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Written Piano Music And Rhythm

Do you play piano? If so, do you know about rhythm? If you do, you know that you can improvise with rhythm as long as you are somewhat expert at playing the piano. It’s the same with singing. Singing, too, can be improvised simply by holding some notes out longer and making others shorter — and no one has to tell you how to do it. You just know how.

To learn a song you don’t know yet, it’s useful to use written music and play it as written first so that you understand the rhythm. If you’re playing in an ensemble or group and the group is playing from sheet music, you’ll do better if you play from sheet music as well because you will stay in time with them.

The first thing you learn about rhythm is the time signature. The time signature is directly to the right of the treble and bass clefs on a music staff. If the time signature changes while the piece is in progress, the composer puts a different time signature at that point where the rhythm is about to change. Read more

Time after time, I have come across pianists who cannot read music well and rely on memorization to save them. Do you admire pianists who can just pick up any piece of sheet music and play without stumbling? If you want to take your sight reading to the next level then check out the piano course "Mastering The Art Of Piano Sight Reading!"

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The Lines and the Spaces in Piano Music

Your first experience with playing music from written notations will come as soon as you learn the notes. The first thing you have to do is to learn about the lines and the spaces of the staffs. On the diagram below, the notes used are all quarter notes. That refers to the rhythm of the notes which will be discussed later. The purpose of this diagram is to show you the notes as they are positioned on the staff.

If you look just at the actual lines of the staff, you will see that they are, going up, E-G-B-D-F. Some people remember this with little sayings, like “Every Good Boy Does Fine.” There are memory tricks for all the lines and spaces on both staffs. For the spaces of the treble clef, you will notice that the letters of the notes spell F-A-C-E.

Now, you can relate the notes on the page to the keys on the keyboard. Remember where the middle C is? The C on the left of the diagram above depicts middle C. The middle C is shown on an added line below the treble clef or above the bass clef. Using middle C as a reference point and your new knowledge of the letters that go with the notes, try to look at each note and then play the key it refers to.

Take the music you have at hand, and try to pick out a few notes on the piano from the treble clef. You might even be able to play a melody line by using this method. This will only get you started. However, every time you can have the satisfying experience of playing music, you should take it. The feeling will carry you on to want to learn more. Read more

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Tips For Reading Piano Music

With just a little success behind you, you can tackle the task of learning to read music. Of course there are a number of successful musicians that aren’t able to read music. They can simply listen to a song and play it by ear. They are able to make improvisations on simple things to deliver elaborate variations of well known songs. These musicians seem to know their instruments just as well as a singer knows his or her own voice.

You might be the type of person that can do that. You will learn more a little later about chords and improvisation. However, if you are just learning about the piano, it’s very likely that you will get more help from written music. Further, when you learn how to read music you will open a new world for yourself. You will be able to play songs that you have never heard before. Not only will you be able to play this music, but you can repeat your performance anytime you want to because the sheet music guides you note for note.

There is a great deal to learn. You will have to find out how each note is depicted. You will have to know what the staffs are that the notes are written on and what they look like. You will have to learn how rhythm, sharps, and flats are represented. Once you learn these basics, you can start to build on the knowledge. Read more

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