Why Learn How To Read Music
Reading music means you can see and understand the structure of the piece and how its put together, allowing you to develop a greater understanding of the whole composition. The symbols of sheet music, like most spoken languages, have been around for centuries. Each symbol represents a different pitch, rhythm, and tempo of a specific song. The symbols also represent the techniques used by whoever is playing that musical piece.
Some musicians will tell you that reading piano sheet music isnt necessary to be a competent player, but you only limit yourself by going that route. Many pianists will attest that learning and studying sheet music early and often is the right choice.
Learning this essential skill:
- Unlocks a world of expression and freedom on the piano
- Means youll be able to play in a band or other ensemble
- Helps you sight read on other instruments including strings, brass, or woodwinds
- Allows you to communicate about music with other musicians
Even if your main instrument is not the piano, learning the basics of how to read music note names can be easier when you know your way around a keyboard.
Studying the piano and learning how to read sheet music go hand-in-hand. To develop your skills in the most efficient way possible, you must start learning how to read sheet music right off the bat.
Understanding The G Clef
The G Clef is also referred to as the treble clef. It is a representation of the piano keyboard. The ledger lines and spaces help us learn how to read the note names. It looks like this:
The treble clef tells us where the note G is on the staff. It shows where all the musical notes sit. We then find those notes on our piano keys. This is the beginning of learning how to read piano sheet music.
Here we can see the note G sitting on one of the ledger lines. We can also see there are no sharps or flats on our treble clef. Our clef also shows us how to read key signatures, and where to play notes. There are five lines and four spaces. This means we would be playing the C Major Scale, which is also called our White Key Major Scales.
From here, we can use our knowledge of the musical alphabet to figure out the rest symbols. Each line or space will represent one move up or down in the musical alphabet. So, if we move up from G on the second line to the note on the second space, we will find A. If we move up from A to the third line, we will find B.
If we move up from B, we will find C on the third space. If we move up from C, we will find D on the fourth line. If we move up from D, we will find E on the fourth space. And finally, if we move up from E, we will find F on the fifth and top line.
We can add additional lines above the staff to access more notes. We call these lines ledger lines, but we will not dive into that right now.
What Are Time Signatures
Sheet music is divided into measures, which are broken up by bar lines. Each measure contains a specific number of beats. The time signature tells you how many beats are contained in every measure. Every time signature has two numbers, stacked one on top of another. The top note signifies the number of beats contained in each measure. The bottom number signifies what kind of note is considered one beat, or in other words, what kind of note is given full value.
There are all kinds of different time signatures, but the most common are 4/4 , 3/4, 6/8, and 2/2.
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But Sheet Music Is So Expensive
If only there were sources of free kids’ sheet music, beginner piano music! Music, in addition, with suggestions for teachers, and stories and tips.
Well, now there is. My site, and other sites too.
I have a large and ever-expanding collection of beginner piano music, and what I offer here has been tried and found worthy of keeping!
Much of it is just supplemental to the beginner piano music method books I use, but a lot of it is music I consider essential for my students, to lay down a hands-on foundation of understanding music theory.
Add some spice to your students’ music diet without breaking the bank — almost all the beginner piano music you will find here is free and easily printable, with no strings attached.
Furthermore, you don’t have to guess what’s there before you hit the “Download” link – you can look my free sheet music over before downloading it onto your computer!
Kay, US:…wanted to let you know that I love using your early beginner sheet music with the alphanotes.
I have 10 beginners who began piano this fall, and your materials are great, especially the Christmas pieces, to bridge that time of just starting to read a few notes and being able to play more complicated rhythms.
Your site has helped my studio a great deal. Thank you for sharing!!!! Merry Christmas!
The tips are great too. I also live in the middle of nowhere so buying from a shop is not really an option unless I fancy a 120 mile round trip for a piece of sheet music!
Free Blank Piano Sheet Music
Looking to write your own songs or music scores? Heres some blank piano sheet music to get all that music that is floating around in your head down on paper. It always seems like when I get that great new song or melody I never have any music paper to write it down on. And if I dont get it down on paper as soon as I can I end up forgetting it. Its awful to loose that awesome melody or lick because you dont have any music paper to write it down on.
So. here is some staff paper that you can use to get all of those piano music notes written down before you forget them and they are lost forever.
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Christmas Music Of All Styles For All Tastes
There are all skill levels of songs represented on this very long page, and most of the pieces have multiple versions, and not just for piano, but guitar and voice!
Also, check on the Black Notes Songs page and the Note Naming Worksheet page for additional, very easy versions of some of these popular songs.
