Writing Down the Note Letters: Good or Bad?

[@bryceaugustine5832]

I used to do this but found it had indeed become an unwelcome crutch. You have accurately described the problems and have fixed them with an excellent solution.

[@PianotvNet]

Awesome, glad to hear it. :)

[@sks220]

Ive played piano since i was in 5th grade (22 now) and i still write the notes above the staff. It just works for me and helps me play advanced pieces. I'm just about done teaching myself "divenire" by Ludovico Einaudi and all the pages have notes above the staff

[@sambchico]

I write notes in pencil for those I'm really unfamiliar with. When I've practiced the piece a few times I erase them.

[@PianotvNet]

That sounds like a good system!

[@Critique808]

SJB Good idea. I'll do it.

[@BenjaminGessel]

It's more effective when the music is slower/less advanced/less intricate. With music that is ultimately faster, etc., you don't want to think about each note, you want to be able to make the physical motions to play all the notes/large group of notes. At that point, writing in every single note is obviously very distracting/not helpful... Yep, just a smaller amount of tougher notes = the right approach.

[@keepsaek]

My rule for writing in the letters is if I practice a section, and there are two or three notes that I make mistakes on, I will probably write it in (for a short period of time) but erase it once it becomes muscle memory, I'll erase it.

[@sandytep4]

When I played clarinet in school my band teacher would tell us to write down the note letters and now I play piano and I can sight read. So, for me, writing notes has actually helped me!

[@bereantrb]

I played by ear as a kid but started learning notation as an adult. I'd occasionally copy or print out a page of music and write in letters just as an exercise, just as music theory books will have exercises writing the names of notes printed on the page. But at the piano I only worked with the original sheet music to practice what I'd learned. Also, copying music by hand onto blank staff paper is great exercise, too.

[@christianvennemann9008]

For me, at least, it's worked for me on difficult sections and made it easier for me to perfect them more quickly (a great example of it working for me is on the cadenzas for Liszt's Liebestraum).

[@benjaminjones3899]

I was reading guitar tabs playing classical guitar a year ago... than it occurred to me that the circle of 5th is presented perfectly on piano so I got a keyboard and started with using the app synthesia and learned some Phillip Glass, a few months of using synthesia, I learned kiss the rain by Yiruma writing in the notes, toke a lot of effort, I noticed Bach had too many notes to write down. So I practised writing in the notes, ear training and sight reading all at once more and more pieces and combined learning techniques and now I can almost sight read with one hand even with a more sporadic Bach piece. I would defiantly point out a scale book is the best way to visualize patterns while programming your hands into the piano. the most important thing to practise.

[@hofstrabob]

My first teacher taught me to just memorize a couple of notes at a time. She was dead set against writing the letters of the notes. Only once or twice, as the recital neared, did she write the note down that I kept getting wrong. She was schooled in Poland and had standards.

[@CelloSeanMuller]

The only times I write down notes it is only when there are waaayyy to many ledger lines, then once I'm used to what that note looks like and like I remember it I erase it (I write in pencil) and for the most part I only write in 1 or 2 notes and can figure out the rest very easily

[@alexp6453]

I do a similar system except I memorize very easily so I don’t erase it cuz I just stop using the music and that’s when I don’t use it anymore

[@menchietorres8152]

I understand know thank you!!!!

[@TheSunshinedreamer1]

Hi, great video! I have resulted to writing in a few notes that are new to me that are 4-6 ledger lines above or below both staves, but when I do I slow practice to provide time to read the notes in hopes to learn them, not just read my letters written. I always double or triple check that notes are correct before writing them down, using my ear and a theory book. I am using this method for Chopin's Nocturnes, Waltzes and Preludes. My goal is to fully read all notes and intervals:) I write down only fingerings that seem foreign to me or that are best for my hand, differing from the recommended fingerings, and again only after first experimenting and double checking:) I have also discovered that weekly practice times in studying my note names, including my newly learned ones keeps my memory sharp, especially when coupled with also playing them on the piano:)

[@michaellacriola4305]

I definitely sprinkle markings as needed. I can then figure the other notes surrounding the marking by thinking it as a 3rd, whole step, half step, etc... away from where I am. This occurs mostly in bass clef.

