HOW to sight read (piano)?

[gossamer]

I'm curious as how it would work, since my mind doesn't work that way.
Is it something that you've acquired over time, or have you always done that? I do recall at some point last year or the year before, I was flicking through a music magazine and I recall reading about someone who also saw notes as colours, and different pitchings of a note would be a different shade or something like that. It was an odd form of perfect pitch.
Anyway, I think he was born being able to do that.

Oh... I honestly thought all perfect pitch was something like that.

It's always been like that for me, though interestingly, the colours for each note have changed subtly over time.

When I did VCE music melodic dictation was just a matter of transcribing colours into notes. I also have different colours for different chords. I suppose it also relates to feelings. A diminished triad is a threatening sort of red, for example, because I guess it sounds very ominous. Different inversions are different shades of the same colour.

Yeah like all perfect pitch, you're born with it.

Oh? Why do you think that is?
Yeah, that makes sense. For me, I listen to the notes and transcribe it. With chords, I have to listen to all the notes and write it out. What's VCE Music like?
Wow.

Fixed. Then I put random accents to signify the pitch or some shit. I think that's why I can't sing to save my life

haha okay You probably sing better than you think you can
Ever tried using the movable do solfege? My choir teacher uses it all the time to teach people to sing awkward interval jumps (which are not so awkward if you think of it in another key)

Solfege. A 'C' note would sound like 'Do' to me. That's why I can sometimes confuse it with G (So). Likewise with E (Me) and B (Ti). So really, if I listen to a piece, it sounds like a conversation to me.

That do, re, mi never worked for me! Just because I thought I would be smart and say to myself "well do can be 'D' since it is just a syllable". Well, that did not really help me.

But I have my standard or 'zero' at middle 'C' and then go from there.

hmmm. So if you were say, singing something, would you sing a C and then work out the starting note from there, or something?

Initially, yes - when I started out. Then I remembered different notes after practice. I wasn't really born with music ability, it's just perseverence.

Ahh yes, of course

[vexx]

Thanks for replies peoplesssssssss.

I bought Chopin Sheet Music for Piano as well as the Beethoven one, they have about 40 pieces each ranging from easy to advanced, i guess i'll just work through that..
Should i perfect the easy ones first? Or can i jump around to target some of the 'funner' pieces if i chose?

Is perfect pitch really helpful for sight-reading? How so..?

[gossamer]

Thanks for replies peoplesssssssss.

I bought Chopin Sheet Music for Piano as well as the Beethoven one, they have about 40 pieces each ranging from easy to advanced, i guess i'll just work through that..
Should i perfect the easy ones first? Or can i jump around to target some of the 'funner' pieces if i chose?

Is perfect pitch really helpful for sight-reading? How so..?

I would probably just do whatever you want to do. If you make yourself do stuff you don't want to do, you'll lose interest. I certainly did when I was actually learning under a teacher. It's been nearly 2 years since I stopped learning (piano anyway), and I never thought I would come back to it, but I have and it's great (and I get to do whatever the hell I want to do )

Well, perfect-pitch is something you're either born with, or you're not. (although, you can probably acquire something close to it through many many years of practice). I personally find it helpful when I'm starting to learn something new, because I can hear what I'm going to play in my head, before I play it, so I have a general idea of what the piece sounds. However, I do realise that most people don't actually have this luxury, and in that case, you just gotta knuckle down and do the hard work, the more sight-reading you do, the better you get at it

[ninwa]

@smileygirl, why do I think what is? If you mean thinking all pp was like that, I haven't actually met many people with it and the ones I do know, it's not generally a topic of conversation
If you mean changing colours, well, it's associated with emotions so I guess maturing and having a great teacher who taught me to "feel" the music better did that.

@vexx do the fun pieces duh!!
PP can help me mostly cos I know what the notes should sound like off the paper so I know immediately when something is wrong. But other than that, you're not particularly disadvantaged

[gossamer]

@smileygirl, why do I think what is? If you mean thinking all pp was like that, I haven't actually met many people with it and the ones I do know, it's not generally a topic of conversation
If you mean changing colours, well, it's associated with emotions so I guess maturing and having a great teacher who taught me to "feel" the music better did that.

