Level 6 of 36 · Book I: Single lines
Sight-reading exercises with fourths and fifths
The right hand alone again, but the melody can now jump a fourth or a fifth: C to F, C to G, D to G. The hand still doesn’t move, so it is all about reading the size of a jump quickly.
- 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 6 adds
Steps and thirds are still the most common moves, with fourths and fifths mixed in. Everything stays inside C position (C to G), in whole, half and quarter notes, in C major and 4/4.
What to watch for
- A fourth goes from a line to a space (or a space to a line) with two notes between. A fifth goes line to line or space to space, with three between: one line or space further than a skip.
- A fifth in C position is always thumb to little finger: C to G. If you see one, it can only be those two keys.
- Mixing up a third and a fifth: both are line to line. Count the lines between, or compare with the gap of a third you know.
How to practise it
- Learn what a fifth looks like on the staff: two notes both on lines with one line between them, or both in spaces with one space between.
- Use the hand shape: in C position, any jump from finger 1 or to finger 5 is likely to be a fourth or a fifth.
- Play slowly enough that you never stop. The exercises are short on purpose.
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.