---
title: 'Read Music in 7 Days 🎼🎵 (Beginner Piano Lesson with Downloads)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=ftoXQsJtKPs'
video_id: 'ftoXQsJtKPs'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 3301
---

# Read Music in 7 Days 🎼🎵 (Beginner Piano Lesson with Downloads)

> Source: [Read Music in 7 Days 🎼🎵 (Beginner Piano Lesson with Downloads)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ftoXQsJtKPs)

## Summary

This video is a complete beginner piano lesson series that teaches you to read sheet music in seven days. The instructor guides you through daily exercises focusing on landmark notes, patterns, intervals, and rhythms, culminating in playing full songs. The method emphasizes learning by doing and recognizing musical patterns rather than rote memorization.

### Key Points

- **Middle C as a Landmark** [1:47] — Middle C is the central note to memorize; it sits on a ledger line below the treble clef and is also the same note in the bass clef (second space from bottom).
- **Basic Note Values** [2:55] — Quarter notes (filled) get one beat, half notes (hollow with stem) get two beats, whole notes (hollow, no stem) get four beats in 4/4 time.
- **Learn by Patterns, Not Memorization** [4:34] — The instructor emphasizes learning patterns (step up, step down) rather than memorizing every note name; this builds instinct for sight-reading.
- **Landmark Notes: Low C and G** [5:33] — Landmark notes: low C (second space in bass clef) and G (second line in treble clef) help orient the player.
- **Intervals – Seconds, Thirds, Fourths, Fifths** [19:35] — Intervals: second (adjacent notes), third (skip one note), fourth (skip two notes), fifth (skip three notes). Demonstrated with C-D, C-E, C-F, C-G.
- **Continuous Musical Alphabet Across Clefs** [21:28] — The musical alphabet (A-G) runs continuously from low to high across both clefs; bass and treble are not separate systems.
- **Pre-Trip Scanning Technique** [27:29] — Before playing, do a 'pre-trip' – scan the music to identify patterns, landmarks, and tricky sections.
- **3/4 Time and Dotted Half Note** [31:30] — 3/4 time signature means three beats per measure; dotted half note equals three beats.
- **Eighth Notes and Counting** [38:37] — Eighth notes are twice as fast as quarter notes; counted as '1-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and'.
- **Day 7: Full Song with Both Hands** [47:20] — Day 7 combines all skills to play a full song (likely 'Ode to Joy' or similar) with both hands, including intervals and eighth notes.

## Transcript

hello and welcome to seven days to sight
reading so reading notes is hard it's
like learning a whole new language and
if you have ever struggled to read notes
with your right hand and read notes in
your left hand and put it all together
then number one you're not alone but
number two this video is exactly for you
you've broken it up into seven days now
you can enjoy this one day at a time you
can do it all at once or you can take
multiple days with each of the segments
that's completely up to you the point is
is that you're going to learn by doing
so instead of getting out a chalkboard
and writing down note names and using
flashcards and trying to memorize it all
we're going to learn by playing you're
gonna see music I'm gonna walk you
through we're gonna do it together and
by the end of the seven days you're
going to begin to recognize patterns and
music you'll have instincts for the
rhythm you're going to be sight reading
songs that sound familiar and maybe you
even love so I'm very excited to get
started let's dive in alright day one
let's get started so in front of you
you're going to see some blank music I'm
just gonna give you some ground rules so
that you understand where we're starting
and then we're going to start playing
and learning from there so first things
first we we've got a bunch of measures
there are four of them to be specific so
they're just these sort of little
sections that you're going to see
divided off in this first line of Music
at the beginning of the line you're
going to see a treble clef which means
we're going to play with our right hand
and below that you're going to see a
bass clef which means we're going to
play with our left hand and the rest of
it we're going to learn as we go the
only other thing I want to point out is
that each the treble clef and the bass
clef you can think of them as like
little houses or areas of their own and
they each have five lines and four
spaces so just kind of think about that
five lines four spaces so now it's time
to begin playing so now we've got actual
notes in front of us now the first notes
we see are existing in something called
the treble clef which we've already
talked about and so I just want you to
take your right hand and place it on the
seat in the most middle part of your
piano this is called middle C and middle
C is a note that you just gotta memorize
you gotta make best friends with it
because if we can learn where C is we
can learn where d and e and f and g and
all the rest of them are so we've got in
our first measure four middle C's we're
going to play them with our right hand
because they're in the treble clef so
let's just try it c c c
now we have nothing in this treble clef
in the next measure except this little
square guy which is a rest it means do
nothing
we have notes in our bass clef now and
so that means we're going to play with
our left hand and here's the kicker this
is also middle C they look different
because of where they're written but
they're the same note on your keyboard
so take your left hand and play middle C
this time with the left hand use your
thumb and we're going to play one two
three four of those so for this line of
Music we're actually sharing middle C
between the hands starts with the right
hand c c c c then left hand c c c now
back to right c c and this one looks
different so you're gonna hold this one
for two counts you're gonna think in
your head one two because this guy is a
half note so let's just play that
measure together c c one two now our
left hand gets to turn one two two okay
we just got through our first line of
