Which of these sight reading pitfalls can you relate to the most?? Timestamps 0:00 Intro 0:31 Pitfall #5 2:43 Pitfall #4 3:42 Pitfall #3 5:54 Pitfall #2 7:23 Pitfall #1 (Final)
#2 - my spacial awareness on the keyboard is weak. I memorize too easily and I have to stop reading the notes (to avoid the visual data stream interfering with the memory data stream) but then I start looking at my hands and that doesn't help me develop my spacial awareness.
I'm a stopper and a repeater...almost like I can't move forward. I also try to play pieces that are too hard. I also don't analyse the piece enough and end up reading note by note instead of really looking at the music and seeing that "that bar is the same as the another" and "that's a A minor chord" etc.
Good sight-readers get the job! Very good sight-readers get a lot of jobs! It's either playing in the church, for a pop act, a small solo piano gig to seniors' house, working with soloists, recording piano/keys tracks, doing accompaniments, being a piano tutor, or even working as a musician on cruise ships. All these require good sight-reading skills. It's that simple!
Great tips! Especially to just continue and not start again. I’ve noticed that it’s more difficult to work through an entire peace once you get into the habit of stopping by mistakes.
Related to point 1 I find that proper analysis of new pieces builds faster recognition and understanding of theory which both help in sight reading. As a beginner my main issue is lack of interesting pieces below my level to practice with!
HAL LEONARD's "First 50 Classical Pieces" (or movie songs) will not let you down! MAXIMUM 4 notes at a time but it's mostly 2 or 3 notes at a time. ALSO, 'easy piano' "The Disney Songbook". For something slightly easier, go with John Schaum's "THE FOLK SONG BOOK" and "THE WALTZ BOOK" - all of the songs are quite beautiful and could be played for friends at a party.
Each note should be used as a reference for the next. This tip in particular is really helpful. Thanks. I also recommend reading the note intervalically rather than individually.
Jazer, thank you so much for your very clear, relaxed and helpful tutorials on TH-cam. Although I have a piano teacher I find your tutorials a fantastic way of being encouraged to correct my pitfalls and frustrations. Jazer, thank you for your natural ability to put across these concepts with ease.
Hi Jazer bhai, you are too good, using exceptionally correct words to express yourself with correct diction. It's a pleasure to hear you and listen to your music and of course your your fantastic music tips. Thanks and may God bless you abundantly. I have learnt a lot from your music tips, although I am a slow learner. Love and appreciation from India.
1:17 agreed! In my experience, there’s also more of “wait i can play this way too?”. Learning different pieces with different styles and trying to play them as efficiently as I could really force me to position my fingers out of my comfort zone. Very rewarding imo
One thing to add about sight reading and mistakes and going back to fix it. My piano teacher told me when I was rehearsing for a concert. (7yrs old at the time) "if you make a mistake. Don't fix it. If you stop and go back everyone will know. If you keep playing, they might not notice.. or may even believe it was part of the piece." But it holds true. Going back to fix something doesn't help. It freezes you and if you get into the habit of fixing a mistake.. when you play for people you'll realize you ruin the harmony by stopping and repeating or freezing and slowing down when you shouldn't.
I have used an old hymn book which has really helped me to use each note as a reference to the next because the notes so often just went up one or two notes, so it was easy to get in the habit of playing based on referencing the notes.
"Use each note as a reference for the next" is especially important to me! This seems to me to deserve its own pitfall. For me I would combine that with another suggested pitfall, "practice patiently/slowly playing blind, not looking at the keyboard, getting "the feel" of the notes/intervals". Another suggested pitfall, one which I am especially tortured, discouraged and exhausted by (such as with Sonatinas and especially even the easiest Bach Inventions and other Bach pieces), is "sight reading fingering". I can sight read level 3 pieces usually 80 or more percent without stopping, though I am only skilled at around a level 4, but if I try to get the fingering right, then...I am lucky if I can do level 2! Please say more about "not looking at the keyboard" and "sight reading fingering". ed
I purchased stacks and stacks of old sheet music from the 1800s all the way through the 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond and I have spent the last several years sight reading all of it as much as I can. Probably at least the last 5 years. I mostly used method ONE just trying to expose myself to as much diversity in style as possible. Only recently have I started switching over to method TWO which i find is serving me much better.