All You That in This House – This unusual carol is offered as a lead sheet in several keys, with just one chord, and with an intermediate piano arrangement
Angels We Have Heard On High – Four different versions
Arabian Dance or Arab Dance – intermediate level, from The Nutcracker Suite. Very evocative, very hypnotic.
Arabian Dance – easy arrangement for first or second year
Away in a Manger – an easy but pretty arrangement
Bring a Torch – a fun, bouncy energy characterizes this sweet carol from France.
Carol of the Bells – a very simple approach to Carol of the Bells, also known as “Hark How the Bells” in my studio
Christ Child’s Lullaby – there are no lyrics to this lovely lullaby, but a lilting, unusual melody.
Go here to see the Christmas sheet music for piano!
Christ Was Born On Christmas Day – This little carol can scoot right along, with the fixed left hand chords. Pretty easy.
Coventry Carol – a minor-key song that tells a sad story about a Bible prophecy. Very beautiful, and familiar
Deck the Halls – the sounds of this fun carol immediately call Christmas to mind!
Ding Dong Merrily On High – a pretty carol with energy that is fun to play and sing
Put Theory Into Practice
Translating the inky blots on the page through your fingertips into actual music is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to reading piano sheet music. Now that youve spent some time writing things out on the page, its time to start putting that into practice on your actual instrument.
Start with each clef independently, just like you did when you were first memorizing the piano notes. Stick to your regular practice routine, as well. Remember, practice doesnt only make perfect, it also makes things permanent.
Youll want to practice with a metronome if you arent already. You need to be as comfortable with rhythm and harmony as you are with melody. You should also stay in the habit of focusing on musicality, even when youre practicing.
After seeing all the symbols and placement of notes. It is time to identify which note corresponds to the key on the piano. The white keys on the piano would correspond to the keys in the C Scale. Starting from C, followed by the keys D, E, F, G, A, B and ending again at a higher C. You would find them in the white keys on the piano.
The black keys are the ones between some of these white keys. Like the Eb being between D and E. Each of these keys has a place on the staff.
When practicing these sequences of notes, start slow until you feel the pace. From that point, that is when you start learning the song in its actual pace and tempo.
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How Do The Lines & Spaces On The Staff Relate To The Piano Keys
Every note found on piano sheet music corresponds to a piano key. While there are 88 keys in total on a full-sized instrument, they are made up of 12 tones that simply repeat moving up in pitch. When you learn to read music notes, youll need to learn how to recognize the notes on the staff, and find them on the piano keyboard. Check out this piano notes chart of the keyboard notes below the music note letters correspond to the piano keys in a repetitive pattern.
The Threshold Of The Larger World Of Piano Music
Leaving more predictable patterns behind makes left hand chords trickier. Good reading skills definitely required!
These pieces stretch pianists’ abilities.
More technique is required, with the use of chord inversions, thicker textures in the melodies, and stretched hand positions.
Additionally, note reading strays far outside the two octaves around Middle C.
Go here to see the “Year Three and After” sheet music!
Ae Fond Kiss, vocal score & piano music – A tender love song, saying farewell.
Black Beauty movie sheet music – a beautiful, energetic piece of music, with a soaring, singable melody. From the movie.
Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair – a very beautiful love song, with a slow start, and an energetic follow-up. Some lyrics.
Brian Boru’s March – an mesmerizing Irish melody that pulls you along in a theme & variation style.
Cat Came Back lyrics and music – easy versions and harder arrangements mix up the descending single-note bass line with triad chords.
Colorado Trail song – this is a cowboy song! It is very short, but very pretty.
De Boself – a simplified arrangement of the original piece by T. Van Oesten brisk and charming.
Down to the River to Pray – a fun song to sing & play. This is a spiritual, with energy & lots of verses.
Emma, a Jane Austen “Emma” movie tribute – This is very lovely, and parents love it.
Esther: For Such a Time as This – both original & EASY PIANO editions
Funeral March by Chopin – A famous and ominous melody.
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Learning To Read Sheet Music With An Instructor
The best way to learn how to read music notes is by taking piano lessons. A professional piano teacher can walk you through these steps and ensure that youre building your skills on a solid foundation of music theory. With each lesson, your knowledge of the piano will grow and your music reading skills will develop. Lesson plans that are catered to your learning style and current skill level will help you stay motivated for the long term. You can always look up piano sheet music for beginners and practice your music reading skills. Once you have a handle on understanding piano with notes and reading music, the playing possibilities are endless!
With enough time, patience, and practice, you can develop into a well-skilled piano player. Obtaining a stable foundation in musical note reading will make your journey toward becoming a fine pianist an exciting and fun adventure.
Do you have a favorite technique for learning how to read sheet music? Let us know in the comments below!
