Piano Sightreading: Your Checklist For Success!

One of the most important skills for any pianist to develop is SIGHT READING at the piano. Even if you’re not interested in performing professionally, being able to sight read can help you learn new pieces faster and improve your overall musicianship.

This post is a walkthrough of the step-by-step sight reading checklist that I use with my students. You can download the checklist here!

Watch the video version of this tutorial here:

Step 1: Determine your sight reading level

Before you get started with sight reading, make sure to find music that is at the appropriate level for you. If it’s too easy or too hard, you won’t get the benefits from it that you will if the piece is at the correct level. If you are using a graded method or repertoire book, choose a piece that is at least two or three levels easier than the current music that you’re working on in your repertoire.

One way you can know if you are sight reading at the correct level is if you are able to sight read a selection at a tempo where it sounds like music instead of just individual notes. If you are trying to play it but you have to pick out one note at a time, and it’s not really possible for you to hear the notes combine to make a phrase, then try music at a level that is easier.

The goal is to be able to play it in a way that is reasonably smooth, where you will be able to play it without making too many mistakes.

Time signature and key signature

Before you read for the first time, take a few minutes to scan the score. Notice the time signature and make sure you understand how the piece will be counted. Check out the key signature, and determine whether it’s in a major or minor key. You can look at the last note of the piece to get a clue about the “home” key – most of the time, the last note or chord is in the same key as the key signature of the piece.

Note values and form

After you look at the time signature and key signature, scan the music for the selection you are about to sight read and look for the most common note values. Often you will see a combination of different note values: eighths, sixteenths, quarter notes, half notes, etc. But you will likely see that there is a majority of a certain type of note value. Identify what that is, because that will help you get a sense for the pulse of the piece.

If, for example, you have a selection that contains primarily sixteenth notes with an occasional quarter note, that will feel different than another piece in the same time signature that is primarily quarter notes with an occasional sixteenth note.

Also, have a quick look at the “form” of the piece you are about to read. Are there repetitions of entire measures or phrases? Where do they occur?

Rhythmic and melodic patterns

Next, look at the music and try to identify rhythmic and melodic patterns. You don’t have to spend a lot of time on this; just look for recurring patterns. Often, a composer will often use a few different motives, or cells, that repeat and recur on different pitches. It is also quite common to see one melodic idea recur several times – perhaps with slight variations – in one piece. Noticing these patterns will help you see the piece more holistically (rather than note by note); this will make it easier to sight read for the first time.

Accidentals and articulation markings

After you have looked for patterns, scan the score and look for printed accidentals. Printed accidentals are notable because they show you the “exceptions” to the home key, pointing out the places where the music moves away from the key signature. In addition, look at articulation markings (slurs, staccatos, tenuto markings, accents, etc) so that you can understand before even playing the piece which notes belong together and how the main motivic ideas are connected.

Clapping or tapping before you play

Now you have done the prep work: looking at the time signature, the key signature, rhythmic and melodic patterns, accidentals and articulation markings. This should not be time-consuming; with practice, you will probably be able to get through all of these steps in about 5 minutes. Because rhythm is so important for sight reading, the next step will be to “get a feel” for the rhythm. Tap the rhythm in two hands (each hand tapping its own rhythm) or clap just a single line, while counting out loud. You can tap on your lap or on the piano fallboard (above the keys). This will give you a feel for the relationships between the notes.

Rhythm first, then melody

Accurately understanding the rhythm is going to help you succeed the most at sight reading. If you can establish a consistent rhythmic pulse and really understand the rhythm of what you’re playing, it will be so much easier to keep going even if you make errors in the notes.

Playing through for the first time

Now you’re ready to play! Look at the fastest notes in the selection you’re about to read in order to find an appropriate reading tempo. Count one full bar out loud and then join in, playing through your piece as well as you can, with a steady tempo and not stopping even if you miss notes.

Micro-learning, then repeating

After you play, take a moment to reflect on how it went. Where did mistakes occur, and what was tricky about those spots? Take 2-3 minutes to do some targeted practicing (“micro-learning”) of just the spots where you made mistakes. After you have given yourself that time to practice, read through the sight reading selection 2-3 more times, focusing on building on your skills and playing it better each time.

DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST

For easy reference, I made a sight reading checklist – with all of the items from this post on a single page. You can download it for free here!

Incorporating sight reading into your practice

I recommend practicing sight reading every day. When I have seen students commit to this, their playing has improved dramatically over the period of a few months. It doesn’t take a lot of time each day to notice improvement. Schedule in time to sight read for about 10-15 minutes every day. It might even turn into an enjoyable part of your practice routine!

In conclusion:

Choose a selection that’s the right level and follow the checklist of things to observe and notice in the score. Then, sight read the piece, practice it briefly, and then sight read it again. When you get it to the point where it sounds and feels fairly secure, you are ready to move on to practicing your other repertoire and exercises for the day.

The next day, choose a different piece of the same level. Remember: start with something easy enough and work your way up to something more challenging over time!

Further Reading:

Understanding Hand Position at the Piano: This article explores how to use the positioning of your hand on the piano keyboard to enhance your technique.

How to Stop Making So Many Mistakes at the Piano: There are actionable strategies you can implement to improve your practice and reduce the number of mistakes you make. This article is about four effective strategies that will help you break bad habits and take your piano playing to the next level.

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