sharke
Being able to read music opens so many doors. Not just job-wise, but also in terms of exposing you to a much wider musical influence. It's pretty straightforward to pick out a Jimmy Page solo by ear if you're competent enough, but try working out a Bach fugue or some George Van Eps the same way. You're not only faced with some very complex harmony and counterpoint, but also endlessly different ways of fingering it, only some of which make practical sense. Whereas, if you can read music, you're straight in there and getting the benefit of the music without having to worry about the hows and the whys.
Guitarists are the absolute worst for sight reading, of course. Many of them wear their musical illiteracy like a badge of honor. That, and the fact that the fingering complexities make sight reading on guitar a bit harder than most instruments.
I learned to read a little over 10 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did. I started off with an old book of John Renbourn fingerstyle pieces. At the beginning I was literally working out every note on the stave and counting out rhythms one bar at a time. It was painfully slow. By the end of the book, I was very almost sight reading them. From there I progressed to simple classical pieces and within a year sight reading Bach fugues and complex lute pieces. It's amazing how quickly you can progress, if you already have the manual dexterity. Some people say you can't reach a high standard of reading unless you start when you're a kid, but I was in my late 20's. I don't think it's too late for anyone to learn.
Great post sharke.
I can imagine there are many that will not understand some of the details you mentioned
that make reading music such a challenge for a guitarist.
Unlike many other instruments with a guitar a written note representing a specific pitch (a guitar
is a transposed instrument) that pitch can be played in numberous positions on the fretboard.
An example:
An "E" note on the staff representing the same pitch as the little, first string of the guitar played open....can also be on the 2nd string 5th fret, 3rd string 9th fret, 4th string 14th fret, 5th string 19th fret and 6th string 24th fret if ya have one.
That mechanical aspect alone should give a clear understanding that a guitarist is constantly making
decisions on where to execute. It has a direct bearing on the fingering and could easily determine
if the passage may be just to difficult to play in
that position.
I can see, not being a pianist, that it must be much easier reading music as a written note is
played with one specific key.
I started learning to read when I started learning to play. One major difference is when people
that don't read start talking about reading music and what effects it may or may not have really
don't know what they're talking about. They're just stating an opinion much like explaining the color blue. Yeah...tell me all about what blue is.
The real problem and issue in my opinion is the program teaching.
I really don't know how to warn parents but a teacher can teach a student much like
a monkey. They see that dot and do that. Horrible way to teach and/or learn.
If there is anything at all bad about learning to read...that would be the only thing I can think of.