6/8 time

Why make this harder than it has to be?
Because sometimes a thing is hard to do?
Reading music is hard to do.
I thought I knew music and I do but there is always more to consider.
As far as reading it, eventually I found the note symbol names easy to commit to memory. I have been rather presumptuous in marching to the beat of my own drummer when trying to learn a new piece of music. The timing of the notes requires another level of consideration I have not been giving them. This I must now understand better especially in the context of timing.

Knowing how the song is supposed to sound but translating that to my fingers has proven to be difficult.
So changing the perspective of my inner drummer, (it wants to go faster than it is able presently), requires a mental shift into a more patient mind set.
Hence the numbering of the timing under the notes and rests, must not forget the rests!
It is really easy to miss an 8th note rest symbol, and what a difference acknowledging its there does to make the piece play properly.
I have also found it useful to name arpeggios (chords where each note gets played individually) when they occur to aid in memorizing the piece.
So writing these out on the music I am learning helps.
As well as the fingering sometimes.
Playing slowly and in time can be a chore, but does help to focus the mind.

Those 16th notes can be a challenge to count. But the eye opener for me was that tiny little rest at the beginning of the measure (hi-lighted). Ignoring that little 8th note rest the whole piece gets out of sync!

And those dots between the 1 . & . 2 . & . can be counted thusly 1 e & a 2 e & a etc.. Not easy to do at first or even the 70th time but will make a difference in a performance.

What to practice

Which reminds me of another point of consideration.
I can play various portions or parts of a piece just fine, but putting them together as a whole is where hesitations can occur.
The changes from one part to the next.
Or one chord to the next.
This is the place to focus attention and energy.
Not on what is already committed to memory and understood well.
Though that is a necessary part of the context.
To be able to make it through the entire piece without a hesitation.
So reading music is not only acknowledging the pitches on the page and where they are on our instrument but also the length and time between their occurrence needs to be understood.

A sort of musical punctuation.

Merci