Members kwyn Posted April 14, 2011 Members Share Posted April 14, 2011 What is the best way for a 38 year old to learn to sight read? What I already know is: the spaces are FACE and the lines a EGBDF. I know how sharps and flats word in the key signature and in the middle of a piece. As far as theory, I know how to form most chords: major/minor/dim/aug/#5, 7,9,11,13 etc... I know major and minor scales but I know nothing about modes. I also don't consider myself good at always using the right voicings. So, I want to learn to sight read. Recommend courses, websites, tips, etc... Thx!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cydonia Posted April 14, 2011 Members Share Posted April 14, 2011 If you're serious about sight reading, get a teacher. And prepare to be patient, as it takes many years. You will take 10x the time to learn by yourself what you can do with a good teacher. Not to mention nobody can tell you when you do mistakes if you work by yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwyn Posted April 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 14, 2011 I have a teacher but we just work off chord charts and stuff. I'm sure I can ask her to do this with me. Only thing is I onlySee her once a week for 1/2 hour and boy does that go fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tremens Posted April 14, 2011 Members Share Posted April 14, 2011 If you're serious about sight reading, get a teacher. And prepare to be patient, as it takes many years. exactly, but is it worthy? Teacher will definitely speed up the time. p.s. Cydonia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ghostpaw Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 Grab a few books with sheet music that would be easy to learn for your current skill level but stuff you are not familiar with. During each practice session pick a piece at random (needs to be something you don't know) and spend a little time playing it. After doing this regularly, eventually your mind will start picking up on common patterns and it won't be as much work. It is very similar to learning to read words. I can't imagine how hard this would be without a teacher. A good teacher will have a variety of sheet music for a wide range of skill levels for just this kind of thing. As an outside observer they can also point out mistakes you don't notice on your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stephen.hazel Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 yeah, a teacher is a good idea. they FORCE you to learn it. (that is, you look like a FOOL if you don't).It does take a while...:/my recommendation is to scan your sheet music and look at it on your pc monitor.most sheet music is a strain for my poor post 40 eyes to see.scanning it and viewing it on your monitor also lets you flip sheets with a pedal.(with my lil app which is freeware:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tagutcow Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 Is the OP just talking about reading music, or is he talking about sight-singing/ear-training/solfege? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 Is the OP just talking about reading music, or is he talking about sight-singing/ear-training/solfege? Yeah, I'm confused by the OP's post too, particularly where he/she says "What I already know is: the spaces are FACE and the lines a EGBDF" If you know what the notes are for the lines and spaces, what is your trouble with reading music? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ghostpaw Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 Since the OP said "sight reading" I believe he means more than the ability to pick out notes on the grand staff. I assumed he meant being able to pick up sheet music and play it without having to study and practice it first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwyn Posted April 15, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 Yeah, I'm the OP. I meant sight reading music for piano. So yeah, I know how to figure out what notes are what, but I feel like a kid learning how to read,just sounding words out. So what I meant by "sight reading" is to become more fluent at playing a piece, like most of us are at reading regular text. I guess Ghostpaw read me right... except I don't mind having to practice/study it. I just want to be much more fluent. perhaps, as some of you have said, it's just doing it over and over with my teacher... Up until this point we just use chord charts and my halfway decent knowledge of theory to put songs together. Thanks for all the responses!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ghostpaw Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 perhaps, as some of you have said, it's just doing it over and over with my teacher... Up until this point we just use chord charts and my halfway decent knowledge of theory to put songs together. Tell them this is a skill you would like to focus on. They may not realize. I know I had to speak up early on before it became an issue. Until then I would study the sheet music, practice, then play the assigned piece from memory instead of following the sheet music. It worked for a while but when the music grew much more complex it was too much to keep in my head unless the piece was repetitive or very familiar to me. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 I have all the background necessary to be an excellent sight reader and I'm only okay. Why? Because I don't do it much. The more you practise this skill, the better you'll be at it. That simple. That said, there are two forms of sight reading for an instrument. The first (which is where I am) is where you look at the music and wiggle the appropriate fingers, thereby creating music without engaging your brain very much. The second (which I wish I had) is READING the music like you read text; so you hear it in your head before/as you play it. You get there by sight singing and by reading a lot of printed music. I simply don't play from printed music enough to reach this level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted April 15, 2011 Members Share Posted April 15, 2011 Yeah, I'm the OP. I meant sight reading music for piano.So yeah, I know how to figure out what notes are what, but