I studied piano for years and am getting back into it. I'm convinced had my teacher put more emphasis on sight reading it would have been much less frustrating. Now that I am getting back into it, I am trying to never look at my hands and am making progress faster. Your tips are helping too! Started recently trying to read ahead to be prepared and was pleasantly surprised when I heard your reference it in your video. I'm on the right track!
Thanks for the "looking ahead"...I realize when I'm doing that it makes the reading so satisfying, my pitfall is changing my concentration and zeroing in on the note I''m playing which just makes the whole thing fall apart...nice t hear someone talk about reading ahead as a concept. Again thanks.
I really like that your videos hit on the things that students really have issues with, and help them to work on them themselves. I’m 63 years old and only started playing four years ago, but enjoy it so much. The fact that I have such a love for music allows me to make progress in so many areas, and it seems there is no end to things to study. Thank you for your efforts.
Thank you very much, Jaser! I love your tutorial videos, you give your audience a huge amounts od very usefull tips and your piano learning experience! 👍🎼💥
Really great tips. I've been playing piano as just a hobby for over 20 years, but after stopping lessons when I was younger, I never really worked on my sight-reading, which is something I've always struggled with. I've always done the classic thing of trying to play pieces that are too difficult, then getting demotivated. After watching your videos, you've inspired me to work on my sight-reading again, in a more structured way! Thank you! Ps. Outliers is an awesome book! 😄
I relate to pitfall no. 3 a lot when sight reading because I would interchangeably use both sight reading methods, with and without stops. This pitfall has never left me unfortunately, and I also have to get into the habit of relying on spatial awareness to be able to glue my eyes in the score most of the time, and work on quick analysis as well.
also it is a broken tonic triad in G major- then it changes to the broken subdominant 2nd inversion- back to your advice to learn music theory- totally support!
Hi Jazer you explained well and you speak well. I got you, practicing is not about recital therefore I must not stop since what is needed is skill technique and sight improvement . Often when I stop I’m lost to key identification so I need to count from c or f , more techniques for older beginner please . Wheww!
Your tips are completely relevant for learning instruments not related to the piano. I'm working on classical guitar and doing a lot of sight reading. But rather than read the name of the note, and translate the name of the note to a hand position, I associate the written note(s) directly with my hand position, and I can thus eliminate the intermediary step.
Excellent pointers! Truly helpful!!! When I wondered how to even sight read a sheet music, my second piano teacher actually told me to pick up any piece and start reading. I’m an instructional designer, and right away I felt I needed a new teacher. After several years of researching on TH-cam, and literature, I finally came up with four of the five pointers as Jazer organized. Oh my, how much I wish I could have found this channel sooner! Thank you. Thank you!
As an audition accompanist, tempo and feel are the only important things. Sight-reading a moderately difficult piece within this context usually yields no growth or even musical stimulation, but at least you gave the singer/instrumentalist the correct sound and feel they were looking for. So many times (especially with Sondheim or Jason Robert Brown) I feel I played like crap, lots of wrong notes, chords, rhythms, but I am praised because I kept the tempo and feel correct throughout and the focus was not really on me to begin with.
I don’t think this is wrong at all. Rhythm > Intonation only because the feeling is more important. However sight reading is definitely a skill that should be developed. It’s not your goal to only play in rhythm, but to also play correctly as well. Not to mention (maybe a little off topic), there are positions where it’s basically required to sight read in order to get by. But I do agree with your ideology of Tempo and feel being better than intonation as a simplified whole.
I love your videos. Everyday, during my practice, I work on finger exercises, sight reading, and learning new pieces. Right now I am focusing on reading ahead. I also practice everything slow and increase speed as I go.
If I'm correct, these advices are addressed towards beginners? If so, I don't agree that they should try to play without stopping. I believe much better approach is to play as slowly as possible, but to be very mindful about your fingering, dynamics, each note that you playing etc. Only after you are able to play very slowly, but also confidently through the piece, you should try to play it without stopping in the faster tempos.
