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Posts: 1487
Location: Michigan | I am a guitar strummer that cannot read any type of sheet music.I started playing by copying what I saw other guitar players do.I did learn what basic chords were and where on the guitar they were located.
Do any of you play out(professionaly or just playing in front of the general public)and still cannot read sheet music?
Is it important to know how to read sheet music?
I have heard that some artists cannot read any sheet music but they can still write songs.
What do you think ???
Does it really matter on how well you will develop your guitar skills if you can or cant read sheet music? GWB |
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January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | G'day GWB. I went to piano lessons for eight years as a kid (hated every minute of it) so I learned to read music.
Been playing guitar now for 27 years and have never had the need to read, however, I do think learning some musical theory is great for taking your playing to another level.
I think it depends on what sort of stuff you're doing. I'd imagine classical guitarists in particular would have to be able to read music.
I saw an interview recently with Tommy Emmanuel where he said he was able to easily follow chord charts but couldn't read a note of music. So if it's OK for him I guess it's OK for most of us. If you can hear a tune in your head and know a few chords you can still write a song. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I don't. I have trouble reading TAB, if it gets complicated, also. Just enough to figure-out a lead/intro. Chord notation is cool, providing you already know the song's rhythm, tempo, etc.
But GWB, if I are writing a song, I'm guessing I would just finger-around until I got something that sounded good to me, the write then chords down so I don't forget.
And if it is a great song, that gets famous, some geek will figure-out the correct notation when you publish your lyrics.
--apparently OZ was typing about the same thing when I was typing this...
He said it more eloquently-- |
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Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I was in a trio recently where I was the only one who couldn't sight read. The multi-instrumental member of our group, knowing I was a songwriter, commented; "isn't that like being a writer who can't read?"
It is.
I feel handicapped every day I pick up my instrument.
At the same time, I can hear polyrhythms that most white folks miss. (Sorry about any negative allusions, but it's true..and I'm pale as they come.) So, i carry my weight, and try not to get in everyone else's way.
Where my weakness fails me, I let my strength (and believe it or not, the ability to keep my mouth/hands shut) make up the difference. But make no mistake, it's a weakness.
Reading music well won't keep you from hearing what you do now in music, it will just help you hear more. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by fillhixx:
I was in a trio recently where I was the only one who couldn't sight read. The multi-instrumental member of our group, knowing I was a songwriter, commented; "isn't that like being a writer who can't read?" A writer who can't read... That is a Story-teller, Folk-Historian, or a Medicine-Man/Woman.
But your point is well taken. |
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Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | EGBDF, FACE.
That's it.
I can't read the language I speak is what Matt Smith would tell me.
TAB is getting easier. |
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April 2006
Posts: 972
Location: PDX | You still need the bass clef there Mike :)
I read music and still suck as a player. But i am glad i do. Most songs i want to play can't be found in tab. I just got "Just Standards Real Book" put out by Warner Bros, and if i didn't know how to read music it's just a bunch of chords - no melody lines. How would you know WHERE to play those chords without the melody line? You wouldn't, plain and simple.
Besides i think it is a lot of fun to pick up a violin or cello book and be able to play whats on the page. Some really great melodies are found there.
But do you need to read music -- no. As it has been stated, many very good guitarists don't read music. And some are gifted with a great ear. I guess i find reading music as rewarding as learning a new song. Just part of my musical journey. Oh, and i can read tab as well.
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gh1 |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I could read the notes from playing in band since grade school and then choir in college, but a couple years of piano never taught me to read the chords. I play mostly by ear and am starting to get faster at tabs, but frankly, 90% of the tabs are wrong.
I never play out, so my inability to read sheet music is irrelevant to that issue. A lot of the sheet music I have isn't right either, so I can't see how reading it will do any good. |
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January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
--apparently OZ was typing about the same thing when I was typing this...
He said it more eloquently-- [/QB] Well, thankyou Arthur. I aint never been called eloquent before. :D |
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November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | Originally posted by guitarwannabee:
Is it important to know how to read sheet music? It all depends on what you want to do.
Personally, I think it is a trememdous help. You should be reasonably fluent in standard notation as well as tab. You should also know where the notes are on a piano so you can plink out simple melodies to see how they sound. |
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Posts: 782
Location: Waurika OK | I can't read music either, but I wish I could.
When starting out at about age 12 or 13 it was learning chords so I could accompany myself singing and for the most part it has remained that way.
Of course reading music is not of much value without tons of practice and learning your instrument and having some ability.
