Lessons

Unit 1 The staff

Lines and spaces, higher and lower, steps and skips. No note names yet.

0 of 3 lessons mastered

  1. Lines and spaces Continue here A note sits on a line or in a space. Learn to see which at a glance.
    Available Practise
  2. Higher and lower The higher a note sits on the staff, the higher it sounds.
    Locked Practise
  3. Step and skip The smallest move on the staff, and the one that jumps over one.
    Locked Practise

Unit 2 Treble landmarks

Four notes you will know at a glance; everything else is read from them.

0 of 3 lessons mastered

  1. G4 and C5 The clef's own line and the middle space.
    Locked Practise
  2. F5 and C4 The top line and middle C, below the staff.
    Locked Practise
  3. The four landmarks All four together, until each one is instant.
    Locked Practise

Unit 3 Treble steps

One step above and below each landmark: the whole staff.

0 of 5 lessons mastered

  1. Steps from G4 and C5 F4, A4, B4 and D5: the neighbours of the two central landmarks.
    Locked Practise
  2. Steps from F5 and C4 E5, G5, D4 and E4: the edges of the staff.
    Locked Practise
  3. A step up or down Read the movement, not each name: that is how fluent readers read.
    Locked Practise
  4. The whole staff From C4 to G5, all mixed together.
    Locked Practise
  5. Reading at tempo Naming the notes to a metronome, without stopping to think.
    Locked Practise

Unit 4 Rhythm I

The pulse, quarter, half and whole notes, rests and 4/4 time.

0 of 4 lessons mastered

  1. The pulse, quarters and halves Tap the rhythm with the metronome: a quarter per beat, a half for two.
    Locked Practise
  2. Whole notes and rests The whole note fills the bar; a rest is counted but not tapped.
    Locked Practise
  3. Which one did you hear? Hear one bar and recognise it written among three look-alikes.
    Locked Practise
  4. Two bars in a row Everything so far, two bars, a little faster.
    Locked Practise

Unit 5 Treble skips and reading

Skips from the landmarks and the first melodies read for real.

0 of 5 lessons mastered

  1. Skips from the landmarks A skip above and below each landmark; A5 and A3 make their entrance.
    Locked Practise
  2. Step or skip, up or down Read the move between two notes: size and direction at once.
    Locked Practise
  3. Read a stepwise melody Four notes in a row, each one a step from the last.
    Locked Practise
  4. Melodies with skips Two bars, steps and skips, quarters and halves.
    Locked Practise
  5. Melodies at tempo Steps and skips, quarters and halves, read against the metronome.
    Locked Practise

Unit 6 Rhythm II

Eighths, dots, ties, 3/4 and 2/4 time, and melodies with rhythm.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. Eighth notes Two per beat: "1 and 2 and".
    Locked Practise
  2. 3/4 time and the dotted half Three beats per bar; a dot adds half the value.
    Locked Practise
  3. Dotted quarter and eighth A beat and a half, and the eighth that completes the second beat.
    Locked Practise
  4. Ties Two joined notes sound as one, longer note.
    Locked Practise
  5. 2/4 time by ear Two beats per bar; recognising eighths and rests by ear.
    Locked Practise
  6. Melodies with rhythm Pitch and rhythm together: name the notes of a melody with eighths and halves.
    Locked Practise
  7. Reading with a pickup At tempo, starting before the first bar.
    Locked Practise

Unit 7 Bass clef

The bass clef, its four landmarks and the steps around them.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. F3 and C3 The bass clef points at the fourth line.
    Locked Practise
  2. G2 and C4 The bottom line and middle C above.
    Locked Practise
  3. The four bass landmarks G2, C3, F3 and C4 mixed.
    Locked Practise
  4. Steps from F3 and C3 E3, G3, B2 and D3.
    Locked Practise
  5. Steps from G2 and C4 A2, F2, B3 and D4.
    Locked Practise
  6. A step up or down, bass clef Step direction, now in the other clef.
    Locked Practise
  7. The whole bass staff From E2 to C4.
    Locked Practise

