Making the time in my daily schedule and committing to learn new pieces had always been a struggle. So, in April 2015, I decided to make a change. I started small, with just 5 minutes a day, 20 days a month spent on sight reading a new piece.
My first piece was a Bach 2 part invention – just a few bars on day 1, and I kept adding 1 or 2 more bars each day. I started out recording the results each day, so I could see progress, however small, and feel a little motivated to continue.
I also decided that I would record that first rough run-through of each piece, the first time I could play it completely, upload it, and post a link online.
My goals were small – to learn one piece a month and keep in touch with the pieces I had learned earlier.
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I love a challenge and wonder how to apply this to education. Um, what is sightreading?
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Sightreading is taking a new piece and playing it right straight away, without trial and error. What teachers often do with students, is teach them all pieces like this, so, every piece they learn, is ‘sight-read’. With education, I think you could apply this to reading…I’m posting a challenge for a few of my piano students who don’t read (as poor reading skills have an impact on their piano reading)
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I think I get it. So you don’t do any preparation with the kids? And what are the benefits of this approach?
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The familiarity and enjoyment that comes from repetition – and teaching a child they CAN do things right from the very first. The foundation for good piano sightreading builds up from the teaching they get in the early years.
The biggest problem children face, is they want to do everything in 1 go, and that sets them up for failure, panic, and want to give up. So they need to be taught to take 1 step at a time.
Here’s the exact method i use, to do sightreading when learning new pieces https://anitaelise.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/the-bit-by-bit-approach-piano-practise-techniques-for-children/
Since the concept has a name, children remember it and follow it and then learn to achieve without the help of the teacher.
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Slow and steady wins the race! Spending a chunk of time everyday sightreading will churn out impressive results in the long run. There are too many benefits to list. Good for you!
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Thanks for the encouraging comment. I’m on day 13, a little behind schedule, but hopefully will get there by the month end…. 😊
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