Daily sight-reading exercises

These drills work with any easy music: a beginner method book, a hymnal, a folk-song collection or free graded pieces online.

1. The no-stop pass

Set a metronome slow (try 60 to the crotchet). Play the piece once from beginning to end without stopping or correcting. If you miss notes, drop them and catch the next beat. Afterwards, circle the bars where you got lost. This single habit is the core of sight-reading.

2. Read-ahead with a card

Hold an index card over the music and slide it along so it covers the bar you are playing. You are forced to look at least one bar ahead. Start with half-bar lag, then a full bar.

3. Rhythm-only pass

Before you play, tap the rhythm of both hands on your lap (right hand on right knee, left on left) while counting aloud. Rhythm errors cause most breakdowns; this isolates them.

4. Interval spotting

Go through a line of melody without playing and say only the direction and size of each move: "up a step, up a skip, same, down a 4th". This trains you to read shapes rather than individual note names.

5. Hands-separate warm-up

Read the left hand alone at tempo, then the right hand alone, then hands together. Do it with a different piece each time; the point is fluency on new material.

6. Duet and accompaniment reading

If you have a teacher, partner or playback recording, read one part while another part continues. Nothing teaches "don't stop" faster than music that keeps going without you.

Sample week