Tell me if this resonates with you: you greet a transfer student in their first lesson and ask them to play their current repertoire. They can usually play something fluently by memory, but when we ask them to sight read even rudimentary exercises, they stumble. I've brought this scenario up in many music schools and private studios, and usually get a sympathetic groan, or a knowing 'you have no idea how common that is.'
Why do so many pianists' executive ability outstrip their reading capacity? Learning to read is one of the most important musical skills, and it's built upon three foundational skills: absolute, intervalic, and positional reading. Students have to practice all three daily to develop into well rounded readers. If we ignore any one of them, students may succeed in the short term, but will hit roadblocks further down the line, affecting their progress, their motivation, and ultimately, their desire to continue lessons.
Why do so many pianists' executive ability outstrip their reading capacity? Learning to read is one of the most important musical skills, and it's built upon three foundational skills: absolute, intervalic, and positional reading. Students have to practice all three daily to develop into well rounded readers. If we ignore any one of them, students may succeed in the short term, but will hit roadblocks further down the line, affecting their progress, their motivation, and ultimately, their desire to continue lessons.
Absolute reading: the ability to identify any note by its letter name, without hesitation
Strength: identify any note, regardless of context or hand position
Limitation: only reading letter names can be slow-going, does not encourage pattern recognition
Intervalic reading: the ability to identify the interval, or the space between two notes
Strength: read and rapidly recognize musical patterns, not just individual notes
Limitation: absolute note reading difficult without sufficient context
Positional reading: the ability to translate notes and intervals into physical patterns
Strength: enhanced proprioception, integration of physical and theoretical elements
Limitation: over-reliance on 5 finger positions, struggle transitioning to music that has no hand position
Different piano methods vary in their approach to these concepts. Piano Safari introduces intervalic reading in book 1, waiting until book 2 to introduce absolute reading. Tales of a Musical Journey emphasizes absolute reading without hand positions, introducing harmonic, but not melodic intervals in book 2. Meanwhile, Piano Adventures takes a positional approach, having neither the structured introduction of intervals that distinguishes Piano Safari, nor the apositional approach of Tales of a Musical Journey.
Having taught from all three methods, I’ve found that you can use any of them successfully, so long as you cover absolute, intervalic, and positional reading skills from the very beginning. Here is how you can do so in just five minutes a day:
Name the first note
- Have student identify the first note and write it next to the finger number
Color code the intervals
- Using zoom annotation or colored pencils, have the student color code the intervals
- For example: Red for 2nds, blue for 3rds, orange for 5ths, etc
- Use lines for melodic intervals
- Use boxes for harmonic intervals
Find the hand position
- Have the student close their eyes
- Have them play ascending and descending 2nds
- Play ascending and descending 3rds
- Play the 3rd between the 2 and 4 fingers
- Play the 5th between 1 and 5
- Play the 4ths between 1 and 4, and 2 and 5
Play the exercise
- Have the student play the exercise through a couple times without stopping
Name the notes
- Without touching the keys, have the student name the notes and write them in
- Save this step for last, doing it first will discourage intervalic reading and pattern recognition
This simple five minute routine ensures you cover all three foundational reading skills, giving students a strong platform for sightreading into their intermediate years. Of course, there are many other activities to cultivate reading ability. For instance, you could add flashcards to the mix or have students write their own music, simply for the sake of variety. Any activities that incorporate these core concepts will ensure students will have a good foundation for the future.