PDF format on the web and put on my tablet). Two thing I find really challenging are 16th+ note patterns and reading when both bass and treble note passages are at the ends of the keyboard (ug). The other thing I do to "force" myself to keep going is to use a metronome (at a slow tempo). Some days I feel successful...other days not so much. I've also signed up at a web site called Sight Reading Factory (www.sightreadingfactory.com). The site is useful since you can pick levels, keys, and tempos but the exercises are not "pianistic" so its not the same as trying to read a real piece of music. Anyway thanks again for all your tips.
Thanks for your comment. It sounds like you're doing all the right things to make progress. You might consider sightreading pieces where the hands are closer together. And if you're having issues with 16th note passages, look for pieces to read where one hand has less to do while the other hand plays. Sightreading Clementi Sonatinas or Kuhlau pieces, for example, could be helpful, if that's at the right level for you. Good luck!!
@@ThePianoProfKateBoyd Thanks. Going to IMSLP now to get me some Clementi and Kuhlau...so nice that all this is now public domain.
@@rodholt8651 Agreed!
Thank you so very much for this excellent advice. I've struggled with sight reading for as long as I can remember and I'm definitely going to implement the RICE principles!
Wonderful! Good luck!! 🎹🥳
Kate- hi! Great points- once again there is so much wisdom here. I’m embarrassed to admit that “rhythm” was an afterthought to me as a student. That was a big mistake as you cleverly show with your “mystery song”! A concept to consider for a future video: a “speed guide” to working out rhythms from 10 different measures from 10 different pieces. (Obviously this is a broad topic that could merit hours of instruction.) I’m more thinking: how does a pro like you do it quickly and easily “on the fly”, using real examples… The Chopin études have a lot of tricky rhythms; or some of the Beethoven sonatas. Great job! 😊
Thanks for this idea! I love the idea of doing a video specifically about rhythm! Just to be sure I understand: you're suggesting that I find 10 common (or uncommon?) rhythms in pieces and then demonstrate how to count each of them? By subdividing out loud, and/or playing them? Sort of like my 10 fingering solutions video? Thanks for your clarification!
Thank you, your videos are really helpful and motivating.
You are so welcome!
Great advice, thank you ❤
Personally, there's another principle which I have found useful, which is: speed isn’t important.
Would be interesting to have your thoughts on this: if I have to slow down my sight-reading to half the intended performance speed (or even less), is that good practice, or would you say the piece is really too difficult then for my sight-reading level?
If you can play it with accurate rhythms and notes at a slow tempo, I think that's great and the level is good for you. I always recommend playing through a sightreading selection several times in order to gain the maximum value from it, so if it's dramatically under tempo, you could try to increase your tempo on each subsequent playthrough.
@@ThePianoProfKateBoyd Thanks for the reply!
I'll try out your suggestion of re-sightreading, which I always considered cheating, as I'd kind of know what would be coming (and how it sounds). 😆
BTW, congratulations, your channel is really taking off now!
I’m interested on your thoughts on the Sight Reading component on the Piano Marvel app. I find the extensive practice pieces helpful and fun, and the assessment component has been wonderful motivation. It’s always encouraging to see my score improve as I practice sight reading more.
I think Piano Marvel is wonderful!
Dear professor, should my fingers feel a little heavy when I play the piano? while supporting my arm properly.thanks.
It's hard to know exactly what you mean by "heavy" fingers but there should definitely be the feeling of sinking or dropping into the keys. So, in that sense, your fingers will feel heavy because they're "falling." Does that resonate with what you're feeling in your fingers?
I learned chords by sight-reading their notes on the staff. I don't understand why the internet is filled with images showing chords on piano keys!
Glad that worked for you! Some people find it easier to visually map the staff to the keys. Have fun!
Hello Kate! I'd like to reach out in order to propose a partnership with Tomplay, what's the best way to contact you? :)
Sure thing! thepianoprof.com/contact/ Looking forward to hearing from you!
Very well explained. I learnt the piano and organ the old school way from Victorian books and my only teacher was my grandfather who was an organist himself. He stressed a lot on scales, arpeggios and exercises to become good at sight reading. People these days don't understand that scales and piano method exercises like Hanon or Dohnayani are extremely helpful in sight reading too. Those exercises are not just meant to be learnt for a few bars and then repeated without looking at the book/sheet (which most people do). And rhythm is the foundation on which melody and harmonies rest. So, I'm of the opinion that people should slowly read basic exercises and etudes in order to gain control of the instrument and become better at sight reading. BTW, the quick reading of the horizontal river of music of 2 to 3 or more parts of music lines is far more difficult than the rain of vertical chords. 😊 Nice content and if you don't mind, then please do make a video on easy reading of horizontal music like Bach's and Scarlatti etc. which also requires high level of hand independence. 👍🏼
Thanks for sharing your story! I agree that a solid understanding of music theory and fundamental exercises is extremely helpful in sight reading at the piano.
Thank you as well for your video idea- much appreciated!