Rhythm sight-reading practice

Sight-reading rhythms means reading a figure once and playing it in time, without practicing it first. The best way to get there is a lot of fresh material at the right difficulty. grooph writes that material for you: pick a note value and a level, and every click on New rhythm gives you a new exercise.

Choose a topic

• Eighth-Note Rhythm Exercises
  Practice reading eighth-note rhythms – quarters, eighths, rests and the first offbeats – with random exercises and a metronome. Free, in your browser.
• Sixteenth-Note Rhythm Exercises
  Random sixteenth-note rhythm exercises in five levels – from four even sixteenths to notes on "e" and "a". Read, count and play along with a metronome.
• Triplet Rhythm Exercises
  Practice eighth-note triplets with random exercises in five levels – full triplets, rests inside the triplet and offbeat figures. Free with metronome playback.

A simple routine

1. Pick the level where you make a few mistakes, but not many.
2. Look before you play. Scan the exercise for rests and syncopations.
3. Count in. Switch on the count-in so you start in tempo.
4. Don't stop. If you miss a note, keep counting and come back in on the next beat.
5. Next rhythm. Generate a new one instead of repeating the old one.

Ten minutes a day with new material is more effective than an hour once a week.

Start here

▶ Easy: eighth notes, level 1

▶ Medium: sixteenth notes, level 3

▶ Hard: sixteenths and triplets mixed, level 5

If you are not sure how to count a figure, the counting guides explain the syllables "1 e & a" and "1 trip let".