How to Sight Read Music Like a Pro

Have you ever been handed a difficult piece of music and been expected to play it immediately? If you have, you know that it’s not the easiest thing to do. If not, well then you’d best prepare yourself for when it will (eventually) happen. Here are 5 ways you can incorporate sight reading into your daily practice routine to help you sight read like a pro:

1. Recognize that you will make mistakes. And then learn how to play through them.

Yes, I said it. Everyone makes mistakes when they sight read a new piece of music. We are humans, not perfect machines that execute everything exactly right on the first try! You will slip up, and that’s okay.

The trick is to train yourself to keep playing through the mistakes. Because unfortunately when you are sight reading in a real-time situation, you probably won’t be able to stop and fix things.

Believe it or not, this training happens in your regular practicing (when you are working on repertoire you are not sight reading). Practice playing through mistakes; this teaches your brain how to keep going through the rough spots. And if you get really good at playing through mistakes while performing repertoire you know, it will be much easier to play through mistakes while sight reading.

2. Learn various rhythms and key signatures.

Again, in your regular practicing, learn pieces that span all time and key signatures (and maybe practice sight reading in different keys and times). Practice your scales. Get comfortable with all sharps and flats and triplets and other fun rhythms. Doing so will take away some of the surprises when you sight read. Muscle memory is real, and honing in those scales and key signatures will help you sight read better.

3. Take a close look at the piece you are to sight read.

So now that you have a new piece in front of you that you need to sight read, take a very close look at the piece before jumping in. One of my college professors taught me the acronym STARS:

S – Sharps and Flats

What is the key signature? Does it change in the middle of the piece?

T – Time Signature and Tempo Markings

What is the time signature? Does it change at all? How fast is the piece? Does the tempo change? (If you are accompanying someone on the piano, ask them to play/sing a little for you. This will help you get a feel for the tempo and any rubato they decide to take.)

A – Accidentals

Some melodies are full of accidentals, and the harder your music is, the more likely there will be accidentals in it. Take a look at the score and note any surprises that might come up. Are there any patterns in which accidentals occur?

R – Rhythm

Now that you know what the time signature is, you can assess the rhythms in the piece. The simpler you can break down the rhythms beforehand, the easier they will be to play. Do any unexpected rhythms appear?

S – Signs

Check for any other written markings in the music like dynamics, articulation, repeats, etc. Is there a D.S. al Coda? Where do the dynamics change? Articulation and dynamics heavily influence the mood of the piece, so you want to make sure you play those correctly.

While you are checking STARS, mark important things in the music. This will help you remember any surprises as you play. Also, look for patterns! Do any sections repeat, or are there similarities between measures? Knowing about the patterns will help you sight read the piece easier.

Implement STARS in your daily practicing by studying out and marking important moments in your current repertoire. This will help you get used to following the acronym when presented with a new piece.

4. Sight read something every day.

Yes, I said it. If you want to get better at any skill, you must practice, and the same goes for sight reading. Set aside time every day to practice! It can even be 5 minutes of reading through a Bach chorale.

There are many sight reading books out there that were published with this goal in mind, so find a book that you like and practice every day. If you are already an experienced musician, you can also find repertoire that’s a few levels below your ability and sight read that. Sight reading hymns and Bach chorales is a great way to train your fingers to keep going through mistakes!

While you’re at it, practice looking ahead in the music. If you get too comfortable looking at your hands while playing (or anything else that keeps you from looking at the music), then it will be hard to sight read simply because you are not looking at the music.

5. Set goals.

The last – and most important – thing to do is to set goals and stick to them. Do you want to become a better sight reader? Set a goal to practice every day for 15 minutes, or look for opportunities to sight read. If you set a goal to get better and you work to accomplish that goal, then you will improve.

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