As to the afore mentioned bass clef, isn't it:
Good boys do fine always and all cows eat grass? |
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Posts: 486
Location: North Carolina | I can use it as a reference, but do not sight read. |
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October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | Not a note but it's hardly slowed me from butchering a boatload of songs. One could only imagine what I could do if I could read. |
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Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | i cant read sheet music and i can barly read tab...if it wernt for tab and my wall sized chorde chart id be screwed...lol jason |
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March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | I can't read music. I struggle with tab & have to relearn it every time I need to use it, even though it's basically pretty simple. I wish I could read music but I simply don't have the time to devote to learning. There are numerous little tunes I've come up with over the years that I've lost because I couldn't write them down & was to lazy to record them at the time. I've been hacking away at the guitar with varying degrees of interest for 50 years. If I could live another few hundred years I might be able to accomplish most of the things I'd like to learn & do during my life, both musically & otherwise. |
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Posts: 382
Location: USA | I was reading charts and was able to write them...but...i lost interest in it.
I do all my writing from the heart and soul.
If I do a cover its all by ear. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I guess in the most basic sense of EGBDF and FACE I can read music, but find no use for it in guitar and totally disagree with the "speaking a language you can't read" or being a "writer that can't read" analogies. Now, music "theory" on the otherhand, especially as it applies to guitar or "guitar theory" I wish I knew better. As Styll states "writing from the heart and soul. If I do a cover its all by ear."
I can honestly say in over 40 years I never recall ever regretting not learning to read music with regard to guitar. Now for Piano, that's a different story. I'm not a keyboard player, but I can play some stuff on the keys and wish I knew how to read music to make up for the fact I'm not a keyboard player so I could play more. |
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November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Illogical. You want to be able to read music to play piano, but then forget it when you play guitar?
To my mind, theory goes right along with reading. I learned (and promptly forgot) a lot of that stuff in my teens.
It meant I couldn't join the Swing Band that the sight reading trio I mentioned earlier was invited to help form. That would have been cool.
Lack of knowledge = lack of opportunity everywhere in life. Does it keep you from enjoying life? Not a bit. It just reduces the options. |
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January 2002
Posts: 386
Location: nyc area | I have been a proffesional musician almost my entire life. Im all my work, I read music maybe 10 percent of the time. However I read chord charts ALOT. I guess the secret is preperation for that 10 percent.
The most important skill is musicality and a great ear. Knowing by experience what you're hearing and what to play. Remember, they call this PLAYING music... for most of you, this is how you express yourself and relax... Have fun! |
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Posts: 1900
| I read chord charts for guitar and bass, and sight read for bass, baritone and tenor vocals.I also score piano. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | "To my mind, theory goes right along with reading."
In mine it doesn't, and one has nothing to do with the other, and also Piano Theory and Guitar Theory are totally different. I have always felt this way, but more recently found something called Fretboard Logic that I wish I had 40 years ago.
Now on a more cerebral sense, sure, I wish I knew a lot of things, just for the sake of knowing them.
I'm just saying for me personally, I have never had a use for sheet music for guitar, but I have had use for theory as it applies to guitar and wish I understood it better. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15683
Location: SoCal | Why would I need to read music when I only know 3 chords?
I would imagine that reading music and knowing theory can be a great help if one wanted to get beyond 3 chords. To understand how chords are constructed, to be able to play 5ths, 6ths, etc, would be a great help.
But there have been great guitar players who didn't read and still were great players. Django Reinhardt and Glen Campbell come to mind.... |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I like the analogy between reading and speaking a spoken language and reading and just playing music. It's possible to be eloquent without being able to read english, but it's a lot easier if you can.
My ability to read music is really limited, and I know it limits my musical eloquence. I compensate for it by recreating songs in a way I can play, working within my limitations. |
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April 2006
Posts: 972
Location: PDX | Here's how Al DiMeola put it:
....we feel that we must first define a musician and a player. They are not necessarily the same. A musician is one who can read music, has a good working knowledge of music theory, chords, scales. arpeggios and is able to play all styles of music from rock to classical. In other words he has to know it all. The player can play well, but he doesn't necessarily know what he is doing because of a lack of knowledge of theory. A good player is generally self-taught and does not know how to read music or have a good working knowledge of theory, chord, scale, and arpeggio construction. He relies on his ability to hear certain chord changes and his natural talent for playing leads that he feels sound correct."
With slight paraphrasing from his book "A Guide to Chords, Scales, & Arpeggios" written with Bob Aslanian. You wont be finding any tabs in there.
FWIW
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gh1 |
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August 2006
Posts: 122
Location: Tucson, AZ | ..totally "self-taught," but 'yes' I can sight-read notation, albeit slowly. |
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Can You Read Music Or Not ?
