Why Note Reading Is Better than Chording

Many adults have learning to play the piano as an item on their bucket list. Some may have had lessons as a child, but quit. Others maybe never had an opportunity for lessons at all. 

At some point in their lives, many adults consider the possibility of starting or returning to lessons as a way to enrich their lives, carve out some personal time, or just enjoy learning something new.

Once you know that you want to take lessons, the question then becomes how? Do you visit that nice old lady down the street, check with a local music store, look for something online? The possibilities today are really endless. There is a teacher and a method of learning for everyone. However, how do you decide what is right for you?

Before you get down to deciding between in-person lessons and online, there is a bigger question you should consider. What type of playing do you want to be able to do? 

You might be thinking, what do you mean what type of playing? The piano has black and white keys, and I want to know how to make them work. While that is true, there are different approaches to learning the instrument, and it is worthwhile to take a few minutes to think about the type of music you want to play and the level of playing you would like to reach.  Do you want to play for your own enjoyment or play for others? How important is the style of music that you learn? Do you want the ability to just pick up a piece of music and learn it, or will you be satisfied with learning a handful of songs?

There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer to these questions, but you should take a little time to consider them. Piano is taught in different ways, and depending upon how it is taught,  can have a big impact on how and what you learn.

Currently, it is very popular to learn by what is called a chording approach. This approach promises to get the student playing more impressive sounding music much faster than other approaches. Purveyors of this teaching style will often lure you in by talking about how long and difficult the path to reading music is and promise to shortcut it. While this is to some extent true, it isn’t the whole story.

Because the piano is a sophisticated instrument, there is a bit of a foundation that needs to be laid before you can realize its and your full potential. However, this is not insurmountable and shouldn’t discourage you from starting.

 A competent teacher can get you off to a good start without making it feel like drudgery. That same teacher will know how to step you through the various layers and make it feel like fun as you start to find your way around the piano. You will begin with the basics, but will soon have a solid foundation that will gradually allow you access to more and more music in nearly any style you can imagine. With that said, some styles are more difficult than others and may take a little more time. 

Once you have a solid understanding and some practice under your belt, you are on your way to being able to read music of all sorts and have the skills to learn it properly with all of its nuances.

In chording, a student may be taught to read certain notes in the treble clef (basically, notes played by the right hand only). This is typically less than half the notes available to the piano. The student is then taught how to play a series of chords (three-note clusters) more or less by rote, often reading chord symbols much like a guitarist would. 

The chord approach works well if you want the ability to play a handful of popular songs. Often, these can be found in collections, in online sheet music resources, and various other places. If you don’t have a strong interest in progressing much beyond being able to play a few styles of music in what ends up to be a rather limited way, then this approach might be all you need.

It certainly won’t require the investment of time that learning to read more extensively does. However, if you want to pick up anything other than a lead sheet (this is typically music written with notes for the right hand and chord symbols for the left hand), you may find yourself a bit handicapped.

You may see and hear the music you would like to play, but will be missing critical skills for playing it.

While it does take a bit more time and effort, learning to read music in both the right and left hands can open up literally any style of music. A good teacher can get you started learning the basics in a short time–usually a few weeks or months.

There are several different methods used when teaching people to read music, but these are beyond the scope of this article. The first decision you need to make is whether you want to simply learn chords and be able to play a limited repertoire or learn to read music and be able to read nearly anything you come across.

I look at it this way. Teaching chords is fine. It is a good skill to have. However, it is a bit like giving a man a fish. Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime. By learning to read music, the world of music opens up to you. You can tackle any style of music and not be limited to lead sheets. 

If you are ready to take the next step in learning to play the piano, I would be happy to visit with you to help you find the right path for you. On my website, PianoPlayingMadeSimple, I offer a FREE introductory course in reading music. You can do this at your own pace at no charge.