Unit 8 Bass reading

Skips and melodies in the bass clef, and ledger lines in both clefs.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. Skips from the landmarks A third above or below each landmark.
    Locked Practise
  2. Step or skip, up or down The move between two notes in the bass clef.
    Locked Practise
  3. Stepwise bass melody One bar of quarters, note by note.
    Locked Practise
  4. Melody with skips and rhythm Two bars, thirds, quarters, halves and eighths.
    Locked Practise
  5. Treble ledger lines A3 to D4 below, G5 to C6 above.
    Locked Practise
  6. Bass ledger lines C2 to F2 below, B3 to E4 above.
    Locked Practise
  7. Bass clef at tempo Reading the bass staff with the metronome underneath.
    Locked Practise

Unit 9 Accidentals

Sharps, flats, naturals and doubles; tones and semitones; the keyboard.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. The sharp F♯ is a semitone above F.
    Locked Practise
  2. The flat B♭ is a semitone below B.
    Locked Practise
  3. Until the bar line An accidental lasts the whole bar; the natural cancels it.
    Locked Practise
  4. Tone or semitone The real distance between two notes.
    Locked Practise
  5. On the keyboard From the written note to the key.
    Locked Practise
  6. The double sharp 𝄪 raises by two semitones: F𝄪 sounds like G.
    Locked Practise
  7. The double flat, in bass clef 𝄫 lowers by two semitones, and here on the other staff.
    Locked Practise

Unit 10 Key signatures

The accidentals at the start of the staff and how to read with them.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. Sharp keys G, D and A major.
    Locked Practise
  2. Flat keys F, B♭ and E♭ major.
    Locked Practise
  3. Reading with sharps in the key The note carries no sign; the signature already does.
    Locked Practise
  4. Reading with flats in the key The same, in F, B♭ and E♭ major.
    Locked Practise
  5. Melodies in a key Read a melody in G, D, F or B♭ major.
    Locked Practise
  6. Four accidentals or more The rest of the signatures, from E major to G flat major.
    Locked Practise
  7. Reading in a key at tempo The signature does not change the note name, least of all at tempo.
    Locked Practise

Unit 11 Rhythm III

Sixteenths, syncopation, 6/8 time and triplets.

0 of 6 lessons mastered

  1. Sixteenth notes Four to a beat: "1 e and a".
    Locked Practise
  2. Syncopation The sound starts off the beat and is held over it.
    Locked Practise
  3. 6/8 time Six eighths grouped in threes: two dotted beats.
    Locked Practise
  4. Triplets Three notes in the space of two.
    Locked Practise
  5. Sixteenths by ear Telling four sixteenths from an eighth plus two sixteenths.
    Locked Practise
  6. Reading eighths at tempo Closing the unit: pitch and rhythm together, at 80.
    Locked Practise

Unit 12 Intervals by shape

Recognising at a glance how far apart two notes are, and reading longer passages at tempo.

0 of 6 lessons mastered

  1. Seconds and thirds Line to the next space, or line to the next line.
    Locked Practise
  2. Fourths and fifths Line to space with a line between, or line to line skipping one.
    Locked Practise
  3. Sixths, sevenths and octaves The big leaps, recognised by how tall they sit on the staff.
    Locked Practise
  4. Every interval, up and down From the second to the octave, in either direction.
    Locked Practise
  5. Intervals in bass clef The same shapes, a different staff.
    Locked Practise
  6. A longer passage at tempo Four bars without stopping, with a pickup, at 84.
    Locked Practise

Unit 13 Expression

Dynamics, articulation, tempo marks and repeats: what is left to read a real score.

0 of 6 lessons mastered

  1. Dynamics From pp to ff: how loud each passage is.
    Locked Practise
  2. Articulation Dots, accents and lines over the notes.
    Locked Practise
  3. Tempo marks The Italian word over the first bar.
    Locked Practise
  4. Repeat signs Two dots by the bar line: you go back once.
    Locked Practise
  5. First and second endings Two different endings for the same section.
    Locked Practise
  6. The final reading Four bars in bass clef, with a pickup, at 80.
    Locked Practise

Unit 14 Play what you see

Read a note and produce it: on a MIDI keyboard, sung into the microphone, or on the on-screen piano.

0 of 3 lessons mastered

  1. Playing notes on the staff From E4 to F5: read it and play it, without naming it.
    Locked Practise
  2. Playing above and below the staff From C4 to G5: the notes outside the staff get played too.
    Locked Practise
  3. Playing in bass clef From E2 to B3: the left hand of the keyboard.
    Locked Practise