Becoming a good musician doesn’t happen overnight.  In fact, it takes years of hard graft and commitment even to get to an intermediate level.  And there are so many different facets of music learning that you need to take into consideration.  It’s not all just practical!  There’s music theory, sight reading, sight singing, practical musicianship (akin to a practical form of theory), as well as countless different styles and eras of music to understand and master too.  However, if you are serious about honing your musicianship skills and becoming a great artist then there are lots of things you can do to improve your overall skills set, and one of which is learning how to sight read.

What is sight reading?

Just in case you are not sure what sight reading is, it is basically the act of taking an unknown piece of music and reading / playing it, without rehearsal, from start to finish.  You will never have seen the piece prior to it having been put in front of you, but whilst it might sound scary at first rest assured that with plenty of practice sight reading will become second nature.

Furthermore, it is important to note that sight reading is included in most Music Boards’ graded exams so not only is it an essential way to develop your skills as a musician, but it is also crucial to hone your sight reading ability if you want to score well in an exam.

How to become good at sight reading

 1.     Becoming skilled and experienced in the art of sight reading music can really help to speed up your ability to read music and learn pieces as it makes quick recall of the notes easier.  Whilst you don’t need to labour over every note it is important you aim to be as accurate as possible, whilst keeping in mind the overall tone of the piece, and the pulse and tempo (speed) too. 

2.     Sight reading not only involves reading and playing the notes, but you also need to take into consideration dynamics (loud and quiet) and articulation (such as legato phrases, staccato notes and accented notes etc.), as well as little nuances of detail such as a tenuto (a hold), pauses, tempo changes and any number of other musical directions, all of which can start to appear once you work towards the higher grades.

3.     Not only does regular sight reading practice help to improve your ability to read and play music, but you will find that learning about music theory will support you in your growing sight reading talent.  By improving your knowledge of music theory, in turn you will find it becomes easier to understand musical terms and details, as well as to see patterns within the music – all of which help to demystify the sight reading puzzle.

4.     When you are faced with a piece of music you have not seen before it’s important that you look closely at the time signature to establish a regular and even underlying pulse, the key signature to know which accidentals to include (plus, we would recommend scanning the music quickly to identify any changes in key signature), as well as rapidly establishing chords and chord patterns, and to be aware when those chords change.

5.     Many sight reading mistakes happen when a piece of music takes an unexpected turn, for example a key change, time signature change, or a deviation from the original rhythm pattern.  These sorts of twists and turns can throw an inexperienced sight reader off course, so hence why it is so important to commit time and effort to improving your sight reading skills.

6.     Whilst your preference may be towards instrumental rather than vocal, we would really, really recommend that you include sight singing in your music practice routine.  For many musicians, the act of singing a note rather than finding it on an instrument, is quicker and easier but no less an effective way to improve your sight reading ability.  So if you are finding it an ongoing battle improving your instrumental sight reading, then give yourself a bit of a break and try singing the notes instead.  Just give yourself the key note so you know you are in tune.  Once you feel more comfortable with sight singing then go back to your instrument.  Furthermore, sight singing also forms a part of many Music Boards’ exams so you will be doing yourself a massive favour by improving your skills here too!

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