Q&A for How to Sight Read Music

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  • Question
    How do you practice sight reading?
    Michael Noble, PhD
    Professional Pianist
    Michael Noble is a professional concert pianist who received his PhD in Piano Performance from the Yale School of Music. He is a previous contemporary music fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation and has performed at Carnegie Hall and at other venues across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
    Professional Pianist
    Expert Answer
    You can practice your sight reading by making sure you are fluent in both treble and bass clefs and by simply reading simple songs or pieces until those feel relatively comfortable before moving on to more difficult ones.
  • Question
    What does it mean to sight read music?
    Michael Noble, PhD
    Professional Pianist
    Michael Noble is a professional concert pianist who received his PhD in Piano Performance from the Yale School of Music. He is a previous contemporary music fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation and has performed at Carnegie Hall and at other venues across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
    Professional Pianist
    Expert Answer
    This means to look at the music to a piece you have never seen and be able to play (or sing) it upon seeing it.
  • Question
    Why is sight reading important?
    Michael Noble, PhD
    Professional Pianist
    Michael Noble is a professional concert pianist who received his PhD in Piano Performance from the Yale School of Music. He is a previous contemporary music fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation and has performed at Carnegie Hall and at other venues across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
    Professional Pianist
    Expert Answer
    It’s important because it allows you to read music quickly. If you can sight read, you can play or sing a song you've never heard simply by reading the music.
  • Question
    In a measure there are notes with stem up and some with stem down. All the notes add up to more than 6 beats. Which do I play?
    Michael Noble, PhD
    Professional Pianist
    Michael Noble is a professional concert pianist who received his PhD in Piano Performance from the Yale School of Music. He is a previous contemporary music fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation and has performed at Carnegie Hall and at other venues across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
    Professional Pianist
    Expert Answer
    Whether the stems are up or down only has to do with where the notes are on the staff. Each note should be played. You'll need to look at the time signature to see how many beats are in a measure. For example if the time signature is 6/8, you will have 6 beats per measure with the 8th note being worth one beat.
  • Question
    In a time signature, can you tell me if the top number indicates the beat and the bottom number indicates the note value?
    Michael Noble, PhD
    Professional Pianist
    Michael Noble is a professional concert pianist who received his PhD in Piano Performance from the Yale School of Music. He is a previous contemporary music fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation and has performed at Carnegie Hall and at other venues across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
    Professional Pianist
    Expert Answer
    The top note is the amount of beats per measure and the bottom note is the note value.
  • Question
    I can read the notes and play the right and left separately, but not at the same time. How can I sightread better?
    Community Answer
    Practice, practice, practice. Start very slowly, playing the left hand and the right hand at the same time, while reading of course, and gradually speed up.
  • Question
    If I have two notes for one stem, which one do I play first?
    Community Answer
    This means you play them both at the same time. Two (or more) notes with the same stem is called a chord.
  • Question
    Is it really necessary to memorize every scale?
    Community Answer
    If you want to become proficient in sight reading or playing difficult pieces, then yes, you should memorize every scale. Otherwise, it's not really necessary.
  • Question
    What is a "mezzo voce" marking?
    Sunstah
    Community Answer
    When translated, it means"half voice." This means to play more restrained and quietly than you normally would.
  • Question
    What is sight reading?
    Community Answer
    Sight reading is reading a new piece of music for the first time. Mistakes are allowed and encouraged only when sight reading.
  • Question
    Are there any quick way to identify the names of a note on ledgers, especially when notes are placed on more than two ledgers? To me, sight reading notes beyond the limit of the staff is challenging.
    Joseph_85
    Top Answerer
    If you know where the C naturals and G's are, the rest should fall into place eventually. Trying score reading may help, as you're not trying to play at the same time. Norton Scores are available in some school libraries.
  • Question
    Could you explain the time signature?
    Eve Wolvington
    Community Answer
    A time signature is written in the form of a fraction. The bottom number tells how many beats are in a measure. The top number shows which note gets the beat. For example, 4/4 time tells us that there are 4 beats in a measure and the quarter note gets 1 full beat.
  • Question
    How long must I study this method before I perfect it?
    Community Answer
    You will never be perfect at sight reading. There will always be something to improve upon. If you are able to accurately sight read notes and rhythms, then work on dynamics and articulations. If you can do all of that, then try harder music.
  • Question
    Is the bass clef only for drums?
    Community Answer
    Short answer: No. Long answer: Most lower instruments use the bass clef, including tuba, baritone, and trombone. Low vocal parts also use bass clef, such as bass and tenor vocal lines. As far as percussion, it depends on if you are playing pitched or non-pitched percussion. Non-pitched percussion doesn't typically use a standard clef. Pitched percussion depends on the instrument. Marimbas, xylophones and bells are in treble clef.
  • Question
    How do I read music and not get hung up on notes?
    Community Answer
    Practice reading notes. Start by finding music and writing the notes in. The more you write down the notes, the better you get at identifying notes quickly. Eventually you will get to the point where you need to write down fewer and fewer notes, until you don't need to write down the notes to read them. At that point you should find it easier to sight read without getting hung up on the notes.
  • Question
    Are there any limitations once someone mastered sight reading music? Will someone be able to sight read a song and know what it is before listening to it?
    Community Answer
    The only limitations after mastering sight reading are the more general ones of: the persons physical ability on their instrument(s), their creativeness, compositions and arrangements for their instrument(s), and their current musical situation. People can "hear" songs before playing them through reading the score even before mastering sight reading. However, sight reading definitely helps to reinforce your sense of pitch and key, as well as many other musical elements.
  • Question
    If you play multiple instruments, do you have to practice sight reading in each one?
    Community Answer
    Yes, each instrument has sight reading, and it’s important to practice your instruments. So yes, you do have to practice sight reading when playing several instruments.
  • Question
    How do you find the correct pitch?
    Asimplecontributor
    Community Answer
    Middle A is equal to 440Hz and is found above the second staff in sheet music if it is using a G clef. With practice you can develop "perfect pitch." (That's the ability to hear the difference between octaves, notes, sharps, and flats and to identify what the note is). To get the correct pitch, you need to know that there are 12 notes within a chromatic scale (a scale that includes all musical notes within an octave). Middle A (A3) and its lower-octave form A2 are in a ratio of 2:1. The higher note, A3, is twice as high as A2, which is 220Hz. A3 is 440Hz.
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