I've always wanted to be the kind of pianist who can pick up a sheet of music, have a quick glance at it, then place it on the music stand and sight-read through it at a sensible tempo without too many mistakes.

Despite having started learning the piano about twenty years ago, this isn't something that I'm yet able to do.

I do understand what all of the symbols on the staff mean and what sounds they should produce. I can count and I know my scales. Given an (almost) unlimited amount of time, I can eventually play just about anything on the piano to a considerably less than perfect standard but when it comes to doing it in real-time, it is just something I presently find impossible. What happens is what computing scientists would describe as a "buffer under-run" - my eyes can't decode what is in front of me fast enough so my hands catch-up and I have to pause. There is evidently another skill to sight-reading that I don't yet have.

There are some things that makes sight-reading a little easier for me. The first is knowing the tune already. It sounds obvious but if I can hear the tune in my head, it is far easier for me to play. I can play quite well by ear and sometimes this is a frustration as it reduces the incentive to be able to read well. Also, single lines of notes, like the bass-line in choral music, are also a little easier to read.

I've heard one theory that the ability to read-music depends on the dominant side of your brain. People who are right-brained (left-handed) tend to be better at playing by ear and less good at sight-reading. The more abundant left-brained (right-handed) person is usually the opposite. This is not so for me, however, as I'm right-handed.

I'd love to hear from sight-readers who have struggled in the past but who now "get it". I know plenty of people who play by ear as a rule and have never found the need to learn to read music - I've just always felt that this removes a very important avenue for learning.