How to Read Piano Notes

Playing the piano is a very, very pleasurable activity, which I myself enjoy every day. The piano notes are sometimes also known as sheet music. Musical notes or sheet music is nothing but a different symbolic language that is used to write down music and compositions in a universally accepted manner. A genuine advantage that musicians experience is that the cultural and language barriers did not become a hurdle while depicting music. The key to reading and understanding piano notes is simple, and if you meticulously follow and practice sheet music then in a few months time you will be able to read and play piano notes on sheet music, quite easily and fluently.

How to Read Piano Notes on Sheet Music?

Firstly, you will need a good dictionary of musical notes, there are countless symbols and their variations that we are bound to come across. Keeping such a dictionary handy is definitely advantageous as musical notation is a language in itself with a vocabulary of its own. The dictionary will help you to tap the large volume of information about sheet music modern musical notation. Apart from the dictionary, also purchase 2 books, one with nursery rhymes and one with scales and chords. Here's how you can learn the sheet notes and piano music properly.

Staffs, Stave and Timing
The first thing that you will notice about sheet music is that it is written upon staff and stave. The staffs are horizontal lines that indicate the pitch (scale and notes) and bar lines are vertical ones that indicate the timings (basic rhythm) of the composition. The bar lines are divided as per the rhythm of the song. The rhythm or timing is depicted in numbers at start of the staffs, such as 3/4 or 4/4. Now moving on to the notations and clef.

Notations, Rests and Octaves
Now that you have grasped the timing of the composition, proceed to the part of the notations. The notations are written in the form of a note (dot or hollowed dot) or rest (small rectangle). The notes G-B-D are the ones which are written over the lines. The note E is written on the bottom line. Consequentially, the notes F-A-C-E are the ones that do not over lap the lines, but are written between the lines. Now these notes are modified according to time signatures such as a hollow dot means a note played for 2 measures.

Playing as You Read
The next step is the most difficult one as it involves, playing the music as you go on reading the notes. My piano teacher told me a simple trick to make things easier, he said,' imagine the notes and rests to be dots on a scalar graph'. Well it does help a lot in the initial stages till one masters the technique. Playing the notes of this musical instrument, simultaneously as one reads the notes will take a lot of time and one should patiently dedicate as good as a year for the task.

The most important requirement to master reading piano notes is patience and involvement. You need to feel the notes as you read them. Play as you read and feel what you play. While your brain registers the notes, let your heart feel their melody.