# Most efficient method to learn to read music?



## camerhil (Dec 19, 2017)

Up until now, I’ve been playing by ear, and it’s worked fairly well. I took a few years of jazz piano lessons and learned to muddle my way through cheat sheets, but now that I’m trying to write grown-up compositions, my inability to read music quicker than a stoned snail is becoming a liability. I need to start analyzing famous scores, and this is beyond me right now.

I’m wondering if you could recommend any books or websites that could help me to learn theory and sight-reading as quickly as possible. Are there particular methods that worked well for you, or your students? I’m obviously prepared for a lot of regular practice.

Thanks for your help!

Tim


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## ed buller (Dec 19, 2017)

there're are loads for iPhones and the like . My fave is SWYFTNOTE. It listens to what you play and tells you if your correct. 10 mins a day will work wonders.

e


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## camerhil (Dec 20, 2017)

Thank you both for that helpful advice. Doug, you're right that it was a bit of a loaded question. With most other topics that I've taught myself, I'm used to seeing rapid progress. But I don't get this with sight-reading. I've tried to learn it a few times in my life, and the last time, I practiced regularly for several months; however my progress was so slow that I ended up getting frustrated. I literally couldn't play the simple pieces any slower, and I was still messing them up. I think I need the constant back-patting of success, otherwise I get discouraged.

I also get a kind of panic when I'm trying to sight-read, the kind of feeling you have when someone is tailgating you on a busy road. I can see the notes coming, and my stress that I won't be able to read them in time means that I end up not reading them in time! It's ridiculous but it always happens.

That's why I was curious about teaching apps that might supplement sight-reading in front of the piano, so that I can practice without always having to face the frustration of bad playing. I know there's no replacement for real piano practice though. Ed, I will check out SWYFTNOTE - thanks.

I was also wondering if it would be helpful to have an equal mix of sight-reading and actually writing my scores using something like Sibelius; that way, I could keep composing while I'm learning.

It hadn't occurred to me that it's worth learning all of the clefs at this point, so thank you for that advice.


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## bryla (Dec 20, 2017)

Take rhythm out of the equation and make sure to play the simple pieces one correct now at a time. Don't play the same note twice just read it play it and get on to the next.


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## Justus (Dec 20, 2017)

For years I have been struggling with this. Sightreading doesn't seem to be the most natural thing for me, like playing by ear.
However I have found that writing notes (through transcription, for example) is as important as reading them.
This might be the missing part for you as well.


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## camerhil (Dec 20, 2017)

Justus, that makes a lot of sense to me. I guess it's the difference between repeating something back to a person, or writing down what they told you. Simply the act of committing it to paper seems to engage a different part of my brain, and I find it much easier to retain stuff that way.

Bryla, it's a relief to hear that maintaining the rhythm doesn't matter at this stage. That will help to alleviate the stress.


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## JohnG (Dec 20, 2017)

Doug's advice is excellent.

The "stoned snail" is how I still feel after doing this for some time.

The main thing is to nurture your love of music; never let that get overbalanced by the tedium of learning to read / notate / orchestrate. Whenever you think, "this is awful," go back to what you love about music and do some of _that,_ whatever that is.

If you can play jazz piano, improvise, pull things out of the air, and if you love the idea of writing music, you are actually a long way there, so don't lose those. Honour what you _do_ know and work on the other stuff, but don't let it get you down -- dwelling on what you don't know can be discouraging.

However, if as you wrote you want to write grown up compositions, you will indeed have to learn some of this other stuff. I like Adler's orchestration book because it has professional ranges for players, the examples are all on audio (even snippets) and the guy's voice is hilarious.

Kind regards,

John


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## camerhil (Dec 20, 2017)

That's my Christmas present sorted! Thanks for the book recommendation.


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## ed buller (Dec 20, 2017)

camerhil said:


> I was also wondering if it would be helpful to have an equal mix of sight-reading and actually writing my scores using something like Sibelius; that way, I could keep composing while I'm learning.


yes this really helps. Also don't forget learning to read rhythms !!...