@vexx do the fun pieces duh!!
PP can help me mostly cos I know what the notes should sound like off the paper so I know immediately when something is wrong. But other than that, you're not particularly disadvantaged

The colours changing I mean
Off-topic (sorry), but I'm curious to see, does anyone here (with perfect pitch) play another (transposing) instrument? If you do, how do you find that?

[vexx]

okkkk thanks peoples.
i will stick to easier pieces that are fun, i tried op.69 no.1 last night (a chopin waltz) and i did the first half of page one of right hand pretty slowly but wasn't too bad (never heard this piece before). i think i'll stick around grade 7 pieces then, and do nocturne in g minor as one of them soon.. i'll wait a little long before i try the ballade

good to know im not too disadvantaged then, i have an okay 'pitch' (no where near perfect), but i can identify probably half of the notes since i remember keys like from the start of fur elise, clair de lune and such, so i can mentally play them to remember the keys.. im hoping to improve as i learn more pieces, though i may never be perfect pitch, just curious of this being anyway helpful.

[ninwa]

Off-topic (sorry), but I'm curious to see, does anyone here (with perfect pitch) play another (transposing) instrument? If you do, how do you find that?

I had to read the viola part in high school a few times because it seems nobody plays viola... couldn't do it and had to write it out again in treble clef. Screws with my mind too much! Have you?

okkkk thanks peoples.
i will stick to easier pieces that are fun, i tried op.69 no.1 last night (a chopin waltz) and i did the first half of page one of right hand pretty slowly but wasn't too bad (never heard this piece before). i think i'll stick around grade 7 pieces then, and do nocturne in g minor as one of them soon.. i'll wait a little long before i try the ballade

good to know im not too disadvantaged then, i have an okay 'pitch' (no where near perfect), but i can identify probably half of the notes since i remember keys like from the start of fur elise, clair de lune and such, so i can mentally play them to remember the keys.. im hoping to improve as i learn more pieces, though i may never be perfect pitch, just curious of this being anyway helpful.

Why do you like the Ballade so much btw?

Yeah a very good relative pitch can be developed though I don't think you can teach yourself perfect pitch. I know someone who will always be able to identify a Bb and will work out the note from there, so it's pretty much like perfect pitch, just with a bit more work.

[gossamer]

Off-topic (sorry), but I'm curious to see, does anyone here (with perfect pitch) play another (transposing) instrument? If you do, how do you find that?

I had to read the viola part in high school a few times because it seems nobody plays viola... couldn't do it and had to write it out again in treble clef. Screws with my mind too much! Have you?

haha yes, the viola is a rather uncommon instrument. But it uses a completely different clef, I think you'd be fine if you got used to reading it.

But yeah, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who feels that way (about it screwing with your mind)

Clarinet is my main instrument since I stopped learning piano. It's okay because I started in about Year 5 and I got used to thinking in B flat. Generally, when I read music written for clarinet, I hear it as it would sound in concert pitch -- but then for some pieces, in orchestra, or for exams and such (particularly AMus and LMus, you have to use an A clarinet for some pieces), I have to play on the A clarinet and it messed with my mind coz what I was playing didn't sound like what I was hearing in my head! Then I'd try and transpose it in my head so that it would sound right (in my head), but then I'd end up playing the wrong notes etc.

Trippy.

[carolynt]

Off-topic (sorry), but I'm curious to see, does anyone here (with perfect pitch) play another (transposing) instrument? If you do, how do you find that?

I had to read the viola part in high school a few times because it seems nobody plays viola... couldn't do it and had to write it out again in treble clef. Screws with my mind too much! Have you?

okkkk thanks peoples.
i will stick to easier pieces that are fun, i tried op.69 no.1 last night (a chopin waltz) and i did the first half of page one of right hand pretty slowly but wasn't too bad (never heard this piece before). i think i'll stick around grade 7 pieces then, and do nocturne in g minor as one of them soon.. i'll wait a little long before i try the ballade

good to know im not too disadvantaged then, i have an okay 'pitch' (no where near perfect), but i can identify probably half of the notes since i remember keys like from the start of fur elise, clair de lune and such, so i can mentally play them to remember the keys.. im hoping to improve as i learn more pieces, though i may never be perfect pitch, just curious of this being anyway helpful.

