Yeah....Im not a crap pianist but nor am I really good. I could use some tips on sight reading. I just suck at it. I want to join jazz band at my school but first I really need to learn how to sight read. Anything that helps please tell me

Every Good Boy Does Fine




It's something you just have to practice a lot. I play violin, and me and my private teacher go over sight reading a lot.

Sight reading is actually pretty simple. Like my band teacher says, just try to keep up. Hit as many notes as you can, and keep up with the tempo.

Here are some tips:
1. Look at the key signature.
2. Recognize the time signature.
3. If this is in Jazz band, try to hear what other people are try to play, and listen to them.
4. Figure out who's the melody and the harmony.
5. TRY YOUR BEST!!!!!
:D

Just get really good at reading notes and rhythms. That's what I do...

Also, memorizing major keys and possibly minor ones is nice too if you have extra time

Sight reading is actually pretty simple. Like my band teacher says, just try to keep up. Hit as many notes as you can, and keep up with the tempo.

Here are some tips:
1. Look at the key signature.
2. Recognize the time signature.
3. If this is in Jazz band, try to hear what other people are try to play, and listen to them.
4. Figure out who's the melody and the harmony.
5. TRY YOUR BEST!!!!!
:D

Yeah this is really good advice. Anyways...WinterWind have you looked at the other thread about this? It is the one about sight reading being hard or something. There is some really good advice in there. The only way to get better at it is practice. Start by reading really old pieces or really easy ones. Gradually increase the difficulty of the songs that you are sight reading. It gradually comes but you will definitely improve.

The way I improved sight reading was first obviously practicing reading pieces, but also by playing scales written in an excercise book and then randomly reading individual notes. It helps to get you used to reading in different key signatures.

The secret to sightreading is..... don't stop dead in the middle. :)

http://forums.ichigos.com/showthread.php?t=8666 <-- A thread with the same topic has already started.. it has alot of tips maybe you can try