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Sing before you play

It is highly recommended to sing the musical piece we are just "working on", this way we "get to know" the tune in a much more natural way, because singing is more familiar to us, much time before we started to play, and the moment we have a good control in singing the tune (without the guitar!!), our ears can easily "feel" any mistakes during playing.
In general, our brain "understands" much faster how to play, where the performance it self demands more practice and coordination, in order to fluently play the musical piece.

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Sight reading

Sight reading in general and specifically for the guitar gives us an important challenge for progress, here are some vital points that we should take under consideration.

First point:

In the guitar, unlike the piano, for instance, we have the ability to play the same note in different places over the fingerboard. For example: the E of the first string can also be played on the third string fret number 9 - it is an advantage, but sometimes makes it more difficult to read the music, that is why we should have a good control over the positions, and use them accordingly.
Second point:

It is important to feel the right rhythm and pay attention to the sharps, flats and so on.

Third point:

Our eyes should always run forward after the current bar was "understood" by our minds, thus enabling us not to be surprised by the next bar.

Forth point:

Wrong use of the fingers of both the right an the left hand, will "slow down" the music. It is important to remember that sight reading is not merely reading notes and rhythm, but also involves a control of where we place our fingers and how we use them.

Fifth point:

Considerable control in Solfege, and in singing the melody while playing the musical piece, is very useful and it "pushes" the music forward.

Sixth point:

Reading the dynamics - one of the most neglected point while reading the music, is not paying attention to the music dynamics (musicianship), so while reading our music we have to feel the music and not just wait until we have considerable technical control later on.

Seventh point:

It is recommended to select one bar or a musical sentence from somewhere in the middle of the piece, this is not so simple because we are used to play a tune from the start, which helps us moving on fluently. This exercise lets us practice two things: A. it improves our sight reading, B. it gains more profound control over the piece.

Summary:

Sight reading is no so easy, even some very advanced students might find it very difficult to read simple tunes. Therefore it is highly recommended for all levels of players, to read small pieces, and not just put your affords in playing complicated or long pieces, which we usually remember by heart.