An accomplished piano instructor, John Stonko has taught both individuals and groups to improve their sight-reading skills using the intervals between notes on the staff. John Stonko currently teaches this and related concepts as owner of Atlanta Piano Teachers in Georgia.
Intervallic line reading trains piano students to read music by recognizing the distance from one note to the next and using that knowledge to direct finger movement on the keys. For example, a pianist would see a C followed by a D on the staff, know that those tones make up the interval of a second, and play the appropriate key using muscle memory. This relieves the musician of the need to name the note, look away from the music to find the key on the piano, and attempt to find his or her place in the music again.
Students can learn to play intervallically by seeking to recognize patterns from the first days of beginning to read music. It is still important for students to learn note names--largely so that they can identify the starting note and have a point of reference--but students should spend a significant percentage of their practice time in learning to perceive relative differences between thirds, fourths, and other intervals. This way, they can sight-read without looking away from the music, eventually playing more quickly and accurately.