Post Author: Liz T. teaches online singing, acting, and music lessons. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music with a B.M in Vocal performance and currently performs/teaches all styles of music including Musical Theater, Classical, Jazz, Rock, Pop, R& B, and Country.
Photo by Basheer Tome
The Staff And The Ledger Lines
A staff is a stack of five horizontal lines.
There are five lines and four spaces between them. Each line and space represent a note, with the low notes on the bottom lines and the high notes on the top.
Of course, the range of instruments usually exceeds the lines of the staff. To write notes below or above the staff, we use ledger lines. These are short horizontal lines written through or below the circle of the note.
We write piano notes on a grand staff with ten lines altogether, split into two groups of five.
Grand staffs are for instruments with a wide range of pitch or music that requires two separate but simultaneous parts .
The middle C note, which is more or less at the center of the keyboard, sits between the two staffs on a ledger line.
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What Happens When Students Start To Master Chord Patterns Beautiful Music I Call This Level After Year Two
Free easy piano sheet music for your students who are past level one.
Now students start using moving chords in the left hand, requiring more hand coordination.
Also, the range of notes is greater than in The First Year and After Year One.
Some, like Harp Ballad, are more appropriate in Year 3 or 4, but for older students, such as students who start as beginners in their teen years, they may reach this level very quickly, with a strong understanding of chords.
America
America the Beautiful
Happy Birthday – several arrangements, from very easy to very full-sounding
Harp Ballad – a beautiful piece that will spur your student to new skills!
Hava Nagilah – well-known Hebrew folk song
House of the Rising Sun – with exciting left hand chords
How Doth the Little Crocodile -a creepy-sounding song with lyrics from Alice in Wonderland
Hungarian Dance – Brahms’ #5, a duet version
In the Hall of the Mountain King – a one-page arrangement of the main theme
In the Mood – the famous Big Band song, still popular!
Irish Washerwoman – this is NEW! Pretty and full of energy.
Irish Wedding – This is the most advanced arrangement of this popular piece that even my beginners play
Kookaburra – A good arrangement for classroom singing.
Lake Pirates – modeled after The Hobbit Soundtrack, Hobbit 3!
Largo, from the New World Symphony – A famous and beautiful theme.
Lavender’s Blue – the “Cinderella song lyrics”!
Louie Louie – a set of chords used as an exercise, that sounds like real music.
Labelling Piano Keyboard: An Introduction
I created this How to label notes on the piano keyboard article based on a readers question.
Karen writes:
My 10 year old daughter has a 54 key keyboard and is teaching herself to play it. She is already mastering the songs from Mary Poppins along with some current chart music using her own ear.
My problem is that she wants me to be able to label the keys for her with the letters and numbers, but I know nothing about this and from what I have found on the internet it just confuses me further. I have spent a long time reading stuff on the notes and octaves but got no further.
This guide will hopefully make it easy to create a system that not only works now but can be used as a stepping stone to reading and writing standard musical notation.
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A Different Way To Learn How To Read Sheet Music: The Mental Flip Strategy
One of the most difficult things about learning how to read sheet music for the piano, as opposed to most other instruments, is that there is not just a single melody to be played. Piano music notes require you to play more than one part at a time reading two music staves at once. Usually these parts are interconnected they are part of a chord that you need to be able to accurately read.
Although the concept of reading multiple lines of music may seem overwhelming at first, in time, youll find that this is what makes the piano such a powerful instrument. A pianist can carry the bassline, chords, and melody all at once, eliminating the need for accompaniment and providing orchestra-like backing for solo instruments. Many beginners prefer to use a technique called the mental flip strategy to get more comfortable with reading and memorizing the notes. Before we dive into how to use that strategy, lets take a step back and see why sheet music is written the way it is.
Learn The Locations Of The Keys
Before attempting to read any sheet music, there needs to be a clear understanding of what all of those black and white keys mean. This is one of the first things I outline in my piano course which you can check out here. The black and white keys represent all of the different tones of the piano.
As you look at the keyboard the first thing that should stick out to you is how the piano keys are organized in a pattern.
Looking at the diagram above its clear that there are groups of two black keys and groups of three white keys. That pattern of two and three repeats up and down the entire piano.
The first white note located in front of the group of two black keys is called C. Every time you see a group of two black notes, that first white key will always be a C. The lower the C you play on the piano, the deeper the tone will be. The higher the C on the piano, the brighter the tone will be.
The note located in front of the group of three black keys is F. The same logic applies here too. Because the piano is designed around the musical alphabet, its easy to see how the pattern repeats.
The seven different tones on the piano are A B C D E F G. These are the basic notes of the music alphabet, and they can be augmented in many ways which well discuss later in the steps.
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