Level 17 of 36 · Book III: Intervals and chords
Sight-reading exercises with thirds and sixths
The left-hand pairs change shape now: thirds, fifths and sixths, two per bar in half notes, chosen to move as little as possible from one to the next.
- Hands together
- C major
- 4/4 time
- = 54 to start
8 different exercises, each 8 bars. Listen first, or play it yourself: the music waits for each note.
What level 17 adds
Each left-hand interval belongs to the chord of its half bar. A third has its two notes on neighbouring lines or spaces, a fifth has one line or space between, and a sixth goes from a line to a space (or a space to a line) further apart. The right hand plays halves and quarters by step and skip.
What to watch for
- Telling the shapes apart: a third sits on neighbouring lines or spaces, a fifth on lines or spaces with one between, a sixth on a line and a space, wider still.
- Change on beat 3: the interval changes in the middle of the bar.
- Small hand moves: the notes often move by step from one interval to the next. Look for the note that stays.
How to practise it
- Name the interval (third, fifth, sixth) from its shape before you name any note.
- Look for a held common note between two intervals: one finger may not need to move.
- Slow down rather than stop: these shapes take a few exercises to become familiar.
Each exercise is new music, written for this level by the same generator the app uses, so you can’t have learned it by ear. Read it once before you play, keep a steady beat, and play on through mistakes. Play it yourself checks your notes from a MIDI keyboard, the mouse or your computer keys, and Print gives you the music alone, to read at the piano.
A new piece every day, at your level
Pianomi is the app these exercises come from. It listens to your MIDI keyboard, grades every note and every beat, and moves you up the 36 levels as your reading improves. It’s free.