Sight-Reading the Second Time Around

 

            Technically speaking, sight-reading refers to playing sheet music for the first time without prior practice. Some people refer to this process as “prima vista.” Additional reading after the initial sight-reading are termed as “music reading” or simply as “reading.” Some pianists may disregard these technical distinctions and say that the second or even third reading may still count as sight-reading as long as the piece has not been studied or properly practiced.

            Recently, I was thinking about this as I read through a library sheet music book for the second time. This second reading had been done weeks after the initial sight-reading, In the interim between these two readings, I had not played or practiced these pieces at all. But what struck me was how much easier and fluent the second reading seemed despite not actively working on the music.

            What exactly makes reading the second time so much easier than the first go around? While the obvious explanation is that everything improves with repetition, other factors may be at work since no deliberate practice occurred between the readings.

            The crux of the issue is that the quality of mental attention and awareness during the initial sight-reading approach establishes the framework for subsequent readings to improve. When you make mistakes in sight-reading, pay attention to those errors and reflect on why these inaccuracies occurred. Keep pushing through the music anyway without losing the fundamental pulse. By taking this approach in sight-reading, you will form a strong imprint in the subconscious mind. Because you are mindful of the mistakes without letting them derail your playing, you are forming accurate mental musical perceptions of a steady beat and aural discrimination of pitch discrepancies. These auditory perceptions remain useful and beneficial during subsequent music readings. You will build on this foundation and improve with little practice as long as great care is taken on how you approach the initial sight-reading process.

            This discussion brings up an essential point: the mental approach you undertake in the sight-reading process is more important than any errors you make during the initial reading. To put it another way, the cognition of the musical mind guides more accurate sight-reading than merely concentrating on correcting mistakes. With a good sight-reading strategy, eventually inaccuracies will be minimized and subsequent readings will dramatically improve.