[@brettd2308]

Whenever I was very first starting out, I would do this for unfamiliar notes and lots of chords, but it *really* helps to move out of this stage entirely as soon as possible. And I would never go through all the effort to write down every note because that seems like a really bad learning impediment to me. I still have my printed sheet music for Zanarkand by Nobuo Uematsu, which was my final exam performance piece in college intro piano, and it's got all kinds of scribbles on it from me and my instructor - chord labels, tricky notes labeled, and the teacher's fingering suggestions for several passages.

[@bevclark8511]

My piano teacher always wrote the letters of every note for me for years. Eventually she suddenly stopped, and I was totally clueless, and in tears. My Mom phoned the music teacher and we were able to name the notes, despite my years of piano practice. I then took up a band instrument in school, and learned to read the notes! Finally!

[@stephenwillet4075]

I tend to write in the figuring (pianist) and occasionally the Chord if I'm really forgetting something.

[@andriaryanto8102]

wow the decisive battle from ffvi... that makes me want to see you play some pieces of game musics...

[@carolineandtigger]

Very nice. I learned something today.

[@whimsicallytheoretical8004]

Great video! I love how you listed pros and cons, went in-depth with each one, and ultimately left the decision up to the individual. I have been letting my 4th grade recorder students write in the letter names and was wondering if that was a bad thing to do. I think at this point I will continue to let them, because it does seem to help, especially if they don’t take the time to actually learn how to read music as a long-term goal. I teach them in a classroom setting in a public elementary school, so in that context I think it’s okay. In private lessons however or in my smaller music theory classes where I spend a lot more focused effort on note-reading, I would encourage students to learn the notes instead of writing the letters down. Thanks for the helpful tips! 🤗 P.S. I love that the excerpt you used is from a video game! 😍😎 I use video game music to enhance my lessons whenever possible 🎮🎶

[@creepygirl2008]

For a beginner, that is what I do but I know as I play more, I will be doing it a lot less. It's just something that I am comfortable with. It's like with learning to crochet, the more I practice the easy stuff the more I want to crochet the more advance patterns.

[@DrEthologist]

I'm 53 and I've been learning to play the piano for about nine months. Early on, I wrote down a lot of the letters. I now realize this was my way of actually avoiding learning the skill of sight reading. Once I had painstakingly figured out (and initially written in) all the note letters I would quickly memorize a piece and never really look at the sheet music thereafter. So I managed to learn to play some pieces by, in a way, cheating. Downside was that, predictably, I persisted in playing some pieces with wrong notes. Whenever my teacher pointed out a mistake, I was so bad at sight reading that it was really hard for me to figure out where in the piece I actually was, to know what I should have played. Now I write in only a few of the wacky outliers and I'm desperately doing sight reading exercises to try to overcome the dysfunction I inflicted upon myself. Grade One is only a couple months away...

[@PianotvNet]

This is a very insightful comment, and it's pretty common problem. It's awesome that you're aware of it and are only writing in a few letters now. Keep up the good work and thanks for your story!

[@ohsoleohmio]

Jon Martin Watts I cant read the notes fast enough to play anything so i memorise small sections and play them repeatedly till all sounds right. my sight reading is not good enough for grade 1 but i can play grade 8 pieces np. I know i have to improve reading as im forgetting things i learned previous and it is very time consuming and disheartening to relearn to memory. I can hardly even see the point of learning the letters at all isnt it better to just know where the symbols are on the piano how could writing in letters help isnt it just extra code and an extra step to take for no reason :/ ? my teacher says i need to know the letters instantly from the score so we can communicate sort of and the best way i guess is to write them down in random sheets across all and longer ledger lines ? or at least say the letters in my mind while reading afk. so you guys talking about it like its a bad habit to write the letters after you know where they are i guess. btw is there a better way to improve reading other than just sight reading at tempo continuously. i mean is there any structured method easily explained thats not a method book explanation ?

