What's the most effective way for teaching reading music?

[key of c]

How do you teach reading music at the very beginning?
I do not like to use the All Cows Eat Grass or Every Good boy does fine, etc.  since
they are really not musical principles; although that's how I learned how to read.
How do you all teach this at the beginning?

[lagin]

I must say that I also use All Cows Eat Grass, ect., as I too learned this way, but I also have my beginning students sing the notes on some of their really easy songs--C, D, C, D, C2, C2, C, D, C, D C234.  The numbers indicate half and whole note values.  I don't do this for every song, but for example, I have a young boy starting his second book, and the first 8 songs are a review of the first book, so I've asked him to sing them, since just playing them would be a piece of cake.  Just a thought.

[bernhard]

Have a look at these threads:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1871.msg14384.html#msg14384
(Reading notation – Richmann’s book – Cambridge word scramble example)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1976.msg15962.html#msg15962
(Sight reading – Richmann’s book)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2406.msg20820.html#msg20820
(the grand staff)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2577.msg22247.html#msg22247
(Keyboard topography – how to find notes by touch)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2713.msg23282.html#msg23282
(Teaching bass clef – explanation for the grand staff)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2751.msg23710.html#msg23710
(detailed explanation of the sight-reading process)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2757.msg23890.html#msg23890
(Sight reading techniques – Good post by faulty on the folly of pedagogues)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2763.msg25148.html#msg25148
(music to develop sight reading from scratch)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3205.msg28255.html#msg28255
(how not to look at the keys – Richmann’s reviews)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3334.msg29381.html#msg29381
(Reading both staffs as a single grand staff - Reasons for working on scales - Detailed discussion of Richmann’s book)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4461.msg41580.html#msg41580
(Looking at the keys: Good or bad? exercises to help finding notes by touch. Good contributions by Chang).

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4506.msg42967.html#msg42967
(accompanying to teach sightreading)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,5090.msg48850.html#msg48850
(the score is tabs for piano)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,587.msg14335.html#msg14335
(How to teach a 5-year old to read music – Candida Tobin’s methods)

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[key of c]

Bernhard,
thanks so much!

[bernhard]

You are welcome.