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When it comes to reading piano sheet music, the first place to start is with the individual elements of the composition itself. Before you can tackle an entire piece, you must be familiar with that particular composition’s language.

The following are steps to consider in reading piano sheet music. These will help you grasp the intent and nuances of the piece quickly.

* Look over the entire composition to get a feel for its length and structure. This first run through is just to have a quick overview of the composer’s work.

* Go through the piece a second time. This second run through is more deliberate. You want to locate any unfamiliar things: notes, chords, articulations and tempo indications. Highlight any of these that you know will require research. Use a music dictionary or other resource to understand these elements.

* Next, consider the time signature of the piece. Are you familiar with it? If not, read up on the specific time signature, as it is a primary characteristic of the song.

* Consider the key signature of the composition. Are you familiar with this key or is it new? If it’s new to you, learn the key’s scale with its attendant sharps or flats to better understand the piece.

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pianomother asked:

www.pianomother.com Essential rules to sight read well Being able to sight read well is a tremendous ability. It allows you to play impromptu in groups and learn music faster, rather than stumbling through every note when you first pick up a piece. Some musicians have the natural ability, while others have to work hard to sight read well. If you fall into the latter category, it is not something to be discouraged over. Sight reading can be cultivated with persistent practice. The following rules are essential to help you learn to sight read well. Always look over the music first. When you start playing a song, you have a lot to pay attention to in order just to get the right notes on the piano the first time. Consequently, trying to notice all the other details can get pushed to the side. Looking the song over helps you note things you otherwise would have passed over. Watch for • Key changes Just because a song starts in the key of F doesn’t mean it will stay there. Usually there will be an obvious transition leading up to the change, but be watchful! Rarely, though, does a song conclude without coming back to its original key. Also watch for any accidentals. • Time signature changes Time signature changes generally do not last for many measures. Stay on your toes! • Dynamics • Runs Coming up on a run unexpectedly can be startling. Be prepared by noting if the run is simply a scale run or if it contains skips and steps mixed together, as well as any accidentals. • 8va’s …

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creativeguitarstudio asked:

Andrew discusses the principles of reading a notated melody from off of the music staff including; Clef sign, Key Signature sign, Time Signature symbol, Note layout, pitch relationship to the guitar, and fingerboard concepts involved in learning to read music notation (no tab) on guitar. Official Website: www.andrewwasson.com Follow Andrew on Blogspot creativeguitarstudio.blogspot.com Follow on Twitter: twitter.com MySpace: www.myspace.com Facebook: www.facebook.com

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creativeguitarstudio asked:

The response from Andrew Wasson of Creative Guitar Studio to; Was hoping that you could help me with the topic of Music Reading. I have absolutely no understanding of reading music. So, I will just go over what I have been researching so far… – Ive learned that music is read off of the Music Staff. – The staff is composed of 5 lines and 4 spaces. – The lines are named from the bottom going upwards; E, G, B, D, F. (mnemonic = Every Good Boy Does Fine) – The spaces are named again from bottom going up F, A, C, E (spelling the word FACE). – There are 5 note durations: Whole = 4 beats, Half = 2 beats, Quarter = 1 beat, Eighth = 1/2 a beat Sixteeth note… (but, I have no idea what it looks like or what it does). This is all I know. Ive heard that the lines on the staff represent strings on the guitar. If so, how come there are six strings on a guitar and five lines on the staff.? And, if the lines are the guitar strings, what do the spaces on the staff represent? I am having a very difficult time understanding this. I have been watching your videos and I am hoping that you could help me to understand all of this. – Shane Andrew discusses the principles of the music staff including; Clef sign, Key Signature sign, Time Signature symbol, Note layout, pitch relationship to the guitar, and fingerboard concepts involved in learning to read music notation on guitar. Official Website: www.andrewwasson.com Follow Andrew on Blogspot creativeguitarstudio.blogspot.com Follow on Twitter …