[@erikaelizabeth3823]

Love your videos! For me personally, I pretty much only write in the letters if it's a note that I know I keep playing wrong, and then just leave the rest as is. But I do use a red pencil and yellow hi-lighter all the time for accidentals and stuff. :)

[@PianotvNet]

Yeah I'm a believer in making sheet music colorful! My Bach fugues are basically walls of color.

[@hofstrabob]

Erika Easterly I also use a highlighter on my sheet music

[@TheSunshinedreamer1]

hofstrabob Yes, sometimes I do too:)

[@CadenzaPiano]

I learn reading music as a child, si I don't remember very much of the time I wasnt able too. Today I only use this for notes that are three bars or more below or above the staff. Or sometimes for chords.

[@CObAlTtTttt]

😍 I really love you and your contents, that’s how I learned opus number 66 from Fredric Chopin.

[@kahunawife1]

As a lifelong guitar player, and clarinet player all through school, I’ve always known how to read treble clef. Now that I’m learning to play piano, I am struggling so much trying to learn to read bass clef. Being in my 50’s doesn’t help, either. I wish my music teachers would have required us to be able to read both.

[@phalene5650]

I have done it some times with less used (very high or very low) notes but at the end it is really not helping. I also find that memorizing the piece to avoid reading the notes is not a good solution either. It is painfull at the beginning to decode the notes and it is so slow that that it is discouraging but eventually it does improve with practice and time. Objective is really that it becomes natural to associate a note on the score and the physical key on the piano, otherwise it is not possible to sight read pieces. I find what has worked for me is twofold: first step is to take any piece of music and read loud the notes as quickly as I can decode them (30mns per day - can do that anywhere). Second step is to sight read 30mns easy pieces (starting one hand then both together). Eventually the goal is to be able to "decode" the whole bar at a glance (ie be able to play the bar by looking at it only once rather than note by note) so that I can prepare playing the next bar when I am still playing the current one.

[@GarryBurgess]

I write a lot on the score, but I don't write in note names. I started as being very terrible at reading notes, but I improved through the brute force method of thinking about it all the time until I became very fast at it. Sometimes I write sharp or flat here or there to remind myself that it has appeared in that bar. Much harder for me now is remembering all the different sections in order in a piece without seeing the score. So I try to name different sections and I'll write in the name with long vertical lines to delineate that section. Somehow phrases and sections are easier to remember if I've named them.

[@PianotvNet]

That's a really interesting idea!

[@blendernoob64]

I feel like writing notes down had become a crutch for me. I suck at sight-reading, but once I write things in, the piece becomes so much easier to play. I have now tried to only write in spots that are repeated and not write the other ones in, like a chorus or a verse, so I now have to read the rest of the music on the fly. I really envy those people who can have a piece plopped right in front of them, and can read the music right away.

[@johna6648]

Perfect timing on my seeing this. Just yesterday I was working with a “course” on a “Landmarks” approach that might be like the RCM “Landmarks”. It occurred to me that if I had an app that would add the letters to notes or groups of note, that I highlighted, and then let the letters fade away after a while, it might be helpful. You mentioned simulators. Do any of those use something like what I was thinking about with fade-out note letters?

[@ysh1173]

Hi Allysia, i just brought my first piano and now I am learning to read a note sheet. I have seen on Amazon many stickers with notes and letters that we can put on the keys. Would you recommend labeling the keys with these stickers?

[@thepianoplayer416]

In the beginning everybody get tempted to write letters over every note. After a while not as many. A lot of times the fingerings 1-5 over the notes help as well.Know a man with no interest learning to read learned to play a few pieces with video demos by following finger movements.

[@bluesdog3621]

I've never written in the notes, I'm such a poor sight reader this might be a good idea for me, thanks

[@MichaelCarter]

Never thought to do that or saw it done. But, first notes and fingers ARE memorized.

[@underzog]

My sister played the piano. I was frustrated that I couldn't read all the musical notation so with great effort I learned to read music. Not that it made me feel better -- nothing does!

[@sub7se7en]

What about writing finger numbers?

