How can you read notes faster?

[leigh anne]

I have tried the 'Every Good Boy Does Fine' and 'FACE' and the Landmark System but nothing really works. Does anybody know how a pianist can read notes faster?

[anacrusis]

Honestly, some of it is just practice until you have memorized the notes by playing pieces. You can also use cue cards. When you have seen 99 times that the note on the first/bottom line of the G clef staff is the E right above middle C, chances are that the hundredth time you'll have started to remember that it's the E right above middle C.

I have even read an article critiquing 'Every Good Boy Does Fine' and 'FACE' because it adds extra steps to recognizing the note, i e
1. See the note
2. Remember 'Every Good Boy Does Fine' or FACE
3. Remember where on the staff the mnemonic starts and which direction you go (ie top and down or bottom and up)
4. Count to identify which word/letter in the mnemonic the line or space in the staff corresponds to
5. Identify the letter
6. Translate the letter into a piano key

You probably shouldn't get into the habit of doing this as your crutch. When memorizing the notes directly, the process might be more like:

1. See the note
2a. Either recognize which letter it corresponds to because you have memorized it or
2b. Look it up on a cue card or chart or similar to refresh your memory
3. Translate the letter into a piano key

[leigh anne]

Honestly, some of it is just practice until you have memorized the notes by playing pieces. You can also use cue cards. When you have seen 99 times that the note on the first/bottom line of the G clef staff is the E right above middle C, chances are that the hundredth time you'll have started to remember that it's the E right above middle C.

I have even read an article critiquing 'Every Good Boy Does Fine' and 'FACE' because it adds extra steps to recognizing the note, i e
1. See the note
2. Remember 'Every Good Boy Does Fine' or FACE
3. Remember where on the staff the mnemonic starts and which direction you go (ie top and down or bottom and up)
4. Count to identify which word/letter in the mnemonic the line or space in the staff corresponds to
5. Identify the letter
6. Translate the letter into a piano key

You probably shouldn't get into the habit of doing this as your crutch. When memorizing the notes directly, the process might be more like:

1. See the note
2a. Either recognize which letter it corresponds to because you have memorized it or
2b. Look it up on a cue card or chart or similar to refresh your memory
3. Translate the letter into a piano key
Thank you anacrusis!

[lelle]

I agree with anacrusis. Sometimes you just have to practice until it starts becoming automatic. It's just like learning to read when in school. When you start it's really slow, but now you don't even have to think about it because you have read so much at this point. Reading piano is a bit more difficult since you need to translate it to a hand position and finger movement, but I think the overall principle is the same.

[leigh anne]

I agree with anacrusis. Sometimes you just have to practice until it starts becoming automatic. It's just like learning to read when in school. When you start it's really slow, but now you don't even have to think about it because you have read so much at this point. Reading piano is a bit more difficult since you need to translate it to a hand position and finger movement, but I think the overall principle is the same.

Thanks! 😊

[lelle]

Just to share a little teaser for what's possible for motivation or whatever  I am far from the best pianist in the world but I have been playing for 20 years at this point, and there is a lot of music that I can play pretty much in tempo when I see the sheet music for the first time. If there are complicated/difficult passages I need to slow down and work it out, but a lot of simpler pieces I can simply play and enjoy immediately! This skill is often referred to as reading a vista and it's a useful skill to develop as you progress in your piano journey