A comprehensive guide on how to read sheet music

A lot of people think that they're bad at reading sheet music come up but the truth is That they haven't really learned all of the basics. You may wonder, “why is it so hard to read sheet music?” and feel like that you should have learned how to read sheet music by now and so we think that reading music should be second nature, like reading words has become. Even if you learned how to read sheet music as a kid, or you haven't learned it at all yet, you need to go over the basics and you can't just expect yourself to know how to read music automatically.

One of the reasons that we wonder “why is it so hard to read sheet music?” is that reading music is less like reading words and more like mapping. In fact, sheet music is just a graph. Knowing how to read sheet music gives us time duration, pitch movement through vertical orientation, and expressive variances in sound. A single note in sheet music can tell you where the note is on your instrument, how high or low it is, how long to hold it for, whether it's short or long smooth or separated, louder quiet, sweet or aggressive.

Compare all of the information embedded in reading sheet music to reading words in the English language. One letter tells you what sound to make in the context of that word, and that's pretty much it. All of this to say, is reading piano sheet music hard? It’s complicated, anyway. Give yourself grace when it comes to reading sheet music because you're reading a complex graphing system that's entirely different from the way that you read in other contexts.

If you’re still wondering “how do we read music?”, read on to learn some tips and tricks to learn how do you read piano sheet music for beginners and experienced piano players alike. You’ll learn some tricks and tips for what is the easiest way to learn to read sheet music. We’ll demistify how to read treble clef and how to read bass clef, learn how to strengthen your music reading skills and what is the fastest way to learn how to read music.

Continue reading to learn all of the basics for how to read sheet music or download this handy guide to decoding all of the musical symbols. The Music Matrix is basically a clif notes for piano and musical glossary all rolled into one. Learn how to read music now!

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How do beginners read music notes?

Before we get started learning how do beginners read music notes, you need to know the music alphabet. What are the 7 musical notes in the music alphabet? A-B-C-D-E-F-G!

A 〰️

B 〰️

C 〰️

D 〰️

E 〰️

F 〰️

G 〰️

A 〰️ B 〰️ C 〰️ D 〰️ E 〰️ F 〰️ G 〰️

There are really more notes in sheet music, because on the piano there are black keys in-between the white keys of the piano. What are the 12 basic music notes? You really don’t need to know them all if you want to know how do you read sheet music easy, but the notes in between the musical alphabet are the sharps and flats.

What is the easiest way to identify notes when I’m reading sheet music? We’re going to understand that music is a graph, but not any old graph with an x-axis and y-axis! This graph has a moveable system. Really, reading sheet music is a lot like reading a map.

If we were reading information off of just a graph it doesn't matter which point is which for starting. Generally a graph marks a zero-point or similar starting point. In the case of sheet music, we need to have reference and know what pitch we're starting with. When we're reading music, you're going to look for the clef on the far left side of the music staff (aka our graph- the 5 lines) And the music staff will actually point to the note that you can use as reference.

On the Different Clefs in Sheet Music

What do the clefs mean in music? Every music staff in western music, whether it's bass clef, treble clef, or something else, is going to have 5 lines and 4 spaces. Our longitude and latitude, if you will, is given to us by the clef at the front. These clefs are a movable system. That means that they are not the same- while they both use the same graphic or mapping system.

The treble clef symbol points to where G is on the music staff, because the treble clef symbol is an old style of the letter G. You’ll notice the spiral wraps around the second line from the bottom- in treble clef, that’s the note G.

The bass clef is an old style of the letter F, so the two dots point to where the note F is in bass clef. Notice that when reading treble clef and bass clef, the notes are in different places.

I know that makes learning how to read piano sheet music very hard at first, but you’ll get the hang of it if you follow these steps! If you use your imagination you can recognize those letters and use them so that you always know which clef you're in and where at least one note is… because it's written right on staff!

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What is viola clef, or how to read C clef? The viola clef has two C’s stacked on top of one another, and they point to C in the center line! But you won’t need to know how to read viola clef in order to play… well, anything but viola!

Gut check- feeling overwhelmed? It’s a lot of information! I’m spelling out the fundamentals of how to read sheet music and the reason behind it for the curious folks, but if you’re just trying to learn how to read sheet music easy, read on. There are some easy tricks to remember how to read treble clef notes and how to read bass clef notes.

Okay, okay, but how do you actually read sheet music? It’s about more than just knowing the starting note in each clef. We'll know what note to play and how far to move based on which line or space of the music staff that the note appears on. The notes move through the musical alphabet up the lines and space. If “C” is on a line, then “D” is on the next space up, and “E” is on the next line up. This goes the same for going down the music staff, if “C” is on a line, then “B” is on a space and “A” is on a line.

