Familiarize yourself with the bass and treble clef of a basic music staff. The basic music staff is five lines and four spaces, each representing the name of a note. The lines on the treble clef are E-G-B-D-F. The spaces are F-A-C-E. The bass clef lines and spaces are G-B-D-F-A and the spaces are A-C-E-G. Use sayings to help you remember these lines and spaces. Every Good Boy Does Fine for the lines on the treble clef; the spaces on the treble clef make you the word FACE. You might use All Cars Eat Gas for the spaces on the bass clef and Grizzly Bears Don't Fly Airplanes for the lines.
Start with simplified piano music. A simplified piano piece usually has an easy melody line for the right hand (treble clef) and one or two notes per measure of music for the left hand (bass clef). The notes are all written so they fall on the music staff or just above or below the lines of the music staff, making it easier for beginners to recognize the notes without having to figure out lines written above or below the staff.
Play the melody line first. Don't worry about playing in time or playing fast. Take as much time to read the note as you need to and don't play the note on your piano as soon as you recognize it. Work your way through an entire piece of simple sheet music on the treble clef before you move on.
Play the notes on the bass clef. A simplified piano piece will only have a couple of notes per measure of music on the bass clef. Reading these notes should come easier to you after playing the melody line..
Play the melody line again. This time, try reading ahead in the music. Once you play a note, look at the next note while the previous note is sounding. Try to identify the note before it's time to play it. Reading ahead helps increase your ability to read faster because you're preparing yourself for a note in advance.
Combine the treble and bass clef. Play both parts at the same time, using the read ahead method. If it helps, read through the music in advance to help get you familiar with the notes you will encounter. The more you practice reading this way, the quicker you will become at recognizing and playing the notes.
Practice reading note values after you have trained yourself to recognize note names. By this time, recognizing the names of the notes will come naturally, which allows you to focus strictly on mastering note rhythm identification.
Raise the level of difficulty once you've become familiar with reading simplified piano. The good thing about piano music is it typically comes in simplified, intermediate and advanced editions. Often, the same songs come in each of these editions, allowing you to progress gradually.