@@georgegividen Well yes, that is true, but still, even when you learn some piece so well that you have it in your muscle memory, you will still benefit from playing very slowly and mindfully.
Jazzer...really helpful ... loved reading ahead and low hands...i have done film before this challenge so i suggest you minimize the jump cuts...i can deal with the real time frame as you are quite personable and the jump cuts give me a headache...thanks for all the good input though as i trust your knowlege.
Great lesson, I’ve just started looking ahead because I was getting irritated by stop starts, I don’t know why this never occurred to me before it’s so sensible, also I love the key referencing thank you so much
Thank you very much for your sight reading tips and advices you 've given in previous videos. I find all very useful. I am back to playing the piano after a very long time. I am now 74 years old and am picking it up in retirement to keep my mind active. Maraming salamat sa iyo, hijo!
In addition to these fantastic guidelines, I find my mind drifting and taken away by the beauty and emotions expressed by the piece I practice. What advise would you offer? Thank you greatly..
I have an automatic tendency to start and stop and it puts a barrier to me "not stopping" and my brain tells my fingers to fly off the keyboard and I lose my place constantly. So now I have analysed my weaknesses I can start to build up my piano strengths.
I find it very difficult to read notes above and below the lines. I have to count them up down from c. Can you give tips on how to read higher and lower notes quicker ????
Enjoying your channel truly! Would you please introduce us the different techniques of touching the keys, fingers? As a adult beginner I struggle at relaxing my fingers, wrists and arms. Knowing that I need to relax but unable to do it. Are there any exercises for me to get there? Why it is so important to relax while playing btw? Many thanks 🙏
I like the points you made about 1. Not flying off the keyboard 2. Reading ahead 3. Looking at the piece for a couple min before actually starting it 4. Continuing even when you mess up Continuing when you mess up is one thing I’ really need to work on more
So sight-reading is essentially analysing the relative pitch and patterns, not necessarily every single note, right? Because that's basically how we read words; we see a group of letters and analyse the context, allowing for a skim and scan effect
I'm am so guilty of pitfall #3 thanks for the advice. Wow. I don't think I can read ahead. I usually just take it slow and one at a time. That's like when I tried to learn circular breathing.
Thanks for the nice tips! Just like many things we initially were beginners - skill level improves when spending enough and more time on something, and learning techniques like shown in this video - and visualising patterns for efficiency.
Starting Sight Reading with VERY Simple Pieces is the way to go it just gives a feeling of sucess as you said. And then VERY SLOWLY increasing difficulty. I hated Sight Reading in my first Year and now its kinda fun since i sight read very easy pieces to practice :)
Great video Jazer showing some things I have not considered/ do struggle with. Currently working towards grade 3 I try to sight read initial or grade 1 pieces . In the books they always state to always count and never stop (which I struggle with ) because as you mentioned early on in the video I like to get the song right . I do however use finger positioning and note intervals to practice . Would you say this is a good method ? I know finger positioning will change but I find I rely heavily on using finger positions when learning more complex pieces and those pieces which are a little faster . As you said I guess it’s all building up my knowledge and toolset :).
Where do you actually put your eyes when sight reading? Do you put them on the G Staff? Do you put them on the bass staff? Do you put them in between???
I tend to stop and start a lot. I’m thinking that metronome watch would be a big help because I find the repetitive ticking of more conventional metronomes gives me a terrible headache. Thanks for your great tips!
Does anyone have suggestions of good sight reading material? I would love to have a book with plenty of short pieces of increasing difficulty to choose from. I find I don't practice enough sight reading from sheer laziness of looking for appropriate scores.
I bought the Harris books, the John Kember 'Fresh Approach' book and the Blitz your Sight Reading books. Then if you have time, trawl through IMSLP - there's quite a lot there too.
