Sight reading starts when you say it does

To begin, choose easy peasy

Start with a very simple piece of music--one note per staff in large print if necessary.

   Look for first grade piano music, children’s music, folk, beginner music and hymnals (if you do not have this music, search for free music online or check out your local library).

  Also you might find music books in 1. local thrifts, 2. used books  stores, 3. transfer stations that  have give-and-take huts, 4. junk and antique shops for inexpensive or free music books.

Free online music:

https://imslp.org/

  In choosing a piece, remember that if you cannot read music at all, then at first your mind will be occupied with many things--muscle coordination, focusing on the notes of both staffs, reading accidentals--don’t make it harder by choosing a difficult key or a complicated score. C major is good. So is F or G. Easy is just fine to start.

After you have chosen your first piece, set it in front of you and boldly begin.

   Go slow--very slow, count as you go--don’t look down. Play in a relaxed way. Slow-count-next measure, slow-count-next measure, slow-count-next measure until you are at the end. Done!

That’s it

The journey has begun

One more word about hymnals

  Hymnals are perfect for variety(styles, keys)  and shortness of pieces. They also include a number of relatively easy keys (you are not likely to find a hymn in C# or F#--Gb maybe but skip it if you have to). Avoid antiquated books as scoring has changed and you may already be so accustomed to contemporary notation to some degree, that very old scoring may be too distracting to read comfortably.

Modes and meter in hymnals

   

    

      
      Some hymns will have no meter, may be irregular and may be in a mode other than major or minor. Keep reading anyway. For meter, pay attention to the lowest common denominator (in the example above that would be the eighth note--if you count that as the beat, even though the meter is irregular, you will be able to read through the entire piece.

                Some hymns will change modes. Expect the unexpected.

               Also some hymns will have an unusual measure mark that can confuse the sight reader. Here are some examples:

               Hymn music notes are written for the voice, not standard keyboard notation.