I Find Reading Music Difficult

Every student who wants to succeed on an instrument knows that reading music will make learning easier. Being able to sight-read the score of a piece comfortably helps them progress through it more quickly.

Sight-reading is a skill everyone studying music should develop. In professional music education, sight-reading is an essential part of aural training, music reading and notation classes. The sight-reading habits acquired there transfer to vocal and instrumental lessons. “Sight-reading offers students rich opportunities to build a wider repertoire, become more familiar with works, and develop technique, style and interpretation. Their interest in learning grows, and they are not afraid to sight-read new pieces. When reading a work, students can therefore learn difficult passages by analysing them independently rather than simply memorising them. This helps them enjoy their instrument and progress faster, making lessons more enjoyable. Above all, it provides a foundation for learning music independently without help from another person or instrument, becoming independent musicians and enjoying music throughout life” (Çimen, 2001, p. 446).

Vocal lessons and music-reading instruction can be explored in more detail on our information page…

What steps should a student take to read notes comfortably? Assuming they are working with a teacher, the teacher will guide them using a method or textbook. Through this method, note positions, durations and octave relationships will be explained step by step. Individual instrumental practice at home reinforces these topics. If home practice and private lessons are not enough to make reading comfortable, I would like to share a few additional resources.

1. Gezek, Diğdem – Elvan (2009). Notaları Öğreniyorum (Learning the Notes). İnkılap Kitabevi.
2. Fontaine, Fernand – Yaman, Övünç. Ritm ve Zaman Duygusunun Temelleri (Foundations of Rhythm and a Sense of Time).
3. Tabakoğlu, Vicdan. Bona ve Müzik Teorisi Notları (Notes on Bona and Music Theory).
4. Senfoni Müzik Evi. Bona, Temel Müzik Teorisi (Bona: Basic Music Theory).
5. İldan, Haydar. Bona, Nota Okuma ve Öğrenme Metodu (Bona: A Method for Reading and Learning Notes). Bemol Müzik Yayınları.
6. Yavuzoğlu, Nail (2010). Uygulamalı Müzik Teorisi 1 (Applied Music Theory 1). İnkılap Kitabevi.

Publications like these can support your progress in learning notation and help with practice at home.

The golden rule is that, if we want to read music easily, we should never write the note names above or below the staff when practising a piece. Although writing in each note name may seem to make playing easier, it prevents the brain from working out the notes for itself. Reading without written names may be difficult for the first few exercises, but the eye will gradually become accustomed to recognising the notes.

Different approaches to beginning music reading can be developed for different instrument groups. For instruments that use two clefs simultaneously, such as piano and harp, one can begin with the treble clef. This teaches the rising and falling sequence of notes on the staff through a single clef. The knowledge can then be transferred more easily to the second clef, the bass clef.

You may have noticed that the word BONA appears in many of the recommended method-book titles. Bona, speaking note names in rhythm without singing their pitches, is a basic method for learning to read music easily. Practising a piece in this way first reinforces its rhythm and note names. The important point is to mark the beat with the hand according to the time signature. In 4/4, the beat unit is a crotchet, or quarter note. One complete downward-and-upward movement of the hand represents the duration of a quarter note: one beat.

When reading a piece in bona, we should keep marking the beat continuously with the hand. This allows us to read while constantly keeping track of note durations. Reference books explain how to conduct bona exercises in other time signatures.

Bona exercises make reading music easier by increasing reading speed. Adding these extra exercises to your instrumental practice can bring positive progress. Keep practising persistently without becoming discouraged. With determination, you will succeed over time.

Pelin Aşkın Kumova
Rekor Sanat Teacher