music now let's look at the beginning of
the line one more time and you're gonna
notice we've got four four at the
beginning that's our time signature
future and it tells us and each of these
measures we're going to have four
beats just like this you can clap along
one two three four one two three three
four so the notes that are colored in
our quarter notes and they get one so
we've got four of those in our first
measure we got four of those in our
second measure and then our third
measure we've got two quarter notes so
one two and then the half note three
four so if we were to count and play
this again one two three four one two
three four one two hold one two hold and
you've just read your first line of
music all right let's continue to the
next line of music so here things are
starting to move around a little bit so
that first note you see is Middle C it's
in the treble clef we know we're gonna
play with our right hand but notice how
the notes are now moving up we've got a
note that has a line through it that's C
then the note right next to it and the
next possible spot this is D and then
the next possible spot is a line note
and that is an e
so here is where we really get to put in
practice letting go of trying to
memorize that this one is e and this one
is f and this one is C that'll come in
time right now we are simply memorizing
that this is C and looking for the
pattern the notes are moving up in steps
incrementally right next to each other
so we can memorize that pattern and we
can think c d e and notice I held that e
the one that's not colored in for two
beats let's do it again c d e
now follow along the next measure we
play the exact same note we're going to
play that e again and this time the
pattern is moving down in increments in
steps we're moving from a line to a
space to a line so we've got step bing
up
stepping down that feels great now our
left hand we're gonna move it so that
our five finger that's your baby finger
is on the C below middle C and this is
the second note I would like you to try
to memorize there's only going to be a
few of these notes you have to really
memorize in this series and this is one
of them this is called Losi so it's the
C below middle C and you can memorize it
because it's in the second space from
the bottom of that bass clef and so if
we've got our five finger on C here and
we've got our right hand one finger on C
we're in C position ready to play a C
scale but we're reading notes we're not
going to do that right now but what I do
want you to notice is the pattern we've
got a C we're going up to the next
possible spot which we can only Zoom as
a d and then to the next possible spot
which we can only assume is an e for
half note and then that e repeats step
bang down
you got it now in the next line I know
this is crazy but I promised you we
learned how to play hands together the
notes are doing the exact same thing so
we've got middle C and we've got low C
and if you look you scan with your eyes
you can see the notes are stepping up
repeat the note and step down so if we
can do that together
stepping up repeat
stepping down take a breath
now our left hand is going to play and
hold this C and our right hand is going
to play middle C step up back to C
and then the final measure we're on that
first line I'm going to tell you right
now it's an e and we're going to play
the C again we're going to go step Bing
down
now if you're thinking oh my gosh this
is a lot I didn't get it don't worry
we're gonna play this together right now
a couple of times I'm going to say the
notes out loud with you we're going to
go very slowly and by the end of this
you will be recognizing these patterns
you'll be feeling comfortable with the
location of c and this will all like
you'll have light bulb moments you'll be
like oh my gosh I actually reading these
notes so let's go from the beginning
right hand is going to be ready left
hand is going to be ready to share
middle C for the first line take a
breath
one two here we go c c c c left hand c c
c c right hand c c half no let's see C
half no right hand step bing up
stepping down your left hand five finger
ready on Losi
stepping up same thing step bang down
now we're gonna go together step being
up
stepping down
step up back to C and then e d c you did
it one more time together this time
we're saying the note names out loud
here we go one two here we go c c c c c
c c c c so many c c c c c c c now it's
gonna move c d e
e d c left hand c d e e d c together c d
e e
d c and then c d c e d c and if it's
really tricky to play that left hand C
and hold it just worry about your right
hand for the end of the song for now
until you feel a little bit more
practiced and confident all right so
there you go now if you're thinking I
need a little bit more practice don't
worry we've got you covered because we
actually have a practice feature that
you can play along with you can speed up
slow down you can even download the
sheet music and it's available for you
in a link just below this video
completely free so if you want to take
advantage of that make sure you check
out the link below this video and I'll
see you in day two welcome to day two so
in day two we're having some more fun
with musical patterns so we've got let's
just dive in so let's take our right
hand you all know by now that the first
note we see is Middle C so it lives
below the treble clef staff it's got a
line through it you're gonna play it
here with your right hand one finger now
just take a look forward so we we're
seeing that we've got a C and then we've
got one note exactly just after that
it's got to be D and then it steps up
again that's e this is familiar from
yesterday but then we keep going we've
got a note on the space just after that
line of e so f and then we're gonna go
up one more into the next measure and
we've got a g
and now this G does not have a stem it
doesn't have a line it's just a circle
this means it's a whole no it means it
takes up the whole measure so you're
just going to hold it for the full four
beats because we're still in four four
each measure gets four beats one two
three four also just want to take a
