So…there are those who can memorize musical notes very easily and learn to read music without difficulties. Then there are those who find this the most tedious task on their music learning journeys. Some of my students, for example, learn by listening and have very good aural memory. These students are the ones who would rather just memorize songs rather than look at their music books.

So how can we motivate these students to learn to read music? My experience has shown that making the students understand why it is helpful, if not essential to learn to read music is the key. Once they fully understand the importance of it, they are likely to want to learn.

It is a lot to do with repetition and repeating the notes and musical terms to students. It is like learning a new language where you have to memorise a lot of new words.

Those students who have more of a photographic memory can find memorising the notes much easier. When I was learning in childhood,I found it easier as I have a very visual memory.

In short, repetition and emphasising the importance of learning to read music are key!