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OK, so how dumb am I?
Can someone explain to me what 'reading music' is exactly ?

My mom talks like it's a skill you're either born with or not, can't be acquired, like some amazing, cosmic talent. She is not a 'musical' person.

Musical people that I do talk to talk about learning it like it's this long, drawn-out process, like learning to read English.

Up to now, I guess I've never had reading music explained to me. If I were to take my best guess, reading music would mean being able to string together series of notes to make more meaningful, larger chunks, equivalent to our words and sentences. Should you be able to hear the music in your head if you are, in fact, reading it? Or is it simply looking at a score and being able to rattle off the names of notes F, G, A, C, F#, etc.?

Please help me clear this up! When people ask me if I can read music, I honestly don't know how to answer.

I'll try to explain the best I can, but the more experienced pianists may be able to answer this best.

Reading music is not only about reading C, D, E, F, G. It's about reading the signature, it's about reading eighth notes, it's about reading the rests needed, playing the piece lively or slowly, loudly or softly. Reading the piece and playing the music according to how it is written, blends the notes, rhythm, timing and sound which brings you beautiful music. It's not just knowing the notes, it's knowing how to play them which makes the tune/sound of the piece.

Hope this helps.

I'm just a beginner, but here goes:
Reading is not just identifying the names of the notes. It's also knowing which finger to use to press which note, how long to hold it, and whether to play loudly or softly, and how fast. That's the basics (where I'm at). There is a whole lot more to playing piano, but that's pretty much what "reading" means for a beginner anyway.

I think it's akin to reading English; learning it might be a long process, and it's certainly not something one is born with.

Knowing the letters of the alphabet doesn't mean you can read; you have to understand how they combine into words, and how words form even larger structures. Likewise, reading music is more than being able to identify individual notes. It's knowing how they relate to each other (whether played simultaneously or in succession), and recognizing their duration, manner of articulation and loudness, too—and how everything comes together in musical phrases.

Whether one can "hear" the music while reading—called audiation—depends on things like one's sense of relative pitch, understanding of intervals and recognition of chords. Even without any of these skills, it should be possible to recognize the contours of a melodic line and the rhythm.

Steven

Reading musical notations.

Step one; being able to read and say the note name in the same amount of time it takes to say your name. Three to eight weeks.

Step two; being able to then find those notes on your instrument. Another three to eight weeks.

Step three; being able to find and sound those notes on your instrument and not loose the beat. Several years.

Step four; it's here you will move from just reading to understanding music theory. Being able to recognize patterns and anticipate what is coming. Several more years.

Step five; your study of music never ends. As you walk through one door another one is revealed. But, in three to eight weeks you will on your way.

Malcolm

Being able to read music goes beyond seeing the notes - for me it's about hearing the music when you see the score. A little like reading a good novel where you immediately begin to visualise the scene....IMHO.

In the meantime, I will continue various sight reading practices

Mark

is this a April fool joke?

It's a language that is universal learn it once and vacation with your piano in Paris or Prague it's all the same.
Cool eh?
You have to learn it, it is not a miarcle. They say Mozart was a genius at notation, ok I'll buy it, 'cause I love him.
But he practiced huge!!! He had no HBO no Nintendo no Radio no Internet or Blackberries unless eatable.
SO he pracitced....
That's the ticket.
The more you do it the easier it gets, that's why my Dentist is 65.

Unlike reading words, which usually does not involve any sounds, music is usually (not always) auditory, which means you must both read it and create it. Like learning English initially, you start with very simple sentences and so it is with learning to read music you start with very short and simple sound patterns (songs) and over time work your way up to more complex and demanding ones.

To get a feel for this, pick out your favorite classical piece and find the sheet music for it on the internet and print it out, and then find a Utube of a pianist playing it, and you can appreciate what it takes to create wonderful music from the notes on a page.

As to when someone might say they can "read music"? Well, using the English analogy again, can someone read English when they can read and understand "See Spot Run" or a full length novel? Probably something in between and as mentioned by others it definately takes time and work to get really good at reading and creating music.

Everyone's mileage will vary, and this beginner is pretty much at the See Spot Run stage!

Hope this helps...

/Scruffies

PS: There is "reading" and then there's "sight-reading" which usually means someone who can be handed a piece of music they have not seen before and proceed to play it at tempo with very few errors, a skill I can only imagine.

Reading music in many cases *is* simply knowing your notes and rests, being able to identify the letter name, and also to be able to read the relationship between notes (intervals). That is really all there is to it. I can read words in French very well, even with a decent accent. I would have no clue what I'm saying, however. Once you have gotten to the point where you've done all of that with your music, then you try to put it all together in your mind to create music from it. Some can hear the music in their head as they look at a piece of unfamiliar music, but that takes most people many years to be able to do. The more you play, the more you'll get a feel for a piece even before playing it the first time.

