Read in relationships, not letter names
Most people are taught to read music as a decoding exercise: work out the letter name, find it on the instrument, move on. That is slow, and it never turns into hearing. Reading by scale degree instead - do-re-mi or 1-2-3, whichever your ear leans toward - means the fourth degree behaves like the fourth degree in every key. You learn the relationship once rather than twelve times.
The grand staff and middle C
Treble and bass clef are usually taught as two separate alphabets to memorise. Seen together on the grand staff they are one continuous range with middle C as the hinge between them, which is a great deal less to remember and a great deal easier to trust at speed.
One shape, all twelve keys
The major scale's pattern of whole and half steps - 1 2 3-4 5 6 7-1 - is the shape underneath every key signature. Walk it around the circle of fifths and key signatures stop being arbitrary collections of sharps and flats: they are the same shape starting somewhere else.
Diatonic harmony, from triads to drop voicings
- The triads that live in a key, and their inversions
- 7th chords and their inversions
- Drop 2, drop 3 and drop 4 voicings
- Drop 2&4 and drop 2&3
- Quartal and quintal voicings
Rhythm you can say out loud
Every note value gets a spoken syllable, using konnakol - the rhythmic language of South India. Saying a rhythm before playing it is the fastest route to feeling it, which is why rhythm here is taught as language rather than arithmetic.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to already read music?
No. It starts at the staff itself - middle C, the two clefs and how they join - and builds from there.
Does it cost anything?
No. The reading tools are free and interactive.
What is konnakol?
The spoken rhythmic language of South Indian music: every rhythm has syllables you can say. It is used here to learn note values by speaking them rather than counting them.
Should I use solfege or scale-degree numbers?
Either - both describe the same relationships and both are supported, so use whichever your ear already leans toward.