✨NOTE: just because C is on a line in one place in the music does not mean that C will always be on a line! Read on to KEY NOTES for more help knowing what is the easiest way to identify notes when I’m reading sheet music.

You'll read the notes in the order that they appear from left to right. We’ll know the rhythmic value or how long you'll hold each note as indicated by the shape of the note. Learn more by jumping down to read about RHYTHMIC VALUES.

This is the secret to reading sheet music! How do you read sheet music easy? Especially when learning how to read sheet music beginner: Use key notes to find your way.

Key notes vs. mnemonic devices

What is the easiest way to learn to read sheet music? Using key notes to navigate the music staff! Using key notes is the trick to reading sheet music easily before you've internalized all of the notes. How hard is it to read music? It’s only as hard as remembering these these 5 notes!

Remembering every single note is really challenging when you're starting out, so give yourself a few landmarks to hold on to and look out for and use to find your way through the music. This same principle is the reason that mnemonic devices are so popular in music. You know, the old school “every good boy does fine?” (Keep reading for BETTER mnemonic devices) This system for using key notes simplifies the process for how do you read piano sheet music for beginners even more.

As you play piano more and more, you will start to remember more notes. If you are wondering can I teach myself to read music, don't try to force yourself to memorize every single notes. Can you teach yourself to read sheet music? Yes, but to know what is the easiest way to learn to read sheet music, you want to memorize the 5 key notes and navigate through the music with those.

🔥 HOT TAKE: When you’re learning how to read sheet music, it’s more important to know how to figure out each note than it is to memorize the notes.

Using key notes to know how to read sheet music EASY

Because so much of our music centers around C (more on that later), I like to remember where the C’s are on the music. Also, middle C looks so different from the other notes on the staff so it is easier to remember and stands out.

Middle C is on a ledger line and at the beginning of your playing will probably be the only note you see on a ledger line.

The other C’s are two spaces from the outside- treble clef the high C is two spaces from the top, and in bass clef the low C is two spaces from the bottom.

Add in the clef notes, G and F, and you have a reference point for every five lines.

✨ FINDING YOUR OWN KEY NOTES (challenge: draw it out. Yes! grab a scrap of paper and draw it out! post it on IG stories and tag me)

You may find that you have your own notes that pop out to you- use these as your own key notes as well. I have often used the top or bottom line or space as a keynote because it's an easy one to find and I can figure out what notes are near it.

Challenge: DRAW OUT A KEYNOTE GUIDE AND STICK IT NEAR YOUR MUSIC! Add your own keynotes! Tag me on IG with your key notes system, I’d love to see what works for you!

On USING Your Key Notes

The trick to using keynotes is that when you see a note you don't recognize, you spell your way to that note. If I know that the top space is G in bass clef and I'm trying to figure out the 2nd space, I'm gonna go backwards to my alphabet GFE and figure out that That space is E. The more reference notes you recognize the less of this spelling you will have to do because you'll be closer to the note you're trying to identify. This keynote strategy also means that gradually you will remember more and more notes and eventually you'll realize that you know all of the notes or are only spelling to find 1 or 2, and that most of them have been identified as keynotes.

✨ RANDOM QUESTION: Why does music start with C instead of A???

Beyond mnemonic devices (but some of those too)

I prefer using keynotes over mnemonic devices, although they are essentially the same idea. Using this keynote approach feels a little more intuitive to me and means that we don't have to remember quite as many notes. Sometimes the mnemonic devices feel a little clunky and that we have to remember the phrase, talk through it, and then confirm whether it's that note or one nearby. Mnemonic devices are the same as keynotes except that we have to remember the phrase and saying before we can remember the note itself. Obviously, as we use it over and over again you will start to remember all of the notes of your pneumonic device, or at least the most common ones that you've encountered.

Here are the mnemonic devices I share with students as they're learning How to read sheet music.

OLD SCHOOL

You probably remember these mnemonic devices from your music classes back in the day

Treble Clef:

Every Good Bunny Deserves Fudge 🐰🍫
Lines from the bottom to the top

FACE in the space 🙃🎼
Spaces from the bottom to the top

Bass Clef:

All Cows Eat Grass 🐮🌾
Spaces from the bottom to the top

Better mnemonic devices:

Let’s bring these sayings into the twenty-first century.

Treble Clef:

Elderly Gandolf Badgered Dizzy Frodo 🧙‍💫
Lines from the bottom to the top

Bass Clef:

Good Burritos Don’t Fall Apart 🌯🌮
Lines from the bottom to the top

DIY mnemonic devices:

The BEST mnemonic devices will always be ones that are simple and MEMORABLE. Try making your own using your own name, the name of a pet, or your hometown. Drawing a blank? Try using a mnemonic device generator like this one.

