How should I practice to achieve my goal.

Hi Andrew, I am new in this forum and first of all I want to say thank you very much for teaching music. As you said not everyone has money to paid a teacher, I am one of these persons who always had liked music but I have not had the chance to learn with a teacher or study the music theory. I just want to say one more time thanks because you re helping a lot of people, I think is really cool that you share your knowledge and your passion for music with everybody around the world.
Well, now I would like to ask you a question. I have been playing piano since 6 months ago. Rigth now I am able to play the moonlight sonata and the titanic song and also I know a few other small songs. Anyway I found about your web page a couple of weeks ago and then I started watching your music theory lessons. I had learned until the test number one. However, you know I would like to be capable of putting in front of the piano a sheet music and be able to read and play in the piano.
I just saw it in this channel that well what is the point of "memorizing songs" that if I do not play regularly I will eneded up forgetting how to play anyway after some time. For this reason, I want to be capable of reading a sheet and playing and the same time.
Now my question is how can achieve this, because I liked your course theory, but right now I would like to achieve this first. So what would you recommend me? Should I keep learning the music theory? It is necessary for sheet reading?
I also watched that you have a video on sheet reading #19 and you show a book about practice for sheet reading everyday. Do you think I should buy that book for achieve my goal?
Thanks for your time and please apologize me for my bad english grammar. English is not my first language. I'll hope you understand me

Hello Juan, and welcome.

I am a student too, and I warmly recommend you read this book:
The Fundamentals of Piano Practice
It is also available in a downloadable pdf format (270 pages cram-full of invaluable information).
Also available in several different languages! And it's all FREE.

I can also recommend this little program: NoteCard
An excellent interactive tool to help you learn reading notes.
As it sounds the notes, it also helps develop the ear.
Also FREE download.

Juan_Pi wrote: Should I keep learning the music theory? It is necessary for sheet reading?

Absolutely. Music theory is essential for anything related to music. Study both sheet music and theory parallel if that's not a problem for you. But you'll need to know your theory quite well to actually understand sheets just by looking at them. Just take it one step at a time, you'll be reading and playing sheet music in no time.

Thanks jytte i check the web and whoa! there is a lot of good information on it!
Thanks kelly, well I guess I must keep learning music theory, it is kind of confusing

Juan_Pi wrote:Thanks kelly, well I guess I must keep learning music theory, it is kind of confusing

I know. But it's exciting to see your improvement as you advance a level. I remember having difficulty on stuff I thought I'd take months to learn, but now, after a couple of weeks, I know them as the back of my hand.

never give up, that's the law.

I have been practising for six months like you, but I can't play Moonlight Sonata. I haven't given it a try, as I have been focusing on the basic stuff, like scales and chords. Two or three of those six months I didn't have a piano because I was abroad all summer.

I sometimes practice simple short songs with a metronome on. It helps build up a feeling for rhytm. I try to look only at the music sheets and not on the piano, because I want to learn to play blindly. I also use Synthesia to practice that.