key-notes

For most piano students, reading piano music is one of the biggest hurdles in learning to play the piano. I’ve therefore assembled a series of practical, general tips that will help you read...

Question: I am returning to playing the piano after 20 years. I took lessons from the age of 8 until I was 17. My problems are fingering, sight reading and arthritic fingers. It’s a real...

Question: I have a few students who have great difficulty reading the notes on the staff. It has been brought to my attention that it may be due to a tracking problem which falls into the category...

Question: Is there any “rule of thumb” regarding playing notes in both clefs, at the same time? In other words, do the stems need to line up or do the notes need to be directly over...

Question: Hello, I am a beginner at playing the keyboard and I have just been learning to read notes.

My teacher has given me notes to practice – like quarter notes, half notes, and whole...

Question: I have a question about sight reading and how it relates to piano theory. I can sight read a normal piece pretty well, but only at a slow tempo.

I read somewhere that it was due to short...

Question: Hello,

I have been playing with the piano now for four years. The first two years I have been teaching myself while my daughter was taking lessons. Now as of November of this year it...

In my experience, reading sheet music is usually the biggest challenge for most piano students. The difficulties can be mitigated some by understanding that reading music is not a single skill...

Question: I just had my piano lesson yesterday and my teacher asked me to play this song and I did, and he realised that I was reading the numbers above the notes. He asked me to try play it...

Which Note Is Which?

Question: My main problem is identifying and remembering which note is which.

Is there any special way I could train my mind and brain to recognize the notes correctly, and to...

How to Read Sheet Music course available now!

Reading music is one of the essential musical skills you’ll need to make the most of your musical ability. The entire history of Western music is...

Question: Does your course also cover how to properly read and practice the multiple voices found in almost every piano/vocal/chord sheet music I see? I have seen many courses that teach you how...

Question: My daughter is currently learning (almost a year now) and I am learning with her. My challenge is music notes. When I play, I am kind of simply comparing the position of the note to the...

Question: When I was 8, in 1974, my mother sent my to the Cleveland Music School Settlement, in hopes I would learn to read notes to play the piano. I never could catch on. However, I can play be...

Piano tablature (or “piano tab” for short) is an abbreviated method of music notation. While used for modern pop music, the idea is nothing new: Tablature for keyboard instruments has...

Question: I learned piano through the Suzuki method, and when it came to piano theory, I was aurally-dominant enough to fake it, too lazy to want to learn, and not smart enough to know what I was...

Question: How do you write music notation of songs or hymns? How do you concentrate on musical beats?

– Rozario (India)

Albert’s reply: If you’re new to writing music, you...

Question: Hi Mr. Frantz,

I thoroughly enjoy reading your website. I have played single-clef instruments most of my life with very little formal piano training. Approximately seven years ago, I...

Question: I can read notes but I don’t know which finger I’m going to use with that note. I just wish to have sheet music with finger number on every note or notes/number/finger chart....

Question: What does the bottom number of the time signature tell you about?

– Upneet (Chandigarh, India)

Albert’s reply: In simple meter, the top number of a time signature tells us the...

Question: I really hate to bother you with something so trivial, but I am trying to play a game and I’m stuck since I don’t know anything about music. I need to know what keys to...

Question: I’ve been having some tightness and tension in my wrists and forearms lately. I’m aware that you struggled through similar problems with discomfort. Do you have any...

Question: Do you know of Guy Maier? If so do you know the piano exercises he and Bradshaw co-authored, “Thinking Fingers?” The authors advocate practicing these patterns in...

Question: I am in my early 50’s, an amateur pianist of intermediate skill level (e.g. I can play Grieg’s Holberg suite; I doubt if I could play Beethoven’s Waldstein sonata).

...

There is a rule of piano technique that is sure to do more to advance your piano playing than any other. All amateur pianists I have ever witnessed break this rule every time they play, and doing...