Learn how to read sheet music

“When I first started playing piano I already had been playing the trumpet for 2 years and the French horn for another 2 so I already knew the treble clef, but the bass clef was completely new to me, in the end though it only took me a day or two at the most to familiarize myself with the bass clef, and I think you’ll have a similar experience with both clefs. [...] It was much easier for me to play very simple scales while reading the sheet music for said scales, and overtime my hand and brain started connecting the keys on the piano with the notes on the sheet music. And throughout practices I would pick a random note on the sheet music and quiz myself on what note that was, it may sound very basic but it works.”

“I've been playing for close to 30 years. It's not an easy or short answer. Your practice routine will evolve and change over time pretty consistently. [...] When sight reading, it's about playing it first try without having seen or listened to the music before and is a separate skill from understanding and analyzing what you're playing compositionally. Over time, those things will merge and you'll be able to understand both simultaneously. The key is doing it every single day, for a long time. Start simple and below your level. Sight read for 10 minutes per day, and just stick to that for a long time. It's ALL about consistency. Go very slow but always in time, keep your eyes on the music as much as possible, don't stop or fix mistakes or start over, it's about working on your fluency and fluidity. It takes a really long time but if you do it every day for many years you will thank yourself.”

“Learning to read music was a little more tricky than I thought it would be. For starters, I expected the staff (the lines the music is on) to be the same as when I played the trombone [...] Instead, the piano uses two combined staffs. One is for treble and one is for bass. [...] I have also learned which notes correspond to which keys since there are several different keys that correspond to a letter (for example there are 8 c's). There is a system where the keys are put onto extra lines called ledgers. As the keys go from bottom to top on the staff, they go from left to right.”