Read music
Piano sight reading exercises
Sight reading means playing music you have never seen before, straight through, without stopping. To practise it, choose something considerably easier than your current pieces, look through it before you start, set a slow steady pulse, and never go back to correct a mistake. Ten minutes a day of easy material beats an hour of hard material.
Click any key to hear it. Your computer's A to K row works too.
Why should sight reading material be easy?
Because the skill you are training is reading ahead while your hands keep moving, and that only works if the notes are well within your ability. Material at your performance level forces you to stop and think, which is the exact opposite of what sight reading is. Pick something two or three levels below what you are learning.
What should I do before I start playing?
Look at the key signature, the time signature, and the shape of the first line. Notice where the hands move and where anything unusual happens. Thirty seconds of looking saves a great deal of stopping. Then set a tempo slow enough that the hardest bar is playable, not the easiest.
Why must I not stop to correct mistakes?
Because stopping is the habit you are trying to remove. In real playing, an accompanist who stops has failed, while one who plays a wrong note and carries on has not. Train yourself to keep the pulse going regardless. Accuracy improves later, once continuity is automatic.
What can I use to practise?
The free note trainer on this site shows a note on the stave and waits for you to play it, which builds the recognition sight reading depends on. Then switch on Read mode in the practice room, which hides the falling blocks and leaves the written music, and only counts what you play from the stave.
Keep going
Read next
Lines are E G B D F, spaces spell FACE. How to read the treble clef and find each note on Open → ♪ Bass clef notes: lines and spaces
Lines are G B D F A, spaces are A C E G. How to read the bass clef, and why it is not the Open → ♪ How to play piano chords
Major and minor chords explained, which fingers to use, and the four chords that cover mos Open → ♪ Piano scales for beginners
Why scales matter, which to learn first, and how to practise them without boredom. Start w Open →
Put it into practice in the practice room, or start at the beginning with the five minute walkthrough.
Questions
Common questions
How long does it take to get good at sight reading?
Noticeable improvement usually comes within a few weeks of daily ten minute sessions. Fluency takes months, because it is a different skill from playing pieces you have learned.
Should I look at my hands while sight reading?
As little as possible. Looking down means losing your place on the page, which is why a familiar hand position matters so much.
Is sight reading the same as reading music?
No. Reading music is knowing what the notes mean. Sight reading is doing it in real time, first go, without stopping.