Hi Jazer, love your videos! They help me a lot :) Just was wondering if it's a good thing that always before I start learning new piece I first write down the names under all the bass clef notes because I can't keep up reading them and it makes me frustrated. But I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing instead of forcing myself to just take longer time and read it ? Thank you in advance and keep up the good work
The sight reading is the part I struggle with. I end up counting Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge etc..... I have to write the notes onto the music, I'm hoping to get the pattern eventually and wean myself off. I am a beginner, I started Jan 2022 with a teacher. I love learning it but the sight reading frustrates me
It takes time! And it's especially frustrating that our reading skills aren't yet to a level that allows us to play things we're really interested in playing. But try to be strict with yourself about not writing in the note names - or at least not many. It's painful in the beginning, but it will help you out in the long run:) I have a few videos about how to improve your reading on my channel, and also some "shorts" videos that can help you practice it, if you're interested. And Jazer has some really great videos about using chords in a way that sounds beautiful!
Really helpful video! I've been on & off with the piano for years & haven't had a teacher for about 4 years - due to the finance of it & just being busy - so my piano & particularly sight reading skills are poor, so I'll definitely try & implement these tips into my practice, thank you!
I think new learners should get into sight reading right away even if it's super simple. And like you said not reading enough is one of the biggest pitfalls I've seen.
Hi! I've played piano a fair few years but I never taught myself to read sheet music because I'm self taught. I'm now learning to read sheet music by myself and I would like to know if you have any pieces you would recommend for someone who is learning? And whether, at my stage, you would recommend sight reading both hands at the same time or each one individually?
Not being familiar with the bass clef but I just found your video to help with that. Female vocalist don't usually learn the bass clef; at least I didn't.
Great tips and videos, sir. One thing I like to ask is, could you recommend some pianos to use for intermediate and advance students - classical music. Kawai CA59 or Yamaha CLP 585 or Casio or Roland or just get a acoustic upright. Thanks.
Should I write the letters on top of my notes to learn it better? I still got problems with this. Is it helpful as a right handed person to do things with the left hand in the daily routine?
Best sight-reading practice I ever received was being an audition pianist- there is literally no way you can stop. Do you have any specific tips on how to practise music more effectively when you can sight read most things to about 80% and can’t be bothered to learn things properly?
Which of these sight reading pitfalls can you relate to the most??
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:31 Pitfall #5
2:43 Pitfall #4
3:42 Pitfall #3
5:54 Pitfall #2
7:23 Pitfall #1 (Final)
I’m a stopper 😅
Pitfall #3 is very hard to overcome.
#2 - my spacial awareness on the keyboard is weak. I memorize too easily and I have to stop reading the notes (to avoid the visual data stream interfering with the memory data stream) but then I start looking at my hands and that doesn't help me develop my spacial awareness.
Me, i used to watch my piece on youtube with the audio and sheet on the screen
Is it a good practice ?
3
When something is difficult or frustrating it is only natural to avoid it. "Do lots of sight-reading" is the only way to learn to sight-read!
Just ordered my first piano yesterday, so excited to try these tips and techniques of yours. You're the best, thank you Jazer.
Thank you Thanh for the kind words. We hope your piano purchase goes well and that you enjoy learning to play through my videos!
I'm a stopper and a repeater...almost like I can't move forward. I also try to play pieces that are too hard. I also don't analyse the piece enough and end up reading note by note instead of really looking at the music and seeing that "that bar is the same as the another" and "that's a A minor chord" etc.
Good sight-readers get the job! Very good sight-readers get a lot of jobs! It's either playing in the church, for a pop act, a small solo piano gig to seniors' house, working with soloists, recording piano/keys tracks, doing accompaniments, being a piano tutor, or even working as a musician on cruise ships. All these require good sight-reading skills. It's that simple!
when my friend is driving and starts to look at his phone instead of looking at the road 7:55 8:17, great lesson btw, thanks!
Great tips! Especially to just continue and not start again. I’ve noticed that it’s more difficult to work through an entire peace once you get into the habit of stopping by mistakes.
Related to point 1 I find that proper analysis of new pieces builds faster recognition and understanding of theory which both help in sight reading.
As a beginner my main issue is lack of interesting pieces below my level to practice with!
