Mixed sight-reading exercises: minor keys, sixteenths and triplets

What level 44 adds

The right hand ranges from middle C up to two ledger lines above the treble staff, with a third or sixth under some notes and an accidental now and then. The left hand plays triads in close inversions, as wholes, dotted halves, halves and quarters, through I, ii, IV, V and vi in a major key, or i, iv, V and VI in a minor one.

What to watch for

• Key and mode first: check the signature, then whether the piece is major or minor. An accidental leading up to the home note means minor.
• Two kinds of quick notes: sixteenths have two beams, triplets one beam and a 3.
• The time signature: 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4, changing from one exercise to the next.

How to practise it

• Take ten seconds before each exercise: key, time, the quickest notes, and any accidentals.
• Keep going whatever happens. Playing on through a slip is the skill this level asks for.
• When one thing keeps tripping you up, go back to its own level: 37 for minor keys, 40 for sixteenths, 41 for triplets.

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.