Piano sheet reading help? How to read sharp signs on side?

I've recently begun to really enjoy Debussy's 1st Arabesque, and I want to learn how to play it.





But, looking at the sheet music, there are 4 sharp signs on the side. How do I play it now? Is it different?Piano sheet reading help? How to read sharp signs on side?
You should start with easier pieces. You can't just learn the Arabesque from scratch.Piano sheet reading help? How to read sharp signs on side?
The sharp and flat signs denote the key signature (G major, D minor, etc.). It means that you have to play all notes falling on those lines that have sharp/flat as sharp/ flat notes.





For example if you have a sharp sign on the top line of your treble staff, you have to play all the F's as F sharp. Because that top line is the F line. It also means that the music is written in the key of G major.





You can find out more here:


http://www.geocities.com/vienna/9483/ezmusic3.html





If I'm not mistaken, the piece you want to play is in E major. This means that you will need to play C, D, F, and G as C sharp, D sharp, F sharp, and G sharp (unless said notes have a natural sign beside it that cancels the sharp).





Hope this helps!
The four sharps indicate the key of the piece. If you look closely, they indicate a specific note each, but it's easiest to just know how which number of sharp signs refers to which key.





Four sharp signs mean that every F, C, G and D you play will be turned into F#. C#, G# and D#. The full list of sharps is FCGDAEB. If you have flats then the list goes backwards, like this: BEADGCF.
There are 4 sharp signs, so every notes F, C, G, D, you must play on the sheet, you give them a sharp, so you play the black immediately right of the note F, C, G, D, instead of the white one.


4 sharp signs means you are playing the melody on E major.


Hope that helps.