HAL LEONARD's "First 50 Classical Pieces" (or movie songs) will not let you down! MAXIMUM 4 notes at a time but it's mostly 2 or 3 notes at a time. ALSO, 'easy piano' "The Disney Songbook". For something slightly easier, go with John Schaum's "THE FOLK SONG BOOK" and "THE WALTZ BOOK" - all of the songs are quite beautiful and could be played for friends at a party.
Each note should be used as a reference for the next. This tip in particular is really helpful. Thanks. I also recommend reading the note intervalically rather than individually.
Your videos feel like having a personal tutor Jazer.
Thanks!
I have watched countless authors of videos for beginning pianists, and simply, you are the best. Thank you.
Jazer, thank you so much for your very clear, relaxed and helpful tutorials on TH-cam. Although I have a piano teacher I find your tutorials a fantastic way of being encouraged to correct my pitfalls and frustrations. Jazer, thank you for your natural ability to put across these concepts with ease.
Hi Jazer bhai, you are too good, using exceptionally correct words to express yourself with correct diction. It's a pleasure to hear you and listen to your music and of course your your fantastic music tips. Thanks and may God bless you abundantly. I have learnt a lot from your music tips, although I am a slow learner. Love and appreciation from India.
1:17 agreed! In my experience, there’s also more of “wait i can play this way too?”. Learning different pieces with different styles and trying to play them as efficiently as I could really force me to position my fingers out of my comfort zone. Very rewarding imo
"you simply just must move forward" so true!! thanks for sharing!
One thing to add about sight reading and mistakes and going back to fix it.
My piano teacher told me when I was rehearsing for a concert. (7yrs old at the time) "if you make a mistake. Don't fix it. If you stop and go back everyone will know. If you keep playing, they might not notice.. or may even believe it was part of the piece."
But it holds true. Going back to fix something doesn't help. It freezes you and if you get into the habit of fixing a mistake.. when you play for people you'll realize you ruin the harmony by stopping and repeating or freezing and slowing down when you shouldn't.
I decided to spend the pandemic finally learning to sight read. I force myself to do 3-10 new songs every day. Its getting much easier with time.
I have used an old hymn book which has really helped me to use each note as a reference to the next because the notes so often just went up one or two notes, so it was easy to get in the habit of playing based on referencing the notes.
I love your content about sight reading, there is not much information in TH-cam about it. Great video as always :D
There is plenty of TH-cam content on sight reading. Manu Fonsny has devoted her entire channel to nothing but, for example.
"Use each note as a reference for the next" is especially important to me! This seems to me to deserve its own pitfall. For me I would combine that with another suggested pitfall, "practice patiently/slowly playing blind, not looking at the keyboard, getting "the feel" of the notes/intervals".
Another suggested pitfall, one which I am especially tortured, discouraged and exhausted by (such as with Sonatinas and especially even the easiest Bach Inventions and other Bach pieces), is "sight reading fingering".
I can sight read level 3 pieces usually 80 or more percent without stopping, though I am only skilled at around a level 4, but if I try to get the fingering right, then...I am lucky if I can do level 2!
Please say more about "not looking at the keyboard" and "sight reading fingering".
ed
I purchased stacks and stacks of old sheet music from the 1800s all the way through the 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond and I have spent the last several years sight reading all of it as much as I can. Probably at least the last 5 years. I mostly used method ONE just trying to expose myself to as much diversity in style as possible. Only recently have I started switching over to method TWO which i find is serving me much better.
I love how you demonstrated 'looking ahead' rhetorically at 7:55 xD
Again... You tell what I need to know and you are at the point of our pitfalls...
You are gorgeous.. thank you 🌷🌷
I studied piano for years and am getting back into it. I'm convinced had my teacher put more emphasis on sight reading it would have been much less frustrating. Now that I am getting back into it, I am trying to never look at my hands and am making progress faster. Your tips are helping too! Started recently trying to read ahead to be prepared and was pleasantly surprised when I heard your reference it in your video. I'm on the right track!
Thanks for the "looking ahead"...I realize when
I'm doing that it makes the reading so satisfying, my pitfall is changing my concentration and zeroing in on the note I''m playing which just makes the whole thing fall apart...nice t hear someone talk about reading ahead as a concept. Again thanks.
thank you so much for giving these lessons for free
Everything you do is simply awesome! From the way you record, communicate on camera and obviously share your craft. Thank you
I love sight reading.
