Skip to main content

Introduction to Sight-Reading Research

 

        Over the past couple of months, I have been reading a stack of around two dozen articles on piano sight-reading I found through databases in the public library. With a highlighter in hand, I marked the main points that I found helpful, interesting, and even unexpected for future reference. Then I typed up these sentences on a word document and later categorized the research into various subjects such as visual perception, chunking patterns, and rhythms. Now I can see what the research says about a particular topic as a whole. Some comments in the research are consistent across many different articles. In other cases, experts disagree and even present contradictory viewpoints. I have summarized the research in each category to make sense of all, as I initially found the conflicting findings quite confusing. One conclusion from this research investigation is that there is definitely no overreaching consensus on the best practices to learn sight-reading on the piano. Nevertheless, the need for a clear method for developing sight-reading skills still remains and I am committed with sharing the knowledge I have acquired with you. Over the next few weeks, I will be presenting a new entry every week on a new topic within the realm of sight-reading research.

Stay tuned,

Robert

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Sight Reading Solutions for Pianists

  Welcome to Sight Reading Solutions for Pianists! Have you ever seen someone pick up a piece of sheet music without having practiced it first and play it accurately? This process is known as sightreading and is the most coveted skill among pianists. To a person who is unable to sightread, such a feat borders on the miraculous and appears impossible. If you have ever wanted to sightread or if you have tried to sight read, but felt you were unable to improve by your own efforts, this blog is for you! Even the most experienced pianists experience difficulty with sightreading. Those lucky pianists who sightread well often do not know how to break it down and explain the process. Many piano instructors do not teach sightreading and many people believe that it is just an inborn talent that they lack. Nothing could be further from the truth! The first solution to sightreading is becoming aware that this skill can be learned sequentially. No matter what your current skill level is, this ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Review of Sight-Reading and Harmony by Dr. Cory Hall

  Many pianists who regularly watch YouTube may have encountered Bach Scholar’s channel. After viewing one of his videos on sight-reading many years ago, this reviewer’s interest in sight-reading became further invigorated. Bach Scholar, whose real name is Dr. Cory Hall, has written a well-known book called Sight-Reading and Harmony to provide a comprehensive method for pianists wishing to improve their sight-reading skills. Comprised of four major divisions, Sight Reading and Harmony consists of explanatory directions, reference information, technical exercises, and Bach Chorale excerpts. The emphasis in this volume is using four-part Bach Chorales for improving vertical reading at the keyboard. In the reference section, a table of contents contains detailed indices to the German titles, the BWV catalog numbers, the key signatures, the time signatures, the composer listings, and the cadences of the Bach Chorales. These listings provide a handy guide for locating sight re...
Post a Comment
Read more

A New Beginning

  Hello everyone! It’s been quite sometime since I have posted anything on here. I sincerely apologize for that. I have had many computer issues over the past year including spotty internet access and a crashed computer, but now those issues have been resolved and it’s time to start anew. With a fresh start, I would like to provide an update on my book. When I had limited computer access, I decided I needed to make many revisions to my 200 plus page manuscript. The first change I made was to divide my book into six different levels. This will make the book much easier to manage and less overwhelming for you. The next change I made was to simplify the exercises. Many of them were too complicated with cross hands and a very wide range. I wanted the exercises to be more accessible to the reader and less intimidating from the very beginning. Sight-reading is already hard enough so it will start at the simplest level possible. Third, the book will now feature a discussion of...
Post a Comment
Read more