Anyone have any tips or easy way to play piano without looking down at the keys? I can sight read alright but when I play a song it's hard for me to look at the sheet music. I tend to look down at the keys. Any suggestions would be appreciated. :lol:

As long as you are able to play the tune i don't see any problem. Many people look at the keys instead of the sheet.

My teacher had me stop looking at the keys early in my lessons. It comes with practice. Start with more simple stuff that doesn't move around alot and move to more complicated stuff. The more you do it the better you become at it. Think if it like learning to type without having to look down at where all the letters were.

Hantony: I have to disagree with you. While many people look at the keys and its not bad to, looking at the keys instead of the music can be bad. When you sightread you have to keep your eyes on the music and not the keys so you know what's going on. Sooner or later you'll have to learn how to sightread while looking at the music, that is unless you don't know how to read music. In that case you probably want to learn.

Thanks for the tips Sondagger. :lol: It's a little annoying and hard but i guess I'll learn now instead of regretting it later. However, I find it very hard to read both the treble and bass clef together. Is there any technique/tip to help this problem? I'm begining to think that it's impossible to read both the clefs together. :cry:

Again, start simple. A melody in the right hand and a chord or single note in the left. Also, don't get discouraged if you have to go really slowly. My teacher always tells me how important it is to play and practice slowly and I've been taking for 11 years.

Hantony: I have to disagree with you. While many people look at the keys and its not bad to, looking at the keys instead of the music can be bad. When you sightread you have to keep your eyes on the music and not the keys so you know what's going on. Sooner or later you'll have to learn how to sightread while looking at the music, that is unless you don't know how to read music. In that case you probably want to learn.

I half agree with this. It doesn't hurt to glance down once in a while, which is what I do. When its a new song, I glance down a lot though. I think good sight reading comes with practice and time. Part of my syllabus is sight reading, and to practice I have to memorize times, clap/tap out lines and then play it. To practice though, everyones told to play new music thats under leveled all the time. I think thats what EVERYONE should do to work on sight reading.

After a while, after memorizing, I look at where theres supposed to be the sheets. But theres none and my teacher thought I was crazy at first...

Thanks for the tips :lol:

Myself learning a song involves not even needing the sheet, i just memorise the keys, pracise for a little while then i can play strait off. But then again i only play a limited amount.
Once i got to the stage where i knew that i could learn to play a certain song if i practised i stopped learning new songs. Havent attempted to in 5 months so i'll get back into it i suppose and attemp your way, which may be hard as i'm self taught.

whenever i get a new piece of music, i start by doing the hands separately. That way, you can hear what each hand is playing before you put it together. It is also easier to memorize hands separately and then together really slowly. For me, that seems to work best. If you want to work on being able to sight read without looking at the keys a lot, you can pick random notes or look at new pieces and try to play them without looking at the piano. There really is no easy way to get it other than practice.:heh: