I'm doing Grade 8, but I'm a terrible sight-reader (For those interested, I'm doing the J S Bach Allemande, the C P E Bach Sonata (lovely piece!) and Debussy Arabesque.)

Yesterday my teacher gave me a piece in Db to sight-read (five flats), but I kept missing the Gb. I am trying to get to the stage where I look at the notes on the page and, rather than see them as names of notes, see them as positions on the keyboard. But how do I do this in complicated keys, where I have to see the notes as the notes +sharp/flat? Anyone got any hints for sight-reading in difficult keys? Actually, anyone got any hints for sight-reading at all (except do lots of it, and try to look ahead, and don't look at your hands!)?

Thanks

Edward

I'm not a pianist, I play violin, so I guess sight reading one line of music is a lot easier.....however I always find that the key sigs with 4 flats or sharps are the worst (its always that D!!!). This is becaause if there are a lot I can think, "everything is flat / sharp except...." rather than working out what is flat or sharp. Would that work for the piano???

hi
i think we have the same problem here, and i`m doing that JS Bach Allemande too.

in my opinion, u should know all the scales first and try to find out the key of that piece u sight-read , then u will know which note should be sharpen or flatten because u have play that scale before.

I suggest learning some pieces in these keys. My sight reading in sharp keys improved enormously when I played Gliere's Sketch in D# minor for my Grade 7.

How about 'The Girl with the Flaxen Hair' (Debussy). That's in 5 flats, and is a lovely piece.

When you look at the keyboard try to visualise the appropriate scale and then play using those notes so you only have to bother about accidentals.
Does this make sense?!
Carol

Hehe, I can't do 3 sharps or flats. If it's 2 or 4, I can think there's two in the CDE area and two in the FGAB area (or one in each), if there's 5 then it's just all of them,but if it's odd I have to think about where the extra one is.

SNAP!! But with me, its sight reading in general that I'm bad at...

I agree, my teacher taught me this way, it works. You know which notes are sharpened/flattened.

Practice

Hi, Paul Harris scale books are very useful for getting used to playing pieces in difficult keys. Also when faced with lots of flats try thinking of what isn't flattened. For example in Db everything is flattened EXCEPT F and C.

Hymns are very good.

As for remembering the sharps and flats...the last two are the most difficult,but do you know the rhyme Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle?

Last 2 flats are C and F - last 2 sharps are E and B.

Or there's also another one:

Father Christmas Gave Dad An Empty Box.

I'm with andante here. Difficult to see how anyone can be expected to sight read in a key until they have played a few pieces in that key.

Steve

Not to mention:

Father Christmas Goes Down All Escalators Backwards

OR
Father Christmas gave Dad an electric blanket ; blanket explodes and Dad gets cold feet

Oh, I like this one. Impressive!

O_L

I think in order to sight read u need a good knowledge of scales. Once you know them, then when you look at a key, you instantly know what notes are sharp or flat(depending on the key).

When I first began sight-reading, Id examine the piece for a moment before playing to determine tempo, time sig, key sig, key changes etc. That way you kind of know your way around the music-if that makes sense . Then after a while most things sunk in and everything starts to come naturally. All it takes is practice. I went out and bought music that I enjoyed playing, also music by my fav artists. That made the experience more fun too. Also try little tunes. There are plenty of short classical pieces.

Whats even more challenging is sight-reading when playing duet pieces with your teacher!

Hope this helped

If you have mastered the scale e.g. Db major and as suggested, played a few pieces in this key, then its just a matter of positioning your fingers over the appropriate flats. Oh, and lots of P.......PRACTICE!!
I sometimes like to think of Db major as the negative film version of D major i.e. black is white and white is black..... but that may just cause more confusion!!

Gae

Hi here...i'm back!! busy preparing for dip. exam in the future...
A1, B! and C8?? that exactly what i chosed when i did my grade 8!!
they're such lovely pieces...i agree...
and so... my advise for doing well in sight reading is : don't do a lot of practise, relax ( as sight-reading depend a lot on the performance at the time because you will only have 30 sec to look through it).IT DOESN'T matter if you miss a note or two on the day, if the whole piece is musically played than I garuntee that you'll get the best mark you can ever get. Take notice of all the dynamics, KEEP THE RHYTHM GOING, and do all the articulations ( don't over do it though). Notes accucracy is only a small part of the test, it's not worth it to spend time trying to get every notes correct but lacking the characteristic of the piece.
Anyway good luck and we'll see how you get on!

For me, always follow the majority.
For example, if it is Db(5 flats) every note moves one semitone lower except, F and C.
If it is all flats, all notes move one semitone down
If it is 5 sharps. All notes except B and E move one semitone up.
I can do this simply
BTW, A1 is fantastic. I love it.