Get Started With Sight Reading in 9 Days
Learn how to read and play music notation on the spot.
All levels
From aspiring session guitarists to beginners, this class is perfect for anyone who's looking to sight read.
3 weeks
Jamey will guide you through nine extensive sections with step-by-step instruction and daily assignments.
See it. Play it.
You'll walk away from this Master Class prepared to read any piece of sheet music at a moment's notice.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered this course, keep learning with more Master Classes and guided practice plans.
What you'll learn
Join Jamey as he guides you through a tried-and-true system that'll prepare you to play whatever comes your way.
- Learn on-the-spot sheet music analysis
- Develop practical music theory knowledge
- Hone real-world sight reading skills
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Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided learning pathway
Learning how to sight read will give you a leg up as a career guitarist. In this nine-part Master Class, Jamey breaks down the fundamentals of sight reading so you can confidently walk into any gig or session without knowing the music beforehand.
Why learn to sight read?
Before you dive in, we'll kick off the class by exploring the benefits of sight reading and how it'll help you in your guitar journey.
Jamey will break down how sight reading has made learning music easier in his work as a pro session guitarist and how the skills translate to a variety of musical situations.
Sight Reading Challenges
Sight reading poses some unique challenges for guitarists.
In this second lesson, you'll learn about these challenges so you’ll be in a better place to navigate and overcome them.
The Staff and Note Names
In this section, Jamey walks you through the first step in learning how to read music: memorizing the names of the notes on a staff.
You'll learn how to determine which notes are on and between each line.
Lesson 4. Reading Rhythms
Once you get the note names on the staff down, your next step is to learn the rhythm values of notes. You'll work on clapping and playing fundamental subdivisions so you can instantly recognize them in sheet music.
Lesson 5. Learning in Position
Sight reading on guitar is a lot easier if you know your scales, note names, and positions. In this lesson, you'll get comfortable with scales and positions.
Lesson 6. On-the-Spot Analysis
In this lesson Jamey pulls back the curtain on his process for reading a chart with little to no preparation time. He has a ton of real industry experience doing exactly this for TV shows and movies in Los Angeles .
Lesson 7. Real-World Sight Reading
Put your analysis skills to the test by practicing on-the-spot analysis of Amazing Grace, Aura Lee, and Danny Boy.
Lesson 8. Elements in Reading
Now that you have a solid foundation built, Jamey will break down some common expressive music symbols you’ll encounter when reading music that indicate how a piece should be played.
Lesson 9. How to Practice Reading
We'll wrap up the class with parting thoughts and tips to help you hone your reading skills as you move forward in your guitar journey.
Lesson 1 & 2
Kick off the class by identifying the advantages and challenges of sight reading on guitar.
Lesson 1. Why Learn to Sight Read?
If you’re looking to find work as a professional session or touring guitarist, the ability to sight read is a key skill. It's typically also required at music school auditions. Learning how to sight read will also make you a better musician, you’ll be able to write music for other instruments and it saves you time when learning a new piece of music.
Lesson 2. Sight Reading Challenges
Many guitarists have weak or nonexistent sight reading abilities, and before we start learning, it’s important to understand why this is the case — and why the fact that Jimi Hendrix never learned how to read music doesn't mean that it's a waste of time.
Lessons 3 & 4
Learn how music is notated and represented on a staff.
Lesson 3. The Staff and Note Names
This lesson requires memorization, but it's a fundamental step in becoming a proficient sight reader. Once you can easily name the notes across a staff, you’re ready to move on.
Lesson 4. Reading Rhythms
Next, you'll learn about how the length of a note is notated. In this section, Jamey will guide you through the fundamentals of rhythm, teach you how to hone your sense of it, and break down a common rhythmic device found in all genres of music: triplets.
As you progress through this class, you'll focus on feeling and hearing the rhythms with the end goal of internalizing what’s written.
Lesson 5 & 6
Continue building your sight-reading foundation and learn real-world analysis techniques.
Lesson 5. Learning in Position
Sight reading on guitar is a lot easier if you know your scales, note names, and positions. Jamey will introduce you to some exercises that will connect the scales you know to what you see on a lead sheet.
Lesson 6. On-the-Spot Analysis
When someone places a piece of music in front of you at an audition, gig, or rehearsal, you might not have time to sit down and learn the entire song. You have to learn how to efficiently analyze the music for key hints that will enable you to read quickly with as few mistakes as possible.
In this lesson, Jamey shares practical strategies to navigate high-pressure scenarios with techniques for on-the-spot analysis.
Lesson 7-9
Practice analyzing real songs and get acquainted with expressive notation.
Lesson 7. Real-World Sight Reading
In this lesson, you'll take the techniques you learned in Lesson 6 and put them into practice by exploring three on-the-spot sheet music case studies. This lessons will enable you to identify any weak spots in your sight reading skillset.
Lesson 8. Elements in Reading
Notation goes far beyond pitch and rhythm. Get to know the symbols that communicate how the composer or arranger intended the music to be played. This will simplify your job as a reader.
Lesson 9. How to Practice Reading
Like any other skill, sight reading get easier when you spend more time doing it and challenge yourself during practice time. We'll wrap up the class with next steps that'll help you become an expert sight reader.
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
What guitarists love about this course
FULL REFUND, NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Improve your playing or get your money back
We’re so confident that we can improve your playing that we’re underwriting your membership with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
Your Instructor
Jamey Arent
Your six-string journey begins here. Jamey Arent is a pro touring and session guitarist who specializes in helping students take their first steps into the world of guitar.
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Frequently asked questions
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