key-notes

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...

Question: Can give us an idea how to go about the mastery of technique? Is practicing technique more important that practicing songs?

– Tejas

Albert’s reply: Practicing actual music...

Question: How does a pianist learn to play the piano without always having to look at his hands as he plays as well as make those octave leaps on the piano without having to look at where his...

Question: I wonder how I can practice playing chords with both hands so the notes sound together. I’m talking about complex chords which need to be played with almost all the fingers of both...

Question: Hello Albert,

First of all, thank you so much for this website I appreciate the work you put into all this just to help us!

Here is my question: I play piano on a keyboard at home. But...

10 Expert Tips

New: Major Scales for Piano for free download!

A thorough study of piano scales is vital to playing musically and with confidence. Nonetheless, while virtually all piano music has...