Reading music is a crucial part of learning music in general. The question every aspiring musician wants to know is how long does it take to learn to read music?
While it certainly comes down to how to go about learning it, and how much time you can dedicate to reading music, you can easily grasp the basics in a couple hours.
Further after a few weeks of practice, most people find themselves confident in the ability to read music or work through music they are learning.
Some instruments are more difficult to read music for, while other are more simple.
How hard is it to learn to read music
Learning to read music doesn’t have to be hard or difficult. You just need to set yourself up to go about it in the right way.
Some instruments are going to be far easier to read music for, while others are going to be harder.
For example, vocalists might have it easier than anyone when it comes to reading music. This is because you can get by with visually looking at the changes in pitch and going from there.
Vocalists in most cases don’t actually need to know the note they are singing, but rather just need the opening note and can work from there.
Obviously this isn’t the idea lway to go about it, but it is a viable way to get passed the learning curve of reading music, for vocalists at least.
Then there’s the procussion. Procussion has a very different style of reading sheet music than other sections of instruments.
This is because pitch isn’t at the forefront for procussion.
Alternatively, Piano is the instrument we’ll use as example here today, as it is the most standard and transferable to other instruments.
Maybe you want to learn to read music so you can learn piano or guitar. Maybe even learn piano and guitar at the same time!
Can I teach myself to read music
Yes, if you have some basic sheet music and can spend some time in front of the piano keyboard, you can teach yourself to read music in the course of a couple weeks.
Note, that you can learn in a few weeks, but to master reading sheet music you will need to spend a lot of time practicing.
It helps tremendously if you are already proficient in playing an instrument, as you won’t be learning two skills at once.
However, you often need to build both skills together in order to build from the ground up.
Teaching yourself to read sheet music is entirely possible, just ensure you have a plan, and are choosing appropriately challenging music to read.
For example, don’t pick the most complex piece of music you have to begin with.
Pick an easy and simple song to play, and build from there.
Once you’ve gotten the hang of easier songs, progress to more complex songs.
If you’re working on songs that are too easy for you you won’t progress as fast as you could be, and if you work on material that is too hard you may get frustrated.
What is the best way to learn to read music
Learning to read music by yourself is entirely possible.
However, you will undoubtedly learn quicker if you are able to take lessons.
If you’re already taking lessons for an instrument you can ask your instructor to cover the basics of reading sheet music.
Alternatively, you can also take music theory lessons, where you are focused on learning to read the material and theories, rather than applying them to an instrument.
If you want to learn own your own I commend you, however, if you’re looking to progress quickly, you will want to take lessons.
How long does it take to learn to read and write music
You can learn to read music in the course of a few hours, and become proficient in a few months depending on the amount of time you can dedicate.
Learning to write music is a very different story. Writing music can be done by anyone with a pen and paper.
Writing music that actually sounds like it isn’t a dying animal will take at least a few months of practice.
You will absolutely need to know how to read music before you can write it.
This isn’t quite like reading and writing English, where you learn grammar, reading and writing at the same time.
There’s a little more behind the scenes. Once you get the basics however, you might start to see the similarities.
How long to learn to read music for beginners
A beginner can learn the basics of reading music over the course of an afternoon. With dedicated daily practice time you will become proficient within a couple of months.
Learning basic time signatures and knowing what keys you’re in will help you, of course.
However the basics are quite simple, and so long as you have an instrument to practice and build solid technique, you will be reading like a pro before you know it.
How long does it take to read music fluently
To learn how to read music fluently will take a few months of daily practice sessions focused not just on learning to play the material, but learning to read it quickly as well.
Once you have a basic knowledge of reading music you can move on to more and more challenging music.
While practice ensure you remember how valuable time is when used to learn skills in the right way, and how quickly you can lose sight of where you’re heading.
Sight reading doesn’t have to take years to learn, but it is an essential skill for every musician.
Learning the musical alphabet and reading music doesn’t need to be more difficult than reading and writing in the english alphabet.
If you want to be a sight reader, you only need to practice.
Taking lessons that focus on reading sheet music will help you get a strong foundation, but ultimately you will have to be the one to push yourself to learn how to read.
A good teacher will help you get set on the right path, but to walk the path to reading music is upto the student.
