How to Read Piano Music and Play a Musical Composition

For anyone who intends to learn how to play the piano, the first step towards achieving this is to know very well how to read piano music. If you have already seen a musical piece or composition, you at least have an idea of what a piano piece looks like. This is what you have to learn to read in order to play the music right on the piano.

Learning how to read piano music takes a lot of practice and familiarization. Once you are familiar with the notes and their positions, you will be able to play music. The very first step is to learn the different notes. As long as you know the English alphabet, you will find this part of the lesson very easy because the musical notes only go from A to G. So that is A, B, C, D, E, F and G.

These are referred to as the natural notes and they correspond to the white keys of the piano. The black keys of the piano are referred to as the sharps and flats. There are only a total of 12 notes if you combine the natural notes and the sharps and flats. These actually repeat over and over on the piano which is referred to as octaves.

In a musical composition, you will see the treble staff and the bass staff. Most piano compositions are written on the staffs which consist of five lines and four spaces. The treble staff is being played by the right hand and the bass staff, by the left hand. In the piano, the treble staff and the bass staff are joined together. You will find the notes that you have to play on the piano along the lines and spaces of each staff.

Each line and space actually corresponds to a piano key. In the treble staff, the lines corresponds these notes – E, G, B, D and E; the spaces correspond to the following notes – F, A, C and E. In the bass staff, the lines corresponds to these notes – G, B, D, F and A; while the spaces corresponds to – A, C, E and G. In order to learn how to read piano music, you must familiarize yourself with these notes and their respective positions on the treble staff and bass staff.

Learning the basics is the start of the entire learning process. It takes a lot of practice and some personal technique. As long as you know the notes and how to read piano music, you can position your hands on the piano keyboard and start playing a simple tune. Do not overwhelm yourself with the technicalities; you will discover these as you go along and as you become more and more comfortable with playing the piano.