Tips for Reading Piano Music

By Michelle Edward

With a little success under your belt, you can begin to tackle the job of learning to read music. Of course, many musicians do not know how to read music. They just hear a song and play it, as they say, by ear. These musicians can improvise on any simple themes and come up with elaborate renditions of popular songs. These players know their instruments as well as singers know their own 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 much to learn. You must find out about the way the notes are depicted. You need to know what the staffs that they are shown on look like. You will learn how rhythm is represented and how sharps and flats are shown. These are the basics, and you can build on this knowledge over time.

You can learn quite a lot just by looking at one piece of music. If you have some sheet music, a hymnal, or a songbook, take it out and look at the music. If you do not already have some written music, buy some or borrow a songbook from the library.

One of the first things you will notice is the groupings of five horizontal lines. If the music is written for both hands, you will see that two of these groups of lines are joined together with a longer line along the side. The horizontal lines are the staff. You can purchase staff paper that is marked with the lines.

Along the left side of the staffs you will find the clef markings. The treble clef marking is for the upper staff. The treble clef symbol looks like a fancy backwards S that has a line going through it vertically and curling underneath. You will start out by playing the notes on the treble clef with the 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. - 32526

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