Cellomoji Chats Episode 10: How to Be a Better Sight-Reader of Music
#010 We made it to episode 10! Here I am talking about tips on how to become a better sight-reader. It can be so difficult because technically after reading a piece of music the 1st time, it is no longer sight-reading. Let me know if there are tips that you have that I don’t mention here. We are ALL a work in progress.
- Make sure you take an overview of the piece. Are there any particularly hard looking spots?
- Key signature, Time signature. Again any weird notes appearing anywhere? Any difficult looking rhythm spots? If you have a second try to finger them out before you actually play through them.
- Take a deep breath.
- Give yourself a count off before you play. Remember adrenaline will always make you play faster than you think so don’t go too fast.
Remember don’t be too hard on yourself. It is called sight-reading because it is SIGHT UNSEEN. How can you possibly prepare for that without some mess-ups? Trust me. I WAS TERRIBLE. Now? I’m probably just passable as a sight-reader and it works. And remember sight-reading literally means the very first time you are playing through something. After that, it’s just practicing. If you aren’t trying to get better then can you really call yourself a teacher? I still get stressed out when I have to sight-read something. But with a better mindset and little more confidence in myself I feel like I can be a bit more successful.
Until next time~ Cello On!