In my experience, reading sheet music is usually the biggest challenge for most piano students. The difficulties can be mitigated some by understanding that reading music is not a single skill but rather a set of skills, and by working on each of them individually before attempting to do all of them...
Question: I just had my piano lesson yesterday and my teacher asked me to play this song and I did, and he realised that I was reading the numbers above the notes. He asked me to try play it without reading the numbers, and I had a bit of trouble.
Now for my homework he said I have to learn a son
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Which Note Is Which?
Question: My main problem is identifying and remembering which note is which.
Is there any special way I could train my mind and brain to recognize the notes correctly, and to remember them all?
– Abigail (Portland, Oregon, USA)
Albert’s reply: Absolutely! Identifying no...
How to Read Sheet Music course available now!
Reading music is one of the essential musical skills you’ll need to make the most of your musical ability. The entire history of Western music is available to those who have mastered this skill. Yet for so many, reading music remains the single biggest ...
Question: Does your course also cover how to properly read and practice the multiple voices found in almost every piano/vocal/chord sheet music I see? I have seen many courses that teach you how to sight read, but every time I ask about the multiple voice issue, I always receive the same answer in
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Question: My daughter is currently learning (almost a year now) and I am learning with her. My challenge is music notes. When I play, I am kind of simply comparing the position of the note to the previous vs. knowing the note on the clef then responding which finger plays it. Am I doing right as a
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Question: When I was 8, in 1974, my mother sent my to the Cleveland Music School Settlement, in hopes I would learn to read notes to play the piano. I never could catch on. However, I can play be ear. If, someone can play by ear, does this make it any easier to learn to read notes?
– Laura Scott ...
Piano tablature (or “piano tab” for short) is an abbreviated method of music notation. While used for modern pop music, the idea is nothing new: Tablature for keyboard instruments has been around since the mid-fifteenth century!
Tablature derives from the Latin word meaning to tabulate or put into ...
Question: I learned piano through the Suzuki method, and when it came to piano theory, I was aurally-dominant enough to fake it, too lazy to want to learn, and not smart enough to know what I was missing. Naturally, without the practice I never learned how to sight read.
I am now 35 and I have wo
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Question: How do you write music notation of songs or hymns? How do you concentrate on musical beats?
– Rozario (India)
Albert’s reply: If you’re new to writing music, you should familiarize yourself with writing music notation by copying simple pieces of music. Notice all the symbols – the cl...
Question: Hi Mr. Frantz,
I thoroughly enjoy reading your website. I have played single-clef instruments most of my life with very little formal piano training. Approximately seven years ago, I began practicing sight reading on the piano, which is substantially more challenging given the two clefs
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Question: I can read notes but I don’t know which finger I’m going to use with that note. I just wish to have sheet music with finger number on every note or notes/number/finger chart.
– Josh Jardinel (Philippines)
Albert’s reply: There are several things in your question that are of relevance...
