[blueridge60]

Hey,

I've been working pretty hard on my new year's resolution (to read standard notation better than I do now), and i've been , , . and even , and it's only been 7 or 8 days, (i've actually been working on this for about 3 weeks, but I digress.)

I'm just wondering about reading the notation. I remember taking piano lessons, and hearing the instructor say "look at the note, and say the note ALOUD, as you also play it" (which is coming from deep within my sub-conscious, because the last I took lessons was when i was <10 years old!), but i find that I often drift out of speaking/singing the notes, and that I can play at a higher speed, but often I'm playing from memory, and not from the paper. So, I sort of have to be honest with myself, about the speed I'm comfortable playing at, and capable of playing at, and it is possible to speed up based on memorization. But it's difficult for me to be objective about myself in this regard. How do I maintain that honesty, that objectivity?

Also, I'm having trouble with Cradle Song (by Brahms). Mel Bay does a stripped down version, but it's packed with three note chords, and I'm not able to process the chords very comfortably. I started playing the top note of the chords, and plan on adding the second/third note. Is this a good strategy? Do i need to be able to read all the notes simultaneously? Or should I be able to rely on recognizing the shape of the chordal tones as the appear on the staff?

[Fretsource]

It's true that when you play a song from notation over and over, you stop reading and play from memory. The music then loses its value for sight reading practice. At that point you may as well just focus on polishing the song - and adding it to your list of memorised pieces
One way to stop yourself memorising is to constantly read fresh material. Read it and move on. Don't give yourself a chance to memorise it.

With practice, chords become recogniseable shapes on the staff, a bit like words in language. When you see the word "guitar" for example, you see it all at once, without having to read it letter by letter. With practice, chords become recogniseable in the same way.
Until that time you can read them note by note from bottom up or top down, but try to be consistent in how you do it.

Now that I've finished my ear training lessons (Fretsource's lessons forum in case you don't know), I've started a new set of lessons on reading standard notation from beginner level. It's a bit slow going because it involves making lots of diagram with lots cutting and pasting - but I'll start putting it up soon. I'll include graded practice material that you can download and print. Coming soon!

[Bluesyzep]

Originally Posted by Fretsource

It's true that when you play a song from notation over and over, you stop reading and play from memory. The music then loses its value for sight reading practice. At that point you may as well just focus on polishing the song - and adding it to your list of memorised pieces
One way to stop yourself memorising is to constantly read fresh material. Read it and move on. Don't give yourself a chance to memorise it.

With practice, chords become recogniseable shapes on the staff, a bit like words in language. When you see the word "guitar" for example, you see it all at once, without having to read it letter by letter. With practice, chords become recogniseable in the same way.
Until that time you can read them note by note from bottom up or top down, but try to be consistent in how you do it.

Now that I've finished my ear training lessons (Fretsource's lessons forum in case you don't know), I've started a new set of lessons on reading standard notation from beginner level. It's a bit slow going because it involves making lots of diagram with lots cutting and pasting - but I'll start putting it up soon. I'll include graded practice material that you can download and print. Coming soon!

Thanks for the link. I didn't know about that forum but find your lessons fill some of the gaps lacking in my home study.