I really like that your videos hit on the things that students really have issues with, and help them to work on them themselves. I’m 63 years old and only started playing four years ago, but enjoy it so much. The fact that I have such a love for music allows me to make progress in so many areas, and it seems there is no end to things to study. Thank you for your efforts.
Thank you very much, Jaser! I love your tutorial videos, you give your audience a huge amounts od very usefull tips and your piano learning experience! 👍🎼💥
Really great tips. I've been playing piano as just a hobby for over 20 years, but after stopping lessons when I was younger, I never really worked on my sight-reading, which is something I've always struggled with. I've always done the classic thing of trying to play pieces that are too difficult, then getting demotivated. After watching your videos, you've inspired me to work on my sight-reading again, in a more structured way! Thank you! Ps. Outliers is an awesome book! 😄
I relate to pitfall no. 3 a lot when sight reading because I would interchangeably use both sight reading methods, with and without stops. This pitfall has never left me unfortunately, and I also have to get into the habit of relying on spatial awareness to be able to glue my eyes in the score most of the time, and work on quick analysis as well.
Your videos provide a lot of value. Thank you!
My pleasure!
also it is a broken tonic triad in G major- then it changes to the broken subdominant 2nd inversion- back to your advice to learn music theory- totally support!
Amazing teaching and amazing teacher you are 👍👍👍
Hi Jazer you explained well and you speak well. I got you, practicing is not about recital therefore I must not stop since what is needed is skill technique and sight improvement . Often when I stop I’m lost to key identification so I need to count from c or f , more techniques for older beginner please . Wheww!
I relate to all of these pitfalls. Thanks for a very accurate video
Good information for a student just beginning, hopefully before I fall into the pit!
You are a super teacher Jazer!
Hello from Coles Bay Tasmania
Your tips are completely relevant for learning instruments not related to the piano. I'm working on classical guitar and doing a lot of sight reading. But rather than read the name of the note, and translate the name of the note to a hand position, I associate the written note(s) directly with my hand position, and I can thus eliminate the intermediary step.
Amen to all of these! I would also add KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE MUSIC.
You are a fantastic teacher...I started piano at ten until sixteen...taking it back up at 74💕
Excellent pointers! Truly helpful!!! When I wondered how to even sight read a sheet music, my second piano teacher actually told me to pick up any piece and start reading. I’m an instructional designer, and right away I felt I needed a new teacher. After several years of researching on TH-cam, and literature, I finally came up with four of the five pointers as Jazer organized. Oh my, how much I wish I could have found this channel sooner! Thank you. Thank you!
As an audition accompanist, tempo and feel are the only important things. Sight-reading a moderately difficult piece within this context usually yields no growth or even musical stimulation, but at least you gave the singer/instrumentalist the correct sound and feel they were looking for. So many times (especially with Sondheim or Jason Robert Brown) I feel I played like crap, lots of wrong notes, chords, rhythms, but I am praised because I kept the tempo and feel correct throughout and the focus was not really on me to begin with.
I don’t think this is wrong at all.
Rhythm > Intonation only because the feeling is more important.
However sight reading is definitely a skill that should be developed. It’s not your goal to only play in rhythm, but to also play correctly as well. Not to mention (maybe a little off topic), there are positions where it’s basically required to sight read in order to get by. But I do agree with your ideology of Tempo and feel being better than intonation as a simplified whole.
Your videos are very refreshing!
I’ve got a Roland FP-30 on law away gonna learn at 42 I’m also learning a couple other instruments too
I love your videos. Everyday, during my practice, I work on finger exercises, sight reading, and learning new pieces. Right now I am focusing on reading ahead. I also practice everything slow and increase speed as I go.
Please make a video on how to read ahead. This is my number 1 problem with sightreading
Those are all great, great tips! You are the best piano teacher!
