Xiao asked:
I have been playing for years and I’m still hopeless. I can memorize and I know all the keys on the keyboard but I can’t read the little dots. And I’m really depressed. Can anyone tell me a strategy or recommend a program to help me? Something that works. Not some internet scam.
Tags: Music Piano, Piano Playing, Read Music
How to Read Music Notes
a memory aid I learned:
FACE and ACEG
FACE = a face
ACEG = all cows eat grass
In the treble stave, it’s the spaces that is FACE, and the lines that are All Cows Eat Grass.
This starts from the bottom line up.
The bass (the bottom stave) is ACEG in the spaces and FACE in the lines, going the same way up.
How to Sight Read Music
Sorry, no shortcuts. It takes years to get good at it. It is the same sort of skill as reading. You have to practise it every day to get to a good level where the dots turn themselves into notes..
How to Sight Read Music
and this is the main link to the main page of his videos
this might help you in some sort
good luck
oh yeah remember that your left hand is the bass keys ):
and the right hand is the trebel clef keys &
Learning to Read Music
It also helps to have someone show you where middle-C is on the piano …. and then to show you how it looks in the printed music … from then on, with ” All Cows Eat Grass” and “FACE” …..that is good…
then get yourself some music writing paper, some pencils and *erasers* (!!) and a nice harmony book ….. I had all sorts of fancy deals from people who were busy making money, but the one I liked best was a little volume written in 1922, published in Boston by Oliver Ditson, written by Arthur Edward Heacox called, “Harmony for the ear, eye, and keyboard: first year” ….
and learn to write out the notes: whole note, half note, etc etc …. and make yourself familiar with them …. so they don’t seem strange to you anymore since you have learned to write them …
I also suggest you get a hymnal from church if that is ok with you, and copy out a couple of old favorites to see how they all go together….try “Old Hundred” …..
learn to read music
Here is a site to help you get started learning the piano:
…
And this one has some music theory and interactive training activities:
These sites will help you get started reading the little dots! That is, after all, most rewarding way of playing the piano.
Good luck and enjoy!
Musician, composer, teacher.
Learning to Read Music
hey baby first i tell you i can not speak english very well because i am not american or …. BUT i have played(and learned) piano for 7 years. and if you go this way is 2 or years you can play all the mozart or beethoven sonats and …… but u should strive and practice every day . first you buy BEYER and HANONvol.925 .
ok fisr BEYER book:every week practice 3 lessons or 2 pages
then HANON book: when you reached the middle of the beyer book open you hanon and practice lesson one (1 page).
open the lesson 39 (page 50) there are 12 scales(Major) . now open
lesson 41(page65) there are 12 major scales too the name of this scales is arpeg. ok from now on every week practice 2 lesson ( about 1 page) one lesson of hanon (1_36 lessons) a major scale with it’s 2 minor scales (lesson 36 pages 50_59) and a arpeg scale.
oookkkkkkkkk when you finished your BEYER book buy CZERNYopus599 .this book like beyer but it’s harder.you can dont practice lessons 1_30 they are very easy.
when you reached the middle of the czerny book buy ANNA MAGDALENA BACHIN.this book is not a practicing or scales book .it’s bach book (year= 1720) the inportant pieces are 3,4,5,7,19,22,and36. if you finished czerny599 you can buy CZERNYopus299 . wwoooowww its a hard book for you . i know theese books (beyer or czernies) are very boring but just theese books can make a pianist.the others books are classic faveris , mozat sonats,16waltzes of chopin .if you have questions you can mail to me with this address
learn to read music
Can I suggest that you zip out to a music store and buy a theory workbook to work through. If you’re North American, you should be able to find either the Mark Sarnecki or Grace Vandendool publications fairly easily. I prefer using the Sarnecki books, personally (the series is called “elementary music rudiments” and they’re spiral bound workbooks, three volumes, preliminary rudiments, grade one, and grade two, or you can get the complete elementary music rudiments which encompasses the aforementioned three volumes, obviously more expensive, but actually cheaper than buying the three seperately) because they move a little faster than the Vandendool books (which are still really good, they’re just a little too thorough for my liking. Too many exercises for each new concept introduced. Gets kind of boring. However, if you’re one of those types that likes learning slowly with lots of repetition, then you’d probably appreciate the Vandendool approach.) I’m sorry, but I can’t recall what the Vandendool series is called. Books are a similar layout to the Sarnecki ones though, just more exercises.
There’s no need to be depressed. We all start out not knowing how to read the little dots. You can learn.