Techniques behind learning Piano

For my free Inquiry project, I decided I would learn a song on Piano. Coming into this project with little to no experience with Piano, I’ve faced many challenges to learning my chosen piece. The first of which starts at the very beginning, with reading the music. Funny enough, I didn’t anticipate this would be very difficult, however it has actually been the biggest hurdle I’ve had to face the entire project. Reading sheet music is not inherently difficult once you know the rules behind it, however reading it quickly, or eventually reading it at the speed in which the piece is played is extremely hard, and at a level I am still far from. To begin on my reading sheet music journey, I’ve been watching instructional videos such as the one linked below to give me a good base. A great start to learn and the base for how I’ve been reading the music, is to begin with knowing where the notes are on the music lines. (A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

The diagram below outlines the notes on the treble clef (played with your right hand). Learning the acronyms for the notes is a great way to identify which notes are what. I found the easiest starting place with reading sheet music was to learn the spaces on the treble clef, which from bottom to top, conveniently spell “FACE”. With this knowledge, it’s very easy to find a note and identify what it is from knowing they spell face, and counting up to whichever line or space the note is on.

My technique for learning my chosen piece, was from using the FACE method, identifying what note comes next, then penciling the letter in above on my sheet music. This may not be the best method or even recommended by a piano teacher, but it has allowed me to learn the piece with my lack of experience.