SIGHT-READING & HARMONY: Progressive Pieces for Keyboard, Grades 1-10, Selected from Four-Part Chorales by J.S. Bach

I've been playing for 2 years ( 1 year with a teacher). I really like how I can knock out sight reading and scales all in one exercise, since each chorale is in a different key. The system the author uses works really well for me to improve sight reading, and I like how it increases in complexity as you move up grade levels. The music isn't especially interesting, but it's musical and it's usually pretty clear when you make a sightreading mistake. Other exercise books don't typically offer that type of inherit feedback. I signed up for month for his online program which had some good informative videos to get started. I didn't think it worthwhile to pay for a subscription, but I expect as I move up a grade level I'll sign up for a month again to refresh on the program.

I've been using the book daily for about a month, and I'm already feeling a huge improvement in my sight-reading skill and confidence, which was seriously lacking even though I'm able to play intermediate level pieces. Not only for reading the Bach Chorale excerpts found in the book, but any new music in general. The five-tier system is very interesting as it provides sight-reading exercises that are very musical for about every level student. I recommend reading all the text before starting the exercises so you understand what is expected for each grade, and figure out what grade you are. In my case, I created a routine of practicing all major and minor scales and diatonic chords in a key, and then practice sight-reading in this key, progressing in the order of sharps and flats. The intention is to do all level 1 excerpts for every key, before moving to level 2. The book does not present the chorale excerpts in order of keys or difficulty (which is not necessary, as the difficulty is consistent for each grade), so I created a spreadsheet to track my progress. The book also propose very intersting finger and cadence exercises. Overall, this feels as a solid method to develop sight-reading, and I very much recommend it.

I bought this to supplement piano lessons with my teacher. I have been playing for 6 years and didn't realize how fragmented my scale knowledge was. This book is helping to solidify my theory knowledge. I don't think I will run out of sight reading exercises for a long time. I highly recommend this book for anyone that is serious about improving their piano skills and knowledge. The book was well packaged to protect the spiral binding.

GooD ! Delivery in time. Thank you !

Such a thorough and well-written book to engage and help any level of sight-reader. Provides years of growth when you apply the methodology recommended by the author. As a professional pianist and piano teacher, I highly suggest this book to students and professionals alike.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. In just three weeks I have experienced a marked improvement in my ability to recognize and execute chords. In addition, a light bulb went off in my head when I was working on one of the exercises, and I adapted it to solve a technical difficulty that has eluded me for forever. No matter your current skill, it’s important to follow his instructions to obtain the most benefit. My only complaint is that the section on Major & Minor Scales and Diatonic Chords doesn’t include keys with 5-7 sharps/flats. Yes, we can figure it out for ourselves; and, yes, we would benefit by doing so. (And, yes, it’s a rare Chorale that has 5-7 sharps or flats.) But if the purpose of the book is to improve one’s readings of chords, all of the scales should have been included. That’s especially true for the Minor keys, which have several permutations. Otherwise this book is a must for serious pianists.

If you're interested helping your students become better sight readers in "all" keys, then consider adding this book as a resource to your library. The book is sectioned into 4 parts. Part 4 is sectioned Grades 1-2, 3-4, up to 9-10. This set up enables for your students to play in various keys without giving them difficult passages to play. The author includes a grading system for scoring your student's sight reading proficiency as well. I will admit, I was skeptical about spending $50 on a music book. However, I see the time and attention to detail that went into creating this book, so I have no regrets.

As a relative beginner I've found this excellent. You might think that you would quickly work your way through all the examples but it doesn't matter. The chorales are not easily memorised and you can go back to one that you've tackled previously and it's almost as if you were seeing it for the first time. The Grade 1 examples use the bass line of the chorale in the bass clef - the large jumps in changing directions are challenging and force you to develop your left hand reading / playing skills. The printing is extremely clear and the spiral binding is what all music books should have. Highly recommended.