Keyboard Instruments - Read Sheet Music for Piano Fast!

Learn how to read keyboard sheet music and play easy songs on the piano with your right hand. Incl. PDFS and demos.

Highest Rated

Created byVictoria Williams LmusTCL BA(Mus)

Last updated 1/2026

English

What you'll learn

Read sheet music and play it on the piano with the right hand

Course content

4 sections • 41 lectures • 1h 4m total length

Introduction & Where to Find a Keyboard Instrument2:16
Introduction to the course, and how to get the best results from it.
A Note about the Song Choices in this Course0:32
A quick message about the keyboard song choices used in this course, and information about where you can buy sheet music from.

Meet Your Keyboard1:51
Find out about the piano keyboard layout, including the pattern of black and white notes. Learn the notes names of the white notes and learn how to identify a starting note, from which you can work out the other names.
Meet the Stave2:28
Learn how the musical stave works and how notes are placed on it. Learn about the treble clef, which is used for right hand keyboard playing. Learn about how to extend the 5-line staves using ledger lines.
You've Got Rhythm4:16
Note shapes show duration. Learn about the crotchet/quarter note, stem direction how to count the beat.

Practice some simple four-note tunes using crotchets/quarter notes.
Five Fingers2:07
Learn why it's important to use all the fingers on your hand, and the best way to work out correct hand position.
Practice Time: Crotchets/Quarter Notes (PDF)1:00
Practice Time: Crotchets/Quarter Notes (Demos)1:29
Watch demos of the practice tune with animated piano keyboard.
Getting Longer3:10
Learn about notes values longer than the crotchet (quarter note). The minim (half note) is twice as long, and the semibreve (whole note) is four times as long. Learn how to count out each note as you play.
Practice Time: Getting Longer (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF of practice tunes using longer note values.
Practice Time: Getting Longer (Demos)2:17
Watch the practice tunes demonstrated on the keyboard.
Getting Shorter3:44
Learn about the note values which are shorter than the crotchet/quarter note: the quaver and semiquaver (eighth note and sixteenth note), and how to count them.
Practice Time: Getting Shorter (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF for practising tunes with shorter note values.
Practice Time: Getting Shorter (Demos)1:21
Watch demonstrations of the Getting Shorter tunes.
Ebony and Ivory4:55
Learn the names of the black notes on the keyboard instrument or piano, and how they are represented on the stave. Learn about key signatures and accidentals, and how they work.
Practice Time: Ebony & Ivory (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF of the Ebony & Ivory tunes (using black notes).
Practice Time: Ebony & Ivory (Demos)1:25
Demos of the tunes for the Ebony & Ivory (black notes) lesson.
Going Dotty4:07
How dots written next to notes change their duration, and how tied notes work. Don't confuse dotted notes with staccato, or tied notes with slurs.
Practice Time: Going Dotty (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF of practice tunes using dotted and tied notes.
Practice Time: Going Dotty (Demos)1:41
Watch demos of the practice tunes using dotted and tied notes.
Simple Time2:32
What do the numbers in a time signature (metre) mean, and how to count keyboard music in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 (the simple time signatures).
Practice Time: Simple Time (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF of tunes in simple time signatures to play through.
Practice Time: Simple Time (Demos)1:26
Demos of the tunes practising simple time signatures.
Silence is Golden1:46
Learn about how silence is represented in music with rest symbols. Find out about their different shapes, and the function of the whole bar/measure rest.
Practice Time: Silence is Golden (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF sheet music of tunes to practice rests.
Practice Time: Silence is Golden (Demos)1:48
Watch demos of the tunes for practicing music with rests.
Compound Time2:38
Compound time: how to count music written in 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8, and how the beat is subdivided.
Practice Time: Compound Time (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF of tunes in compound time signatures to practice.
Practice Time: Compound Time (Demos)1:08
Watch demos of the practice tunes using compound time signatures.
Clash of Symbols3:21
Learn about other common symbols found in sheet music: repeat instructions, the pause symbol and octave higher symbol.
The Left Hand2:10
Brief introduction to playing with the left hand on the keyboard: how to read the bass clef.
Practice Time: Left Hand (PDF)1:00
Download the PDF of tunes to practice the left hand.
Practice Time: Left Hand (Demos)1:46
Demos of the practice tunes for the left hand.
Quiz

Getting Ready: Scarborough Fair2:21
This lesson will prepare you to play Scarborough Fair on the piano or any other keyboard instrument. You can watch the keyboard notes too.
Sheet Music Scarborough Fair1:00
Download the sheet music and notes for Scarborough Fair.
Getting Ready: House of the Rising Sun0:49
Preparation before playing House of the Rising Sun.
Sheet Music House of the Rising Sun1:00
Sheet music with lyrics and notes for the song "House of the Rising Sun".
House of the Rising Sun - Demo0:40
Watch the piano keyboard demo of how to play "House of the Rising Sun".
Getting Ready: Star Spangled Banner4:02
Get ready to play "The Star Spangled Banner".
Sheet Music Star Spangled Banner1:00
Download the PDF of the sheet music for "The Star Spangled Banner".

Requirements

You need to be able to commit to practice 20 minutes a day
You need a piano or keyboard, real or virtual

Description

Learn to Play Keyboard Instrument Music Fast!

If you want to learn how to read sheet music notes, to play easy songs on the piano or any other keyboard instrument, this course is for you. You'll be able to play the piano with your right hand, reading notated sheet music. Within a few hours and with a bit of practice, you'll realize that reading music is as easy as reading words, when you know how!

The course is broken down into short steps - each lesson is around 3 minutes in length. Learn a new skill in a short time, watch the demos, practice, then move on when you are ready.

I've included some PDF sheet music, and will of course be adding in more and more for you on a regular basis. Songs you'll learn how to play include "House of the Rising Sun", "Star Spangled Banner" and "Scarborough Fair". Requests for songs accepted!

What you'll learn:

How to name and locate the notes on the piano keyboard
How to name and locate the notes on the treble clef stave
Pitch, rhythm and accidentals
Key and and time signatures - the essentials
How to navigate through a song - understand repeat symbols and other instructions
The basics of how the left hand works

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Who this course is for:

This course is ideal for beginners who can't read music, who want to learn the basics quickly and easily.

Keyboard Instruments - Read Sheet Music for Piano Fast!

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction2 lectures • 3min

Brain Work31 lectures • 1hr 2min

Let's Make Music7 lectures • 11min

BONUS SECTION!1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: