Solving Sight-Reading Frustration for Guitarists

Guitarists don’t sight read well.

Staff notation feels like a foreign language.

It’s so confusing!

What if I told you it didn’t have to be this way?

Actually, it doesn’t.

I used to hate sight reading. HATE IT!

But once I started doing three things consistently, I started sight reading for fun.

If that’s hard for you to believe, don’t take my word for it.

Try these three things for yourself.

1.  Read Easy Music

To practice sight reading, work on pieces that are significantly easier than the hardest repertoire you can play. If you can play at level 6 of RCM or ABRSM, for example, sight read pieces that are level 3 or easier.

2.  Say Note Names

Select a piece that has only one note at a time. Use a version of the piece with staff notation and no tab included.

Select a short passage. Four measures often works well.

Say the note names of each note.

Play air guitar while you do this. In other words, move your hands in the air as if you are playing and clearly visualize all the details. See in your mind what string each note is played on, what fret, what left-hand finger, and what right-hand finger.

Once you are clear on the notes, say the note names in rhythm. Hold the note name vocally for the full duration of each sustained note. Don’t vocalize during rests.

If you are struggling with rhythm, do the next step.

3.  Count

Vocalizing counting. Say the count where each note happens. Hold that count during a sustained note. Be silent during a rest.

If you’re not keeping a steady beat, use a metronome. Set the metronome slower than you think you need to. This will increase accuracy and confidence.

Next Steps

Repeat this approach regularly in your practice.

Once you are confident in carrying out this process, you can use it on pieces with multiple notes at the same time. You can say the name of the melody note while visualizing yourself playing all notes that happen at the same time.

If, however, you become confused about which notes happen simultaneously, you can vocalize all of the note names in all voices. Vocalize from the lowest note to the top note.

Once that is clear, go back to vocalizing only the melody notes.

You might say, “But this is not really sight reading! What about looking at a piece for the first time and playing it without saying letter names or visualizing?”

You’re correct that the above process uses pre-reading. This is a little different than playing the piece from sheet music when you first look at it.

But in my own playing as well as in my 25 years of teaching, I’ve found this process is the FASTEST way to take sight reading to a whole new level.

If you use this process consistently over a few weeks, you’ll find that you can look at an easy piece for the first time and play well without pre-reading.

What if you then encounter a piece where you’re struggling to read accurately? Use the above pre-reading process as needed to clarify notes and rhythms so that you can read with confidence.

Keep making music!

If you want to get your practice session off to a great start, try my Warmup Routine Checklist. To get a copy, click here. 

What approaches do you find most helpful for improving sight reading?