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creativeguitarstudio asked:

www.creativeguitarstudio.com Search Andrew Wasson.com for FREE lesson Handouts. This Video: February 01, 2011 | Search Videos by Title/Date. GO TO: www.andrewwasson.com Andrew Wasson of Creative Guitar Studio answers a viewers question… In this lesson, we will be examining the fingerboard sight-reading area found between the open position and the 5th position. And, once again we’ll see how range plays an important role in how the music staff relates each pitch over to the guitar fingerboard. After that, we’ll look at using scales as templates to help us with applying either a key signature or any accidentals that may appear while sight-reading a piece. The complete lesson article for this video will be available on the Creative Guitar Studio website shortly. Follow me on Twitter for lesson posting announcements: twitter.com ____________________________________ The NEW Zazzle Products page: www.zazzle.com ____________________________________ Andrew’s Official Q & A Guitar Blog Website: www.andrewwasson.com Andrew’s “Video GuitarBlog” YouTube Channel www.youtube.com The Creative Guitar Studio Website: www.creativeguitarstudio.com Follow Andrew on Blogspot: creativeguitarstudio.blogspot.com Follow on Twitter for new lesson announcements: twitter.com MySpace: www.myspace.com Facebook: www.facebook.com _____________________________________ CLARINET SIGHT-READING BOOK SERIES: Improve Your Sight-reading! Clarinet (3) Book Series… www.amazon.com

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asked:




If you’re intending to play drums then you really should become skilled at drum notation. Drum notation is sheet music that shows you the timing of every drum in the drum kit. If you already understand how to read music you will get used to drum notation without difficulty. As it uses lots of similar notations to traditional sheet music, if you can already read music you will have no dificulty with drum notation. The following notes illustrate how the timing in drum notation is indicated in the music, so even if you are unable to read orthodox sheet music these should assist you to understand drum notation.

Traditional sheet music is made up of a staff, a time signature at the start and the notes of music. Five horizontal lines create the staff, which is divided into measures by vertical lines. You will also see added markings included in the music, these are dynamics and are there to show how the music is to be played.

To indicate the timing the time signature is used. This consists of two numbers stacked vertically. Common time (4/4) is the time signature most frequently seen, but others are used, for example 2/4, 3/4, 6/8. The time signature shows the count of beats in a measure (the top number) and the type of note that gets one beat (the bottom number), so for a timing of 2/4 each quarter note will be counted as one beat, and each measure will have 2 beats, similarly, if the time signature showed 6/8 time then each measure would have 6 beats and in this case the eighth note would be counted as one beat. The time signature does not show an absolute measure, but gives the timing relative to the speed of the music.

It is essential when you are learning to play to study the correct timimg. To do this count the beats and strive to play the note at the precise count. Do not alter the pace at which you count . If you were playing piano, where you can to sustain a note, then you would hold the note for the count indicated.. So for 4/4 time (4 beats to a measure, quarter note gets one beat) this would be a count of 1 for a quarter note, a count of 2 for a half note and a count of 4 for a whole note. Since you aren’t able to do this when playing drums, the way to keep correct timing is to strike the drum on the count then count out the rest of the beats for that note.

A drum kit has a number of drums and it is necessary to know which drum to strike. This is shown by the position of the notes on the staff, unlike in ordinary sheet music which makes use of the position of the note to show pitch, with the pitch increasing as the notes ascend the staff. In drum notation the notes for each drum are placed on the same stave, more often than not with hi-hat cymbals highest followed by the snare drum(s), then bass drum as the lowest. Some music will have a key to tell you which line indicates which drum if the regular positioning is not being utilised. In some cases a cymbol will be indicated by an x in place of a dot.



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creativeguitarstudio asked:

Andrew Wasson of Creative Guitar Studio answers a viewers question: “I am more or less a beginner guitarist and I am hoping that you can help me with a good explanation about something called Musical Key Signatures. So far, all I keep reading about is some concept to do with it called the, “Clock Theory.” It seems to be used all over the internet, but I just don’t get a number of things to do with this whole topic such as: 1). Why do we have to know about Key Signatures? 2). What can learning about this stuff do to help my guitar playing? 3). What does it all have to do with a Clock? It seems like most of the explanations online keep showing a clock. I just don’t see how music keys relate to clocks? Thank you for considering my question, Jacob – Halifax, NS. CANADA For a Handout of this lesson please follow the link below: www.creativeguitarstudio.com Official Website: www.andrewwasson.com Follow Andrew on Blogspot creativeguitarstudio.blogspot.com Follow on Twitter: twitter.com MySpace: www.myspace.com Facebook: www.facebook.com

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SpeedyMusicReading asked:

www.SpeedyMusicReading.com. Free Music Lesson to Teach You how to recognize key signatures. Learn How to Read Music Notes Fast.

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