Yes many of these issues are my issues as well. My eyesight has never been good and has only grown worse with time. Sight reading can be exhausting for me even after just 5 minutes. I phoned a school for blind students which has music classes and I spoke with their music instructor. He told me the majority of blind music students rely heavily on audible learning. A few use Braille for reading music.

Allysia, you got me with this one. Never having played an instrument or learning to read sheet music, I was way behind when I took up classical piano at the age of 35. It was brutal, I wasn’t playing by ear, I was playing by brute memorization. When I came to Chopin’s Tristesse, I would have to construct each chord note by note. I used to say it was like trying to read the sentence “The cat is purring” one letter at a time; t h e space c a t space i s space p u r r I n g. But it wasn’t even that. The first capital T in that phrase is a horizontal line on top of a vertical line that rises to bisect the horizontal, and so on, letter by letter - or chord by chord. I built flash cards but my sight reading is horrible, it is such a foreign language - oh to be able to look at sheet music and be able to instantly read it out like I was reading from my favorite novel.

man i’m really being called out with these videos ! (feels good haha)

Definitely need a balance of the 2 (playing by ear & reading. In a typical RCM exam, students would be asked to recall scales, arpeggios & random notes by ear so ear training is a must. Being able to read sheet music is also important. Having good ears complement reading so that you can learn pieces faster. If you miss a sharp or flat when reading, your ears would pick it up right away. People like myself who download music regularly often find possible mistakes in the score (something that doesn't sound right). Those who play by the score alone would not pick up the mistake.

Whenever someone says that they are learning a piece using synthesia I think to myself, "...talk about the hard way....". I would never have the patience. And, when they're done, they have to repeat this in order to learn the next piece?? All they've learned is ONE piece. If I were a teacher and some prospective student said that they just do not want to learn to read music, I would refuse to teach them.....just not a match. What is the problem?------do such people think it takes 1,000 hours to learn to read music? Just ridiculous. As an adult, I purchased on Amazon Brimhall's book---Theory Notebook in 3 parts---about a total of roughly 100 pages--- (of course there are Alfred's, the Fabers, etc., etc.) and learned all the basics in just a few hours. Obviously, after having learned the basics, the more time one spends on working with their new 'acquisition', the more comfortable, and ingrained it becomes. I keep thinking about the old saying, "you give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; you teach him HOW to fish, he eats for a lifetime." Whatever. I have the same feeling about someone who does not want to learn music 'theory'. Either "I don't want to"---read music or learn theory---but they want to learn to play the piano, implies an immature, impatient person. Probably should just stick to watching/listening to the music videos on KZfaq. Sorta like wanting to become a doctor or lawyer------as long as it doesn't take more than a month.

It makes me angry you have such small sub count, I’ve been watching you for years and have binged your videos before, love them. I hope the algo catches your work and it all pays off. ❤️

Very good advice... i am on week 10 on piano course. And this is my main problem now... my eyes look to the sheet, but i do not read it... so at some parts, i quest the not, and hit the wrong note

Great topic, I am glad you talked about it. Its happen to me and I have had to be very discipline including 15 min. sight reading into my practice. Now, I can tell I am improving because I don't get lost in the music, I am able to see where I made a mistake, where I am. Thank you

I am using John Kember's Piano sight reading book, it's the best and it works great because of very easy patterns of notes. You should recommend that book series to all who are afraid of reading. This video also addresses a huge problem very common to many. thank you.

Playing music by ear is an impressive feat. But alas, when you have polyphonic music like J. S. Bach's inventions, especially a work replete with numerous episodic material, playing by ear can only work so far.

Enjoyed your videos on Liszt especially. Worked with David Dubal atJuilliard many years ago, when he was engaged on radio interviews..one with Professor Alan Walker after. writing his first of threee books on Franz Liszt, The Virtuoso Years. Another reference is Leslie Howard..Good luck with your videos...

Guilty as charged. I can read music but dyslexic and it’s hard to follow precisely. I think it sounds even better to just use the music as a guide. I want to do both! Wonderful lilting journey through 3 flats with written music just as a guide this morning. At 63, I wonder if fun is more of value.

I suck at sight reading 😢 it’s so hard to remember the notes

Thank you so much! I had no idea why my mind would go blank when I looked up from the keyboard to the music and couldn’t find my place. I would start again from the beginning. I noticed too that I would be looking at the music but was unaware of the notes I was playing. Once I even played a piece for several measures before realizing that the piece I was playing was not the music I was looking at. Weird! Now I know why! I’ll let you know how long it takes for me to correct it.

I can sing and play piano a little bit. I also have perfect pitch, but I can read music too.

Good advice, but I have had a very difficult time finding enough simple, say grade 1 and 2, new free or inexpensive sources of sheet music to use in forcing myself to just sight read. I have some but I go through material quickly as after a few tries I am back to "faking it". any suggestions ?

When you practice a group of notes repeatedly, do you repeat until exhausted, the fingers will need a rest?

Hey, I recognise you from your history of music videos from many, many years ago! Hope you are doing well.

This is why music teachers should place new material on the stand. Play this. Can you play it first ? No. You know these Notes , Rest's , Time signatures ... Take a few mins to look it over and begin when ready. They or their parents are paying for them to learn it. So make them.

FIRST