Piano for Beginners 6th ED - 2016 UK

Understanding theory

I

f you want to become a successful pianist,

you should be able to read musical notation.

You should be able to transcribe those dots and

squiggles on the stave into beautiful music that

flows from your fingertips. Fortunately, once you

have got the basics of notation down, it’s not too

hard to get to grips with. The ultimate goal is to be

able to sight read – just take one look at the sheet

music and transfer those notes immediately. We’ve

been through what the different types of staves are

and what sort of notes you’ll find on them, now we

need to discover how their positioning on the stave

affects what notes you should play.

Every white key on your keyboard corresponds to

a dot on either a line or a space of one of the staves.

For example, if you see a minim/half note on the first

line up of the treble clef stave, you should play the

E note after Middle C for two beats. If the next note

is on the line above it, then you should play a G. If

it’s in the space between these two lines, then you

should play an F. However, the same notes do not

transfer to the bass stave. If you see a minim on the

first line up for the bass stave, you should play a G

rather than an E.

You have to learn two different systems, which

can certainly be tricky at first. But with the help of

some handy mnemonics and learning tools which

we will run through in this tutorial – not to mention

a fair amount of practice – you will be reading music

in no time.

How to read

musical notation

Learn which notes go where and use simple mnemonics to

remember their positions on the staves

The piano’s keyboard What the staves correspond to

Middle C

The most important note on the

keyboard doesn’t rest on either

stave, it occupies a ledger line

The next C

This note is also named C, but it is not Middle C.

Every 12 semitones the A-G pattern recycles –

there are eight different Cs on a full-size keyboard

Bass stave white keys

Each of these white keys has a line

or space on the bass stave. The G

rests on the bottom line, and the

A rests on the top line

Treble stave white keys

Each of these white keys has a different place on the

treble stave, whether it is on a line or a space. The E rests

on the bottom line, and the F on the top. Notes higher or

lower will rest on ledger lines outside of the stave