Hi all

I am an adult learner coming back to the grade system after quite some time away. It is great to get back into a more structured approach to playing and learning, and I must say that if I recall correctly there is definitely a lot more to assist in the learning process this time around.

One learning aid I have found to be very beneficial is the Paul Harris: Improve Your Sight Reading range for the Piano. I always dreaded sight reading years ago, but the books really do desensitise you to it and make you more confident.

Has anyone else found these books to be beneficial? Or any other books? I was thinking of getting one from his new range: Improve Your Practice, but am waiting on my teacher checking it out first to see how well it would fit with our current direction.

Cheers
Graham

As a student I found them really useful though I only discovered them at G4. As a teacher I use them with all but one student. She is an excellent sight-reader for her level, but as it's only G2, we'll probably start using them for her too.

I don't know about improve your practice though....will have to look into it!

I was rather disappointed with Improve your Practice. It's a series of pull-out worksheets to fill in for each piece you are studying, with question s about period, composer, tempo etc. Then there's a set of cards giving different activities, some with music, some without. They're all good ideas, but I use a lot of them already, and the book was rather expensive for a set of practice suggestion cards and eight identical worksheets.

So was I. I couldn't quite see the point of it - I use many of the ideas too so there doesn't seem much point in paying for a book, most of which is superfluous. I wish I'd thought of putting the ideas into a book before Harris did!

i use the Paul Harris sight reading books for each grade i do on the piano. Its not really my choice, its my piano teacher who forces me, but i think i'm getting better!