moment here to establish this note as
another landmark note
so if you look at the treble clef and
you just kind of like memorize we've got
line one we've got line two line two
from the bottom is G
put it in your brains don't forget it
because this is going to help us to
orientate ourselves on all the other
patterns we see so we can kind of
guesstimate our way through the notes so
when you see these first two bars you're
looking oh the notes are going up and
they end on that landmark of G so if we
play that together
[Music]
now we're going to do the same thing in
our left hand
so looking at the bass clef here in the
third measure we've got a note on the
second space up from the bottom that is
C below middle C five finger goes here
and notice we've got
space line space line States so the
notes are moving consecutively C up up
up hold two three four and this is also
a g so let's say the note names c d e f
g two three four you can even think step
bing up so high two three four and then
the next line we're just gonna play
those same exact notes together with
both hands at the same time
so try it c d e f g two three four so
far so good now in the next measure
you're gonna see nothing in the treble
clef but you're gonna see two notes
stacked on top of each other in the bass
clef see it's the bottom one and G is
the top one and when they're lined up
like that it just means play them
together at the exact same time and
they're both whole notes so you're gonna
hold them for four beats one two three
four
now in the next measure let's just take
a look at the next two measures you're
going to notice how on the right hand we
start on middle C and the notes are
stepping up we can think stepping up so
high and in the left hand we're playing
the shape and we're holding it for four
beats basically hold it for the entirety
of both of those measures
so all together will sound like stepping
up so high two three four
so let's take those first two lines and
let's cite read them together nice and
slow left hand should always be ready to
go so get it in position even though
we're beginning with our right one two
here we go c d e f g two three four C D
E F G two three four together C and C C
D E F G two three four left hand plays
and holds these two three four together
and one two three four now the
coordination aspect of that can be
really challenging when it comes to
reading notes and playing notes like
both hands at the same time it's sort of
two separate issues one of them is
understanding what you're supposed to do
it's a brain thing and the other thing
is actually getting your hands to
cooperate and do what your brain already
knows it's supposed to do so in this
case you can trust that looking at this
music you have the information but can
be the coordination that's actually the
struggle so if that means you need to
practice the section A few times before
moving on just take a moment to do that
otherwise I want to take us through the
home stretch of this little piece of
music for today and this is where we're
reversing our patterns so you'll notice
at the beginning of this measure it's in
the treble clef right hand we start on
line two that's our Landmark note G so
just lock that down we're starting on G
and then scan notice how the notes are
just they're all stepping down so in my
head I'm thinking stepping down so low
we're starting on g f e d and there's
middle C doesn't have a stem this time
that's okay okay it's just because it's
telling us to hold it for four beats
it's a whole note now our left hand
also is beginning on G so try to like
memorize this when you see a note in the
top space of the bass clef that is g and
it is this G and if you scan down your
eyes can kind of go oh yeah it's taking
us and we're all the way going down
until we land on the other landmark of C
so it goes stepping down so low two
three four and we can repeat that step
bang down solo just to get comfortable
with it
and then we can take a deep breath and
play the whole line in succession and go
g f e d c two three four g f e d c two
three four
pretty awesome right now final line
we're doing a little bit of moving
around so this is where you have to pay
extra close attention this left hand
match shape is familiar we've got our
two left Highland mark C and G we're
just gonna play them and hold them and
on our right hand notice we've got our
landmarks but they're separated so C up
to our G and back down to our c for half
note so we'll do this together we're
going to play and hold this at the same
time that we play so Boom the right hand
travels up and comes back down and now
we're gonna play G and G they're doing
the same thing f
e d and then I'm going to repeat that
back to g f
[Applause]
D and then we're gonna play C and we're
gonna hold it
with this this is actually called fifth
C and G or five apart one two three four
five
two three four that line is challenging
it's kind of like the bonus challenge
line so again this might take some
practice but we'll play it through
together one more time just do the right
hand c g c g f e d back to g f e d c
left hand one two three four g f e d g f
e d and there's our fifth
together
c g
c g f e d g f e d c two three four so
what I'm really trying to do here is I'm
trying to get you to recognize patterns
and music I'm trying to get you to let
go of needing to like stop and like okay
I'm gonna use my acronym and I know
every good boy and I'm gonna figure out
that no Okay now what's this next one we
want to let go of that so we can
efficiently move through lines of music
by sort of moving in shapes and patterns
and it's going to speed up your sight
reading process the reason we're saying
the note names out loud is to help
reinforce what we're seeing with what
the notes are called with what the
pitches are on the keyboard so it's like
this whole sort of like holistic
learning process and the more you do
this the more you're going to look at
music and just be like oh I know what
that is let's go so that's really really
exciting now let's play through this
whole thing together
before we go
big breath both hands ready to go
just taking a moment to acknowledge the