Here are a few I generated just for this occasion:

Earnest Gnomes Bested Dragons Fatally 🌼🐉

Eager Ghosts Bestow Dark Fears 👻😱

Elegant Grandmothers Betray Dracula Ferociously 👵🧛

Your turn!

✨ PAUSE and CHECK-IN ✨

Let’s pause and check-in before moving on. Is reading piano sheet music hard? It can be! Is reading sheet music a skill? Yes, it is, one that takes a little bit of strategy and some intentional practice.

Learning music is a very similar process to learning a language in that we are not only learning to read and write but also to speak and to listen in this language. And you wouldn't expect to learn how to read a new language in a day.

This page is here for you as a reference always to review the things that you've forgotten, but don't expect to read through this and be able to instantly know how to read music. How long does it take to learn to read music? You can learn the basics in your first month of learning an instrument. How long does it take to get good at reading sheet music? It may take you at least 3-6 to start to get comfortable reading notes, or a year or two to feel fluent.

I don't want you to read all of the elements right now and feel completely overwhelmed with what reading sheet music is. If what you needed was to identify the notes to find your way through this may be a good place to pause and circle back to this page later on.

If you want to download a definitive guide she will refer back to help you learn how to read sheet music, then you can click the button below to download a copy of my music matrix. I also teach private piano lessons for adults at all levels both, and if you'd like to schedule a consultation you can do so here.

Read on to learn more about rhythms and expressive elements when reading sheet music, or scroll to the bottom for the frequently asked questions about how to read piano sheet music.

⬇️ I’m still reading ⬇️

The Rhythm Pyramid 🛕

What skills do you need to read music? Well, you need to know

✔️ What are the 7 musical notes? A-B-C-D-E-F-G
✔️ What is the easiest way to identify notes? Key notes!
✔️ What the treble clef and bass clef mean in reading music. G clef & F clef!
☐ How do you tell how long to hold each note when reading music? Buckle up…

That’s where the rhythm pyramid comes in!

I would say that learning how to read music notes on the staff is the first half of the graphing system that is learning how to read sheet music. What's funny is that graphs normally only map one set of data points, but in music our graph is not only showing us the location of notes and the relationship between them, but it is also showing us the duration of notes. This would be like if each point on the graph was a different shape and that meant something different. When you're reading sheet music, you're not only going to notice which line or space your note is on, but the shape of the note which indicates its rhythmic value.

Here’s a rhythm pyramid.

Expressive details

The final element of our graphic system that makes reading sheet music more complicated than standard graphs is that our notes can also have expressive details attached to them. A dot next to a note indicates rhythmic value, but a dot below the note indicates expressive value. Individual notes and groups of notes can be marked with different expressive cues this show us in which style to play that individual note or phrase.

To learn all of the expressive details of music notation and what all of the symbols mean, download this free copy of the Music Matrix for a complete music glossary and clif notes for how to read music.

Download the music matrix

What is the fastest way to learn sheet music for piano?

There are a few essential things to do to learn quickly and make it stick: make it fun and make it easy. That’s honestly my philosophy to teaching piano lessons.

What is the fastest way to learn sheet music for piano? Have an easy routine of sight-reading and theory practice. This can look like a reliable sight-reading book and theory worksheet, or using an app to learn quickly.

A lot of people start piano lessons with me and tell me that they're bad at reading music. They wonder why is it so hard to read sheet music? As we go through all of these elements gradually through lessons they realize that they may have never learned all of these details at all period. Of course so many people feel like they're bad at reading music when they never learned all of the elements of reading music.

The other thing to know about reading music is that is reading sheet music a skill? Yes. And what skills do you need to read music? You need the fundamentals of reading sheet music and then need to practice reading, over and over again! Have you watched a kiddo learning to read? They practice reading and writing individual letters over and over, and spend years sounding out words slowly. That’s how reading music may feel for you at first!

There are intentional ways to practice the skill of reading music and getting better at. Here are methods that I introduce to my students.

The secret of Sight-reading

Sight reading is sneaky and magical, and can be applied in daily practice or through guided practice during lessons with a teacher. A regular practice of intentional sight-reading can gameify your learning, make it fun and playful and sneak in growth without you feeling like you’re working hard. It can even be catered to create left-hand challenges or to focus in on a certain style of playing.

