hi everybody!! i'm new to the boards. the main reason i signed up is to improve my piano skills. right now, i kinda suck. i can read piano music to the point where i can read notes (not like a book), understand the length of notes, and other symbols on music sheets. PLEASE DON'T LAUGH AT ME cuz i'm a noob!! i managed to play 2 whole songs by writing the actual letter of every freakin note on music sheets. my first song was fur elise and my 2nd song was zanarkand (ffx). right now, i wanna learn how to touch keys at the site of notes on the sheets rather than having to know the letter. can any of you pros give me some ideas how to go about getting better at this? thanks in advance and please make my stay "comfortable" by not laughing at my noobiness.

Perhaps it'd be beneficial to practice scales while looking at the scales written on sheet music? After a while, it'll become 2nd nature which notes direct your fingers to which keys, so don't worry too much about becoming a virtuoso at that art just yet. It'll come with time. :)



Doh! I've gotta go soon... I'll post more later on if I can think of more advice or helpful tips.

G'luck!

(Also, nobody here will invade on your comfort zone... we were all newbies at one point... :))

Though I'm not also good at reading notes, the only advice I can give you is practice, practice, practice! It really improves your reading skills, you know. The more you play these keys, the more familiar you become with their locations.

Yup, scales are gooood for sight-reading skills. Writing the letters helps, as well as circling sharp/flat notes in a piece to remind you that they're played on the black keys. Till you learn to do without them I'd recommend sticking the note letters on the actual keys :)

i got a great way of figuring out notes by their notes NOT by their letter names.

The most important note on a piano is the middle C because that's the boundary line between Bass Clef and Treble Clef

Find where middle C is on the treble clef, then just count every space and line to the note your looking for. Also just remember where every single Cs are. That way you can count a bit faster without starting at middle C for every single note, you'll get frustrated very soon.

For Bass Clef just do the same thing, Find where middle C is, then just count down to the note and figure out where that is on the piano.

Once you do that oftenly (which sometimes might be frustrating) you'll get it very soon.

That's the way i taught my students...and it works pretty well for them, so i hope this will work for you too

i'll try that using the middle C as a guide. thanks. and i guess i could sharpen my scales too. right now i'm trying to play this naruto song heard during the 4th hokage's funeral (for those who even know what naruto is). wish me luck and you guys are off the heezee fa sheezee!!!

don't try anything too hard, you need to build yourself up. memorise the notes on the treble and bass, and if you really want to enjoy piano to the fullest you'll need a teacher.