Should You Listen to a Piano Piece Before You Learn to Read it?

Many pianists have the impression that listening to a piece before learning to play it from written music feels like "cheating" to an extent. After all, depending on the piece and the student's ear, it can really be quite difficult to learn a piece strictly from the music without the aid of listening to it at some point, especially early on.

In fact, there are many teachers out there who strongly discourage listening before learning when it comes to repertoire. However, not all music teachers feel this way. I personally started on one side of this issue and ended up on the other. As it turns out, I am now very much for listening before and during the process of learning to play a piece. However, I only feel this way if a student is not using repertoire as their primary means of developing their reading abilities.

In this article, I make the case for separating the deliberate practice of reading skills from learning repertoire. While I still feel it is very important for students to read their repertoire, I view reading as one of many tools that aid the learning process. In this scenario, I actually encourage students to listen to their pieces several times throughout the experience of learning a piece.

What's wrong with listening to pieces before playing?

The truth is that listening to a piece before learning does affect the reading and diminishes what can be gained from reading, especially when the piece is simple to hear and discern with the ear. Students who listen first generally will form an impression of how the piece goes before they have the chance to work it out for themselves using the music. Naturally, this will negatively impact the ability to learn strictly from reading.

In the grand scheme of things...is this actually okay?

• If the student is not working on any sight reading or doing anything outside of learning pieces, then pieces are the main vehicle improving the fluid reading skills. In my opinion, this is not ideal.

• It IS okay IF the student is working on developing reading skills elsewhere.

If a student is working on sight reading separately from their repertoire regularly, then in my opinion, they are free to do whatever prep is necessary to internalize a piece of repertoire. In fact, as a teacher, I quite prefer this. As long as a student understands how to interpret the music, then I am fine with allowing them to lean on other strategies when learning.

There are many “little tricks” to various pieces that I can share with a student that can dramatically decrease the time it takes to learn a given piece. However, many of these things sidestep the reading process. If the student isn’t constantly working to improve their reading skills outside of their repertoire, they will likely end up with poor reading abilities. This can negatively impact their potential as a musician.

This is one reason why it is very important to practice sight reading separately from repertoire and avoid leaning exclusively on repertoire to improve reading ability.

Sight Reading vs Reading

In order to understand why we shouldn’t be using repertoire as the main driver of our reading skills, we must consider that the ability to comprehend written music based on study is different from the ability to comprehend music fluidly and instinctually in real time.

I prefer to refer to the latter as “fluid reading ability” and I use this phrase to describe what most people think of as “sight reading.” 

Naturally, your ability to read a passage of music on the first pass with no rehearsal likely won't be comparable with reading after studying and practicing.

Also, when we learn how to play a piece of written music, we actually end up memorizing most of it (and associating our rehearsal with the visual of the notes on the page). In this sense, we really aren't even reading. Rather, we are using the music as a prompt for what we have previously rehearsed. This is such a different thing than sight reading!

You can understand this simply in two ways:

• Your "fluid reading ability" is several levels below your ability to study music.

• At the same time, your ability to play, technically speaking, usually will far exeed your ability to read fluidly.

Understanding this relationship between reading ability and playing ability is crucial to developing as a well rounded musician (who can actually read and play well).

For more information on this subject, check out my YouTube video about Sight Reading.

As it turns out, quantity of material is extremely important when it comes to developing a strong fluid reading ability. There is no substitute for experience. A pianist who only exercises their reading skills by reading pieces that are suitable for their level will hardly encounter much music in a given year.

In contrast, a pianist who practices sight reading by reading easier pieces and exercises will experience a significantly more material. Over time, both the sight reading ability and the ability to study music will independently increase over time. In my opinion, this is the preferred situation.

How I Teach Sight Reading

In my studio, I introduce sight reading very early on, pretty much as soon as a student has acclimated to the staff. This is true of both my online lessons as well as in my self-guided curriculum.

Starting at the beginner level and continuing up to and partially through the intermediate level, I use a resource called Progressive Sightreading Exercises by Hannah Smith.

Here's how I use this resource:

• Initially, I have the student practice these exercises using different forms of reading (such as reading the pitch names, intervals, or even finger numbers).

• However, at some point relatively early on, a student develops fluid reading ability faster than this parctular resource gets harder. At this point, I just encourage the student to set a timer (such as 5 minutes per day) and spend time playing the exercises slowly while counting.

• It's very important to note that most of these exercises are significantly more simple compared to repertoire that I would assign at this level.

Once a student is playing well into the intermediate level (Clementi Sonatinas and so on), the focus of sight reading shifts to reading chords and intervals. For this, anything written in three or four parts (such as hymns) works best.

Two great examples of this would include Sight Reading and Harmony by Dr. Cory Hall as well as a resource called 50 Hymn Tunes without Words by Donald L. Patterson.

I am also a big fan of simply practicing repertoire that is at a lower level. I personally use the Masterwork Classics series with my students. If a student was playing at Level 5, they might try sight reading at Level 1-2 or Level 3 (provided that they haven't already encountered this material).

If you are interested in this, you could always download my Piano Repertoire Placement Guide and purchase the book that matches the level where you can read fluidly.

The Importance of Counting Out Loud

Pulse is often significantly more important than most people realize. In my opinion, the best way to learn to feel pulse is to count out loud. When you do this, and you actually prioritize the counting, you learn to organize your music around the pulse. Your sense of pulse also becomes more consistent over time.

The best readers (at any level) do this instinctually. The ability to read and sight read is highly correleted with the ability to play with a pulse and figure out rhythms quickly. There is no better way to develop this skill than vocalized counting!

While I have quite a bit to say on this particular topic, I will spare you (for now) and simply direct you to one of my YouTube videos which explains the basics.

To summarize this as it relates to reading, I would suggest that you learn to count to improve your ability to read. Counting out loud very much needs to be part of the process of practicing sight reading.

The Problem with Using Repertoire to Improve Sight Reading

At this point, I have suggested that sight reading (or fluid reading) and reading as part of the study of a piece are two totally separate things. While the sight reading does inform the ability to read and study a piece of repertoire, there are many other mechanisms of learning.

The reason that I am not for making a student read a piece exclusively is that a piece of rep that is appropriate for a student’s playing ability will far exceed their sight reading ability. Do we limit these students to their sight reading ability? This would put them several levels behind their actual ability to play the piano, especially if they memorize material.

In my studio, as long as a student has a way to directly practice sight reading, I will help them learn their music in any way that I can think of. We will certainly listen to a piece carefully as part of the learning process. We will also try other strategies such as reduction, mixed rhythms, additive memory, harmony in broad strokes, and others.

The separation of sight reading practice and the study of repertoire is very freeing to students and teachers alike and gracefully handles many issues that would otherwise be encountered.

If you have thoughts on this topic, feel free to leave a comment below!