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rhythm-sight-reading-trainer/id396302174?mt=8

as to clefs ...i'd say start with Treble, Bass and Alto.....they get used all the time. Everything else to be honest is occasional . However my Teacher at the San Fran Conservatory ( the awesome David Conte) suggested using a clef as a plug in to read transposing instruments . I thought that was very clever and for that you will need to learn them ....!

as to theory there really is so many choices these days. I think Alain's courses are superb.

https://scoreclub.net


the "Essential Composer Foundation" is a great place to start . But you'll need them all eventually and they are fantastic . Alain is a superb teacher and his approach with the videos is very carefully managed. Highly recommended

good luck

e


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## tack (Dec 20, 2017)

Improving my sight reading was one of my goals for the year, and will be again for next year.

For drills, I really like https://sightreading.training/ because when you use Chrome, it supports the Web MIDI API and so you can actually play, which for me is far more useful than flashcards. You can also ramp up the complexity to taste (click the Configure button). My main criticism is that I wish it would make more effort to be a bit more musical in its randomization. It's clear that it tries, but it could be a bit cleverer there.

The key to improvement is frequency and consistency. I've been quite lax on this of late (thanks to low back issues -- sigh), but when I forced myself to do these drills 15 minutes a day, my improvement after 2 weeks was (for me anyway) remarkable.

I also tried a subscription with FlowKey but didn't end up liking it as much as I thought I would. It's quite nice for what it is, but I find that outside of actual rote drilling that sightreading.training offers, I preferred to sit in front of the piano with actual sheet music.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 20, 2017)

I'm the opposite. After playing piano by ear for 20+ years, I began formal conservatory lessons three months ago. It has become somewhat of an obsession now, and I practice for at least two hours per day. I make a point to "hack" my way through a random piece (from the many Classical/Baroque books I bought), so that I can force myself to sight read. I also feel like the "stoned snail", but the results are now 10-fold. Just immerse yourself in the music, and try a completely new piece often. IMO, you will eventually break through and the reading will become second nature. My biggest learning curve so far is being able to read the bass clef notes instantly...especially chords.


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## ColonelMarquand (Dec 20, 2017)

Practice. Slow and methodical with a lot of application.


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## chrisphan (Dec 20, 2017)

I agree with Doug that you probably won't need any app or website for this. It's really just like...working out, which also takes a long time to see your progress. Persistence is really the key for this. Try to aim for a realistic routine, stick to it and you will definitely improve. 

I would argue though that learning to read in all seven clefs is a bit too much at this point for you. I would suggest learning the treble and bass clef fluently first, which will let you study piano reduction scores. Writing helps A LOT too and I can't stress that enough. I no longer write music using pen and paper, but I still try to transcribe something once a week.


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## camerhil (Dec 20, 2017)

Here's a fairly basic question: once you get good at sight reading, how far ahead do you actually read? i.e. are you looking at the next measure while you're playing the current one? Or is it all just instinctive, so you're not actually consciously looking ahead: your peripheral vision can just recognize the upcoming note positions so you don't need to give it any thought?


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## bbunker (Dec 20, 2017)

Reading ahead is sort of intuitive, I think...once you've gotten used to it.  It's kind of like having to read something aloud to the class; how far ahead would you read in that situation? Probably not literally the word that you're saying aloud, or you'll sound like you're reading a series of individual words, and probably not too far ahead or you'll start mixing up what you're saying now with what you're meant to be saying next. I'd say don't worry about it too much yet: you need to build up your reading skills to the point where you can look briefly and pick up a phrase at a time instead of a word - otherwise there's little point in reading ahead of what you can read, if that makes sense!

Don't forget that you can use literally any music out there for reading purposes. Try Solo violin music on piano like the Sonatas and Partitas, or Solo Cello music like the Suites. How about reading the Cello Suites transcribed for viola? Try taking a string quartet and reading each voice in turn separately? Then try reading two voices, or three, or all four, depending on the piece and how your chops develop...

