[neo]

Hi LegendaryCloud89, and yes i am trying to learn to read music (myself), you almost sound surprised.

Oh and i'm 21 (does make a difference, is it easier when your younger?).

[LegendaryCloud89]

Ehhh, I'm not surprised. People are learning how to read music all the time but you supposedly can instruments well by ear which is unusual but good. And it's just that usually people start off read music when they're younger if at all, but it's easier when you're older I suppose since you can understand and store the memory better.

[neo]

...Well i've been playing by ear since, well ever, so i suppose that i could learn to play a piece just by listening and trying to copy it, but the problem with that is that i may miss out some notes or add some incorrect ones. But for me that's not enough, i want to be able to play the piece as it should be played (i've always been a bit of a perfectionist).

and i don't know about being easier when your older, i'm finding it fairly difficult, but i guess one day things will just click into place and i'll get it...hopefully lol.

[Joseph Perkins]

If you try to learn to read music, make sure you get books that cover the topics PROGRESSIVELY. Its very hard to jump around and try to figure out what is going on.

[Bahamut]

I definitely did NOT do that... and that's probably why i haven't improved that much.

[neo]

Yeah, I think your right Joseph.

I guess i can't just jump in head first, before i can do that i need to learn to swim...

The problem for me is that i'm not the most patient of people and the thought of putting in hours of study (when i know i don't have to) is kind of a put-off.

But like you say i'll have to learn a bit at a time and start from the beginning otherwise i'll get lost and confused... I remember the first time i set eyes on a piano and after seeing all those keys i felt like - whats the point i'm never going to be able to play that, but after sticking with it for all those years i feel a lot more at home on a piano...

So i guess its the same with learning to read music, at the moment when i see a complex sheet of music i have the same mind set (errr... i'm never be able to play that, i can't understand any of it), but i know that i WILL get it in the end if i put the effort in.

[pharrell79]

thanks

[The-Real-Link]

Don't worry. Complicated sheet music can be intimidating to even the most advanced. Scriabin still gives me a headache!

[Nicol Armarfi]

Indeed. At first you'll find parts that just look like ink spilled onto a sheet of paper, but I'd suggest practising reading simpler pieces first. It really is quite difficult to process so many notes with little experience. The reason I'm mentioning this is becuase there are a few pieces like this even in the Final Fantasy piano collections. Some of my favourite examples being certain passages of One Winged Angel and Tifa's theme, both from Final Fantasy VII.

[neo]

Scriabin still gives me a headache!

...lol

Hi All ...
Really appreciate the encouragement, its really errr... well, encouraging

Even though the sheets look oh so confusing, I know that I have at least some skill- in that as complicated as even Tifa's theme looks - i can actually play it without reading the sheet (well at least half of it anyway, don't know the other half). Must admit though that i do find it difficult sometimes playing different rhythms at the same time.

...and speaking of "simpler pieces" Nicol, do you know where i can get any, think that might help.... thanks.

Thanks again for the encouragement guys.