Staff Line Dlsxyeia (Dyslexia)

[JimDunlop]

Since I've made made head-on attack on my new piano, I've found myself remembering many of the things I had previously lost through years of not having access to a piano and only irregular, short practice sessions.

One thing I've noticed is that I have the same problem now as I've always had...  Namely, reading notes that are far above (and far below) the regular staff lines.  Specifically, in the treble clef, any note above a high "E" or below an "A" on the other end.... And then, any note lower than a low "C" in the bass clef.  I was taught (since I was a little kid, those happy, easy mnemonics to help you remember the progression of notes on the staff) but I don't remember my teachers ever really stressing those notes that fall outside those bounds too much.  The only way I was taught, was to just "count."

Well, fast-forward to now, and these notes cause me unending grief, and I find myself having to stop and count my way up (or down) to the appropriate note many times during any given piece.  This means stopping, thinking about it, and losing the flow of what I was doing up to that point.  So then, I must scribble a note to myself as to what the heck that note/notes (if it's a chord) actually are, otherwise I will definitely forget what it was supposed to be -- even the next time a play that passage.

Are there any specific exercises, drills or mnemonics that can help me with this particular issue?  Or is it just a matter of rote learning?  (I.e.  Keep hammering away at it until it all becomes second nature?)

Thanks! :-)

[mound]

Hi Jim,

I don't think there is anything dyslexic about that. Do you have dyslexia? Anyway -  I've found that memorizing the other locations of C has helped me with just that. I can pretty quickly tell what note something is by the distance it is from a C (middle, 1 above or 1 below) so I memorized where C was several lines above and below the end of each staff and from there I can quickly re-gain my bearings.. (It also helps that the piece I'm learning right now is loaded with fast runs that revolve around the highest C# in the keyboard

Try grabbing a piece of blank staff paper, find the lowest C on the keyboard, and write it in and play that note. Then add the C an octave above that, write it and play it.. do that all the way up to the highest C on the keyboard/staff. Once you've found them all, actually written them down and played them, you should have it pretty well memorized.. And then, even if you don't immediately recognize intervals, and have to "count up" using the pneumonic, at least you can more easilly find a starting point.


So give that a try! Oh, and I too have scribbled in what a note is on the score when it's several extra lines below or above.. My teacher told me he has too. There's no problem in doing that as far as I'm concerned.

-Paul

[JimDunlop]

I don't think there is anything dyslexic about that. Do you have dyslexia?

Not that I know of, but I think I'm starting to figure out how it must feel... ;-)

Try grabbing a piece of blank staff paper, find the lowest C on the keyboard, and write it in and play that note. Then add the C an octave above that, write it and play it.. do that all the way up to the highest C on the keyboard/staff.

Fantastic tip.  I'll try that first thing tomorrow before I start to practice! :-)

Oh, and I too have scribbled in what a note is on the score when it's several extra lines below or above.. My teacher told me he has too. There's no problem in doing that as far as I'm concerned.

Glad to hear that.  (A bit relieved, actually).  I figured that might be seen as somewhat unusual...  But I would certainly like to get beyond relying on such measures.

Cheers,

JD

[Daniel_piano]

Are there any specific exercises, drills or mnemonics that can help me with this particular issue?  Or is it just a matter of rote learning?  (I.e.  Keep hammering away at it until it all becomes second nature?)

Thanks! :-)

The best way to learn to sightread/read those notes that are below and above the staff line is to practice on one or two pieces with a lot of of notes above the staff lines
While you practice it, feeling the musicality, the rhythm, and repeating the various chunks hundreds of time you can be assured that you will learn those notes and will never forget them

Try this piece from the: Etudes de Moyenne Difficulte

https://youngdonald.altervista.org/immagini/001.jpg
https://youngdonald.altervista.org/immagini/002.jpg
https://youngdonald.altervista.org/immagini/003.jpg

or Czerny

https://youngdonald.altervista.org/immagini/005.jpg
https://youngdonald.altervista.org/immagini/006.jpg

I can assure you that working on pieces with lots of above and below staff notes is the best way to learn them, as well as working on pieces with lots of thirds is the best way to learn thirds, and worling on pieces with lot of wide intervals is the best way to learn those intervals and so on

Daniel

[Sketchee]

I used to write the note name on the first occurence of the leger line in a score.  I wouldn't write it everytime so if I saw it later I'd try to remember what the line ment.  After a while of doing this, I've gotten pretty good at reading pretty high and low on the staffs.

I guess it's just memorizing just like any other memorizing that you do.  We remember multiplication this same way.  I think one can recognize the look of three lines above a staff rather than counting and then associate that with E.  Leger line flash cards could work as a supplement but overall it's a sightreading issue for practical purposes.  Practice with scores with ledger lines.  If you already know well pieces with ledger lines in them, you can use that for association as well.