notes are moving up and the right
they're going to the left scanning
through really feeling good about it one
two here we go c d e f g two three four
c d e f G two three four together D E F
G two three four left two three four
together D E F G two three four now g f
e d c two three four left g f e d c two
three four challenge line c g c
stepping down so back to g
f e d and home base for four beats
and you did it now if this is feeling
challenging and you're like oh my hands
aren't cooperating yet just play one
hand at a time until that feels good
then put it hands together and if this
takes more than one day spend a couple
days here that's okay go at your own
pace there's no rush this isn't a race
but when you do feel good and you do
feel ready I'll see you in day three
woohoo we're back day three this one's
super fun we're gonna be moving through
something called intervals which is
really exciting so let's just take a
moment look at our music we're starting
with the right hand with our good friend
middle C and we're just moving
up a step down a step up a step that's
the first measure so let's just say the
notes c d c d nice next measure back to
C but this time we're getting crazy
we're skipping over D and we're going
right to e so what helps me with this is
I look at the music and I go Okay C has
a line through it and we're not playing
the one that's in the space so if we're
moving in steps like notes that are
right next to each other it's always
going to be line space line space or
space line space line but here we've got
a line note we skip over the space note
which would be D and we go right to the
next line now and I call that a jump the
technical word is a third and I'm
playing with my one and my three so it's
c e
c e next measure back to C we know that
one but here we've moved up another step
from E and one F so you'll notice the
space between C and F is greater so I
just I've played more than it's written
here I apologize I'm just having fun on
this shape which is called a fourth
um and now we're going to move to the
final measure Landmark notes my friends
were up another step to another line and
a line we're way too far apart for this
to be this note and this note we're at C
and G and we've got two of those
so let's play the whole line so we've
got c d c d now we're gonna go past D up
to e which is the first line in the
treble clef up past e to F which is the
first space in the treble clef and up
past that to G second line also a
landmark G
not so bad
now we're going to do the same exact
thing with our left hand it's going to
look a little bit different because
we're beginning on low C which is a
space in the bass clef C up a step to D
down to C up a step to D so just kind of
getting used to that's a space to a line
a space to a line space line space line
back to low C pass the line to e we're
now jumping up we've got two space notes
now we're moving up again from C to F
we've got a space and a line and now our
landmarks of C and G and C and G you've
got it now I just want to take a second
to talk you through something that I
actually didn't figure out until way
later in my playing journey and I wish I
had known sooner because it made
everything make more sense
when you're looking at the notes on the
staff let's start on low C so let's
start on space two of the bass clef
that's this note and we're just going to
go through the musical alphabet I want
to carry you through this we've got C
and we've got D and then we've got e and
we've got F and then we've got G and
then we can keep going there's a line
there that's a and then you could put
one on top of the line that's B and then
check it out we're on middle C remember
that from day one
so if we keep going we've got d e f
we're on our Landmark note G and we can
just keep going through the musical
alphabet that way it's all connected
there weren't some crazy rules invented
that were different for bass clef and
treble clef names like that's not how
this works it's one cohesive consecutive
movement from bottom to top and that's
why they're named the way they are
so when you're playing through these
intervals you might have been like well
okay well why is C on a line here in the
treble clef and this low C is on a space
like why are they different
that's why so hopefully that helps to
put this into perspective for you a
little bit all right so you've just
played through two brand new lines of
music and we're going to continue on
we're actually playing something very
similar but different so now you're
gonna see we've got C and the next note
beside it is like they're squished
together they're touching c and d and
they're played at the same time sounds
kind of crunchy I'm gonna play those two
times they're half so we could count one
two three four notice the bottom note C
is staying the same but we're moving
from D to e that's the third
play together e is now moving up again
we've got more space between the notes
that's C and F and then it's up again C
and G
and now our left hand is going to do the
same thing five and four on low c and d
one two three four C stays we move up a
step to E
it's a third up a step to F and a fourth
of a step to G that's a fifth
now things get fun for the final line so
let's just look at our left hand first C
got our Landmark we skip D we're gonna
play e so we've got our third so we'll
play that for four two three for C stays
we move up a step to F two three four
then we're gonna play c g they're nice
and far apart G
one step down to F
and then that fifth
so let's do that one more time one two
three four e two F two three four c g c
g down a step to F your two finger and
then C and G
with our right hand see we know this
we're comfortable there we're not
playing D we're skipping so we've got a
line note to a line note that's the
space of a third c e c e c hard work
silver I'm gonna play c and e together
it's a third we're gonna step up from E
to F that's our fourth
and we're gonna come back to our third
all together and again if this is your
coordination isn't there yet don't worry
we're just we're learning to look for
these shapes these distances between the
