If you have ever enjoyed the classical sounds of famous musicians, then you have most likely heard a piano being played. The benefit of learning to play the piano is that it is an instrument that can perform almost all songs that have ever been composed. Whether you are interested in accompanying the local drama club or playing for church or funeral services, you can boast your skills at the piano and play any requested song once you learn how to read piano sheet music.

Most music today is written to be played on a piano. This is because most music is written on a treble clef scale. This scale is indicated by a symbol similar to the ampersand (&), at the beginning of the score of music. Once you find a song that is written as so you may begin to learn how to read piano sheet music. First, there is learning the notes. Each note has its own scale which is presented in a specific octave. This is determined by where it falls on the bar graph of the music. The bar graph is the five lines that run horizontally across the page. You will also notice that each line is evenly divided by a vertical line. This line demonstrates the end of a four beat measure. Music is counted in four beats. This is similar to counting seconds – one, two, three, four. If you have half notes, you will count the beats with an “and” – one and two and three and four and. Counting the beats is a way to ensure that you are playing notes at the appropriate length.

Each note is written to have a specific value. First, there are whole notes. A whole note is drawn as an egg-like O shape. Whole notes are equivalent to four beats. You will see one whole note in a measure. This means that you will hold the note for a total of four counts before playing the next note that is drawn on the score. Next we find half notes. A half note is equivalent to two counts; two half notes equal a score. These look like a whole note in that they are an egg- like O shape, however, they also have a tail added to them. When you see a solid egg-like O note with a tail, it is a quarter note. Quarter notes equal one beat; four of them equal a measure. There are also eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes. Each of these looks like a quarter note, but has a flag added to the tail. One flag for an eighth note, two for a sixteenth and three for a thirty-second note. These notes are very fast.

Understanding all of this is the first step in learning to play the piano and read music. After you have learned how to read piano sheet music and understand the notes and their values you will be able to practice and perform a variety of music with ease.