Reading Piano Music

Some people can really get themselves bent out of shape about learning to read two lines of music at the same time. This is often common with someone who plays, or has played another musical instrument before trying to learn to play the piano.

Most instruments have only one line of music, whereas piano music has two lines to read simultaneously, one for the left hand and one for the right hand.

I do get why some people may be initially a little freaked about learning to read to lines of music at once. I can assure you that reading two lines of music is definitely possible, even after being used to only one. Sure, piano music often looks more complicated than say, for example, trombone music or saxophone music. BUT, to play a note on the piano, you only have to get one finger to press down on a note and you will produce that note. Compare this to playing a note on a trombone or a saxophone. With the trombone you have to firstly be able to hold your lips in a way that when you blow through your lips, you make a buzzing sound then you have to hold the instrument to your lips in an exact way, then you have to extend your right arm holding the slide part of the trombone, so it is at an exact length and if you are slightly out, your note will sound flat or sharp.

Now think about playing just one note on the saxophone. Firstly, your reed attached has to be a little damp from your saliva and then you have to hold your mouth over the mouthpiece in a very precise position. Next, you need to blow with the right intensity – too hard will make the instrument squeak and too soft will be ineffective. The final bit is that using a specific combination of levers, you need to press down the exact combination to get the right note.

My point in explaining all of this, is that while piano music may look harder to read than other instruments, playing the notes is often much easier on a piano compared with other instruments.

So I am of the opinion that the two sort of balance each other out – reading music versus producing a note. Yes it does take more effort to learn to read piano music, but it is something that if you practice reading piano music, you can get to the point where it doesn’t feel that hard at all.

Don’t let learning to read piano music put you off learning to play the piano.