Here is a guide to help you learn how to read notes, whether you are just beginning, thinking about beginning or are starting up again!
I would like to give you a couple of exercises so you will be ahead of the game when learning an instrument for the first time or to secure a sketchy understanding of a valuable technique…Note Reading,
There are 5 techniques that should be worked on in depth that when isolated and focused on, will make understanding and using them very advantageous. They are:
Rhythm
Notes
Fingerings
Phrasing
Dynamics
Today, the focus is on Note Reading...
Some of us have gotten into the habit of not paying attention to what the notes actually are on the staff. Some write the letter names on their music which means they are then reading English and not music. Ouch! So, let’s learn our notes!
In the treble and bass clef, each staff has five lines and four spaces. Each one of these lines and spaces pertains to only one key on the piano. So the first line of the Treble Clef is a skip above Middle C, whether you place a whole note, half note quarter note, etc on that line, that 1st line will always be the E right above Middle C. The fourth space of the Treble Clef is the E a skip above Treble C and an octave above the first line. Count the lines and spaces from the first line to the fourth space and you will have exactly 8 steps, an octave. So, regard the staff as a chart that directly correlates to each key on the piano.
That said, I would like you to isolate and secure the lines and spaces of the Treble Clef away from the piano. Go over in your head mind E G B D F with a sentence like Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge and F A C E. Then, visualize in your minds eye just what letter name each of the lines and spaces are referring to. It will take a bit of time and doing this away from the keyboard is very effective. Once the Treble Clef is secure and only then, turn you attention to the Bass Clef. I use Good Boys Deserve Fun Always and All Cows Eat Grass moving from the lowest to the highest note on the staff. Feel free to modify the sentence so it is easy to retain… Same procedure as for the Treble Clef above.
I find this procedure saves a lot of practice time by learning a technique that can be applied to all in the future instead of “running around my back hand” to get that one note that will make the melody sound good…! Learning this notes, as I say, will save you countless hours of “figuring it out” and get you playing and creating much sooner!
So, with this study, I have three exercises that you can be quizzed on! Have someone ask you the following questions using the score I have provided at the end of this Blog…
#1 Have them ask you.. “what is the 1st line of the treble clef? The 2nd line? The 3rd space?” Your answers should all be “off book”!
#2 What is the 1st line of the Bass Clef? The 4th space? The 5th line” and so on… mix up the lines and spaces and keep on going until the answers are fluent.
#3 Then have them ask the same questions moving back and forth from the Treble and the Bass clef. Your mind will feel like its in a Tennis Game lol… and just a really great way of independently knowing your notes.
To test yourself and to see if you will be able to read your notes in “real time”, meaning as you are reading and playing in tempo at the same time, I use the motion of a bouncing tennis ball. Bounce the Tennis Ball in front of you and as it hits the floor, say “1st Line Treble Clef” when you catch it ( on the first bounce ) say “E”. Go Through all the lines, then the spaces of each clef. This gets your mind to understand that there is a set limit of time to capture the answer. Your mind will learn to process in-between the bounce…Once comfortable with this, use this as a basis of a game and play this with someone else, bouncing the ball between the two of you. Neither one will know the question until the ball is bounced. The goal is to keep the ball in motion as a Tennis volley!
So, these are suggestions to learn the notes. It is a much easier task when all you are focusing on are the notes themselves without any attention to how to play them or for how long…
Feel free to ask me any questions on this! MusicByMGB@gmail.com
Photo Entitled: A New Path - Path on the Lower Rogue Trail, Agness, Oregon
