Piano Sight-Reading & Ear Training Syllabus

Sight-Reading & Ear Training syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Sight-Reading & Ear Training in Piano, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Sight-Reading Fundamentals

   4 topics

   • Pre-Reading & Scanning Ahead
   • Reading by Interval & Shape
   • Keeping a Steady Pulse
   • Landmark Notes
2. 2

   Rhythmic Reading

   3 topics

   • Clapping & Counting Rhythms
   • Subdivision
   • Reading Complex Rhythms
3. 3

   Progressive Sight-Reading Practice

   4 topics

   • Single-Line Reading
   • Hands-Together Reading
   • Reading in Different Keys
   • Reading Without Looking at Hands
4. 4

   Aural Skills

   4 topics

   • Pitch Matching & Singing
   • Interval Recognition
   • Chord Quality Recognition
   • Identifying Cadences
5. 5

   Playing by Ear

   3 topics

   • Transcribing Melodies
   • Finding Chords by Ear
   • Improvising Over Progressions
6. 6

   Transposition

   3 topics

   • Transposing Melodies
   • Transposing Chords
   • Using a Capo Mentality / Movable Patterns

Sight-Reading & Ear Training flashcards for Piano

23 of 50 cards from the Sight-Reading & Ear Training deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Before sight-reading a new piano piece, which five elements should you scan in the pre-reading step?

   1) Key signature (and the key it implies), 2) Time signature, 3) Tempo/character marking, 4) Rhythmic patterns and any accidentals, 5) Hand-position starting points and shifts (plus dynamics and repeats).

2. In sight-reading, how far ahead of the notes you are currently playing should your eyes be reading?

   At least one beat to one full measure ahead — the eyes lead the hands so the brain can prepare the next notes before they must be played.

3. What is the 'golden rule' of sight-reading when you make a mistake mid-performance?

   Keep going without stopping or correcting — maintaining the pulse and continuity matters more than fixing wrong notes.

4. What is intervallic reading (reading by interval)?

   Reading the distance between consecutive notes on the staff (2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.) and moving the hand by that distance, instead of naming every individual note.

5. On the staff, what interval is shown by (a) a line note to the very next space note, and (b) a line note to the very next line note?

   (a) Line to adjacent space = a 2nd (a step). (b) Line to the next line (or space to the next space) = a 3rd (a skip).

6. What is contour (shape) reading in sight-reading?

   Perceiving the melodic line as a visual shape — rising, falling, arching, or repeating — and letting the hand follow that shape, which is faster than decoding each note name.

7. When choosing a sight-reading tempo, which part of the piece determines the tempo you set?

   The hardest passage: choose a tempo slow enough that the most difficult measure can be played without breaking the pulse, and keep that tempo throughout.

8. Why is practicing sight-reading with a metronome recommended?

   It forces a steady external pulse, prevents unconscious slowing at hard spots and rushing at easy spots, and trains you to keep going rather than stop to correct errors.

9. What are the three landmark notes most commonly used for keyboard staff reading, and where do they sit?

   Bass F (F3) — the 4th line of the bass staff, between the two dots of the F clef; Middle C (C4) — the ledger line between the staves; Treble G (G4) — the 2nd line of the treble staff, circled by the G clef.

10. How are landmark notes used to identify an unfamiliar note quickly?

    Locate the nearest landmark (Bass F, Middle C, or Treble G) and count the interval up or down from it, rather than reciting line/space mnemonics from the bottom of the staff.

11. Why is Middle C written differently for the right hand and left hand?

    It is the same pitch (C4) but notated on a ledger line below the treble staff for the right hand and on a ledger line above the bass staff for the left hand — it sits between the two staves of the grand staff.

12. What are the standard counting syllables for one beat divided into four sixteenth notes?

    "1 e & a" — the beat number on the first sixteenth, 'e' on the second, '&' on the third, 'a' on the fourth.

13. How do you count a measure of continuous eighth notes in $\frac{4}{4}$ time?

    "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &" — numbers on the beats, '&' (and) on the off-beat halves.

14. State the duration relationships among whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes.

    Each value halves the previous one: $1 \text{ whole} = 2 \text{ halves} = 4 \text{ quarters} = 8 \text{ eighths} = 16 \text{ sixteenths}$.

15. What is the formula for the length of a dotted note, and how long is a dotted quarter note in beats (quarter = 1 beat)?

    A dot adds half the note's value: $\text{dotted } n = n + \frac{n}{2} = \frac{3n}{2}$. A dotted quarter lasts $1 + \frac{1}{2} = \frac{3}{2}$ beats.

16. What is subdivision in rhythm practice, and why does it improve accuracy?

    Mentally (or audibly) dividing each beat into its smaller units (e.g., counting sixteenths inside quarter-note beats); it makes the placement of off-beat and dotted rhythms exact instead of approximated.

17. Using sixteenth-note subdivision, how are the dotted-eighth-plus-sixteenth rhythm's two notes placed within one beat?

    The dotted eighth occupies 3 of the 4 sixteenths ($\frac{3}{4}$ of the beat, landing on '1'), and the sixteenth occupies the last sixteenth ($\frac{1}{4}$ of the beat, landing on 'a').

18. How long is each note of an eighth-note triplet, and how is a triplet defined?

    A triplet fits 3 equal notes into the time normally occupied by 2; each note of an eighth-note triplet lasts $\frac{1}{3}$ of a beat.

19. What is syncopation?

    A rhythm that places accents or note attacks on normally weak beats or off-beats (e.g., a note struck on the '&' and held through the next strong beat), contradicting the expected metric stress.

20. Compare simple meter and compound meter, giving one example of each.

    Simple meter divides each beat into 2 (e.g., $\frac{4}{4}$: 4 quarter-note beats split into eighths); compound meter divides each beat into 3 (e.g., $\frac{6}{8}$: 2 dotted-quarter beats each split into 3 eighths).

21. In $\frac{6}{8}$ time, how many main beats are there per measure and what note value receives the beat?

    Two main beats per measure, each a dotted quarter note; each beat subdivides into 3 eighth notes (counted "1-2-3 4-5-6" or "1-la-li 2-la-li").

22. What is the difference between a tie and a slur?

    A tie connects two notes of the same pitch into one unbroken duration (values add); a slur connects different pitches and means play them legato — each note is still struck.

23. How do you fit a 2-against-3 polyrhythm together using a common subdivision?

    Subdivide the beat span into $\operatorname{lcm}(2,3) = 6$ equal pulses: the 2-side notes fall on pulses 1 and 4, the 3-side notes on pulses 1, 3, and 5 (spoken as "nice cup of tea").

See more Sight-Reading & Ear Training flashcards →

Planning Sight-Reading & Ear Training for Piano

Sight-Reading & Ear Training (Piano) FAQ