notes you can do hands separately if you
need to otherwise
[Music]
c e c that's kind of pretty now our
right hand is going to play c and e our
left hand c g c
G and then C and F two three four and
then
[Music]
sounds like a really lovely ending this
one's a challenging line for um hand
coordination so maybe take another pass
at it let's do it together c e c e c two
three four left hand is doing the moving
and then f with C and F here and there
we go
all right whole thing together we're
gonna count through it hands ready deep
breath one two here we go c d c d c e c
e c f c f c g c g left hands turn c d c
d c up to e you think five and three
fingers c f five and two
and then C and G C G right hand c and d
c and d c and e
or you get
or you get fourth
fourth and fifth fifth left hand one two
this is called the second
this is a third
here's our fourth two three four and
fifth two three four get your hands
ready c e c e c with the fourth and the
left
and now our hands switch rolls
and here's our fourth with an F in the
left and one two three four
you did it okay so again there's new
things here we're sight reading we're
actually developing hand coordination
and Independence as we go so take as
much time as you need you can split this
up especially that last line to hand
separate if you need to spend some time
here remember you don't have to do this
all in one day if you need a couple days
on this that is absolutely fine when
you're ready I'll see you at day four
all right we're at day four and this is
really exciting because we're gonna play
a song but I'm not gonna tell you what
it is because we're sight reading so you
gotta figure it out but I'm here to walk
you through all the steps plus you
already have all the skills for this so
before we start playing here's a super
valuable skill as a sight reader take a
moment to just I call it a pre-trip and
do a pre-trip on the first line of your
music so if you look you go okay you got
four four good where did my hands start
well left hand looks like it's an
interval so we've got those notes that
are spaced out and their Landmark notes
second space from the bottom that would
be C and this is G okay where does our
right hand start that's not C hmm but I
do know that if I kind of look here
we've got a C is the third note I could
count up c d e
line one is e I'm gonna tell you that
but that would be like a thought process
to help you arrive there if you haven't
memorized what all the note names are
yet which I'm assuming you haven't
because like I said super hard brand new
language so we've got e here
pattern is stepping down
then we come back up measure two has
three repeated E's
then measure three we move down a step
from the A and we've got three repeated
D's and then we've got another okay
we've got e and then we're jumping up to
G so we've got that interval of a third
a line note to a line note so my brain's
like okay all right I see what's going
on and then I scan through with my left
hand and I'm like oh that's a fifth here
and it's another one and it's another
one and then we just put the top note of
it and then back to C and then back up
so my brain's already kind of got an
idea of what's coming so now it's just a
matter of getting my hands to do what's
on the page so let's just pretend our
left hand is taking a little vacation
we'll come back to it in a moment and
we'll figure out our right hand first so
we've got e and we've got that step Bing
down pattern and then it just changes
Direction and steps back up so we could
go stepping down and we've got three E's
here
you probably figured out the song
already I know
um so let's do it again e d c d e e
half no step down d d half no Step Up e
and jump up to G
next line great news friends it repeats
starts on either three finger step Bing
down there's our front middle C step up
to d three E's down to D up a step down
a step and middle C
your sight reading so our left hand is
pretty straightforward we just got some
of these
um so you could play through that half
no great big hole half note on C half
note on G together
half note half note G two three four c g
c
what's your left hand see JC is standing
so we're gonna go a little slower
we're going to put this together you can
say the note names out loud with me that
is ideal because this can help to
reinforce what you're doing third finger
on E
C and G has a fifth and the left e
d
c d e e
[Applause]
D D D D left hand was down E G and G
together and again if this is too hard
right now just pick one hand and join me
with one hand
[Music]
did it and it sounded really pretty so
it is difficult to coordinate the hands
especially like let's look at measure
two we have to play e e and then we play
it together again so this is one two
three four this is one two three four
there you go so comment below name the
song and have fun practicing this when
you are ready I'll see you at day five
welcome to day five we are playing
something super beautiful today and
there's something new on your music so
look closely
you may notice that instead of it saying
four four and the time signature we've
got three four what does this mean well
instead of there being one two three
four beats in a measure there's one two
three one two three it's gonna make your
music feel a little different so just
keep in mind we're counting to threes
now starting with our left hand
first note is Landmark note second space
from the bottom in the bass clef low C
so don't be intimidated because I know
this music looks like there's a lot
going on it's just patterns so the first
measure we're playing C skipping D
jumping up to e there's a third and then
we've got our Landmark note of G so this
is literally going jump up high it's
playing a third and a third then our
right hand comes in middle C and look at
line line we're playing jump up high in
our right hand same pattern so and if
you want to you can press your pedal
down because it'll sound like this
and then it repeats
so pretty it's just a c chord Play
Broken one note at a time in each hand
lovely okay so that's the first line
feels good we've already played a whole
line of music
Thin Line things change a little bit so
