While there are many musicians that never learned how to read music, there's no reason why you can't tackle the job and learn to read music. Musicians that are unable to read music are able to play by ear after they hear a song. These musicians are able to make improvisations on simple themes and turn them into elaborate renditions of popular songs. These musicians know their instruments as well as singers know their voices.
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 much to learn. You must find out about the way the notes are depicted. You need to know what the staffs that they are shown on look like. You will learn how rhythm is represented and how sharps and flats are shown. These are the basics, and you can build on this knowledge over time.
You can really learn a lot just by looking at a piece of music. If you already have a songbook, some sheet music, or a hymnal, take a moment to really look at it. If you don't have any kind of written music, either buy or borrow some.
While looking at the music you will notice groups of five horizontal lines. If the music is written for both hands, two of the groups of lines will be connected by a longer line along the side. The horizontal lines are known as the staff. You can buy staff paper that is pre-marked with these lines.
When you look to the left side of the staffs you will notice the clef marking. On the upper staff you will see the treble clef marking. The treble clef looks like a fancy S that's backwards with a single line running through the middle of it and curling underneath. When you first start learning how to play the piano, you will be playing the notes on the treble clef with your right hand.
On the lower staff you will find the bass clef sign. It looks a lot like a backward C with two dots on the right of it. The bass staff indicates the lower notes that are played with the left hand. The upper and lower staffs usually repeat several times down the sheet. Take a look at your written music and locate each of the staffs. Once you do this you will be ready to learn to read the notes.
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