Reading Piano Music

While there are many musicians that never learned how to read music, there’s no reason why you can’t tackle the job and learn to read music. Musicians that are unable to read music are able to play by ear after they hear a song. These musicians are able to make improvisations on simple themes and turn them into elaborate renditions of popular songs. These musicians know their instruments as well as singers know their voices.

You might be someone that is able to do that, but if you are just learning about the piano there’s a good chance that you can really use the help that written music provides. There will be time for learning about chords and improvisation later on. Additionally, learning how to read music will open a new world to you. You will be able to learn songs that you’ve never even heard before and when you are ready to repeat your performance, the written sheet music guides you note by note.

There is a lot to learn since you have to understand how the notes are depicted. You have to understand how the staffs they are written on look like. You will begin to understand how flats and sharps are represented and how the music’s rhythm is shown. Once you learn these basics, you will be able to build on the knowledge.

You can really learn a lot just by looking at a piece of music. If you already have a songbook, some sheet music, or a hymnal, take a moment to really look at it. If you don’t have any kind of written music, either buy or borrow some.

While looking at the music you will notice groups of five horizontal lines. If the music is written for both hands, two of the groups of lines will be connected by a longer line along the side. The horizontal lines are known as the staff. You can buy staff paper that is pre-marked with these lines.

At the far left side of the staffs you will see the clef marking. It will be a treble clef marking for the upper staff. The treble clef resembles a fancy backwards S with a line going down through it and curling underneath. In the beginning of learning to play the piano, you will play the treble clef notes with your right hand.

On the lower staff you will find the bass clef sign. It looks a lot like a backward C with two dots on the right of it. The bass staff indicates the lower notes that are played with the left hand. The upper and lower staffs usually repeat several times down the sheet. Take a look at your written music and locate each of the staffs. Once you do this you will be ready to learn to read the notes.