we just need to be careful for the first
few moments here but we've got C again
this is good but our next note is not e
um it's actually one step up from e
and our next note is not g it's actually
one step up from G which is a so
this is where you're gonna really have
to like stop and think about where your
Landmark notes are so you can orientate
yourself around where you need to play
so we know that this is seat this is a
landmark note we can count up C next is
D next is e next is f and soon
eventually you're gonna memorize that
that distance is a fourth it's this one
two three four and then you can look at
this F and you can go it's a line note
oh my gosh we're skipping the space
which is Gene we're just going to a it's
it's a third
c f a right hand and he guesses the same
note c f a
repeat f a c f a
next line things are going to change
again so
left hand we normally start on C but
look at this note is one below C it's
going to sound crunchy at first I
promise it's going to sound beautiful in
a moment this is familiar we've played F
before and then Landmark nope
left hand same deal it's not my left
hand I meant to say right hand I'm just
taking a check if you're paying
attention C is not the note but it's one
step undersea B
f
G so let's just beginning of that line b
f g b f
G I'm holding my pedal b f g b f g and
then we can reset our hands look at back
to our jump up high pattern on C jump up
high now don't freak out I'm gonna tell
you exactly what to do here you're like
what there's a new note it looks
different it's way up high that's high C
it's the C above middle C and for the
fun of it because we want to be fancy
today I want you to take your left hand
cross it up and over
and play it here
so if we back up c e g c e g up and over
C you can play with anything you like
I'm playing it with my two finger and
then back to home base we're playing C
here and in our left hand we're playing
a nice I haven't seen this one before
this is gonna be a full c chord so we've
got a C with an e in the middle and a g
on the top but all play together so it
sounds like this
full and rich now this is a note value
called a dotted half note so a half note
equals two when you put a dot beside it
it adds half of the value of the note
it's beside to it which sounds very
complicated when you say out loud I'm
gonna just tell you right now dotted
half note here means three Beats
um so you could think half note equals
two
half of two is one that's what the dot
gets add it to two two plus one is three
ta-da we have our dotted half note and
in my head I always think half no dot
because that is three syllables and it
makes it nice and easy for me to count
in my head
so before we play this all together
let's just review the shapes the first
line we're playing with c e and G let's
jump up high
the second line we're playing with c f
and a so there's a fourth here and then
we're moving up a third to the a fourth
third CFA then we're moving everybody's
kind of Shifting around here this is the
tricky one b f
and G so you've got G as a landmark note
and you played F in the measure before
and then we go back to our jump up high
or C chord c e g to finish the song
you're welcome to use the pedal lift it
after each line so it doesn't start to
sound muddy but all together
what
two here we go c e g c e g c e g c e g c
f a c f another
CFA c f a now this is a big move so this
will take practice to get
accurate take him take a moment here b f
g b f g b f g b f g and c e g c e g up
and over C two three two three I feel
like a real
piano player after like this one I know
there's something really exciting about
taking your hand up and over and playing
a crossover it's pretty fun and the cool
thing is once you really get this one
speed it up
[Music]
so
take advantage of that practice feature
it's really going to help you to
practice this song
um so take your time practice speed it
up slow it down find a temple that feels
good for you and I'll see you at day six
all right welcome back day six we've
come so far so day six is pretty cool
we're gonna be playing something that
sounds familiar you'll probably know the
song but before we do that we have to
learn a new rhythmic value because
reading notes or sight reading isn't
just about knowing what note names to
play it's about understanding the timing
of them how to play them in time so
we've got a whole bunch of C's my
friends so we're just just be practicing
this New Concept with our right hand and
we've got see see we've got quarter
notes c c they all equal one now in the
next measure there's a lot going on
we've got a whole bunch of C's there's
more of them this time and they're
connected by these little stems these
are called eighth notes so you can play
two eighth notes in the time that it
takes to play one quarter note and this
is why we count them as one and two and
three and four and instead of one two
three four
so bear with me if you can clap that
would be really really good so try
clapping along we're gonna go one and
two and three and
one and one and two and three three and
four and one
two and three and four and one and two
and three and four and
and that's how eighth notes work so
they're fun to play because they're
faster and they equal half of the value
of their quarter note counterpart so two
eighth notes together equals one B so if
we were to play that line make it
musical we're back in four or four time
just wanted to point that out we're
gonna go one two three and four and one
and two and three and four and one and
two and three and four and one and two
and three and four and all right so in
the next line we've got more eighth
notes but they look a little bit
different the stem or the line that's
connecting them together is longer so
we've got one two three four eighths
notes and this is how they're typically
shown so when you have a succession of
eighth notes all side by side there will
usually be a stem connecting them
um we showed them in little groupings
earlier to help make sense of there's
one beat there's two beats there's three
beads there's four beats so here you
have to kind of think oh I got a base I
gotta really count this one and two and
