There are all sorts of ways to cover the keys, but I'm not entirely convinced that it's necessary... It actually helps to use our peripheral vision to find our way and to occasionally glance down, as long as we don't lose our spot in the music. It may be useful at first to cover the keys to break the habit of looking down, but it's not something we should depend on in the long run. In your case, I would first try and see if you can keep your eyes on the music without having to cover the keys. Maybe you don't need to.

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Glad I could help you notice. Thanks for subscribing.

Thank you!

That's a good start.

its been a year, are you doing great?

Welcome, Steven! I'm glad you've found my channel and that it's helping you. I hope you find the exercises useful. All the best!

Thanks for watching! Yes, that is the right way to do it, always looking ahead at the next notes. Not looking at the keys will help as well. You could give those exercises a try. All the best!

@@PianoSightReading Thank you!

Thank you! Thanks for watching :)

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Thanks, David!

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Haha thanks! Not sure having a hypnotic voice is good thing though 😅 Thanks for watching.

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Thanks!

Well, I meant roughly in the middle which is why it's called Middle C. ;)

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Thanks! I'm trying to really break down the complex skill of sight-reading. It's not easy.

Yes, I agree. It depends on your intention. If you're just sight-reading a piece, then I recommend looking at the music as much as possible with only quick glances down when really necessary. But if you're intending on learning a piece, then yes it helps to look down for visual memory, as you say.

Glad to hear that!

Thank you. Thanks for watching!

Hi Robert, I've just responded to your email.

Bonjour et merci de vous être arrêté sur ma chaîne et de vous voir abonné! J'espère que mes vidéos continueront à vous aider. Merci et bonne route à vous aussi!

Sure, that's a good idea. I'll add it to my list! :)

@@PianoSightReading Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to it. :)

I wouldn't worry too much about your neighbour but I know it can feel embarrassing with neighbours around. I'm sure it doesn't sound as bad as you think it does! If you're a beginner, 30 mins should be plenty of time to practise, which is not too much to ask of your neighbour. If you have a digital piano, you could put the volume down or use headphones. If you have an acoustic piano, you could use either the soft pedal or the practice pedal (usually the middle pedal on some upright pianos) and/or cover your piano (if upright) with a thick blanket covering the back and the top of the piano that you can hold in place with several piles of sheet music (that's what I do with mine). If these are not options, you could try to find out when your neighbour is out of the house and practise then. As a last resort, you could also turn your acoustic piano into a silent piano - it's a mechanism that can be added inside the piano to dampen the strings so that you're able to set it to a very low volume when needed. I hope that helps!

@@PianoSightReading yes l have an upright without a middle pedal, but the blanket sounds interesting….thanks….

Hand independence at the piano can be tricky at first. Have you had a look at this video on how to read both clefs: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bJihiq9qu6m9lps.html I also mention how to play hands together and there are free exercises you can download (there's a link in the video description).

@@PianoSightReading Yes watched that video. Someone maybe you had said to try an app on your phone that you can use when in transit or on a break from work to try the app store for a sight reading app to use when away from home. Through that I found some apps that are like tutors and train you to play and use both hands. I found one, it is a little expensive but seems good. Found it last night and tried employing it in my daily routine and made a lot of progress. Decided to see how far I can get using that for now. It seems a really good idea to learn to read music to get both hands working independantly so am trying that.

@@KandMe1 I'm intrigued. What app is that?

@@PianoSightReading It's called flowkey. Not sure if it is the best, I got a free trial for 7 days but if there is something better or cheaper, I want it. If there is something is as good and is also cheaper that would be better because this is $16 AUD per month.

I see. I understand what you're trying to do although I'm not sure I would recommend it... Wouldn't it be better to rely on your ears and work on ear training? I fear that by relying on software like Piano Booster, you would actually miss out on the chance to develop your ears. What you could do instead is listen to recordings of the pieces you want to learn and then when you play them, use your ears to help you discern any wrong notes. I would also recommend practising your scales and arpeggios without looking down as well as pieces you've already learned.

Hi, it’s good that you’ve noticed the need to improve your sight-reading - you’ve taken the first step! It sounds like what you are sight-reading is too difficult for you… Ideally, you should be able to read more or less fluently at around 60bpm and if you’re doing 30 mins, that should give you plenty of time to do something like 10 short pieces (1 page max each). You want to aim to sight-read as many pieces as you can in that amount of time. (Have a look at this video where I give tips on how to practise sight-reading: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pp93lqSCx9KxiJc.html) So my advice is to try to find easier music. Hymns are deceptively hard in that you have to read at least 4 notes all at once. Instead of hymns, I would suggest finding pieces where you have a melody in one hand and a basic accompaniment in the other. That and very easy contrapuntal music with just one line of notes in both hands (for example, the minuets in Anna Magdalena’s Notebook). You could also consider books designed to teach you sight-reading - those are great because they’re progressive and give you a structure to follow. Have a look at this video where I talk about my favourite sight-reading book series (Piano Sight-Reading: A Fresh Approach): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o9CddpaqrJ7TgqM.html The pieces in there are really enjoyable to play - they feel like real pieces, unlike some other sight-reading books where it’s more like exercises. Book 1 may be too easy for you as it starts hands separately, but books 2 & 3 would be ideal I think. You can also check out this article for other resources that I recommend: www.pianosightreading.com.au/sight-reading-books/ I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

@@PianoSightReading I did not expect so much help and advice. I am very grateful. I will look especially into those books 2 & 3 because I am very routine-focused. Thank you

@@martinihenry9792 Haha sorry, I hope I didn't overwhelm you! Great, all the best!

Excellent!

Just for a bit of uplifting background music and because I like this type of jazz :)

You can find it on my online shop at: www.pianosightreading.com.au/product/master-your-lh-leaps/

Yes, it takes a leap of faith at the beginning!

Haha

Agreed. Do I EVER use the black keys to find my place? Nope. This explains some problems.... thanks, Manu.

What I meant was that the black keys are higher up than the white keys so you can use them to feel your way around the keyboard. If all the keys where all on one level, it would be virtually impossible to play by feel.

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