Resource For Learning to Read Piano Music Sheets – Day 6

How to properly read piano music

When you want to read piano music quickly, the first step is to realize that the notes are observed on the sheet music, representing the pitch or time duration of individual notes. It’s very easy to see the pitch of the notes in your manuscript (aka sheet music). Sound is created when a note or key is pressed down and then held for the required duration, to put it dryly. The keyboard’s map is recognized as the Grand Staff and you should be able to read it effortlessly as you go about your daily piano practice.

Whenever you hear songs or read piano music, you’ll notice that the notes seems to differ in duration.

Each note length even looks visually different to make it easier on your eyes. Each symbol used to identify note pitches also holds key information as to the duration such as the quarter note which is responsible for one beat of the bar.

Here is a piano note chart you can print out and practice with. The various elements of sheet music have been purposefully randomly arranged, so that you learn to commit them to memory as soon as possible without having to constantly check it during your piano lessons.

We’ve seen many a piano note chart out there, and when it comes to instantly being able to memorize note durations, we reckon it’s the best one for anyone serious about wanting to learn piano. It’s a great spoon-feeder to start with and when you’ve outgrown it, it can still serve as a good reference chart to look back on from time to time. That’s exactly what the best piano note diagram should do, inspire you to memorize the material as quickly as possible. It’s like having your own personal piano teacher always there for you, 24/7.

Becoming capable of easily recognizing piano notes and to read piano music swiftly is the beginning of your relationship with piano sheet music. Reading piano notes requires you to recognize the seven main tabs such as those of a C-major scale being made of the notes CDEFGAB. There are always a few little tricks you can use once you have a good hang of the music intervals that we covered in Day 3 of our free piano tutorial. Intervals of thirds can be read effortlessly because they go from one line note to another line note or from one space note to another. (example E-G or F-A)

Read more about piano notes and keys

Bass clefs indicate the lower notes of the piano, and thus those played by the left hand. The right hand usually plays the notes of the top staff which usually hold the so-called treble clef. Most music staffs are made of two parts so that both hands can play together.

Here is a piano note chart of all the important piano notes for the bass clef (or what would be played with the left hand) and the treble clef (right hand, in this case)

In this particular piano note chart, we’ve included little vertical lines spread out over the sheet music which are called bar lines. Sometimes two little lines are used together when the end of a section must be marked. Vertical lines group the notes of music into a particular meter. To help keep time, a time signature (4/4 in this piano note diagram) helps to indicate how many beats should be counted in every bar (4 beat in this example).

Now try to play “Amazing Grace” which is more complex in 3/4 time. You can try the easy version by David S. Clayton in F major. Practice the bass slowly a few times while counting out loud – yes 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | even though you are just holding the note! Then work on the melody and get a feel for the swinging 3/4 rhythmic pattern which it uses.

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