How can I learn to read music? Where can I find the right music notes for the piano? Can I also buy scores second-hand?
No wonder, as access to this instrument has become much easier and more affordable in recent years thanks to keyboards and digital pianos.
In the meantime, many music lovers can now enjoy learning this instrument.
However, certain questions arise with the first piano lessons.
Which notes should I use? Where can I get it? How do you read piano notes and how do you learn the basics of music theory?
All these questions will be answered below.
Contents
How do you read piano notes?
Before beginning piano lessons, many people choose to take an online piano course named as Piano for all.
This course teaches you to read music notes correctly .
In particular, terms such as bar, staff, bass clef, tempo, rhythm, transposition, sign, key and many more are learned.
Music teachers teach their students how to read piano notes and then play them on the piano or keyboard.
“Being able to read music notes means being able to decipher all of the symbols and characters that compose them and playing them on a keyboard or piano.”
So where does one start best?
To properly understand music notes, several steps are required.
As a musician, one usually begins to read the piano notes in their entirety without trying to play the piece of music on the piano keyboard.
It’s about getting an overview of the difficulty of the piece and perhaps imagining the sound of the melody inside.
Then you read the notes again, paying more attention to the details .
One should be able to recognize difficult passages and divide the piece into sections.
Because a music score is developed step by step . It is very difficult to master a song in just a few hours. The development of the piece in individual stages makes learning easier .
Next is the rhythm, the melody and the harmony .
While the rhythm can be read out of the note values, the melody can be recognized by the notes in the upper staff.
“Harmony is achieved as a musician by bringing rhythm and melody together at the same time.”
Now it is only necessary to give some details a final touch. These include, for example, the position of the hands or the dynamics , ie the volume of the piece.
Dynamic information points the musician to playing louder or softer parts of the piece ( pianississimo, pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, fortississimo ).
How to learn to read piano notes?
Reading piano notes is one thing. Before that, however, one should learn all the signs that make up a sheet of music (notes, cross and B, violin and bass clef, …).
So how can you learn to read music on the piano?
You can either learn to play the piano yourself or with a music teacher. Whichever method one chooses, in both cases it is possible to correctly decipher music notes.
If you choose to take lessons from a piano tutor (eg Sheet Music Learning Online ), understanding the music notes usually works faster and, most importantly, you get exercises that are adapted to your very own progress .
On the other hand, this is not always so easy if you want to teach yourself the music theory and the piano playing yourself at home.
In both cases, however, you will need to learn the basics of music theory before you can play the piano.
First work on rhythm exercises . The rhythm is the skeleton of the piano notes and the piece of music itself.
Imagine what it would be like if every note in each piece of music took exactly one second. They would all be the same.
So the rhythm makes up the character of the piece .
Therefore, it is important to work steadily on the rhythm. There are different exercises for this. Ask your piano teacher for advice or advice on specialized websites.
In addition, other learning content is important, such as the learning of the notes by means of musical dictation or keeping the pace using a metronome .
But above all, you should start reading notes by using simple music notes .
If you pick complicated pieces right from the start, even the most motivated ones quickly lose their courage.
Piano notes: Where can I buy them?
In the music business, on the Internet or on the flea market – scores can be found everywhere!
Nowadays, there are numerous ways to quickly find high-quality music scores.
If you’re ready to invest a few tens of euros in a beautiful music book, you can be sure to get high quality piano scores. They contain no errors .
These music notes are often sold individually or in anthologies with multiple works by a musician and are usually brought by the record companies themselves on the market .
Where do you get such notes?
Music houses are full of music books that contain specifically the music notes of certain artists. You will find every imaginable music style here .
From jazz to rock to German or international pop, there is something for every musician.
For about 20 € to 30 € you get as a piano player ten to twenty songs that were written especially for the piano.
Make sure that the piano notes consist of two staves. Because at the piano the notes have to be shown for both hands.
Of course, it is also possible to buy online today.
On websites or in specialized online shops for music one finds the newest music books and anthologies, often also at low prices.
If you prefer to spend a little less money, you can also buy used music notes .
On the Internet or at flea markets music lovers have the opportunity to share their music collections with others.
Where can you find free piano notes?
You do not have the budget to invest in original anthologies and no time to look for the best bargains on the junk shop?
Music notes are also available for free . You just have to know a few sources – on the internet or offline.
Free piano notes have the advantage of being able to share music with as many other people as possible . They are passed from one musician to the next and are thus used again and again.
As with the piano, which is becoming more and more affordable as an instrument, it also makes it easier to access music notes.
Even people on a budget will come to music notes that are such an important tool for playing the piano.
Nowadays, you have access to an impressive amount of free piano notes at all times. This may be public domain (ie non-copyrighted) works, or you may be looking for specialized websites or online communities.
On some websites it is even possible to select suitable music notes for your own level (beginners, advanced, experienced, professionals).
Of course, sometimes a prior registration is necessary. But not all websites require a financial contribution. So, what are you waiting for?
But also the good old methods work!
How about if you meet with a few musicians from your circle of friends to exchange notes that you do not even need.
This is the opportunity to get to know new musical styles and directions and to support each other in your musical development .
Piano notes for beginners: Which music is suitable?
When you start playing the piano and reading a sheet, it is important not to put obstacles in the way.
In other words, avoid piano notes that are still too demanding!
What is meant by a demanding score?
To avoid sitting in front of piano notes for very experienced and experienced musicians, you should avoid a few small things:
- Too difficult a rhythm,
- Notes with displacement signs (crosses and Bs),
- Too demanding coordination of the two hands,
- Too complicated fingerings.
So what kind of music is right when you’re just starting?
Almost every style of music is suitable for beginning to read music .
Just be careful to choose the version of a piece that is adapted for beginners .
These are often simplified variants of pieces without major chords, leaving only the simple melody.
This allows piano students to concentrate on one thing instead of several things at the same time.
Songs from German or international pop music are usually slower and quieter. Thus, these songs are ideal to take as much time as needed in reading music.
Children’s songs are also ideal for learning piano playing and music theory.
But of course you can just choose the genres that interest you the most:
- Film Music,
- Ragtime,
- Piano Jazz,
- Lullabies,
- Music Rock,
- Folk,
- Blues,
- Classical music,
- Etc.
The most important thing is that you have fun with it – whether with ninety-nine balloons by Nena or one of the masterpieces of great composers (Schubert, Chopin, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Beethoven, Liszt, Haydn, Brahms, Schumann, …).
Ask your piano teacher for help in adjusting the piano notes for beginners and attend a theory course to practice reading notes with a professional.
Nothing like the piano – whether online, classical piano, keyboard or e-piano !
Accompanied by other instruments such as the ukulele, the cello, the recorder, the trumpet, the harmonica, the clarinet, the accordion, the saxophone, the flute, the oboe or the harpsichord, every song for beginners becomes a real piece for professionals .
Because you would rather keep things simple and play flawlessly, than that you fail at a much too difficult piece.
Piano teachers, piano lessons or piano music books – all methods are suitable for learning to read music.
So off to the piano and enjoy the beautiful sounds that this instrument has to offer!
