HOW TO PLAY
Sight-reading is always a hot topic – and rightly so. The more dependable our level of skill, the quicker we can decide whether to learn a new piece or cast it aside. Into the bargain we become more useful as members of the piano-playing community, whether it be to accompany someone playing music previously unseen, enjoy duets or chamber/group-based music. Teachers possessing good sight-reading skills feel more quickly able to help pupils who bring along unfamiliar music. In short, the skill of sight-reading adds invaluable spontaneity to our music-making and opens the door to innumerable possibilities.
Although there’s a fair amount of published material out there on developing sight-reading, such as Alan Bullard’s series and Paul Harris’s , there’s comparatively little help available for those who are interested in improving what I’ve heard called ‘busk plus’ – the skill level that sits between sight-reading and formalised learning. And this is in many ways the hinterland