Why do you like the Ballade so much btw?

Yeah a very good relative pitch can be developed though I don't think you can teach yourself perfect pitch. I know someone who will always be able to identify a Bb and will work out the note from there, so it's pretty much like perfect pitch, just with a bit more work.

Ballads are soft on the ears. Then again my all time favourite has to be the Fantasie Impromtu performed by Yundi Li.

I listened to that non-stop between my exams. I still do.

[vexx]

ninwa- i'm not sure, but i've been obsessed for years with that ballade, i find it so beautiful and moving.. and i literally squirm at the brilliant last 2 minutes - its just incredible!

caroyln- oh my, fantasie is one of my favourites as well (i adore chopin ahah), im obsessed with Valentina Igoshina's performance of it, as well as everything else she plays.. (not to mention she is very attractive :p )

[ninwa]

haha yes, the viola is a rather uncommon instrument. But it uses a completely different clef, I think you'd be fine if you got used to reading it.

But yeah, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who feels that way (about it screwing with your mind)

Clarinet is my main instrument since I stopped learning piano. It's okay because I started in about Year 5 and I got used to thinking in B flat. Generally, when I read music written for clarinet, I hear it as it would sound in concert pitch -- but then for some pieces, in orchestra, or for exams and such (particularly AMus and LMus, you have to use an A clarinet for some pieces), I have to play on the A clarinet and it messed with my mind coz what I was playing didn't sound like what I was hearing in my head! Then I'd try and transpose it in my head so that it would sound right (in my head), but then I'd end up playing the wrong notes etc.

Trippy.

Bahaha. I used to play oboe and try to play the clarinet parts in band and used to think "I bet none of them are afflicted with perfect pitch" so, wow, I'm impressed.

Ballads are soft on the ears. Then again my all time favourite has to be the Fantasie Impromtu performed by Yundi Li.

I listened to that non-stop between my exams. I still do.

Hmm, soft on the ears... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F63MSrdYx5w listen from about 8:00
Yundi Li is amazing.

ninwa- i'm not sure, but i've been obsessed for years with that ballade, i find it so beautiful and moving.. and i literally squirm at the brilliant last 2 minutes - its just incredible!

caroyln- oh my, fantasie is one of my favourites as well (i adore chopin ahah), im obsessed with Valentina Igoshina's performance of it, as well as everything else she plays.. (not to mention she is very attractive :p )

Oh I totally agree. I just wish my hands were bigger... they hurt like hell every time after that last bit.

Valentina Lisitsa is also quite attractive (and absolutely amazing).

Have any of you heard of Nobuyuki Tsujii? Blind from birth. Won the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the age of 20. Look him up on Wikipedia/Youtube. Watching him play makes me teary every time.

[vexx]

wooooowwwwwww Nobuyuki Tsujii is incredible! im watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDtT5sSu5VQ now. that's so inspiring that he hasn't been affected by his blindness

haha that last bit seems impossible for me right now, i highly doubt i'll get to that speed for a long time. i can imagine how sore your hands would get though heh.

oh and for my self-learning as i came across a book called "The elements of piano technique" by Ernest Hutcheson which is available online free http://www.archive.org/details/elementsofpianot00hutcuoft from early 1900s.
would this be good to go through at present? or unneeded?

[gossamer]

Have any of you heard of Nobuyuki Tsujii? Blind from birth. Won the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the age of 20. Look him up on Wikipedia/Youtube. Watching him play makes me teary every time.

Wow. Just wow. He is simply amazing!

[AzureBlue]

ninwa- i'm not sure, but i've been obsessed for years with that ballade, i find it so beautiful and moving.. and i literally squirm at the brilliant last 2 minutes - its just incredible!

Agreed And I love the Barcarolle too!