3 simple ways to become amazing at reading music notation...eventually
So many piano students struggle with reading music fluently, sometimes even after years of lessons. When you think about all of the complex elements and processes that go into reading and playing a piece of music, it makes sense that it is no easy task for the majority of people. In addition, beginners are thrown into learning MANY different skills on the piano right from the beginning and may not dedicate time to strengthen reading skill alone, leaving them feeling behind in their reading skill as the music continues to get more and more difficult each week. Here are 3 simple ways to boost your reading skill and over time (with consistent PRACTICE!) become amazing at reading music notation.
Practice your notes one at a time.
Know EVERY note on the staff without hesitation by memorizing the names of the lines and spaces and practicing your note reading daily, even if just for a few minutes. Use flashcards or a resource like musictheory.net. While reading music entails a lot more than note memorization, having the line and space names mastered is a huge help and can be an important tool for your reading when you’re feeling stuck on a new piece.
Learn to recognize intervals.
A big part of the skill of reading music is recognizing shapes and patterns. An interval is the distance between two notes - for example, middle C to middle E is a 3rd, C to F is a 4th, etc. As you get more comfortable with the piano, your fingers will be able to feel these intervals on the keyboard easily, and your brain will start to recognize the intervals as you’re reading music. You’ll start to recognize chord shapes and play them on sight. Rather than reading every single note painstakingly, you can see the distance from one note to the other and begin to read more fluently without having to stop and think so hard for every single note. Be aware of intervals as you read new music, and work on practicing them out of context to fast-track your recognition. Start practicing intervals here!
Play new music every day.
The best way to get really good at sight reading is TO SIGHT READ!!! Many beginners, especially those who are self-taught, want to learn a challenging piece right from the start and end up working on mastering the same piece for months and months. While it’s great to challenge yourself, it’s also important to be reading and playing new music every day in order to strengthen your reading skill. This is one reason (of many) that a teacher may have you follow a method book rather than choose one long-term piece. Incorporate into your practice routine a sight reading book or a book of music that is relatively easy for you to read, and play at least one piece per day to expose yourself to a variety of musical concepts and keep your reading skill constantly growing.