If I'm correct, these advices are addressed towards beginners? If so, I don't agree that they should try to play without stopping. I believe much better approach is to play as slowly as possible, but to be very mindful about your fingering, dynamics, each note that you playing etc. Only after you are able to play very slowly, but also confidently through the piece, you should try to play it without stopping in the faster tempos.
That makes a lot of sense to me
The way I've always heard it is to play at the speed of no mistakes.
@@georgegividen Well yes, that is true, but still, even when you learn some piece so well that you have it in your muscle memory, you will still benefit from playing very slowly and mindfully.
Jazzer...really helpful ... loved reading ahead and low hands...i have done film before this challenge so i suggest you minimize the jump cuts...i can deal with the real time frame as you are quite personable and the jump cuts give me a headache...thanks for all the good input though as i trust your knowlege.
Great lesson, I’ve just started looking ahead because I was getting irritated by stop starts, I don’t know why this never occurred to me before it’s so sensible, also I love the key referencing thank you so much
Thank you very much for your sight reading tips and advices you 've given in previous videos. I find all very useful. I am back to playing the piano after a very long time. I am now 74 years old and am picking it up in retirement to keep my mind active. Maraming salamat sa iyo, hijo!
In addition to these fantastic guidelines, I find my mind drifting and taken away by the beauty and emotions expressed by the piece I practice. What advise would you offer?
Thank you greatly..
This lecture is definitely helpful to all piano students!!! Thank you.
hi Jazer, l am getting a habit of rewatching your videos whenever there are valuable tips inside. Thanks again !
I have an automatic tendency to start and stop and it puts a barrier to me "not stopping" and my brain tells my fingers to fly off the keyboard and I lose my place constantly.
So now I have analysed my weaknesses I can start to build up my piano strengths.
Hey Jazer, can you please make a video on how to avoid a bad arpeggio form and how to practice?
I find it very difficult to read notes above and below the lines. I have to count them up down from c. Can you give tips on how to read higher and lower notes quicker ????
Enjoying your channel truly!
Would you please introduce us the different techniques of touching the keys, fingers? As a adult beginner I struggle at relaxing my fingers, wrists and arms. Knowing that I need to relax but unable to do it. Are there any exercises for me to get there? Why it is so important to relax while playing btw?
Many thanks 🙏
Definitely relating position of my fingers to the next note and reading ahead.
Lots of love from INDIA...💕
I like the points you made about
1. Not flying off the keyboard
2. Reading ahead
3. Looking at the piece for a couple min before actually starting it
4. Continuing even when you mess up
Continuing when you mess up is one thing I’ really need to work on more
I found having to play for a congregation helped me a lot to just keep going. Everyone keeps singing so you learn faster to just keep going
As a terrible sight-reader, I say thank you sir. I'll implement this on my playing journey.
So sight-reading is essentially analysing the relative pitch and patterns, not necessarily every single note, right? Because that's basically how we read words; we see a group of letters and analyse the context, allowing for a skim and scan effect
Lol I'm dumb
Great tips - pretty much broken all of those rules! Thank you, Jazer. Keep up the good work
I'm am so guilty of pitfall #3 thanks for the advice.
Wow. I don't think I can read ahead. I usually just take it slow and one at a time. That's like when I tried to learn circular breathing.
Thanks for the nice tips! Just like many things we initially were beginners - skill level improves when spending enough and more time on something, and learning techniques like shown in this video - and visualising patterns for efficiency.
Jazer, great video. I make all the mistakes you've mentioned, but I'm slowly improving. Reading ahead ... if only I got into that habit
Thanks for your teaching
Very helpful. Thank you!
This feels more like a reading refresher video then an exclusive sight-reading video
Starting Sight Reading with VERY Simple Pieces is the way to go it just gives a feeling of sucess as you said. And then VERY SLOWLY increasing difficulty. I hated Sight Reading in my first Year and now its kinda fun since i sight read very easy pieces to practice :)
Great video Jazer showing some things I have not considered/ do struggle with. Currently working towards grade 3 I try to sight read initial or grade 1 pieces . In the books they always state to always count and never stop (which I struggle with ) because as you mentioned early on in the video I like to get the song right . I do however use finger positioning and note intervals to practice . Would you say this is a good method ? I know finger positioning will change but I find I rely heavily on using finger positions when learning more complex pieces and those pieces which are a little faster . As you said I guess it’s all building up my knowledge and toolset :).