three and four and
same thing it just looks a little
different I want you to get used to
seeing them both ways one and two and
three and four and one and now the notes
are moving up three and four and one and
two and three and four and those half
notes at the end
so let's play this we'll count out loud
together
one two here we go one and two and three
and four and one and two and three and
four and one and two and three and four
and one and two and three and four and I
need to give you a heads up those notes
are stepping out so I and then stepping
down so low but hopefully you saw that
pattern and you were like oh my gosh I
knew it do we've talked about this
before those notes are moving up I got
this so that's a little crash course on
eighth notes now on to the fun stuff
because we're gonna play something
familiar one of my favorite songs
actually so let's just start with the
left hand because we gotta get this
ready we gotta know what we're doing
we're gonna scan through bass clef we've
got on mark C maybe you recognize this
shape instantly right now and you're
like oh I know that that's Fifth and
next measure we're just hanging on to G
next measure we're stepping down one
from G that's f
knowing how to say your alphabet
backwards is like really really
important to being a good sight reader
so if you don't know how to say your
alphabet backwards that's something that
you should practice f e d c b a g
anyways whole note
g
f and back to that beautiful fifth on
CNG all right now let's look at our
right hand so we know the first note is
Middle C that one's familiar but this
next note we did see it make a guest
appearance in our last song from
yesterday
um but this is heisty It's the C above
middle C it's on the third space from
the bottom when you're looking at the
treble clef and if you're a fan of
acronyms you can spell the word face
from bottom to top to help you identify
these note names but this is just C no C
middle C I lied middle C all the way up
to high C they call that an octave same
note different places if you've got
teeny hands don't worry hold this for
two beats Let It Go and tip onto your
five finger to get to the high C and
we'll count the Rhythm one two three
four okay so here
we've got a note that's one step down
from high C from where we are because
we're going from space down a step to
the line
okay and now
just sort of take a moment to look at
the patterns here we've got a line note
we're skipping
a we're jumping we've got a third also
this is your Landmark note friends we're
on G now it steps up steps up back to
high c
down to middle C
I'm going to tell you the name of this
note and we'll work on it a little bit
later this is a
and then Landmark note of G
okay
whoo
so let's do this again C two up to high
c three
four and now we're gonna go down to B
just down a step
Landmark note to G A there's our eighth
notes up to B and then
high C so this this whole measure two
starts on B
tips or jumps down to G steps all the
way up to C again and then back to
middle C we're familiar with this we've
got a and then Landmark node of G
I'm familiar yet
so our left hand is very simple one two
three four B with G one and two and
three and
four and C is going to play with f one
two
three and four and G with a fifth in the
left hand
so pretty
so this is where you know we're not kind
of in this comfortable five note scale
Zone anymore we've moved outside of it
and it could be pushing your comfort
zone a little bit and that's a good
thing
um and this is where it's okay to have
that mixture of
guesstimating through the notes using
your acronyms if you ever took music in
um like band class or you had piano
lessons as a child you may have heard
the acronyms and if you haven't I'm just
going to tell them to you right now so
you can use them as a backup plan if you
need to treble clef if you spell the
word face from the bottom to the top
it's going to tell you the note names
f-a-c-e
or if you want to use the lines from
bottom to top you could use Every Good
Boy Deserves french fries or you could
make up any acronym you like and that's
going to help you to identify those
names and in the bass clef the spaces
the common one I grew up with was all
cows eat grass and then for the lines
was good boys to serve french fries
always again you can make up any acronym
you like those are the ones I was used
to so for me over the years I initially
started trying to use that acronym every
time I had to play a note and that was
not efficient then I tried to memorize
them but I couldn't so it doesn't matter
how many flash cards I saw I was just
like ah you put music in front of me and
I was lost
so it became a combination of learning
certain notes and making them Landmark
notes just committing to I'm gonna know
when I see this note It's gotta be this
c
um and that's what we've done we've
Landmark C we've Landmark G in both the
treble and the bass clef
and so that's super helpful learning to
find patterns in music and recognize the
distances between notes so that you can
go off Landmark nope that's a c and I
know that this note's just a jump above
it I didn't have to think ah I ever get
no I just don't know to jump above
there's the note this is what we're
trying to do here is give you a bunch of
tools that you can use and then when you
see a piece of music that might be
challenging you can grab from your
little tool bucket do you put tools in a
bucket tool to a kid and then be able to
figure this out and this is the other
big secret about sight reading is you
know some people just can sit down and
sight read and others have to like
slowly figure out the notes played a few
times memorize it nothing wrong with
that as long as you're doing it
correctly and then put it all together
so
all that to say we're going to play this
little little bit one more time and then
we've got our final day it's a bit of a
bigger song
um and we'll also be familiar and it'll
be a ton of fun so here we go hands
ready I'm gonna prepare for the stretch
because I know this is where I'm going
one two here we go see
Hi-C
this is going to be f with C A and then
G with a fifth in the left hand
