The Stubborn Duet Secret to Teaching Sight Reading Skills

Teaching sight-reading skills to piano students is not always as simple as teaching them great reading skills.

To be a great sight-reader you need more than just note names and intervals. You need to be able to translate those to movements that make sounds...quickly.

The difference between reading and sight-reading is time. Or, rather, the lack thereof.

When we read music that we’ve never seen or heard before, in the moment, we have to move fast. We have to be quick on our fingers and make guesses when our brain doesn’t have time to figure it out.

Solid sight-reading skills are a wonderful asset to have as a collaborative musician or accompanist. They’re also super useful to have in your backpocket for any performance situation to get you out of a jam.

But after we teach our students to read, how do we take them beyond slow deciphering of notes and towards cat-like sight-reading reflexes?