Level 1 of 36 · Book I: Single lines
Sight-reading exercises for beginners: right hand, steps
The first level: short melodies for the right hand alone, in C position, that only ever move to the next note up or down. A good place to start if you are new to reading music, or coming back to it after years away.
- Right hand alone
- C major
- 4/4 time
- = 60 to start
8 different exercises, each 8 bars. Listen first, or play it yourself: the music waits for each note.
What level 1 adds
Every note is a step from the last one, or the same note again. On the staff, a step goes from a line to the next space, or from a space to the next line. Your thumb sits on middle C and each finger has its own key, C D E F G, so the hand never has to move.
The rhythms are whole, half and quarter notes in 4/4, and every exercise is in C major, with no sharps or flats.
What to watch for
- Line or space: a step always changes from one to the other. Two line notes in a row are never a step.
- Repeated notes: when the next head sits at exactly the same height, play the same key again.
- Long notes: hold a half note for two beats and a whole note for four before you move on.
How to practise it
- Before you start, find the first note and set your hand: thumb on middle C, a finger over each key up to G.
- Read the direction first (up, down or the same) and the name second. With steps, the direction tells you which finger is next.
- Keep your eyes on the music rather than your hand. Your fingers already know where C to G are.
- Count out loud, “one, two, three, four”, at least for the first exercise.
Each exercise is new music, written for this level by the same generator the app uses, so you can’t have learned it by ear. Read it once before you play, keep a steady beat, and play on through mistakes. Play it yourself checks your notes from a MIDI keyboard, the mouse or your computer keys, and Print gives you the music alone, to read at the piano.
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.