How to Practice Sight Reading Piano Music

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Train online with sites that are refreshed often.

   You want new material available regularly, so that the training materials don't become stale.
   
   Also, look for a site that has graduated exercises so that you don't become bored once a level becomes too easy for you.
   
   Yes, as hard as it might seem at first, it's a skill that you can learn! There are many just a Google search away.
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   Step 2: Purchase a "Method" book.

   There are number of books specifically designed to teach sight reading, and take you through practice exercises methodically—each exercise building on the previous exercise, and adding a little something new each time.
   
   Here are couple highly-recommended titles:
   Improve your Sight-Reading! Piano, Level 1 from Alfred Music Publishing.
   
   There are a total of eight volumes, which take you from beginner to advanced.
   
   Primer Level Sightreading Book from Hal Leonard Publishing.
   
   For more advanced readers, there are two additional volumes. , The biggest key to successful sight reading is that you only read and play the music once.
   
   You can buy a number of music books, borrow them from the library, or print out piano music from a website.
   
   Those will all work, but may result in a haphazard learning process.
   
   Think of it like this: when you learned to read, you started with "See Spot run.
   
   Run, Spot, run!" You didn't immediately jump to "O joy, O new vertigo of difference, O my platonic reader-writer racked by a most platonic insomnia..."For the best results, focus on music within your skill range.
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   Step 3: Keep it fresh.

Detailed Guide

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