Practice TIP of the week:

Here are the most recent practice tips I have covered:
​🎵 June 16: 3 Performance Mindset Tools​
​🎵 June 22: Create Your Pre-Performance Ritual​
​🎵 June 29: Practice Performing for an Imaginary Audience​
​🎵 July 6: Keep Your Eyes Moving Forward​

Each month, I focus on a specific theme for practice tips. This month’s theme is Confident Sight Reading.

Today's Practice Tip: Recognizing Landmarks and Patterns

When sight reading, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds and play note by note, trying to identify each component of the score independently of all of the other things printed in the score. But fluent readers don’t read one symbol at a time like a beginner decoding each letter of a new language. Instead, they scan for landmarks and patterns, giving them a map to follow rather than looking at a series of disembodied details.

Landmarks are big musical signposts. They help you navigate the overall shape of the piece and prepare for what’s coming. Examples include the high points and low points of a phrase, cadences at the ends of sections, sudden jumps into a new register, or dramatic dynamic changes. These guideposts give you clues about structure and phrasing before you even play a note.

Patterns, on the other hand, are like the component parts of a musical language. They include repeated rhythms, sequences of intervals, common chord shapes, and familiar hand positions. Patterns let you process groups of notes as a single idea instead of getting stuck on each individual pitch.

Imagine reading English word by word versus letter by letter — you wouldn’t stop to sound out each "t-h-e" or "a-n-d." The same is true for music. Strong sight readers "chunk" information together and predict what’s coming based on these larger shapes and structures.

Here’s an exercise to build this skill: Choose a short piece you’ve never played before. Before touching the keys, do a silent "map study." Can you spot where the phrases begin and end? Do you see any repeated motives or rhythms? Where might your hands return to a familiar chord or shape? Are there sequences that travel up or down? Make a few mental observations about the piece’s "storyline" before playing a single note.

Then, when you do play, notice how much more confident and prepared you feel. Even if you don’t get every note right, you’ll feel less like you’re guessing and more like you’re following a path you’ve already marked out.

Training your eyes and mind to see landmarks and patterns is what turns sight reading from a stressful test into an exploration. You start to move away from pure reaction and toward musical anticipation. Over time you will be able to start shaping phrases and making expressive decisions even on the first try.

Fluent sight readers rely on seeing the bigger picture — and you can develop this skill, too!

🎹 For more help with your sight reading, check out my YouTube playlist with a whole series of videos on how to improve your sight reading. Click here to watch it.​

💜 Some of My Favorite Things

1. 🎹 Performance: Manuel Ponce – Intermezzo No. 1. Ponce (1882-1948) was a Mexican composer whose music bridges Mexican folk traditions and late Romanticism. His Intermezzo No. 1 is one of those pieces that instantly draws you in with its gentle lyricism and understated beauty. It’s both expressive and inviting – a hidden gem from outside the typical European canon. Here’s a score recording, performed by Cyprien Katsaris.
2. 🎧 Podcast Episode: Piano Inspires – Interview with William Chapman Nyaho. If you’re interested in fresh perspectives on piano teaching and repertoire, don’t miss this engaging interview series with pianist and educator William Chapman Nyaho, who also happens to be a good friend of mine! Nyaho is celebrated for his inspiring approach to teaching, his passion for sharing works by composers from Africa and the African diaspora, and his commitment to making piano study both inclusive and meaningful. It’s an insightful, motivating listen for teachers, students, and anyone interested in the evolving world of piano music. Listen here!​
3. ❤️ My favorite practice journal. I’ve been using this bright, sturdy Paperage journal as my dedicated practice journal for a while now, and I truly love it. I recently started a new one with a cheerful yellow cover. The thick pages hold up beautifully, the binding is durable, the cover comes in lots of fun colors, and it lays completely flat — which is surprisingly hard to find! I use mine to track my daily practice, take note of goals and breakthroughs, and reflect on each session.
   If you’ve been wanting to start (or refresh) your own practice journal, I can’t recommend this one highly enough. Buy it here.​

Some links in this email are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.