What is your New Year's Resolution for 2013? If you're interested and want to learn to play the piano for the new year, we have some tips that can help you on your way. Many new pianists are intimidated and nervous about sight reading a new piece of piano sheet music. But we're sure if robots can sight read so can you! Still, it doesn’t take a computer processor to become a sight reading pro, or at least a bit closer to that goal. There are tons of sight reading sheet music for piano that enable beginner to advanced players to prepare for new musical scores. So to help you with your new year's resolution we’ve even come up with a list of tips to make the sometimes scary trek into the world of sight reading a little more appealing.
Embrace the newness of the music:
New piano sheet music, fresh from the mail can make any musician giddy. Opening the pages means entering exciting yet unfamiliar terrain. Take a break to enjoy the music without falling trap to a desire for perfection the first go around.
Scan the sheet music:
Wait, that sounds pretty self-explanatory but you’d be surprised how easy it is to overlook the notes right in front of your nose. Before diving head first into a new piece, make sure you’ve got the simple things in your mind like the time signature, rhythm, and dynamics. Oh, and don’t forget to glance ahead while playing the piece; sometimes notes have a way of sneaking up unexpectedly.
Trust yourself:
Making mistakes doesn’t mean the downfall of a sight reading piece but second-guessing can lead to a rough sight reading experience. Letting your previous knowledge of the piano guide will help ease the rocky patches rather than highlight them. Always remember to continue through your mistakes. Often a little mistake will not influence the quality of a performance but bringing the music to an abrupt halt leaves a definite impression.
Listen:
This is often the most simple part to forget when forging ahead with a new piano sight reading piece. The tension from trying to get every note exact combined with cramping fingers and a possibly sweaty brow can make listening the last thing on your mind. Listening to the piece can enable a good player to catch patterns in the song, adjust the tempo, and ease past trouble spots rather than stumbling through. Even the best sight reading can fall short without a good ear.
And lastly, practice:
They say practice makes perfect and the old saying holds true with sight reading as well. Becoming skilled at sight reading requires practicing pieces from a variety of levels and styles. Finishing a piece of music doesn't mean it should be tossed; instead, save it and pull it out later for sight reading duels with other musicians. Competition can make even an intimidating task like reading new music (or forgotten tunes) fun again.
We hope these tips will help you learn to play piano and increase your piano playing skills. Easy piano music can help the learning process for a beginning pianist but investing in sight reading will take your playing to the next level.
