As a private violin instructor, I have witnessed many students who are unable to read notes. While one might expect this would be limited to beginners, players even at an intermediate to advanced level often struggle with reading music. Why is this the case? One reason is that beginners often associate notes on the page with finger numbers rather than note names. As a result, they often struggle with playing in positions other than first position, because the finger numbers are different from those they have already learned. For instance, the note B-natural in third position on the E string is played with the second finger, whereas, in first position, it is played with the first.
In addition, the concept that octaves consist of the same notes, critical to good intonation, is difficult to learn if a B-natural on the page is translated into a fourth finger on the E string, a first finger on the A string, and a second finger on the G string. Thus, students who read finger numbers rather than note names often have trouble with intonation in positions other than first, as well as difficulty locating the different positions.
In fact, it makes sense why students would learn to read finger numbers rather than notes when beginning violin. After all, this is sufficient for reading first position. Thus, it can be difficult for the teacher to realize that a student is not reading notes until that student needs to learn new positions. At this point, the habit is well established and can be quite hard to break.
Thus, learning note reading early is crucial to success on the violin. How to teach students this skill? One way is to use flash cards. Ideally, these should require the student to learn both note names and where these notes are found on the violin. However, students often find this task quite tedious. One way to make flash cards more interesting is to use ones that are colorful, or that incorporate pictures that are not related to note reading. It is important to use flash cards frequently, because, in the beginning, students will often count bar lines and spaces rather than recognizing notes at a glance. Yet, in practice, music goes by too quickly for this technique to work. Thus, teaching short cuts such as EBGDF (every good boy deserves fudge/ Ernie gave Burt dead fish) for notes on lines, and FACE for notes in spaces is useful in the beginning -- but, in the long run, it is important that students recognize notes immediately.
Teachers can assist in this process by asking students if they are reading notes or finger numbers, and by making sure they actually recognize the notes rather than counting lines and spaces. For students reading finger numbers, they can ask the student to use flash cards, and to name the notes during lessons.
