Read Piano Notes

You can learn to read piano notes by studying a piano notes chart , going through all of the piano notes in various creative ways, or by working with note flashcards. The following is a tried and true method for working with note flashcards in groups to learn how to read piano notes. (The video will show you how even a six-year-old can begin learning the notes on the staff and how they correspond to the notes on the piano.  The cute six-year-old in this video just happens to be my daughter.)

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Flashcards Video

Read piano notes:
A piano notes flashcard workout:

I. Work on treble clef notes and bass clef notes separately. At first, work on treble clef one day, bass clef the next.

II. Divide your flashcards into the groups listed on “Flashcard Groups”, putting them in the same order listed within each group.

III. Work on saying and playing group 1. Use the first note of each group as the anchor, or guidepost, for learning the others. Learn the notes in the order listed, and then try mixing them.

IV. Go through the same process with group 2, and then mix group 1 & 2 together. Practice through the two groups, saying and playing, until all 8 notes are familiar.

V. Repeat the process with groups 3 & 4, working each group separately and then mixing the two groups.

VI. Work on group 5 (only 3 notes), and then mix all five groups together for one final run through. Begin timing yourself. When timing, do not say the note names, just play them. (It helps to have someone to flash you the cards.)

VII. Once you can play each clef, separately, in 35 seconds or less, begin mixing the two clefs together. A good goal would be to play all 38 notes in less than a minute. Once you can do this, you know your notes well enough.

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Need Flashcards?

This set of music flashcards, by Bastien, is one of the simplest and best flashcard sets on the market. I highly recommend them.

You can find these flashcards at a local music store, or you can go to sheetmusicplus.com

If you would rather explore fancier or different flashcards of any kind, just make sure that each note flashcard has a picture of the entire grand staff (treble and bass clef). Some flashcard sets split the clefs up, which is not helpful for pianists.

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