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Reading piano music can be made easier if you learn the method of music score mapping.
Mapping out the different musical patterns before you begin a new piano piece, helps you see the music score in a whole new light! In this lesson you'll learn how you can use this in your own piano practice.
Reading piano music can be done easier by first of all “mapping out” the piece.
By looking at the whole piece, and “mapping out” similar or parts that are the same, you will not only get an overview of the piece but you can also avoid getting stuck in the beginning measures…
Why?
Psychology. When starting out with a new piece it is easy to feel confused, and to see the score only as a huge bunch of black "dots".
Working with the first few measures and (usually) learning them properly; that is hands separately, playing slowly and such, will make that fist part feel “homey and cozy”.
It creates a certain satisfaction of actually reading piano music and being able to play at least a little bit of the piece.
What happens when we feel good about something? We want to do it again, and again…
The rest of the piece will now feel even more intimidating to learn, since the first part sounds so gooood…
You get the idea. Almost all beginner piano students are struggling in this way when reading piano music. So, what to do?
Mapping the score is easy when you know what to look for. Start with bigger areas, then go to smaller and smaller. Here is what to do step by step:
Take a look at this example I created:
Piano Score Mapping; (Arabesque by Burgmuller) PDF. (Click to open PDF in a new window).
I have marked the different parts in colors.
So how do you use this when practicing?
Tip: If you need more help with reading piano music, check out this book: Learning to Read Music.
Here are all the steps, including how to prepare everything in the score, scales, fingering and all. It may seem like a lot, but you will learn the piece much faster, and it will make it easier to memorize the piece later if you want to.
Question: What is the part of a piano piece we normally learn the best?
Answer: The beginning.
Question: If you play a less than perfect performance, what do you prefer?
Answer: (At least my preference) Nr. 3. If you start well, you will get better confidence, and the audience will pay more attention- like giving a nice first impression. Sure it is not fun to goof up- but it happens. Ending the piece with flair, will "forgive" the previous mistakes.
Never underestimate the sound that remain in the room after the last piano note is played. It can be “AAAH!” or “Aww…”
Why not the second choice? Well, you need to have confidence and self-determination of steel to play well after making a terrible start.
So it's not so common. But it happens. So, the conclusion of this (totally biased) quiz is:
Learn the end first. Then the beginning of the piece.
However, if you follow the plan above, and the piano practice tips here, you can be quite “bulletproof” the rest of the piano piece as well!