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Four years of sight reading practice

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Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#31

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

exchemist wrote: post #25

This is cool, though the notes in your example look pretty random? Are they actually randomly or is it just too modern for me to hear it without playing it? I'm a fairly average pianist, but sight reading is a (relative) strength. Being able to play random notes is definitely part of it, but I think for me sight-reading is more about getting a sense of the gist of the music (a lot of pattern matching of common phrase…

Yes, that's the problem with this approach. You don't learn random notes, you learn note patterns.

It's the difference between learning to recognise letters and learning to read words. Music is made of words - scale-specific gestures, of which there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, typically arranged in some kind of harmonic context so you can make reasonable guesses about what's coming next.

This matters because finger positions have to be optimised for the smoothest and fastest motion. Piano sheet music usually includes this information, but random note sequences won't.

All of it contributes to look-ahead, where you're reading a bar or two ahead of the music to give your brain time to assemble the finger movements it's going to need.

Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#32

Post by smus »

CGMthrowaway wrote: post #28

>I am mostly counting the number of sharps and flats and translating that to the keyboard through a pattern I figured out early on. The sharps “activate” from left to right across the groups of black notes, starting with F♯, alternating between the two groups of black notes. This is easier to get into your fingers than any other memorisation technique. The order for flats is mechanically symmetrical – you just start…

60bpm of random notes!

Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#33

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

gabrielsroka wrote: post #9
chthonicdaemon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was intrigued by your mention of custom keycaps, so for the first time since I bought the keyboard I pulled off one of the caps to find a kind of usable fader still left there with a little red mark for the center. Now I'm googling for custom keycap options. So much for avoiding GAS.

Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS)

Thank you, there was absolutely no clue in the article for what that jargon/meme meant, and googling for gas obviously didn't help.

Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#34

Post by pier25 »

The best ear training is really solfege. It's been used for centuries. You basically learn to "sing" to create an internal "muscle memory" of the intervals, chords, etc much faster than the typical ear training app.

Edit:

I used singing in quotes because you only really intonate (generate an accurate pitch with your voice). You don't learn actual singing technique.

Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#35

Post by ziofill »

I've been playing the piano for 30 years, and although I'm pretty good at sight reading I don't think I would manage well on random notes. Music is generally not random (even jazz): there is structure, there is alternating tension and resolution, lots of patterns etc... However, I can see the appeal of just getting good at translating symbols into sound, I'm pretty sure that if I practiced with random notes I would also get better with patterns.

Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#36

Post by EvanAnderson »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #31
exchemist wrote: post #25

This is cool, though the notes in your example look pretty random? Are they actually randomly or is it just too modern for me to hear it without playing it? I'm a fairly average pianist, but sight reading is a (relative) strength. Being able to play random notes is definitely part of it, but I think for me sight-reading is more about getting a sense of the gist of the music (a lot of pattern matching of common phrase…

Yes, that's the problem with this approach. You don't learn random notes, you learn note patterns. It's the difference between learning to recognise letters and learning to read words. Music is made of words - scale-specific gestures, of which there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, typically arranged in some kind of harmonic context so you can make reasonable guesses about what's coming next. This matters because fin…

> Music is made of words - scale-specific gestures, of which there are hundreds, perhaps thousands...

This made me think of typing tutor programs that just prompt for random letters. I type like shit on those-- slow and inaccurate.

On the other hand, I'm quick and reasonably accurate when typing English words and frequently-used command lines.

The analogy would surely hold true with musical instruments. Even with my limited experience playing musical instruments I can't imagine trying to practice random notes and rhythms. On the face of it I would think it would have little to no value. (Effectively practicing to play unlistenable music...)

Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#37

Post by -__---____-ZXyw »

a. Why not get piano lessons? If you are more interested in the technical fun of messing with software, this approach makes sense, sure. But if you're interested in sight-reading, it seems a bit wild. Sight-reading involves ear training, chunking patterns, etc etc.

b. What does GAS mean?

Re: Four years of sight reading practice

#38

Post by skybrian »

Having started with traditional piano lessons, being able to sight-read notes without knowing what they are is something I’ve picked up, but not what I want. I think of this as “player piano mode.”

I want to sight-read chords, chord progressions, and other patterns, and get better at playing those.

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