Pianists find more difficulty in sight-playing than the players of other instruments
because more musical elements are arranged both horizontally and vertically in piano
scores. Deficiency in this skill makes much trouble in the stage of reading sco...
Pianists find more difficulty in sight-playing than the players of other instruments
because more musical elements are arranged both horizontally and vertically in piano
scores. Deficiency in this skill makes much trouble in the stage of reading scores, as
well as in practical aspects such as accompanying, or joining a chamber music. Although
a good sight-player is not always a perfect professional, he/she can easily adapt
himself/herself to many musical activities.
Sight-playing can be understood to be a combination of a reading skill and a
mechanical skill. The former means that the player must scan and process the printed
music, while the latter means that he/she must place his/her fingers in the right place
on the instrument at the correct moment. Both skills should be practiced sufficiently, if
one wishes to become a good sight-player.
This article introduces a series of methods of practicing the sight-playing for the
music-major students. Before doing this, some psychological aspects of sight-playing are
reviewed as well as two existing training methods, as backgrounds for this study
The suggested methods assume that the students are qualified to practice
sight-playing with scores of “Czerny's 40" level. It is limited to the practicing on the
scale, the harmony, and the arpeggio. Also suggested is a training method for enhancing
memory needed for sight-playing. With these methods, students may be able to improve
the ability to grasp the musical structure of given scores, and to move the fingers more
correctly.