I feel like a kid learning how to read,just sounding words out. So what I meant by "sight reading" is to become more fluent at playing a piece, like most of us are at reading regular text. Ok, that makes more sense. I am not a quick sight reader on the piano, but my sight reading got faster after I started reading more piano music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theextremist04 Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 It really just comes down to sight reading a lot. From a classically trained trombonist's standpoint, I got a book (Arban's) that has a few hundred not too complicated tunes in it. Just sight-read a couple pieces every day during your practice time, you'll see an improvement fast. Just for reference though, in order to become a "good" sightreader (hitting more than just notes, stuff like dynamics and feel) took three and a half years in a jazz big band, reading a few hundred tunes a year. It's a lot of work, but if you can do it, it's one of the singularly most important tools for a musician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcdowella Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 Here's the experience of somebody who's been trying the same thing - but at 48, and without a teacher. I played clarinet at school, so I know basic music notation. I did buy a basic music theory book, because one of the reasons I am doing this is I want to learn more about music. I started about two or three years ago. My sister had a great idea and recommended that I buy full music score hymn books as cheap sources of a lot of fairly basic music, some which is familiar to me. I started playing just one note at a time, but practising alternately both the melody and the base line, and pretty quickly found I could pick out a tune. Then I tried to start playing the music as written and found things got a LOT harder. As a compromise I went to playing the notes written for treble or for bass, practicing them alternately - so one hand at a time. I could see some sort of progress on that, but all hell broke loose at work, and I decided I couldn't justify 3/4 hour a day at this and I gave it up. Round about christmas I got back to practising, partly because I noticed I could practise when I was too tired or fed up to do much more than channel-surf on TV. I'm at the stage when I can play treble (or bass) clef on its own at about the standard speed, but with too many mistakes, and I get the rhythm wrong if it's not the same all the time. So I'm going to stick at that until I'm reasonably accurate and only then try and put the two hands together - two-note polyphony is not great, but it's surprising how much better it sounds than just one note at a time. I'm sticking at this partly because everybody expects me to give up, and partly because I think it makes some sort of sense. I don't think it's obvious yet that I am wasting my time, because I don't think people learning keyboards properly will be playing 4-part harmony at sight in a couple of years. I'm using time I would otherwise be wasting to practice a skill I'm interested in. I may never be any good compared to some others, but that hasn't stopped me before - I still cycle as quickly as I can up hills for exercise (and I recommend it) - even if I get passed a lot more at 48 than I did at 18! PS - recently bought "The Church Organist - a new method" - by Tambling. I've only attempted half of it, but the text is interesting, and explains some things that were bothering me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 full music score hymn books These are great for practise reading. Going through hymn arrangements will also teach your ears and fingers good voice-leading. They're written for SATB voices, so aren't at all pianistic and will occasionally be hard/impossible to finger in places but if you can blow by that they really are wonderful practise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Plink Floyd Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 Hymnals aren't at all pianistic and will occasionally be hard/impossible to finger in places but if you can blow by that they really are wonderful practise.Hymnals are just the thing for learning to sight read for organ, since your foot does the bass notes. When I quit lessons I was at the point where I could play most of the hymns in the book after one read through. Doing them justice on piano, of course, is harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted April 16, 2011 Members Share Posted April 16, 2011 Hymns on organ blows the socks off hymns on piano. Much more 'vocal' instrument. Boogie woogie, on the other hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Plink Floyd Posted April 17, 2011 Members Share Posted April 17, 2011 Apparently this fellow was beknighted for it... [video=youtube;oCSFVlCEIuw] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted April 18, 2011 Members Share Posted April 18, 2011 Charles Phillip Thompson (born Springfield, Ohio, 21 March 1918), is an American swing and bebop pianist, organist and arranger.He was a professional pianist from the age of 10. By the age of twelve Thompson was playing private parties with Bennie Moten and his band in Colorado Springs. During this time Count Basie played off and on with Moten's band, and during a showing Basie called the young Thompson up to play. He was dubbed Sir Charles Thompson by Lester Young years later. .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Plink Floyd Posted April 18, 2011 Members Share Posted April 18, 2011 Never heard of him. He's pretty good though, huh? Although it's kind of a simplistic rhythm/bass gimmick he has going on. I believe even I could do that, although it's never occurred to me to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Plink Floyd Posted April 18, 2011 Members Share Posted April 18, 2011 You know, I put that organ boogie video up for laughs, but after listening to some of his other stuff, I find I must recant. Sir Charles got chops. [video=youtube;5U8KGNvPbKA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U8KGNvPbKA And still at it at age 93! [video=youtube;pHldbDLacis] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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