Should you Learn to Read Standard Music Notation?
Product Description
Most guitarists can’t read music. The reasons for this are numerous:
1. Many notes can be found in more than one place on the fretboard making it difficult for the beginner to know exactly which string/fret to play.
2. Tablature gives the beginning guitarist an easy way to avoid this problem by indicating exactly which string/fret to use to locate each note.
3. Once a guitarist becomes familiar with tablature, they find it difficult to find the motivation to learn to read music.
4. Many of the guitarists we admire can’t read music, so if they don’t seem to have any difficulty in playing why should we bother?
5. Many guitarists want to be able to improvise. Improvisation does not require the ability to read music.
6. Electric guitarists always seek out other guitarists to jam with and swap licks, riffs, chops and solos. This is almost always done by playing and copying (and swapping tab).
These reasons, whilst understandable, only bring disadvantages. Let’s examine the advantages of being able to read music:
1. The fact that a note can be played in more than one place on the fretboard is an advantage that many other instruments do not share and gives the guitar a vast range of tone colours. If we play a middle C on the 8th fret of the 6th string, it sounds subtly different from the middle C on the 3rd fret of the 5th string. The reason for this is that the timbre of each string is different. When music is written in tablature, somebody has already decided exactly which note you should play. If you don’t read music you are very unlikely to experiment and find the note in an alternative location.
2. Tablature is easier to read but not all music is published in tablature.
3. Standard music notation also holds information about the rhythm of the music which is usually very poorly notated in tablature.
4. Great guitarists who don’t read music are not great because they don’t read music; they are great in spite of it.
5. Improvising is all about making the most of everything you know and finding new ways of playing it. Reading music will open up a whole new library of pieces that you can learn and play which will ultimately improve your improvising skills.
6. Almost all musicians, with the exception of electric guitarists, learn to read music. If you want to be able to communicate easily with other musicians, irrespective of what instrument they play, you will need to read and write music.
1. Many notes can be found in more than one place on the fretboard making it difficult for the beginner to know exactly which string/fret to play.
2. Tablature gives the beginning guitarist an easy way to avoid this problem by indicating exactly which string/fret to use to locate each note.
3. Once a guitarist becomes familiar with tablature, they find it difficult to find the motivation to learn to read music.
4. Many of the guitarists we admire can’t read music, so if they don’t seem to have any difficulty in playing why should we bother?
5. Many guitarists want to be able to improvise. Improvisation does not require the ability to read music.
6. Electric guitarists always seek out other guitarists to jam with and swap licks, riffs, chops and solos. This is almost always done by playing and copying (and swapping tab).
These reasons, whilst understandable, only bring disadvantages. Let’s examine the advantages of being able to read music:
1. The fact that a note can be played in more than one place on the fretboard is an advantage that many other instruments do not share and gives the guitar a vast range of tone colours. If we play a middle C on the 8th fret of the 6th string, it sounds subtly different from the middle C on the 3rd fret of the 5th string. The reason for this is that the timbre of each string is different. When music is written in tablature, somebody has already decided exactly which note you should play. If you don’t read music you are very unlikely to experiment and find the note in an alternative location.
2. Tablature is easier to read but not all music is published in tablature.
3. Standard music notation also holds information about the rhythm of the music which is usually very poorly notated in tablature.
4. Great guitarists who don’t read music are not great because they don’t read music; they are great in spite of it.
5. Improvising is all about making the most of everything you know and finding new ways of playing it. Reading music will open up a whole new library of pieces that you can learn and play which will ultimately improve your improvising skills.
6. Almost all musicians, with the exception of electric guitarists, learn to read music. If you want to be able to communicate easily with other musicians, irrespective of what instrument they play, you will need to read and write music.