Rules to Gameify Sight-Reading

Scan for trouble
Part of the merit of sight reading is forcing you to silently look through the music and find the things that normally challenge you before you encounter them. If you always forget the notes that are on spaces, you can go through and think through the names of the spaces and even visualize where they are on the piano. That silent practice is more powerful than playing through this passage 10 times.
Visualize & Audiate
In this context we’re talking about site reading for the application of recognizing notes in the music. But sight-reading music also helps us to become more fluid and natural piano players, and to find our hands on the keys quicker and easier. When we are focusing in on these aspects of playing piano, visualizing yourself playing the music in a secondary form of silent practice will expedite your learning and increase your chances of playing through your site reading correctly the 1st time.
No re-dos
The SECRET to successful sight-reading practice is this: NO REDOS!!! That's why so many people prefer to do site reading at the beginning of their piano lessons with the teacher as a witness, instead of on their own. Often when we try to do it on our own we will go back and "fix” That's why so many people prefer to do sight-reading at the beginning of their piano lessons with the teacher as a witness, instead of on their own. Often when we try to do it on our own we will go back and "fix and" our mistake instead of pushing through and challenging ourselves to do it as well as we can the 1st time and not go back at all. If you're going to Play it again, find a way to challenge yourself outside of just playing it again to try to do better. For example a lot of people will tell me when the hands are in unison that they are only reading the treble clef, so go back and do left hand only reading the base club throughout. Otherwise, absolutely no re-dos! The pressure to get it right the 1st time is what helps us focus and sharpen our note-reading skills.

My favorite sight-reading tools for you are the Progressive Sight-Reading Exercises: Piano Technique book by Hannah Smith or the Sight Reading Factory app. Both reach a variety of difficulty levels from absolute beginner to experience player, and allow a lot of customization options.

Give music theory a chance

I know music theory sounds boring, but many of my students and most of my contemporaries in the music industry agree that there’s something about writing it out that really helps solidify connections when you’re learning about music. A great way to practice recognizing the notes on the staff is to do some work away from the piano literally connecting the dots. Obviously you can do your theory work at the piano, but I find that taking this practice away just shifts the way we think about music in our brain and takes a little pressure off of you to not only identify the note but to find it on the keyboard. It's like doing some practice on Duolingo passively while you are taking a Spanish class. Some ways to do this are with a theory book where you are working through page by page and practicing I didn't find different notes and skills. You can use theory practice like this as a warm up to get your brain thinking about music notes. Honestly flashcards are a great way to do this too, or the modern day flashcards: an app. Writing practice will help you sharpen your reading skills and vice versa.

My favorite theory practice tools: Practical Theory book by Sandy Feldstein, Musical Uno

Ready to learn how to read sheet music on your own? Download the music matrix to get started, or schedule your first piano lesson free.

F.A.Q.

I’ll write more on this in the future, and you can learn about key signatures and the circle of fifths in the best piano scales book, but there is a little trick for figuring out the key signature whether it has flats or sharps. How do pianists memorize keys? For flats, the second from the right is the name of the key, (If the key signature has a B-flat and an E-flat, the key signature is B-flat major) and the last sharp added for sharp key signatures is the 7th pitch- so if there is an F-sharp, then it is in the key of G major.
A lot of people have trouble reading sheet music. They wonder, “Why can’t I read music?” And there might be a very good reason! While most people are able to pick up reading sheet music in a similar, gradual manner like reading text, some people wonder is there dyslexia for sheet music? There is in fact a type of cognitive experience called dysgraphia, that can feel like dyslexia. Dysgraphia may affect your ability to track shapes across lines. If you think you may be dealing with a form of dysgraphia, you may like using highlighters, colored pencils, or even a personal system of shape notes and letter annotations to help you decode the music quickly. Other cognitive and visual factors that may make reading sheet music difficult include near and far sighted vision- did you know that there are piano glasses?! What are piano glasses? They are a type of glasses that have a middle plain of vision, in-between of bi-focal type lenses. Stigmatism can also affect your ability to track vertical movement across the horizontal lines. There are also glasses that can correct these stigmatism. If some of these elements sound familiar, you may have figured out the answer for “Why is it so hard to read sheet music sometimes?”
How long does it take to learn to read music? You can learn to how to read sheet music in one clef at a time in a few weeks, but regular practice will be needed to make it feel automatic, like second nature. How long does it take to learn to read sheet music? You’ll probably want at least 3-6 months, or maybe even up to 2 years to feel fluent at reading piano sheet music. Many people realize that the answer to “What is the fastest way to learn sheet music for piano?” is to bypass reading the notes and figure out how can I memorize music. That’s why adding in sight-reading practice or theory review is essential to learning how to read sheet music fast.
Can you play piano without knowing how do you read sheet music? Yes, absolutely! DO all musicians know how do you read music? No, in fact many musicians may think that what is the hardest thing to learn on piano is reading sheet music. Many of the best musicians decided that is it better to memorize sheet music? It is for them. Often musicians develop strong ability to learn music aurally instead of learning how to read sheet music. Even if you can play music exceedingly well without music, I promise that learning how to read sheet music can be worthwhile! The sheet music can provide a quick visual map to help you play in sync with other musicians quickly and easily. So if you’re thinking about learning, this is an invitation to try it out!

How to Read Sheet Music