Five Free Music Websites to Improve Note Reading

A guide to some free music websites available on the Internet to help music students improve their note reading skills.

Two common challenges faced by beginning music students are note learning and identifying a note's location on their instrument (geography). Until note reading fluency is achieved, this can lead to some frustrating practice sessions at home.

It is important to develop note fluency at an early stage. The process of learning new music will become easier. Sight-reading and sight-playing will be less stressful. Students will be able to read through music more quickly and play more expressively.

Online Note Reading Websites & Note Reading Games

The following list is a compilation of some of the sites available on the Internet to help with practicing and improve note reading.

musictheory.net

Musictheory.net has quite a few music drills. Under the "Trainer" section, click on "Note Trainer". Users can specify whether to be drilled on reading in the treble clef, bass clef, tenor clef and alto clef. Hints are available and Note Trainer keeps score. Users can also do ear training drills, watch flash presentations of various topics of music theory and print off blank manuscript paper. Note that the Note Trainer may be too advanced for young beginners as it tests students' reading of the entire Grand Staff plus ledger lines.

Funbrain.com – The Piano Player

Students drill their note reading and keyboard geography in this online game. Four levels of play are available: Beginner (one octave with labels), Intermediate (one octave, no labels), Expert (four octaves with labels) and Virtuoso (four octaves, no labels).  The Piano Player is best suited for younger piano students (12 and under).

musicards.net

Eight sets of online flashcards are available on Musiccards.net: Note Names, Key Signatures, Intervals, Triads, Piano Note Names, Reading Piano Notes, Guitar Note Names and Reading Guitar Notes. Reading Piano Notes and Reading Guitar Notes are instrument location/geography drills. Students try to identify the note. To get the correct answer, scroll over the card. Several "decks" are available – no ledger lines, staff and ledger lines, naturals and accidentals.

Piano Pedagogy Plus

Online flash games are available on the Games page. Users can practice note reading on all four clefs. The games are timed and points are deducted for each incorrect answer. Students can also practice their interval reading.

emusictheory.com

Five note naming games are available on emusictheory.com: Note Names, Paced Note Names, C-Clef Note Names, Piano Keys and Guitar Frets. The first three are straight note identification exercises while the last two are instrument geography drills.

Online Note Reading Resources – Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Each of these websites listed contain a variety of drills and tools to help music students improve their note reading. There are other sites out there. Explore the many sites available and choose what sites work best for the student and his music practice needs.

For more information on practicing music, read Five Free Music Websites to Improve Ear Training, Free Websites to Help with Music Theory or Rudiments, and Reasons to Practice Daily.

Originally published on Suite101.com on November 22, 2009. Updated March 24, 2013. All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

Five Free Music Websites to Improve Ear Training

A guide to some free music websites available on the Internet to help music students do well on music examinations and help all musicians develop their inner ear.

Practicing ear training exercises can sometimes be difficult without a teacher, family member or friend assisting. However, help is not always readily available. That makes preparing for a practical music examination challenging, especially for a young musician.

Ear training exercises recorded on a CD are somewhat helpful but can only be used for a limited time (until the student memorizes the order of the questions).

Thanks to the Internet, there are several interactive and dynamic ear training websites available for musicians to use during their music practice. The following list is just a sampling of what is available with a brief overview of each site.

Online Ear Training Websites

Musictheory.net

In Ricci Adams' Musictheory.net, Adams' has developed a comprehensive online theory and ear training aid. Under the "Trainers" tab, musicians can choose from three ear training exercises: Interval Ear Trainer, Chord Ear Trainer and Scale Ear Trainer. Users can customize which elements to be tested on, choose harmonic or melodic intervals and decide whether or not to include chord inversions. The Trainers keep track of your score and users can check the report to see which elements require more work. The website also includes flash tutorials under the "Lessons" section for a theory refresher and staff paper under the "Utilities" section.

Inside Music Lessons

Inside Music Lessons (formerly Practicespot.com) contains a wealth of ideas and tools for music teachers and students to use. Under the "Free Tools" section, students can use the Rhythm Gym to "clap-back" exercises and download cheat sheets to help with identifying intervals and chords.

eMusicTheory.com

Practice rhythmic dictation, identify scales and chords by ear and practice clap-back exercises online under the "Free Theory Drills" section or download the eMusicTheory software program. The site contains a student portal, a teacher portal and discussion forum. There are also pages to help with fingering (for string and keyboard instruments).

Good-Ear.com

The Good Ear website contains a wide variety of ear training drills, ranging from Beginner to Advanced exercises. Music students and professionals alike can practice identifying intervals, chords, cadences, scales, jazz chords and perfect pitch. The site also contains a drill to practice note location or geography.

iwasdoingallright.com

I Was Doing all Right is a jazz blog that contains an online ear training program. Under the "Search" window, click on the "Ear Trainer v2.0" link to use the free online ear training tool. Users can choose from practicing intervals, chords, melody play-back and rhythms. What is advantageous about this site is that listeners can specify which note direction, inversions and specify melody length. For a student preparing for an upcoming examination, this is the most comprehensive ear training tool on the list.

Online Ear Training Resources – Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Music students, music teachers and professional musicians can benefit from practicing ear training on a regular basis. Each of these websites listed contain a variety of drills and tools to aid musicians develop a "good ear" and help students improve their ear training mark on an exam. There are other sites out there, like musicalhearing.com and ossmann.com's Big Ears program. Explore the many sites available and choose what sites work best for one's ear training and music practice needs.

For more information on practicing music, read Five Free Music Websites to Improve Note Reading, How Much Practice is Required to Learn Piano at Different Levels? and Motivating Students to Practice.

Originally published December 22, 2009 on Suite101.com. Updated on March 22, 2013. All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

RCM and ConCan on Youtube

Students - did you know that the Royal Conservatory of Music and Conservatory Canada have their own Youtube Channels? Check out tips, great performances, repertoire demos and interviews with musicians past and present. Conservatory Canada Youtube Channel

Royal Conservatory of Music Youtube Channel

Music Practice Tips Online

There are a growing number of resources online to help music students with how to practice. As each music educator has a unique background, each has something to bring to the table - to you - the music student.

This is a short list of some websites that I recommend to my students:

• The Bulletproof Musician

• The Musician's Blog

• The Collaborative Piano Blog

Check out Chris Foley's series, "31 Days to Better Practicing" on The Collaborative Piano Blog.

Useful Music Websites

A great big thank you to my teaching colleagues on LinkedIn for sharing their favorite music websites:

Children's Music Workshop: Music Education Online
Play Piano Today - a look at Pattern Play Piano
Music Learning Community
Susan Paradis' Piano Teaching Resources

Enjoy!

(c) 2010 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.