Where do you actually put your eyes when sight reading? Do you put them on the G Staff? Do you put them on the bass staff? Do you put them in between???
I don't really get this either. I try to look at the treble cleff and end up missing the bass!
Thank you for all your amazing tips...Glad I found your channel🙂
I tend to stop and start a lot. I’m thinking that metronome watch would be a big help because I find the repetitive ticking of more conventional metronomes gives me a terrible headache. Thanks for your great tips!
Does anyone have suggestions of good sight reading material? I would love to have a book with plenty of short pieces of increasing difficulty to choose from. I find I don't practice enough sight reading from sheer laziness of looking for appropriate scores.
I bought the Harris books, the John Kember 'Fresh Approach' book and the Blitz your Sight Reading books. Then if you have time, trawl through IMSLP - there's quite a lot there too.
@@thearm95 thanks for your reply. I’ll have a look at those 😉
Great tips. What about left and right line what is your recommendation just like read ahead. Thanks
Hi Jazer, love your videos! They help me a lot :) Just was wondering if it's a good thing that always before I start learning new piece I first write down the names under all the bass clef notes because I can't keep up reading them and it makes me frustrated. But I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing instead of forcing myself to just take longer time and read it ? Thank you in advance and keep up the good work
Thanks Jazer often stop when sight reading and don't look forward enough so some points to take in there
David
All of these videos are so helpful to me as it helps me know what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong. Nice work.
Thanks, Lee this encouraged me especially number 4.
Do you teach piano by zoom...love your program. I'm finally encouraged!
The sight reading is the part I struggle with. I end up counting Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge etc..... I have to write the notes onto the music, I'm hoping to get the pattern eventually and wean myself off. I am a beginner, I started Jan 2022 with a teacher. I love learning it but the sight reading frustrates me
It takes time! And it's especially frustrating that our reading skills aren't yet to a level that allows us to play things we're really interested in playing. But try to be strict with yourself about not writing in the note names - or at least not many. It's painful in the beginning, but it will help you out in the long run:) I have a few videos about how to improve your reading on my channel, and also some "shorts" videos that can help you practice it, if you're interested. And Jazer has some really great videos about using chords in a way that sounds beautiful!
Really helpful video! I've been on & off with the piano for years & haven't had a teacher for about 4 years - due to the finance of it & just being busy - so my piano & particularly sight reading skills are poor, so I'll definitely try & implement these tips into my practice, thank you!
I think new learners should get into sight reading right away even if it's super simple. And like you said not reading enough is one of the biggest pitfalls I've seen.
Hi! I've played piano a fair few years but I never taught myself to read sheet music because I'm self taught. I'm now learning to read sheet music by myself and I would like to know if you have any pieces you would recommend for someone who is learning? And whether, at my stage, you would recommend sight reading both hands at the same time or each one individually?
try sheet reading twinkle twinkle little star
I recommend both hands
Not being familiar with the bass clef but I just found your video to help with that. Female vocalist don't usually learn the bass clef; at least I didn't.
Thanks again buddy
Thank you Jazer. You are such a great teacher.
In one of your videos you suggested to work intensively on several measures for 8 times and then rest . Are you still a believer in this
thank you very much!
Great tips and videos, sir. One thing I like to ask is, could you recommend some pianos to use for intermediate and advance students - classical music. Kawai CA59 or Yamaha CLP 585 or Casio or Roland or just get a acoustic upright. Thanks.
Should I write the letters on top of my notes to learn it better? I still got problems with this. Is it helpful as a right handed person to do things with the left hand in the daily routine?
Great advice! The “look ahead “ part is also fun and made me laugh.
Hi Jazer. Could you make a tutorial on various whamping styles on the piano?
Great tips👍
Best sight-reading practice I ever received was being an audition pianist- there is literally no way you can stop. Do you have any specific tips on how to practise music more effectively when you can sight read most things to about 80% and can’t be bothered to learn things properly?
thank you!