How to Actually Read and Play Piano Music
Want to teach yourself or your child piano? Want to hit keys on a piano or actually read and play piano music that’s written? Be careful; there are hundreds of method books to choose from and some look very entertaining. Some have gorgeous illustrations; some have audio visual reinforcements; some are meant to use with a computer.
But they all can be distilled into two piles:
- play piano by hitting keys – or –
- actually read written music to enjoy playing piano
Hit Piano Keys vs.
Read and Play Written Piano Music
Which is the best way? Do you want to memorize a sentence or two and be able to recite them? Or do you want to know how to read any material ever written or ever to be written? It’s freeing when you can read. There is no limit, if you know the language – and written piano music is a language!
Which Piano Method to Use? How to Decide? Test Them!
I don’t mean to buy a lot of different kinds of method books, but you can easily look at the first several pages through Amazon or even music stores.
What do you see? Do the instructions make sense? Are they clear in text and in illustration?
Are the first few pages easy to completely understand? So easy you may think you don’t even need a teacher to start piano lessons?
Take a look at this early page in Book 1 of PIANO Revolution. It’s for young students aged 4 and 5 but the early pages of the book for older students uses the same thinking process at a faster pace.
Pretend to pick up the group of 3 black keys with your right hand. This positions your thumb to the left side of the left black key. Underneath your thumb is a white key. Slide your thumb down this white key towards you and play it. This key is named center F. Hop over the neighbor key with another finger and play the next key named A.
You hardly need any directions to quickly see how the right hand READS the staff and PLAYS these two keys. Right at the beginning the student reads and plays written notes on the staff. This more quickly stays in long-term memory when the student says aloud each letter name as the note is played. (Just in the beginning – not forever!)
Once all four spaces are learned, the student is shown how to use the space keys and notes to find the line keys and notes. One parent who reviewed this method for her children to start piano lessons found this immediate connection between written note and piano key to be “huge” and logical and really taught how to read and play piano music. It was “new” for her – a thought process, not just memorizing!
Compare to the Traditional Method to Read and Play Piano Music
Here’s a typical page from a traditional method book, and the same as many current new methods from which you can choose. It’s a picture of the middle part of the keyboard with a key labeled as Middle C.
The instructions are:
Here is the Middle C key in the middle of your piano.
Play this Middle C key with your right thumb 1.
Play the D key with pointer finger 2.
Play the E key with middle finger 3.
Play the F key with finger 4.
Play the G key with finger 5.
Here’s what these keys look like on a staff.
Each staff line and space represents a certain key.
Does this teach “how” to read music? Did this teach anything for the student to use to think on his own? No. A picture was shown; the directions were given; the directions were followed.
This is like the whole word approach to teaching English in a Reading Class. The student is shown a word often enough until it is recognized and learned. But if a reader knows the sounds represented by individual letters (the phonetic reading method), then any word can be read – in any book – at any time.
Until PIANO Revolution, learning to play piano was like learning each word of a book on sight. Basically . . . memorizing. Playing keys by rote (mechanical repetition).
The New Way to Learn to Read and Play Piano Music: PIANO Revolution
Today there’s a new way – a logical way to learn to play piano – based on the educational principles of Instructional Design (which is basically learning one thing at a time and building on previous learning in order to progress).
Where Do I Start?
How to start piano lessons begins with testing the method book to see if it has you actually reading notes and playing the keys without gimmicks like finger numbers, hand position key groups, stickers, or rote copy-then do illustrations.
Many students of all ages who were not very
successful using other methods quickly
progressed with new understanding
using PIANO Revolution –
because they now had a thinking process to use.
Once the spaces and their keys are learned through practice pieces, the spaces are used to name and locate the line keys. Starting with the closest space – the line key is played (for example, to locate the third line, think spaces F – A – C, then the 3rd line D).
The right hand treble staff is introduced first, but the left hand bass staff uses the same procedure and thinking process with its different spaces. After right and left hand letters and keys are learned, both hands play together. Later, timing is introduced, which is much easier after having learned to read and play the written music!
The student uses the thinking process of using spaces to find the line – then in a relatively short time it will not have to be used at all. The spaces and lines and their corresponding keys will have been learned!
Want to teach yourself or your child piano? Want to hit keys on a piano or actually read and play piano music that’s written? PIANO Revolution is a proven choice to successfully read and play piano music!
What Would the First Lesson for a Young Student Look Like?
What Would the First Lesson for a 6 to Teen Look Like (video)?
View sample pages of all the books for students
ages 6 to teen:
View sample pages of all the books for students
4 to 5 years old:
View sample pages of all the books for older
teens and adults:
View the books on Amazon:
About the Author,
Composer,
and Eternal Optimist
Leslie Young is the author/composer of PIANO Revolution She co-founded a K-12th grade charter school in Texas and has been a piano teacher for 40 years. She has had experience teaching a variety of students tackling piano for the first time or as returning students.
Leslie believes that “learning to play the piano is more about diligence and perseverance” – but would add that just as critical to success is the method that is used, the encouragement of critical thinking, and the instructional principles that promote immediate success.
She states: “In teaching piano to students of varying ages, what also varies is a commitment of time and the amount of dedication. Children of certain ages may do very well with a parent as teacher; others may need someone who is not family to instruct them. Some older children and adults prefer to make progress on their own, and this method is designed to act as a meticulous guide through new material. Some adults and teens insist on professional teachers, which also encourages continuity. Because these books are self-explanatory, a new or experienced professional teacher will have no trouble using PIANO Revolution with students. It is an easy way to learn piano.
