Level 32 of 36 · Book IV: Moving around
Sight-reading exercises in D major and B flat major
Two sharps or two flats: D major (F sharp and C sharp) and B flat major (B flat and E flat), with left-hand triads under a melody.
- Hands together
- B♭ or D major
- 4/4 time
- = 54 to start
8 different exercises, each 8 bars. Listen first, or play it yourself: the music waits for each note.
What level 32 adds
The right hand plays halves and quarters, with steps, skips and jumps up to a fourth. The left hand plays triads in close inversions, as whole or half notes. Each exercise is in one of the two keys.
What to watch for
- Two black keys to remember instead of one: in D, F♯ and C♯; in B♭, B♭ and E♭.
- B flat major starts on a black key: the home note itself is B flat.
- Chords with black keys: in D major the I chord is D–F♯–A; in B♭ major it is B♭–D–F.
How to practise it
- Say the sharps or flats before each exercise and find them in both hands.
- The order of sharps (F, C, G…) and flats (B, E, A…) never changes: two sharps are always F and C, two flats always B and E.
- Listen first: a wrong white key in these keys sounds clearly out of place.
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.