Hi! I'm Manu, the creator of Piano Sight Reading. I'm a piano and violin teacher, composer and accompanist based in Sydney, Australia.
I started sight-reading MANY years ago - in fact, I don't remember a time when I was not sight-reading! If I made a pile of all the music I've sight-read over the years, I think it would almost reach the ceiling!
My goal is to share my knowledge with YOU so that you too can grow a pile of music as high as the ceiling!
For tips, advice and resources, visit www.pianosightreading.com.au.
For my best stuff, join the Sight-Reading Club, where I bring together piano players from around the world to practise all the skills required to become fluent sight-readers and more confident musicians with challenges, concerts, exercises, drills, sight-reading excerpts and much more! To find out more: www.pianosightreading.com.au/sight-reading-club
I’ve been a guitar player my whole life but am just starting my piano journey. Sight reading seems like such a daunting task. But I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Great variety and a real challenge. I had to slow it down to half speed, but it was good training for me. I will try it again in a month and see if I can go faster.
I am using Bartok's Mikrokosmos for sight-reading. It is frequently recommended because it is not predictable. I find it difficult but this one sounds really harder. I am a beginner and Mikrokosmos gets difficult after a few pieces so I ordered the John Kember book as recommended in other video.
Another problem I have with sight reading is that after finish playing a piece, I don't remember anything from it. I don't know even what was the first notes. Looks like my brain uses a pathway to sight reading that doesn't pass through the memory. Perhaps I employ all my brain capacity on reading. In order to memorize, I need to play very very slow and memorize each bar or a small numbers of bars. 🙏👍
Memorising is very different to sight-reading. I wouldn't say it's a problem if you don't remember anything. It might actually be an advantage because then you can try sight-reading the same piece again a few days later and it will be like it was your first time!
💥 Hello, I'm trying to read Scriabin preludes, but they're so difficult. I hardly can read, imagine sight reading ! Can you create a video on sight reading Scriabin prelude Op 27 no 1 ? Or Poem Op 32 no 1 please ? Thank you so much. 🎉❤❤❤
I chose this particular piece by Scriabin because it was difficult. It was meant as a sight-reading challenge. Scriabin's music is pretty difficult to read in general. Maybe try something by other romantic composers like Chopin, Schumann, Grieg or others.
Hi Manu, I have been including site reading with my efforts to learn piano, I have been primarily learning through demonstrations and by slowing the videos down to observe proper finger placement. Learning scales correctly is also helpful in finger placement. I am really motivated now to improve my sight reading now that I have found and subscribed to your channel, thank you.
It's great that you're practising sight-reading and scales. I'm not sure that learning through demos is the best way to learn however... at least not if you want to be able to read music. Try to get some sheet music of easy pieces and see if you're able to learn them that way without demos. There will usually be fingering written above the notes anyway.
Not going to lie im approaching this from the other side... am guitarist and im trying to like, "hold" the notes im playing in memory for each chord and note as i play them... I used to play music in thr past and im startinh to like approximate said structure
@PianoSightReading I did try it on my laptop and it worked perfect! I'm very satisfied with the product. It's definitely worth it! I need it for choral singing. I like that you can set the music for multiple parts, which helps with ear training. I highly recommend it.
Hey Manu! I’m wondering where you get music scores for sight reading exercise. There are a few different websites that offer scores. Do you have a favorite?
Hi, I usually download them from IMSLP (it's free). I also use the scores included in the Pianist Magazines (with a paid subscription). You can also find a whole list of free scores in keys of 4 or more sharps/flats on my website: www.pianosightreading.com.au/free-piano-sheet-music/
This was super helpful for me. I’ve never heard of anchor notes before or even thought about moving my hand around using this idea. It changed the way I read music, actually, because I started thinking about the distances between notes - skips and steps - more carefully. Compositions where I often make the same mistakes over and over again on the big jumps became much easier to play because I am so much more aware of where my hand is on the piano. It’s really fun to play this way! Thanks for all the great videos.
You're welcome! I suggest practising 2 or 4-octave scales first hand separately to get the fingering right and then hands together. One way would be to start on C major and then move up one semitone to D-flat major, then E, F, F-sharp, etc, all the way up to B major. Or you could follow the order of the Circle of Fifths, starting with C major, then G, D, etc. for the sharps and F, B-flat, E-flat, etc for the flats. I've made exercises in all keys that you can download here: www.pianosightreading.com.au/sight-read-in-any-key-3/ As for intervals, I suggest the exercises with intervals from my Keyboard Awareness Exercises, which you can download here: www.pianosightreading.com.au/play-without-looking/ Hope that helps!
No, but you can get a copy on the composer's website here: pianoraag.wordpress.com/indian-raags-for-piano-made-easy/ or on Amazon: www.amazon.fr/Indian-R%C4%81gas-Piano-Made-Easy/dp/1659067251
Hello from Greece, thank you so much!! I have watched many videos from you and they really helped me a lot find the rhythm and finally synchronize my hands. Thank you!!!!
After years of frustration with piano sight reading, and never becoming very good although I'm intermediate level proficient --- I have found the one ability all good sight readers have, is actually starting when they were young! They also PRACTICE READING ALL THE TIME. They are dedicated to it. Excellent eye-sight and a great memory also help. Really good teachers also help, and listening to a lot of music helps. I am an adult learner who started late in life, so becoming a great sight reader is never going to be achieved by me, but I can do it well enough to learn intermediate and advanced pieces.
Getting familiar with the black/white key relationships from memory in the two octaves around middle C helps first then learn to navigate to the other octaves from there. It helps me to sight read scanning each beat quickly from the bass line up also. Finally, I wouldn’t stress over sight reading “perfectly” tedious and/or difficult virtuosic pieces. Those can be picked up easily imo by starting slowly first by reading the score away from the piano to become familiar before getting it under your hands.
Very good PSR I've been playing for years and always found that sight reading hymnals tough because of the words in the middle. I will pick up that book you recomended. Thanks and God Bless
The first composer that comes to mind is Victor Carbajo. His music is available on IMSLP: imslp.org/wiki/Category:Carbajo,_V%C3%ADctor. I especially like No.2 from Little Nocturnes for Emilia. It's not too difficult and it's pretty somber and beautiful. Can't think of other pieces that are of that level but I'll let you know if I think of others!
Thank you this video. There were a number of points made. What struck me the most is the idea that I should focus on pieces that I could potentially sight read at least slowly without too much difficulty
Lovely, Manu. Thanks for sight-reading my piece! Yes, I put some odd syncopations in there and crunchy dissonances every once in a while 😊 You captured the vibe of the piece nicely. 🙌
