Who this is for
Learners who can read single notes on the staff and know what intervals and triads are, but freeze when notes are stacked on top of each other, as in piano music and chord sheets. Already read chords at a glance? Test out on Day 5.
Best done after: Reading Music, Intervals, Triads & Inversions. It is advice, not a rule: every lesson has short "rusty on…?" boxes for anything you skipped.
Why learn this
Reading one note at a time is only half of reading music. Piano music, hymns, choral scores and guitar tabs with notation all stack notes, and you have to see a whole chord or interval at once. Players who cannot do that read slowly, note by note, and miss the harmony.
This program teaches you to see shapes, not note names. A third looks like line to line. A triad looks like a snowman. Once you know the patterns, a stack of notes becomes one thing you recognise, the way you recognise a word instead of spelling it.
What you will be able to do
- Counting an interval by lines and spaces
- Naming interval quality from half steps
- Triads as a stack of thirds
- Finding the root of a turned-over chord
- Why some noteheads sit on the other side of the stem
- Reading seventh chords
The 5-day plan
- Intervals on the staff. Name the size of an interval by counting lines and spaces.
- Interval quality on the staff. Name an interval in full, with its quality, from the staff.
- Triads on the staff. Recognise a root-position triad as a stack of thirds and name its quality.
- Inversions and seconds. Find the root of a turned-over triad and read notes written on opposite sides of the stem.
- Seventh chords and test day. Read four-note seventh chords and prove you can read intervals and chords on the staff.
How each session works
Every day follows the shape of a workout. It starts with a warm-up that reviews earlier days, then technique: a short, plain explanation with a small interactive tool to try it on. Then come the working sets, drills with instant feedback, and a finisher, a short test with a pass mark so you only build on things you can do. A cool-down recaps the day and previews the next.
Choose your split
The daily split is a session a day: done in a week. The easy split is a session every other day, with rest days between: two weeks, and a gentler pace. On your own pace there is no schedule. Nothing is ever locked, and you can change split at any time.
What comes next
Minor Keys and Scales: The 6-Day Program. See the whole training plan.
Frequently asked questions
How do I read a chord on the staff?
Look for the stack of thirds: three notes all on lines or all in spaces. The bottom note is the root. If the notes are not in a neat stack, rearrange them into thirds in your head: whichever note ends up at the bottom is the root.
How do I find the interval between two notes on the staff?
Count the lines and spaces from the lower note to the upper one, counting both. That gives the number (a 3rd, a 5th). The quality (major, minor, perfect) comes from counting half steps, taking sharps and flats into account.
What do I need to know first?
The treble and bass clef note names, and what an interval and a triad are. The Reading Music, Intervals and Triads programs cover all of that.
Why do some notes sit on the other side of the stem?
When two notes are a second apart their heads would overlap, so one is written on the opposite side of the stem. It is still the same chord or interval.