awesome you did it so happy practicing I
will see you in day seven
congratulations you made it to day seven
we are playing a full song what what uh
and there are a lot of notes on the page
but you have all of the skills that you
need to be able to do this so we are
going to be working on this one hand at
a time we're going to start with our
right hands I want you to ignore all of
the left hand notes for now we're gonna
figure out where we start and we're
going to just sort of scan the music
right now to look for patterns and then
we're gonna just play it see what
happens
so our first note see if you can beat me
to it is
e so it's the very first line on the
treble clef it's one two three up a
third from middle C and so if you just
look you're like oh look at you got two
e's Step Up Step Up repeat down down
down oh there's C our friend C and then
step up and so you can kind of just see
like the music is just like moving very
fluidly up and down so let's just see if
we can play that line together no stress
just nice and slow we're gonna start on
E one two here we go e e f g g f e d c c
d e e d
sound familiar
next line is basically the same so we're
going to start with E again e e Step Up
f g g f e d down to c c d e d c c so
they were the same that's awesome so
once you play the first one you've got
the first two lines of the song all
right line three is a little bit
different so let's just take a moment
we've got some crazy rhythms we see our
eighth notes in here we are starting on
a new note this is one step up from C
this is d so again if you're looking at
that you're like I don't know what note
it is don't stress this isn't about
perfection right now this is about
practice and improving our skills so if
you have to be told that that's D and
then you can take it from there it's no
problem so we start on d d we're just
going to clap this e c one and two and
three and four and one and two and three
and four and one and two and rest
so let's play it starting on D with our
two finger d d
e there's our c d now we're gonna go e f
e c let's play that measure again
because it's a little bit tricky d e f e
c kind of thing next measure d e f e d c
d we've got a break because we're gonna
play the G with our left hand later and
then familiar territory friends e e f g
repeat the G we're stepping down we're
still stepping down we've got our friend
C here Step Up Step Up step down and see
you got the right hand so let's take a
look at the left hand left hand's a
little bit more complicated than this
one
so take a breath you know play this
fifth by now that's feeling really
familiar and then our first note outside
of that is this e here so you could
think like a jump down from G or jump up
from C or you could just know that this
is e then we're going to step down
down to C and here's this little bit of
a of a leap here so it's all the way up
to F so this is going to be the most
challenging Parts we've got our fifth
we've got e d see up to F down to e up
to f
up to G and we've got another G
then we're going to play that fifth
again
back to e down to C up to F with their
two finger e e f g and then we're gonna
step down to e
then things get real simple whole
measure of G
I'll measure of G
another whole measure of G
and then we wait for two beats one two
that little rest it's like it looks like
a little Top Hat it's called a half rest
and it equals the same amount as a half
note so you just do nothing for two
beats nothing nothing half no back to
your full whole notes Here of CNG and
then e d c familiar up to f
down to e up
up down e e you might be thinking that
doesn't sound like anything Lisa well
you're right doesn't really sound like a
song but when you put it together it's
going to harmonize it means it's going
to create a really beautiful
complementary sound so if you need to
take time to learn these parts
individually please take your time to do
that but when you're ready we can put it
together and it will sound like this
one two here we go e e f g Get this e
ready in the left we're stepping down
together and then two fingers play at
the same time is that amazing that's the
hardest part I promise it's the hardest
part of the whole thing so I just want
to talk you through it one more time
just to get the feel for it we're moving
together eat
up to G the second time we play G we're
also playing e in our left hand now
notice the notes are both moving in the
same direction until we get to the end
of the measure and all you have to think
about friends is just play your two
finger with each hand two finger two
finger F and D now we can move together
again so down both hands are going down
this one's C and this one's e now both
hands are moving up
and then it repeats so get your third
finger ready in the left we're working
together stepping down two fingers
together down
up up
down down
it's amazing so depending on your level
this might be something that you could
play instantly or if you're still fairly
new to the piano this could feel really
hard because it's not just about notes
here's where we're reading completely
different things between the hands
they're harmonizing each other and it's
challenging so this could take a little
bit to master and that's okay
when you're ready the next portion of
the song is going to sound like this so
we have G in the left D in the right
[Music]
d e f e c d e f e d c d g
guess what Home Free we've done this
before
get your third finger Ready Step Bing
down and two fingers work together down
up up down
you just did it it's amazing that's
sight reading so we've gone on quite the
journey but you're here you're reading
the notes and I hope that you are more
confident with the notes that you see on
the page now than you were when you
started at day one all right so where do
you go from here well my friends we've
got an entire level on how to sight read
inside the piano method and I've got a
free seven-day trial which will give you
full access to everything that piano has
to offer so I would love to help you
achieve all of your piano playing goals
and dreams so make sure you check it out
say hello while you're there and happy
practicing
foreign