Lessons and exams

Lessons teach you to read music one idea at a time, from your first note on the stave all the way to Grade 8. Each grade teaches what an ABRSM sight-reading test asks of you at that level, so the path that teaches you to read is also the way to get exam-ready.

How Lessons work

Open the Learn tab to see the whole path: Foundation, Initial, then Grades 1 to 8. Tap a grade to open its map. Each grade is split into units, and each unit is a short run of lessons. Lessons need a free account, so your progress is kept.

• Read lessons explain something new on the page, such as a clef, a key signature or a rhythm.
• Piece and Scale lessons explain one idea, then give you a few short pieces that use it. On a phone, Read the lesson brings the explanation back up.
• Drill lessons send you to a quick practice drill.

Tap a lesson on the map to see what is in it, then Start lesson. Its pieces come in order, each with a pass mark above the score, usually two stars. Pass them all and the next lesson opens.

One hand at a time is good practice but isn’t marked: play hands together to earn stars.

Checkpoints

Every unit ends with a checkpoint that tests what the unit taught. When you reach it, choose Take the checkpoint. Pass it and the next unit opens.

Some units fork into two branches you can take in either order. Their checkpoint opens once both branches are clear.

At the foot of every grade’s map, Endless exercises write a new piece at that grade’s level every time you ask. They open as soon as you reach the grade, and they count towards your daily exercises.

Learning to read from scratch

If you have never read music, start at the top of the path with Foundation. It begins with the stave and middle C, and adds a note or two at a time. Most of its pieces are for one hand, in a position around middle C, so you always know where your fingers go.

If you told SightReader you were new to reading, it brings you to Lessons when you finish setting up. You can start on the on-screen piano and connect a keyboard later.

Skipping ahead

Already reading a little? You don’t have to start at the beginning. On the Lessons path, tap Jump here beside any locked grade, then Take the placement test. If you said you could already read when you set up, a card at the top of the path offers you a test near your level.

The test is three short pieces at that grade. Pass two of them with two stars or better, and every lesson before the grade is marked complete. You keep every star you have already earned, and the lessons you skipped are still there to play.

• A wrong note moves the cursor on during the test, as it would in an exam.
• The test earns no XP.
• If it doesn’t go your way, nothing changes, and you can try again after 24 hours.

The piece quiz

From Grade 3, the longer pieces in Lessons have a Piece quiz icon beside the score. It asks up to three quick questions, such as the key, the shortest note or what the tempo marking means. Every answer is in the score.

If you used Grades

Lessons grew out of an earlier version called Grades. If you used it, it is still there, at /grades.

Getting ready for an ABRSM exam

SightReader is not affiliated with or endorsed by ABRSM, and nothing here is real exam material: the test on the day uses unseen music. We write our music to the same published requirements for each grade (keys, time signatures, hand position and length), so you practise the kind of reading the test asks for.

A good way to prepare:

1. Work through Lessons up to your exam grade. Each grade teaches what the sight-reading test asks for at that level.
2. Read something new every day. Exercises write a fresh piece at the grade you choose, every time you ask: the closest thing to an unseen test.
3. Practise keeping going. Turn the metronome on to be marked for rhythm as well as notes, and try Rated exercises, which move on after a wrong note as an exam does. How you’re marked explains both.
4. Look before you play. Check the key, the time signature and the first notes. The piece quiz builds the habit.

For what examiners expect at each grade, read our grade-by-grade guide.

What’s free

All of Foundation and Initial are free, then Grade 1 up to the end of unit 1, checkpoint included. Anyone can take a placement test.

More on which grades and exam boards we cover: Questions people ask.