Reading Music - Learn How To Read Music

Reading Music is the most difficult phase, in the process of learning piano or any kind of instrument. A perseverant learner can grasp the nuances of reading music, through constant effort. If a person has a perfect understanding of the basic components in written music, he/she can easily read music and devise customized techniques of Music reading. One has to devise a convenient technique of music reading, since the ultimate aim of reading music, is playing the piano well.

The two staves

The graphic representation of music has its own architecture. The notes, in written form are posted on a staff. The staff comprises four spaces and five lines. Clef is a musical symbol and it is placed, in the staff, at the very beginning. Piano music has two staves, which are called the ‘Treble Clef’ and the ‘Bass Clef’. Treble clef comprises notes which have higher pitches than bass clef.

Seven notes

Only seven notes are the foundation, on which the entire world of music is built. Combination of a few notes, together and separate, generates music that is a pleasure to our ears. The notes of music are represented by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F and G of the English alphabet. A musician works out various combinations of the notes, to create different kinds of music.

Treble and Bass Clef

In the staffs, irrespective of the clefs, the lines and spaces that are successive often represent the ascending notes. While denoting Treble chef, the lowest line stands for E and the space above it stands for F, so on and so forth. The graphic representation of the Treble clef looks like a curled backwards ‘S’. The lines in the staff represent EGBD and F and the spaces represent FA and C. The Additional lines are extensions of the staff. The Middle C is represented by an invisible line that is located one space just below the Treble clef staff. Bass clef is represented by ‘C’ backwards and the five lines represent GBDF and A. The spaces signify ACE and G. While learning piano music, one has to memorize these things to read music, from a music sheet, efficiently. A beginner should understand that the notes played by left hand are in bass clef and the right hand plays the notes in treble clef.

Sharps and Flats

After memorizing the notes and the lines and spaces for different clefs, one must learn to read various other symbols. Symbols for sharp and flat have to be identified, by the beginner. If a note is accompanied by the symbol #, then it is the symbol for sharp and one must play the note one half step higher. The flat symbol is represented by a symbol like ‘b’ (lower case). The note, which comes with this symbol, has to be played one half step lower.

Rests

The written music also has an integral part called the ‘rest’. The rests are represented by different shapes and they stand for silence, during the piano performance. A pianist must know the techniques of music reading, in written form, which comprises pauses. Time signatures, tempo, rhythm, articulation and phrasing markings must be learnt by a piano enthusiast.

A musician can adopt any kind of technique in reading the music, but must learn the basics of the written music, mandatorily. Learning the notes, the staff, the clefs, etc is the first step towards learning to read music. Once an individual memorizes all the symbols and the signs that are present in the musical scores, playing the piano is a beautiful, exhilarating and wonderful experience.

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Mastering Piano Playing

Music is a universal language.

We all know that in order to master a language, one needs to learn how to read and speak in that language fluently.

When I teach my piano students how to play music, I stress the importance of music reading and the music making processes. A piano player who is proficient in playing by ear but has limited abilities in reading music is considered "music illiterate." A pianist who is a strong sight reader but cannot improvise is also lacking the ability required to make beautiful music.

Most children learn how to speak and understand language before they learn how to read it. Toddlers learn how to talk by improvising a sentence as well as imitating others.

Very often, you may not even understand their "child talk." However, after a period of time, when they have acquired new skills and have practiced, you will notice children making huge progress on their language skills and you will be able to communicate with them in simple sentences.

I teach my younger children/beginners how to make music by simply playing notes on the keyboard without correcting the music they made. I also let them imitate what I am doing on the piano. The process of improvising is sometimes more important than the note reading process as it opens up the potential for creativity.

Some piano players struggle with the music making process initially. A great tool to aid the inexperienced improviser is to use rhythm accompaniment. Many modern keyboards come equipped with a rhythm accompaniment feature. One could select any style such as Latin, bossa-nova, or swing jazz before improvising. The rhythm accompaniment helps the player set a steady rhythm and provides a band-like playing environment. This tool is especially helpful for those who are weak in rhythm coordination.

If you have never experienced the joy of piano improvisation, now is the time to get started. Click the following to learn more about
Chord Piano improvisation and

Jazz Improvisation

If you are a beginner in piano sight reading, you will benefit from piano sight reading course

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