A sight-reading checklist to run before playing
Sight-reading is playing a piece you've never seen before. You usually get a minute or two to look at it first. What you do in that minute matters as much as how well you play. This checklist helps you use it well.
Before you play: the checklist
Go through these in order. Say each one out loud or in your head.
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Key signature | Which notes are sharp or flat. Look for key changes later on. |
| Time signature | How many beats per measure, and what gets the beat. Look for meter changes. |
| Tempo and style | The tempo marking at the top, and words like Allegro, March, or Legato. |
| Road map | Repeats, 1st and 2nd endings, D.S., D.C., and coda. Trace the path with your eyes. |
| Accidentals | Sharps, flats, and naturals not in the key signature. |
| Hard rhythms | Find the trickiest measure and count it. |
| Dynamics and articulations | Where it gets loud or soft, and accents, staccatos, and slurs. |
Not sure about a key or meter? See Key signatures, How time signatures work, Counting 6/8 vs 3/4 and Why cut time feels fast.
Use the rest of your time
- Count and finger through the hard spots silently.
- Hum or sing the first few notes to set the tempo in your head.
- Find the highest and lowest notes so they don't surprise you.
- Look for patterns: repeated rhythms, scales, and sections that come back.
While you play
Keep going
The most important rule: don't stop. If you miss a note, let it go and stay with the beat. A wrong note is one mistake. Stopping to fix it breaks the whole piece, and in a band you'll lose your place.
Look ahead
Try to read a beat or two ahead of what you're playing. It feels hard at first, but it's what makes good readers smooth.
Rhythm first
If something has to give, keep the rhythm and the beat. A right rhythm on a wrong note sounds much better than a right note at the wrong time.
Getting better at it
Sight-reading improves with lots of short, easy reading, not a few hard pieces. Read something new for a few minutes most days. Fast note naming and rhythm reading free up your attention for everything else, so short sessions in Note Trainer and Rhythm Trainer help a lot.