Unit 12 — Sight-reading

• Prerequisite: Unit 11.
• New notes: none.
• Idea: keeping going.

Before, during and after

• Before you play: the key, the time signature, the lowest and highest notes, and where the hands move.
• While you play: eyes a note ahead of the hands; keep the beat; skip what is missed and come back in at the next beat or measure.
• After: play it once more. The second reading is the reward.

The sittings, in order

1. Keep going (concept). Eyes a note ahead; the beat matters more than any one note. You play a page along.
2. Read in time. A new page, played along: a slip doesn't stop it.
3. Rhythm at sight. Every value so far (quarter, half, dotted half, whole, rests and eighths) in 4/4 and 3/4.
4. Mix. Lightning round, play it, a phrase, rhythm taps and echo.
5. Read in G, in time.
6. Read in F, in time.
7. Use it: Minuet in G, with bass, in time.
8. Use it: Pleyel, Rondo (melody), in time.
9. Use it: Scarlatti, Sonata in C (melody). In 12/8 with dotted quarters, which no rhythm sitting has taught, so the music waits for each note instead.
10. Final checkpoint. All notes, in C, G and F, in time.

Teaching notes

• The beat outranks the notes. A steady beat with a few wrong notes is music; stopping to fix each one isn't.
• Pages are generated fresh. Every Read in time page is new, so you never run out of music you haven't seen.
• Choose a slow tempo. Slow enough to keep going through the hardest measure.
• From here, any song in the library is practice. The Songs tab marks the ones you can read now.

Common mistakes

• Stopping to fix a slip. Let it go and come back in.
• Skipping the look before playing. A missed key signature is the most common cause of a bad first reading.
• Only replaying known pieces. Sight-reading grows with new music, a little every day.

Related guides

• Sight-reading piano
• How to read piano music

Back to the whole path.

Start Unit 12

The Octotune team · Updated September 23, 2026