Read at Sight
Volume 2: Moving Hands
Your hands leave home: shifts, stretches, new keys and minor keys, with legato, staccato and dynamics to bring the music to life.
Contents
Each unit adds exactly one new idea to everything before it.
- Unit 1 Moving the HandHand shifts between C and G positions; a finger number marks every move
- Unit 2 StretchingReaching one key beyond the position with the thumb or little finger
- Unit 3 Dotted Quarter NotesThe dotted quarter note followed by an eighth: 'long-short'
- Unit 4 Legato and StaccatoSlurs (smooth and connected) and staccato dots (short and detached)
- Unit 5 Loud and SoftDynamics: p, mp, mf, f; getting louder and softer
- Unit 6 G MajorKey signature of one sharp (F-sharp); G and D positions
- Unit 7 F MajorKey signature of one flat (B-flat); F and C positions
- Unit 8 A MinorMinor keys; A minor, the relative minor of C major
- Unit 9 E Minor and D MinorThe relative minors of G major (E minor) and F major (D minor)
- Unit 10 ReviewEverything in Volume 2 together
How to use this book
What is new in Volume 2
In Volume 1 each exercise stayed in one hand position. Now the hands move. A finger number in the middle of an exercise means: shift your hand now, so that finger lands on that note. You will also read slurs, staccato dots and dynamics, and play in G major, F major and three minor keys. Start this book when you can read both clefs in C and G positions, hands together, with eighth notes, rests and ties.
The five rules
1. Never stop: keep the beat going, even after a wrong note. 2. Count out loud and use a metronome at the speed shown. 3. Keep your eyes on the music, not your hands. 4. Read the shape: up, down, or the same, and by how much. 5. Play each exercise once, tick its box, and move on. Come back only after a few weeks.
Before every exercise: 10 seconds
Check the clef and time signature. Find the first note and its finger number. Scan for the highest and lowest note, and for any bar that repeats an earlier one. Then count one bar in and play.
How each unit is laid out
A unit opens with what is new, a keyboard picture of the hand position, and reading tips. Then come Parts A, B and C, which grow slightly harder. Pieces come next, and the unit ends with a checkpoint that tells you when to move on.
A daily routine (15-20 minutes)
Warm up by playing the five notes of the hand position up and down, saying their names (2 minutes). Read 6-10 new exercises, one pass each (10 minutes). Play one piece, aiming for steady and musical (5 minutes).