Starting to read music

Learning to read music is much easier than most people think. There is no real mystery about it - a piece of music is simply a set of instructions which tells you how to play a particular tune. Different signs tell you everything about the music - which notes to play, when and how to play them and how long they should sound.

Already you know more than you may realise about music. You know the names of the notes on the white keys, and have learned to play them in time with beats which you count. The rest is not difficult.

Of course, you could learn to play the piano without reading music - if you have an exceptional flair, or want to restrict yourself to simple tunes. However, you will be able to learn new tunes more easily, quickly and correctly, if you take a little time to learn to read music. Now is the best time for you to learn, and take the next step towards becoming a good pianist.

HOW MUSIC IS WRITTEN
Musical notes are written on sets of lines called 'staves'. Each line and space on the staves is like a step on a musical ladder - one note is on the line, the next note higher is in the space above and so on. The higher the note sounds, the higher it is on the stave.

Music for the piano is written on two staves joined by a bracket. Two staves are needed because there are so many notes on the piano.

The upper stave is for notes on the right of the keyboard which are usually played by the right hand.
The lower stave is for notes on the left of the keyboard which are usually played by the left hand.
(Notes in the very middle of the keyboard can be on either stave, as you will see.)

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