by Holly Champion
Developing the skill of sight-reading is often one of the biggest struggles for piano students –or indeed students of any instrument, but keyboard instruments and the harp are arguably the hardest, due to the sheer number of notes you have to read.
It can seem totally overwhelming, especially when you are truly sight-reading—that is, you have never seen nor heard the piece before. It can be far easier to ‘sight-read’ a piece that you are familiar with from hearing it before, as your aural and memory skills are working to support your sight-reading skills. I often recommend to my students who “hate sight-reading” or “are hopeless at sight-reading” that they try playing through easy arrangements of famous classical pieces, Christmas carols or pop or rock songs that they know well. Aside from being easier, it can also be more fun to play pieces that you and your family or friends recognise! And of course, the more you practise sight-reading, the faster and smoother and better at it you will get. And as you get better at it, you’ll enjoy it more and more. Try to do at least 3-5 minutes of sight-reading in every practice session.