Just as a child learns to understand a written language by associating it with the words (sounds) it already knows and uses, they don't have to learn how to read first and learn the rules of grammar formally to be able to speak. Learning to read music is very similar. We instinctively understand the "rules" of music, if you will, but remember that while written words can be very nicely put, they can sometimes (as we find so often on these forums) not always communicate tone of voice or feeling of the one speaking, which sometimes leads to a break down of communication. If we rely solely on the written music to convey the message of the music, then it will not sound genuine. As you get more experienced you'll be better at detecting what the music is saying, or what you'd like it to say.

Morodiene,

I keep stumbling across helpful posts written by you! Your recent post on techique in reply to Zarathustra was very nice. Keep up the good work. =)

As to the topic: I'm coming from the guitar, so I'm not really used to reading bass clef music. I don't sweat it though, and just commit the pieces to memory instead of trying to read while I'm playing, which I find is mostly distracting and keeps me at a snail-like pace. I'm sure I'd become a better reader faster if I focused on it, but that will come with experience. I do love printing a fresh sheet of music for one of my favorite pieces and picking at some of the notes. It's magic; the beauty is right there on the page.

Hey, btw, what's the etiquette for posting videos of oneself playing something for critique and advice? I don't see too many people doing it. Is it considered rude to impose one's substandard playing on our patrician regulars?

I only wish it were...

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

Learning to read music is easy. Learning to play music--not so much easy.

Thanks for the encouragement, Thorium

As for posting recordings for critique, there is a forum especially designed for that. Scroll down the where it says "Hop to" and has a drop down menu, and select "Member Recordings".

The ABF is a lot more open on posting recordings. We have a piano bar for posting your recordings every month - see April Piano Bar for that thread. Also we have quarterly recitals, I believe the next recital comes up in May. Also, if you are working out of the Alfred's books, there are the three Alfred's threads that you can post in. Finally, I can't say that anyone here in the ABF has frowned upon someone creating a new thread for their recording. Please note, that you will be much more likely to receive support than criticism here in the ABF.

I would say that the Pianists Corner is the main forum that really suggests (rather strongly at times) posting in the Member's Recordings forum.

Rich

Because of the design of the Grand Staff, reading music has been made unnecessarily difficult. That is my well researched personal opinion.

It is so well researched, that I have gone on to invent an alternative "staff" (US Patented) for adult piano learners.

But the tradition of Grand Staff is so dominating, that people just accept it. But music scores really do not have to be that complicated.

Of course, I am just talking about the part about identifying the music notes with their corresponding piano keys. Many people find this part (Grand Staff, the key signatures and accidentals) so daunting that they just give up. There is, of course, more to that in "music reading", e.g. length of note, dynamics, expressions, techniques, etc.

Jeff Hao

<Jeff Hao> When your post is deleted, it is probably a good idea not to reproduce it.

Thorium,

BB Player has explained why my posted thread was deleted and the parts that broke the pianoworld forum rules.

I am new to pianoworld and I did not know that. I believe that this post of mine does not break any rules. If any part does, please let me know, and I will correct it. But you cannot keep telling me to shut up. This is a forum, is it not?

If you have a different academic view about what I say, or my invention-based business cause, let's discuss openly or privately. I read your reply to my "deleted post" and found that you have many misconceptions about how the Grand Staff works. I am happy to help you clear them.

I am annoyed, but hope that we can exchange views normally.

Jeff

I wish I could mingle with people having trouble with reading and understanding Grand Staff. I could get you to an accomplished readed state in a short time period. You would own the piano keyboard and the grand staff and carry it within your being from now on.

It starts with one line, and then with ingenuity 2 lines to create one space. Etc.

7 alphabet letters

Middle Line Centering (Bass, Treble, Grand) Voila! Identifies all the lines and spaces on the keyboard. Great tool to know!

Leger lines added below the staff, and above the staff and between the staves when needed.

Keyboard Orientation

Finger Numbering of the Hand

Add Note Value Counting

Add Coordination choices - Left? Right? Together?

Add eye movement training

Adding "Blue dots" and "Music Mapping" and you will be playing piano with some very mighty resources.

Systems and structures in thinking and planning with the right concepts at the right time will get you there. Pacing is very important in the sequence of things.

The Grand Staff needs to be first approached in a concrete - sequential format, then I add some random - abstract creative ideas, and the reading music world becomes your oyster. (Ignore that comment if you don't like oysters, substituted a different word.)

I'd love to help more people! In person works best! I'd also love to do it eventually by video presentations! I'd love to share my knowledge with more people. Everyone is struggling too much, too hard, for too long. It's painful to see this happening. It doesn't have to be so. Angst!

Beginning now.....

Betty Patnude

<MANY misconceptions about how the Grand Staff works> Oh? I believe I only mentioned _one_ aspect of the Grand Staff, that specific aspect your invention seeks to remedy. Please tell me what my many misconceptions are.

What _I_ am annoyed about is that your post in this thread is not all that helpful to the initial poster. It says very little at all, actually, but does go out of its way to stress that you have a patented a way to circumvent all this tedious learning.

It seems fairly clear to me you're trying to solicit, considering the way you word your post and how you're so "helpfully" providing a link to your business in your signature. If I'm mistaken, you have my apologies.