Questions tagged [sight-reading]

Playing or singing a piece directly from sheet music, without prior rehearsing or studying.

199 questions
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How do I improve in sight reading?

Preparing for my Grade 8 AMEB examination in piano but my sight reading is atrocious. For keys within the bass and treble clef staves, I can recognize and locate their positions fairly well but for keys off onto the Ledger lines I have a hard time…
Leo
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What's left for musicians to learn if they can sight-read?

It seems skilled musicians can can sight-read even advanced pieces. What's left for musicians if they can sight-read advanced pieces? It seems to me there must be something left to do - otherwise they'd have reached perfection, and there'd be…
Allure
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Question from non-musician: Is it possible to learn sight-singing without having learned an instrument?

I'm trying to learn sight-singing sheet music. I understand the basics such as the length of a note, time signatures and so on. But the only insurmountable difficulty for me is that I don't remember the pitch of the notes on the staff. It takes me…
felix
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How do you count quarter note triplets in 4/4 time?

In 4/4 I would count 8th note triplets this way: 1-tri-plet 2-tri-plet 3-tri-plet 4-tri-plet But in 4/4 you only get 6 quarter note triplets so how would you count this?
user35708
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Sheet music reading and cognitive process?

I have a question about practising reading in different clefs. I know the treble clef well. When I read a note in the bass clef, I mentally add 3 semitones to it, so I get the note name in the treble clef. However, I'm suspecting that this method…
user270124
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Sight reading of triads

I need advice on how to sight read triad chords (root position and inversions). For example, lets take a look at "Waltz in A Minor" by Chopin: In the bass clef, on the second bar there is a low A followed by a root position Am chord, on the third…
iddober
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Sight reading and playing by ear

I'm 15. I started violin in4th grade. I am in tenth grade now. I am very bad at sight reading music especially complex rhythms. This is not a mental deficiency because I'm gifted. Usually it is way easier for me once I hear it first. Actually I used…
Joe
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Dyslexia or Dyscalculia in Reading Music

Do either of these have any relationship with finding difficulty in sight-reading music? Have there been any studies related? Or is learning to sight-read well very simply down to loads of practice despite having (or not having) either of these…
Tim
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Is there a system of writing scores where people write down the key and the scale degrees instead of black dots?

Is there a system of writing scores where people write down the key and the scale degrees instead of black dots? edit for clarification: What I mean is that each note in a standard diatonic key has a numeric equivalent (1 for root, 3 for third,…
cafeTechne
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Music Note Flashcards

Beginner looking to improve music note recognition, particularly for bass clef and tenor clef (I'm proficient in treble). Any suggestions besides just slugging my way through music? Unlike the other question, Learning standard notation without…
Boosman
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Sight Reading is Hard for Classical Music

I find it is very hard for me to sight read some pieces like beethoven appassionata or pathatique or even some of Chopin nocturnes. it is hard to sight read them for me both hands together. I have to sight with a slow speed then I can do with the…
Mike Baq
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Left hand right hand confusion - reading

When trying to learn to sight read music, I am confused about some intervals that are represented on a single staff that are too large(even for slightly larger hands than normal) to span with a single hand. I assume that the other hand is suppose to…
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the problem with pickup notes

The pickup note is generally a weak note preceding a strong first note in the first full bar. This seems to maintain the conventional strong one and third beats on 4/4 time. But isn't this an illusion? That is, by beginning the first full bar with…
Harry Brill
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How guitarist that cannot sight read work?

now, I'm learning guitar sight reading because want to prepare for being session musician ( I'm new and have no any experience for now ). I wonder, I have heard some guitarist cannot read music sheet. In that case how they work together when make…
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Speed vs. difficulty in sight-reading exercises

I've recently started to do dedicated sight-reading exercises. As I make progress I can either move on towards more difficult pieces or stay at the same level while increasing the speed. Currently I'm doing the former while playing rather slow…
Florian Brucker
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