SightReader: Read Piano Music

Bret Cameron

In-app purchases

About this app

A fun, effective way to learn piano sight reading.

Stop memorising every piece note by note. SightReader teaches you to play new music straight from the page, in just five minutes a day. From your first middle C to Grade 8.

Most apps check which notes you play. SightReader also checks when. Switch on the metronome and Pitch & Rhythm mode grades your timing beat by beat, the part of sight reading that usually goes unmeasured.

HOW IT WORKS
Plug in a MIDI keyboard, or use the on-screen one. A note appears on the staff. You play it. SightReader listens in real time and shows you what you nailed and what you missed: notes turn green when you're right, red when you're not, and with the metronome on, blue when you're early and yellow when you're late. You see what you played and how you timed it.

PITCH & RHYTHM MODE
The metronome is the switch. Off, you're in Pitch Only and the score waits while you find each note. On, Pitch & Rhythm takes over: a count-in of at least four clicks, then the music moves at the beat with or without you, and every note is judged on when it lands as well as whether it's right. Early shades blue, late shades yellow, missed goes red. Each attempt ends with a timing breakdown: how much you played on time, how much early, how much late, and your average tendency in milliseconds, so "94ms early" names the habit you can work on. Play a piece start to finish in Pitch & Rhythm and you earn bonus XP. It works on every piece, free tier included.

WHAT'S INSIDE
- Connect a MIDI keyboard over USB or Bluetooth, with Bluetooth pairing handled inside the app
- Pitch & Rhythm mode: turn on the metronome and every note is also scored against the beat, with a timing breakdown after each attempt
- A library spanning four centuries of piano: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern, from Bach and Mozart to Debussy and Bartók
- ABRSM-aligned exercises, grade by grade, from Initial to Grade 8
- Note and chord drills, plus every type of scale
- Levels for every stage, from first-time readers to late-grade repertoire
- A practice journal logging every session, so you can see which keys, clefs and intervals trip you up, down to the individual note

PRACTICE THAT STICKS
Every piece scores up to three stars, and every star earns XP towards your next level. Practise each day and your streak grows. Finish a grade and earn a certificate to keep or share with your teacher.

FOR LEARNERS
Build real reading confidence instead of leaning on memory. Short sessions, feedback on every note, and music worth coming back to.

FOR PARENTS
Daily piano time as a five-minute game your child looks forward to. Progress you can read at a glance, and certificates worth putting on the fridge.

FOR TEACHERS
Assign the right exercises, track progress, and see where each student is stuck, all from one dashboard. Free for verified educators.

FREE AND PRO
Free forever: unlimited drills and scales, Lessons to the end of Grade 1's first unit, the first five levels of each grade to Grade 5, and 54 pieces. Go Pro for the full 3,700+ piece library, all ABRSM grades, curated daily practice, grade achievements, your own uploads, and offline practice.

No MIDI keyboard? Use your microphone on any piano, the virtual piano, or play any instrument and report your results.

Five minutes a day is enough to notice the difference within a few weeks.

What’s new

Turn on streak reminders and you’ll get a nudge on days you haven’t practised yet, around the time you usually play. New home-screen widgets show your streak, your last seven days and the next piece to play. Plus dark mode that follows your phone, a tidier launch screen and small fixes.