I was teaching sight-reading to student who is preparing for college music auditions when it hit me: learning sight-reading is exactly like investing in an IRA.
My financial advisor is adamant that I should never, ever – EVER! look at my monthly statements. Never. Ever.
If you want to play “Helpless” by Neil Young, like I did when I found an old guitar in my parents’ attic, and you’ve never played guitar, you can play it for your friends within two weeks – that’s how I started. Then you get a Grateful Dead songbook and learn 20 more songs.
But sight-reading can be a slow and frustrating process. Especially if you’ve already learned to play and can just go jam instead. You don’t start by reading Beethoven’s late quartets, or Metallica, or even Miranda Lambert. You start by reading …er, nothing really. E, F & G. It sort of sucks.
Luckily, you progress slowly 🙂 And it often seems like you’re going nowhere. Is it worth it? YOU BET. ‘Cause eventually you can play everything Bach ever wrote, so pretty much have a chat with GOD whenever you have a few spare moments.
Did I mention this takes a long time? It’s a long-term investment. Like your … yes, just like your IRA! Over time though, the interest compounds. So don’t EVER think about how it’s going, or how much you dread practicing. Just keep your head down and do it every day for fifteen minutes. 15 MINUTES. You can do that. How many other things do you get through every day for at least 15 minutes every day that aren’t exactly surfing in Maui? Lots and lots. You can do this too.
Don’t obsess over your tiny, incremental daily progress because once you begin sulking about it, once you start dreading the boredom of practicing sight-reading – you’ll just stop. And then you will never have those cosmic chats with the Muse …
© 2013 Brenna Method