Here’s a continuation from the “Learn to Read Music” lesson series about learning new sheet music pieces that you want to play and read with ease. If you missed the last lesson start there, then….

The next step is to set and understand your goals in learning your new piece of sheet music.  There are several possible reasons for studying a new work:  for personal enjoyment, to develop a particular technique (etudes for example), to explore a particular style, or perhaps to perform at an upcoming recital.  You also may  want to decide right from the beginning whether or not you want to be able to play the piece from memory.

 

Develop an understanding of the basic form of the piece.  Identify its main musical themes and look for literal repeat sections of music.  When we then first sit down to do some note learning, we can use our understanding of the piece to break it down into smaller sections.  Some sections will be easier to learn than others, and they may be of different lengths, so try not to make any artificial time-goals like learning a set number of measures per day.  Instead focus on learning each natural section of the piece thoroughly and in order.  Identify any particularly challenging phrases and work on them individually.  Then start to connect the various phrases and larger sections together.

How to Learn to Read Music


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