How to read a piano score?

Par LaSalleDeMusique
How to read a piano score?

The score is of great help when playing the piano, because it serves as both a guide and a reference point. However, it is not enough to have it in front of you. Above all, you must know how to read it correctly and understand each piece of information that appears there. Otherwise, it won’t be of much use to you. Today, we are going to teach you how to read a piano score by explaining the meaning of all its elements.

Understanding each symbol in the score

For those who have never seen a piano sheet music, it is made up of lines and many symbols which can be confusing. If you don’t understand the meaning, you can easily get lost. It is therefore not enough to have a certain notion, you must perfectly master the meaning of each symbol that appears in the score.

  • The scope: the staff is a set of 5 horizontal lines on which the notes appear. Generally, the score should contain two staves one above the other. The top staff represents the right hand and the bottom one represents the left hand.
  • The notes: The notes do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do, re… are located on or between the lines of the staff. Playing should be done from left to right and those above each other should be played at the same time.
  • The time signature: rhythm constitutes the character of a piece. Indeed, if each note in the song lasted a second, it would give the impression that they all sounded the same and the song would then be monotonous.
  • The silence: silence is the length of time during which the pianist must stop playing. Whether it’s a pause, a half-pause, a sigh… the musician must stop pressing the keys he previously played for a period of time.

Which piano sheet music for beginners?

As you can see, it is not easy to learn to play the piano. As a beginner, there are certain types of music that will be more suitable for your workouts. Avoid songs that have a complicated time signature, with feints, or that require a lot of hand coordination. Songs that involve significant finger movements should also be avoided.

The best place to start is with slow, gentle music like children’s songs and lullabies. Furthermore, if you want to play blues or jazz, you simply need to choose simplified scores that will not include large chords. This way, you will learn more easily by focusing only on the melody.

Now that you know read a score piano, all you have to do is practice. You will see that with time and repetition, you will end up having the right reflexes. And for your exercises buy piano sheet music online to print !

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