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– and play through all your favourite music, no sweat –

1
Play through single line music like recorder sonatas by Telemann and other Baroque composers.

2
Play through very simple pieces from guitar tutors.

3
Make continuity the priority. Don’t stop to find the right notes.

4
Learn to identify and play different rhythms at sight. You can do so without playing.

5
Improve your knowledge of the fretboard by naming the notes under the 1st and 4th fingers in different positions. Name them out loud rhythmically e.g. one note per second.

6
Improve your knowledge of the fretboard by calling out a note – any note – and playing it on every string. Do so rhythmically e.g. one per second.

7
Repeat 5 and 6 above without playing the guitar. You can fill idle moments doing so while standing at a bus stop or stuck in a traffic jam.

8
Name the chords and/or harmonic scheme. Become familiar with chords in the open string keys, not just in 1st position but all the way up to the 9th. This knowledge will really speed up your reading skills.

9
Treat sight-reading as speeded up learning. Give yourself a finite length of time, say 15 minutes, to play easy pieces perfectly.

10.
Convince yourself that 1 to 9 are important and you will soon be on your way to becoming a good reader.

20th March 2015, Dallas, Texas, USA