I suck at sight reading music, how can i get better?

Question:For those who know what im talking about, i play an instrument and i suck at the sight reading. I am pretty good once i practice but i just cant sight read very well.

Are there any exercises to help me improve?

Anything would help. THank you.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: For those who know what im talking about, i play an instrument and i suck at the sight reading. I am pretty good once i practice but i just cant sight read very well.

Are there any exercises to help me improve?

Anything would help. THank you.

Go out to a used bookstore or shop on ebay and buy lots of music books. Or borrow from your library if they have that sort of thing. Doesn't matter if the music is specifically for your instrument...

During practice sessions, set aside time for sight-reading. Grab a piece of that music you've bought that doesn't look too far over your head, and have at it.

Now, attitude is important. Don't let yourself think "I'm going to suck at this." Make it a game--I'm going to play this music, and this music is gonna LOSE :-) Have fun with it--go as slow as you need to, try to do it perfectly and laugh when you don't.

It also helps to do rhythm/counting exercises, since playing the wrong note with the right rhythm is better than vice versa.

In a few months, you'll find your skills have greatly improved.

Ask your instructor for music to practice on or buy a book. Basically just sight read a lot of music. First pick our the key signatures, then sign and finger the song at the same time. These should help you get better. If you really need help you could probably ask your director or get private lessons.

Do as they would at band festival, or whatever they call the competition now. Take a piece of music you've never laid your eyes on, take about five minutes to look it over to get an idea of what to play, paying special attention to the parts that look like they'll give you trouble. Then pick up your instrument and start playing, and try to be reading ahead one measure from what you're playing. This is what they did while I was in school at band festival. I was first chair, and we took blue ribbon every year.

Simple....when you first started to read, how did you do it ?????????
Same with music, play each note and try to read ahead each note . I read music one measure ahead. This way, your memory is put to good use.

There are lots of ways to practice this. Some don't even require you to play. You can take a piece, look at the rhythm and count it off ("One two-a three-e-and-a"). Then do the same thing, but say the notes in time ("C E F G-AGF). Then attempt to sing it, without having played it: that's the true test of musical literacy. Only then try it on the horn. When you sight-read on the horn, do it with a metronome to keep you honest. If you miss a note, keep on going...the rest of the ensemble will be.
I'm assuming that your main problem is rhythmic, though it could be note recognition or fingerings. In any case, the remedy is the same as anything else in music...the dreaded "p" word.

All you have to do is continually get new music from anywhere really and try playing it. Once you've played a piece of music once, then it's not sight-reading anymore. That's how I got better - by just getting new music and playing that.

Same way you get to Carnegie hall - practice.

Seriously, what i found helpful is to read music like we read words. When you read you don't read every letter of every word. Studies have shown you can scramble the letters of a word and people will read it correctly -espcially if you leave the first letter in place.

Practice reading groups of notes, not individual notes. Just look for the accidentals and whether the phrase ascends, descends, or goes up down up, etc. Youl'll soon recognize whole phrases, and then you'll be on your way.