[J.S. Bach]

hmmmm? After reading through these great tips, i'm suprised nobody mentioned the repetitive writing of the notes on the staff. I know i can't be the only one who used to study for math or vocabulary tests by writing down the word/problem 10 or 20 times in a row the night before. More for the harder ones. lol

Or hasn't anyone ever memorized a new phone number by writing it down 100 times? Or a locker combonation? There is something that happens in the brain when using this method of remembering things that makes it stick so much better.

Try this... If you don't have blank sheets just draw the ledger lines on paper and randomly mark 10 or 20 notes. Then go back and write the names of notes above the marks.

Now make another staff below the first one. Copy the marks one at a time onto the new staff but this time write the names of the notes above the marks before moving on to the next note. Do this at least 10 times in a row and then start the whole process over with a new set of notes. Make sure to include notes on extended ledger lines as well.

You'll have no problems recognizing the notes in real time once you have done this exersize enough. If i were you, I'd put all of my time into doing these exersizes on paper, without any playing untill you can write down any note you see on a piece of music as quickly as you would write out the letters in the alphabet. Once you have that skill, and you'll be amazed at how short of a time it takes, then try playing and reading in real time.

Practice this method(no instrument-only writing) for 1 week, 1 hour per day, and that just might be enough to start the real time reading and playing... I'm serious. Writing it down is 100x's better and faster for memorizing than just sight reading alone.