Pianomi Get early access

Free piano sight-reading exercises

36 levels of short exercises, from a right hand moving by step to both hands reading chords in four sharps or flats. Each level changes one thing from the level before, so you always know what you are practising.

Every exercise is new music, written for its level by the generator inside Pianomi and drawn as sheet music. Each level page has 8 of them, 8 bars each. Listen to one with the cursor following the notes, play it yourself (the music waits for each note, from a MIDI keyboard, the mouse or your computer keys), or print it to read at the piano.

New to reading music? Start at level 1. If you already read a little, pick the first level whose exercise you can’t play straight through at a slow, steady beat.

Book I Single lines

One hand at a time, then the hands taking turns. Notes in the five-finger C position, read by step, skip and jump.

Level 1Right hand: stepsRight hand alone in C position, moving by step. Level 2Right hand: skipsSkips of a third in the right hand: line to line, space to space. Level 3Left hand: stepsThe bass clef: left hand alone in C position, by step. Level 4Left hand: skipsThirds in the bass clef. Level 5Taking turnsHands take turns every two bars, switching clefs. Level 6Fourths and fifthsBigger jumps inside C position: fourths and fifths. Level 7Keep movingMostly quarter notes, jumps in both hands, taking turns.

Book II Hands together

Both hands at once: a melody on top and a left hand that holds, then moves. Then 3/4 time, eighth notes, and the keys of G and F.

Level 8Left hand holdsHands together: the left hand holds one note per bar. Level 9Left hand in halvesThe left hand changes on beat 3. Level 10Busy left handThe left hand moves in quarters while the right hand holds. Level 11Both hands movingQuarter notes in both hands at once. Level 12Waltz time3/4 time: three beats in a bar. Level 13Eighth notesPairs of eighth notes: two notes per beat. Level 14G positionKey of G: every F is F♯. Level 15F positionKey of F: every B is B♭.

Book III Intervals and chords

Two and three notes at a time: left-hand fifths and sixths, triads and their inversions in either hand, broken chords and the Alberti bass.

Level 16Left-hand fifthsTwo notes at once in the left hand: open fifths. Level 17Thirds and sixthsLeft-hand intervals change shape: thirds, fifths, sixths. Level 18Right-hand intervalsA third or sixth under some right-hand notes. Level 19Left-hand triadsThree-note chords in the left hand, root position. Level 20InversionsChords flip to stay close: C–E–G, C–F–A, B–D–G. Level 21Two chords a barThe left-hand chord changes on beat 3. Level 22Right-hand triadsThe right hand reads the chords, root position. Level 23Right-hand inversionsRight-hand chords in every inversion, two per bar. Level 24Melody over chordsA moving melody over left-hand chords, with ii and vi. Level 25Broken chordsThe left hand plays the chord one note at a time. Level 26Alberti bassLow–high–middle–high in eighth notes, as in Mozart and Haydn. Level 27Chords in G and FLeft-hand chords with a key signature: G and F.

Book IV Moving around

Moving out of position, dotted rhythms, accidentals, rests, syncopation, the waltz bass, and keys up to four sharps or flats.

Level 28Changing positionsThe right hand moves to a new position between phrases. Level 29Dotted rhythmsDotted quarter and eighth: long, short. Level 30AccidentalsSharps and flats outside the key, and the naturals that cancel them. Level 31RestsCount through the silences. Level 32Keys of D and B♭Two sharps or two flats, with left-hand chords. Level 33Waltz accompaniment“Oom-pah-pah”: a low note, then the chord twice. Level 34SyncopationNotes that start between the beats. Level 35More keysA, E♭, E and A♭ major, with ii and vi chords. Level 36Everything mixedAny of the above, in keys up to three sharps or flats.

A new piece every day, at your level

Pianomi is the app these exercises come from. It listens to your MIDI keyboard, grades every note and every beat, and moves you up the 36 levels as your reading improves. It’s free.

Get early access