Music Dyslexia
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Signs of music dyslexia
Sight-reading ability is well below expected level and improves only slightly if at all with practice
Staring intently at the music without blinking
Glasses needed for reading music but nothing else
Relying on the fingering more than the notes
Frequently mixing up a and c in the treble clef and c and e in the bass clef
Memorising the notes while learning a new piece
Slow to learn new pieces
Making a lot of mistakes while playing - in different places each time
The lines of the staves seem to constantly move up and down
Effects
Loss of enjoyment of playing
Physical tension due to the effort required to read the notes
Loss of self esteem
Inability to fulfil one's potential
What you can do
Play an instrument that only uses one staff - the fewer notes to read, the better
Minimise the contrast by photocopying your music onto coloured paper or using coloured, transparent overlays
Enlarge the music
Notice if there are notes that you consistently misread and label them on your sheet
Use coloured pencils to add some variation so you can find your place after looking away
Colour in all the sharps with one colour and the flats with another
Don't dwell on sight-reading
Keep experimenting until you find something that works for you.
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