Mmario,
Reading music is reading in a language. It becomes necessary to know what the notes mean. First, learning sharps and flats in a major key is like learning ABC's. It should be learned systematically and intelligently though. The construction of a major scale has a pattern that can be applied to all keys. THe problem is that the say most music schools teach this is that the scales are never "internalized". In order to understand them, they must be sung.

The use of soffeggio (do,re mi etc.) is useful here but I prefer to use numbers. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 with sharps and flats being expressed as IE: b2, or #4. If you start with simple songs and decide what number corresponds to the letter name on the staff (which you can soon learn to identify) and sing those numbers, you will be on the say to learning to sight sing. Then you will have an inside track into understanding why you are reading music...to interpret musical ideas.

The best way to learn the scales is to get staff paper and write them out in their respective keys this way....C,G,D,A,E,B,F#,C# for the sharp keys and C,F,Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb for the flat keys. Each time you progress from one scale to the next, you add a sharp or a flat to the key signature after the treble clef sign. Do just the treble clef as this is the most practical since melodies are generally written there.

Frank Hamilton


Frank Hamilton