Level 23 of 36 · Book III: Intervals and chords
Sight-reading exercises with right-hand inversions
Right-hand triads in every inversion, two per bar. As in the left hand, the chords turn so the hand moves as little as possible, and the left hand plays a bass note under each one.
- Hands together
- C major
- 4/4 time
- = 52 to start
8 different exercises, each 8 bars. Listen first, or play it yourself: the music waits for each note.
What level 23 adds
The chords are I, IV and V, in half notes, voiced around middle C to the C above. The left hand plays half notes on the chord roots.
What to watch for
- Inversion shapes in the treble clef: look for the gap of a fourth, the place where two notes are further apart.
- Common notes: one or two notes often stay from chord to chord.
- Two hands, two changes a bar: both hands move on beats 1 and 3.
How to practise it
- Read the change from the last chord, not each chord from scratch.
- Use the bass note to check which chord it is.
- Play the right hand alone once if the shapes are new, then hands together.
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.