Point is, I guess, that you can plateau pretty easily if you're trying to read the same kind of stuff over and over. So, mixing it up can be pretty productive, besides being musically rewarding.


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## camerhil (Dec 20, 2017)

The solo instrument approach is a really nice idea. I like the idea of starting with the old stalwart Bach Cello Suite no.1 and working from there. I also love the idea of taking a quartet apart, since that might provide valuable compositional insights at the same time. Last time I tried to learn sight reading, I got royally sick of playing music meant for 3-year-olds. I'm glad there are ways to avoid that.


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## bbunker (Dec 20, 2017)

camerhil said:


> The solo instrument approach is a really nice idea. I like the idea of starting with the old stalwart Bach Cello Suite no.1 and working from there. I also love the idea of taking a quartet apart, since that might provide valuable compositional insights at the same time. Last time I tried to learn sight reading, I got royally sick of playing music meant for 3-year-olds. I'm glad there are ways to avoid that.



Totally! And the thing about reading a lot of Czerny, Burgmuller, easy German dances and Landler, that kind of thing...is that at some point you are mostly getting better at reading those kinds of things, rather than better at reading music. You know: lots of hand patterns built for piano players, cadential figures that look exactly the same from piece to piece. Good for building velocity, but I think there's a limit for reading.

Check out sonatas by Carulli for guitar. You have to absolutely work your butt off to read something like that, but it still kind of 'feels' easy. It's the same kind of thing as all those easy piano pieces, but you have to be on your mental toes to figure out what fingers need to go where, instead of having all that fed to you. Now - I might be crazy, but learning to be on your mental toes is kind of the whole point of reading, isn't it?!?


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## ed buller (Dec 20, 2017)

He's going from playing by ear to wanting to study. I suggest he set's himself steady goals that give him rewards . Nadia Boulanger was a musical Jedi....and it's a good system , but I personally think at this stage it's overkill...as would be species counterpoint . I strongly recommend the iPhone apps as you see results very quickly .

e


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## Johann F. (Dec 20, 2017)

I believe writing is as important as reading. I'm not the best sight reader but my reading skills increased exponentially after I started to write all my music down with those archaic things called pencil and paper.


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## jcrosby (Dec 20, 2017)

Curious if any of those who've expressed difficulty have been tested for dyslexia.
I was tested and diagnosed at 13, started playing guitar at 14, and no matter how often or long I've tried throughout my life sight reading's been quite the challenge. Interestingly I did well at theory and played by ear like a psycho, (Tested 99th percentile for listening comprehension in high school, go figure...), but when it comes to sight reading my brain has fought me every step of the way.

And no I've not convinced myself I can't get at least a fair of it grasp at some point; that said I've learned time and again that my brain treats sheet music like written text; it has to work a lot harder to process what I'm looking at. Even more frustrating is I can break down ryhthms or pitches but when I have to put the two together my brain goes into overload no matter how often or aggressively I practice.

Just food for thought...


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## ColonelMarquand (Dec 21, 2017)

If you're going to do it properly then you need to take grades. Starting at Grade 1.


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## Fox (Dec 22, 2017)

ed buller said:


> there're are loads for iPhones and the like . My fave is SWYFTNOTE. It listens to what you play and tells you if your correct. 10 mins a day will work wonders.
> 
> e



Just downloaded SWYFTNOTE today, and it was awesome for my needs!


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## JohnG (Dec 23, 2017)

douggibson said:


> *2. Learn all 7 Clefs: * I am a bit "old school' here



Yes, very old school indeed. Learning a lot of clefs would be nice, but a lot of people who can't even read bass clef have written good stuff.

Ok, not that many. You will struggle unless you learn treble and bass clef and it's useful to be able to parse through alto clef so you can read viola parts, and from there you can decipher most others that are used regularly. 

If you're writing for choir, tenor parts can be confusing. In vocal music, tenor parts often are notated in treble clef but an octave above where they sound. Sometimes that is denoted by a little "8" at the bottom of the treble clef, sometimes not. Either way, it's basically treble.


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