[@FairyFellersMasterStroke]

Don't do it. Maybe if the part is tricky, and not so comfortable for the fingers. Adding one or two finger numbers to that place is ok. Just don't write the numbers under each note. Remember, we need to practice reading the notes. Not letters, not numbers.

[@MrYagami86]

Hey Allysia, I found you posted a sheet music of FFVI. Is is possible to post in the future my favorite Opening OST theme of FFX-2. Thanks a a lot. And you've no idea how much I learn from your vids. Thanks

[@PianotvNet]

Thanks, and I will write that down! :)

[@LunnarisLP]

Much like studying japanese.. But not using their alphabet and instead using the western version all the time. This way you can talk faster, but you wont ever be able to read well :D

[@alaindevos4027]

What about writing note names , do,re,mi instead of C,DE? For me this did not worked. One could also use numbers but i have not tried this.

[@FairyFellersMasterStroke]

That's a no no. No letters, no finger numbers (some numbers, yes). Any level - from the beginner to professional. We need to practice reading the notes. Learning a music piece is not about impressing your teacher or your parents when the recital comes. It's about YOU and YOUR progress. Your teacher knows it takes time to learn to read the notes, don't worry!

[@Seunia]

FFVI? Yaaaaaay :D

[@0bubblyboi08]

The first time I went to class the girl who took me decided to help me by quickly writing down the letters and i stuck with it- now im like omg what how do i stop

[@thepillowfang]

i used to do this, but now i just practise the sheet music until i memorise it, and then i dont read the notes anymore.

[@duckymomo7935]

Only on ledger lines

[@oysteinsoreide4323]

I find it mostly bad to write it down, because it slows down the process of reading notes themselves. There are no A, B,C etc on real scores, and it makes the process of learning go slower..... I read the treble clef quite easily, and i just transfer that to the treble clef by just pushing the notes up two steps to find out what it is. And soon I can read the bass clef fluently too... ( eg. the first gap from the two lowest lines in the bass clef is A since the second gap has A in the treble clef, and so on. ). that is my way to remember it. But i don't use much time now. I use more time when there are many helping lines above or under the stem.

[@jubsteevee8440]

Personally, i only write the letter of the notes hard to read especially those on the bass clef with many ledger lines.

[@modernmozart813]

Been there lol...

[@tme98]

but to be able to write down notes, you need to translate them first right? so shouldnt that mean you sort of learn maybe 10% of the sight reading?

[@KeepingOnTheWatch]

I would say don't write anything on your sheet music at the piano. I did a few weeks ago and I accidentally made an ink mark on one of the keys. It pissed me off.

[@RonnocFroop]

That's why you use pencil. Most high-level players that I know of will write all over their music. I've actually been told by my teacher that I should write more on it.

[@corey10418]

Simulator it is. To me attempting to read the music for difficult pieces is discouraging and can get you caught in a cycle of multiple hours of wasted time. I can waste ages attempting to decipher tetrachords, complicated rhythms, and counter-rhythms. Alternatively, I can get a leg up by visualizing the structure of the piece from a holistic perspective. My suggestion is to use the simulator and get some proficiency playing the piece. Return to the sheet music and develop the musicality. Your brain will be less strained and focus attention on developing your finger technique and muscle memory. So close to perfecting Ballade no. 1 after only 4 weeks of playing the piano. That said I'm playing it at half speed (that Coda though =P )

[@kahunawife1]

Corey Marsh what is a simulator? (Beginner piano player here).

[@corey10418]

kahunawife1 Check out Synthesia. synthesiagame.com/download You will need to download midi files to your favorite pieces and place them in a folder. In Synthesia link the folder to import all the Midis. I use MuseScore to get my midi files.

[@Robinjam14]

I’m a beginner. Learning for Elise. Left hand is killing me. So I’m Writing in. But yes. Bad habit.

[@manskiptruck]

If you were my piano teacher I wouldn't be able to concentrate.

[@underzog]

I don't write letters for notes.

[@juliankeller5030]

Are you single? Gosh you're pretty... And smart...

[@dr.mikelitoris]

Julian Keller you got no chance with her