how to read music in keys other than C Major (Piano)?

Question

I've been playing piano for quite some time and I am very embarrassed to admit that I cant sightread music in any key other than C Major. I really don't understand how people can look at a piece of music in with different key signatures and know exactly which notes are sharped are flat-ed and being able to play with the same ease as if it were C Major. i feel like that it is almost as if in their brain they see, for example, two sharps and in their head they say "alright two sharps, switching to D Major mode!" I feel like I completely missed one gigantic aspect of sightreading music. How does one learn to do this?

Answer 1

well, my friend, I would suggest to read a theory book. Any music store has them. Just pick up a level one theory book and start learning! There are multiple sites, videos, and books that will teach you how to sightread. Trust me, I struggled with this for a very long time.



As the previous answers said, Scales. Practice them and familiarize yourself with how many flats and sharps they have. Also familiarize yourself with the notes on the staff, If you can use the EGBDF (Every Good Boy Does Fine) for the treble clef lines and FACE (it spells face... 'nough said) for in between the lines. You'll do fine!



As long as you remember that for the left hand, every note moves down two lines. I'm sorry i can't really explain it well, but i'm sure piano books will teach you!



Good Luck!

Answer 2

Your teacher should be helping you with this.



"I really don't understand how people can look at a piece of music in with different key signatures and know exactly which notes are sharped are flat-ed".



They can see it - at the beginning of every line, in the key signature. The sharps or flats written there apply to every note of that name throughout the piece. The first sharp if F#, written on the top line of the treble clef. Every F is played F#, not just the one appearing on the top line thereafter. The second sharp shown is C# - and every C will be played C#. If you were to play the scale and arpeggio of D first, your ears would be attuned to this key, and it would help you hear the "wrong" note if you play one as a natural when it should be sharped.



For you, for now, I'd suggest using a pencil to write in the sharp against the appropriate note. When the piece begins to feel familiar to you, you can always rub out the pencil marks again. One day (soon) you will be able to pick up a new piece in the same key and just remember more easily. All new things are perhaps puzzling at first, but you soon learn and then they aren't so puzzling any more.

Answer 3

I had the same difficulty when I returned to the piano in my adult years but I eventually overcame it, after enduring daily practice of scales, arpeggios, as well as sight-reading easy pieces in different keys. The others have offered excellent advice but here are some more ideas you could try:



1. Before playing a piece, say in D major, play the scale, common chords, and arpeggios of that key. You'd be surprised at how your hands and fingers seem to adjust naturally to the notes.



2. Transpose C major pieces to "nearby" keys. For example, try playing the Hanon exercises in C minor or even C# minor. The notes would look the same but some will fall on the black keys.



3. Copy any short piece by hand onto a blank music sheet and transpose it in all keys, major and minor. This is tedious but you will "love" accidentals after doing a dozen or so.



As others have pointed out: scales, scales, scales. Good luck!

Answer 4

Practice scales. Scales, scales, scales. Also, you can do scale patterns to help improve dexterity and remember which sharps or flats to play in a given scenario.



Don't write in reminder sharps or flats; just remember to change the note per key. For example, if you're playing in G major, you just have to remember that you will never play F natural and all of the written Fs will be F# instead.

Answer 5

I always find it amazing to discover the amount of synaesthetics that are involved in the creative arts. Apparently, one of the roots of creativity is being able to transfer a concept between varying mediums, so it would make sense that many creative people are also syneasthetics. And apparently, new research on the subject is beginning to show that the majority of human beings might actually have some very minor form of it, even if they are unaware of the fact. (I spend way too much time watching all of the Discovery, History, etc channels on TV) Personally, I am an incredibly visual learner. I excel at arithmetic because I see it all in my head. But I think that's also why I hit a wall when I got to calculus. It is too abstract for me to quantify visually. If I have any synaesthesia in terms of music, mine is definitely not related to colors. But I do find myself consistently applying certain shapes to specific keys. Db major is always very rounded, although not circular. It is more like wide parabolic curve, always extending downward. G major is a small three dimensional rectangular box. It is similar in size and shape to a candy bar, although it is completely geometrical. And E major is always a square. Isn't the human mind amazing?

Answer 6

Learn more music in other keys, but don't write in any reminder accidentals. Also, learn all of your major and minor scales instead and out. Before long, reading in any key will require no effort on your part.