Sight reading

My 9 years old, after 2 years of being with one piano teacher, recently changed to another one. During their first interview she asked him what he was doing in sight reading, and the thing is that he had never done that with his previous teacher.

This teacher insists that he should train with an average of 10 to 15 minutes daily, playing anything, very easy, but directly with 2 hands. He has fun doing it with his old beginner's method, but I wonder why some piano teachers insist on sight reading while other simply don't do any.

Thanks for your answers

I think sight reading is a very good idea. When I was in music school (in Russia), our tests included a sight-reading exam. My teachers never actively taught me to sight-read; I guess they assumed I'd be doing that on my own anyway.

My students all get about 5 minutes of sight reading at the end of each lesson, kind of as a reward (they seem to think so), but also to strengthen their sight-reading skills (some of them do have trouble with it). When they get a bit better in music theory, I'm going to have them transpose in their heads as they sight-read (i.e. read a piece that is written in A major and play it in C major, for instance); I think it'll be good for general musical intelligence. I have other sadistic tricks in mind, but not until they master the basics of theory.

Having been an accompanist at one point in my life, I know that good sight-reading skills are extremely important. If you play the piano, there is bound to be a moment in your life when a friend who happens to be a singer plunks down some music in front of you and tells you to play it - or some similar occasion. It's part of the enjoyment of being a musician to be able to respond to such requests with well-played music - not panic.

Because teachers who don't emphasize sight-reading, emphasize technique, memorization and some theory. The ones who don't emphasize technique and memorization, emphasize, repertoire, sight reading, and theory. Whichever one the teacher emphasizes, they assume the other will 'just come' in time. That's been one of my observation. A happy *balance* of both approaches would be nice. Better yet, whichever the student has a problem with, or is weaker at, should be more emphasized. In my opinion

Dear Regine,

I wonder, myself, why piano *teachers* don't teach sightreading since deciphering music is essential to good musicianship. And let's face it, if the teacher doesn't teach sightreading then the student is forever dependent upon the teacher for every piece they play. Talk about a returning customer.

Perhaps the teacher can't teach sightreading. Some of them don't know how to present the material. I myself was a victim of this when I was a kid. My first teacher gave me 10 minutes to memorize the middle C octave and then I was ordered to sightread a piece that was way too difficult for a beginner. The following week I was told to memorize the octave from middle C down to low C in the left hand, etc. What a disaster. I hated every minute of these few torture sessions. I knew I wasn't learning to read music, but as a 10-year-old was at a loss to correct the problem. My solution was to quit. Fortunately, we hooked up with a Juilliard music ed. piano major (in the olden days Juilliard had education) who taught me how to read music. End of that story.

Some teachers want to crank out performers. These students have to memorize pieces to perform every couple of months and aren't given a chance to work on their sightreading.

Learning by rote is non-productive. The end product is a student who can play a piece without actually understanding it (of course, they *think* they understand it, but all they are doing is regurgitating what the teacher showed them on the keyboard).

I recently talked with a parent who thought she had a son (he's 12) who was a child piano prodigy. He practiced an hour a day, sounded fabulous to the parents, and announced that he wanted to be a concert pianist. So, off the proud parents go with their son (playing advanced pieces memorized) to Hofstra U. to talk with the head of piano and show off their son and possibly hire the head of the department for their brilliant son to take lessons from. As the mom put it, they went into the meeting from one point of view and exited with a different point of view. Said son was discovered to be musically illiterate. Couldn't identify one note or anything else. It turns out the kid left with a book of Hanon, a primer book, and the advice to learn to read music pronto. And without the head of piano for a teacher. The problem is now that this kid doesn't want to go back to step one. It's too demoralizing for him to go back to beginner pieces he has to read. He'd rather play the difficult music he can't read.

What good is playing by rote? It does help develop a musical ear. It does help with coordination. That's about it. And those things will develop while learning to sightread anyway.

When you say your son is using his old beginner's method for sightreading, I hope it's not a book he's already learned pieces out of. That's not sightreading. He needs a new book at whatever level of sightreading he's at that has different music. The notes need to be in different combinations so he actually gets some practice and starts to really concentrate.

Hope this helps.

There is a tendency for some students to become either good readers (and poor memorizers) or vice versa, and when this happens, the teacher often has no control. Thus, to play it safe, teachers who prefer one over the other will insist that all their students go in one direction. It is a difficult situation because different students develop different talents. The best solution is to know how to learn both sides, and teach them

An advantage to learning to sight read is that one who can may join other pianists to read through repertoire. I meet often with several pianists and plow through piano transcription of symphonies, operas, and other works, it's a lot of fun and a great way to share music with others. There simply is too much repertoire to learn by memorizing practicing, if you want your daughter to have an opportunity to share her music ability with others, sight reading is a must. Sight reading will make the social experience of sharing music come more readily for your daughter, I'll bet many people who give up piano never had the experience of playing with others in an impromptu basis.

Moreover, in covering the piano duet, 2 piano 4 hands, 2 piano 8 hand repertoire, one acquires a very valuable insight into the music being transcribed. I know one person who is a good pianist, but she was not familiar with the Beethoven symphonies. Now she is becoming quite familiar with Beethoven through reading/playing his symphonies.

Lastly, with some good sight reading, you can play some impressive stuff with others without having to become a virtuoso as a soloist has to in order to create the same sound. There is power in numbers.

To see a glimpse of what music awaits a good sight-reader, see the catalog of transcribed works (all the Beethoven symphonies, Brahms symphonies...) at my site: http://www.editionspoole.com

John Laurence Poole

Dear Marjorie,

Thank you for your interesting post. No, my son is not playing his old method. It's an old book one of my others children had studied when he was a kid, and as both children have a difference of age of 10 years, there is no chance my 'pianist' ever heard it. I also have no recordings of this method so it's all brand new.

It's interesting to see that the 12 years old kid you mention could not read one single note of musinc and was playing well. In Switzerland such a thing could not happen, that is, if the child is taught in a public Conservatory.

To be accepted so study any instrument in the Conservatory they have a mandatory course of music theory which lasts 6 years, 2 years of musical initiation when they are 5 to 7 and 4 years of theory from 7 to 11. If they fail twice in a theory exam they are simply fired from the Conservatory and can't study their instrument any more.

So all kids know how to read music, they know the rythm, the tonality etc...

I wonder how one can learn to play a difficult piece if they can't read what is in front of them. They must have a terrific memory not only of the melody but also of where and how hands must move on the keyboard

Thanks again,

So you want your son to sight read... Give him money and send him to a music shop :'Buy whatever you want !'. He'll browse through the books , he will check if there are not too many dieses or bemols , or if the page is not 'too black', and will buy something. Back home, out of curiosity (curiosity kills) he'll try to play piece after piece.

Now... play something simple and leave the score on the piano (go make a long phone call). As curiosity kills, perhaps he will sneak to the piano and, being sure you cannot hear him, he will try to play it.

A bientot,

Michel de NostreDame

This is not a tendency, this is the tragedy of my life...

Then there are those of us who are bad readers and bad memorizers...and lousy players. TS

*raising my hand shyly* Um... Are you talking about me? <G>