The Five Levels of Piano Sight-Reading

For today’s video, Ian Coulter has given Matthew King the challenge of sight-reading five pieces at the piano. Matthew has not seen the music prior to the camera rolling. The pieces have been graded in terms of difficulty, and are as follows:

1. Mozart: “Ah vous dirais-je Maman’ ('Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’) (00:45)

2. Yann Tieren: ‘Comptine d’un auto été - l'après-midi’ (2:45)

3. Oswald Russell: ‘Papillons’ (4:45)

4. Andrew Wrangle: 'Rush E’ (6:25)

5. Sorabji: 'Opus Clavicembalisticum' (8:11)

Matthew explains, during the video that neither the Mozart nor the Tieren are entirely unfamiliar to him. He once heard John Ogden play Sorabji’s Opus Clavicembalisticum, in a recital in London, when he was 19 years old (it took 5 hours) but has never played it himself. Matthew also explains how his Aunt Grace crocheted Sorabji’s lampshades.

No one finds sight-reading easy. Matthew found it difficult as a child, but made himself better by attempting to sight-read Beethoven sonatas, when he was a young teenager, and gradually he became more proficient at it. He freely admits that there are, no doubt, many professional pianists who read as well or better than he does. After this middling performance, Matthew is keen to emphasise that he is a professor of composition, not piano!

Please feel free to suggest ideas and topics for future videos in the comments.

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Edited by Ian Coulter ( https://www.iancoultermusic.com )
Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King