Can you read?

Jem#5150 · #1 09-25-2006, 07:48 PM

Can you read music? I would expect alot of people here on jemsite to, but alot of guitarists don't know how. even famous musicians don't know how to read sometimes. just curious.

rya · #2 09-25-2006, 07:53 PM

yes, but nothing too complicated like some of frank zappa in odd time signatures.

jemplayer55 · #3 09-25-2006, 08:14 PM

I think that's a big problem with a lot of today's guitarist/musicians. They claim to do ok with tabs..... but you still need the original notation for it to make real sense! So why not learn..... it's not too hard and like anything the more you practice it the better you get. Besides, If you plan on composing for something other than guitar..... how will you communicate????..... "tabs" for violin or french horn????

Someone posted here on Jemsite that they were going to give lessons but didn't see the importance of learning standard notation. I guess that's true if you want a limited musical background or plan to play in the bedroom or a bar or two.

ZOMB13 · #4 09-25-2006, 08:21 PM

I am trying, really
I want to port over parts of my guitar songs to keyboard, but want to make the keyboard its own parts, so I want to learn about standard notation to make the notes in my head easier to find in the keyboard

rickcard71 · #5 09-25-2006, 08:56 PM

I used to be better, I want to get back to where I was and than some.

SonataGuitarist · #6 09-25-2006, 08:59 PM

Indeed, thank god I took high school music theory AP on a whim...

I do wish I could go back though, could've done better, but valuable nonetheless.

jemplayer55 · #7 09-25-2006, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonataGuitarist

Indeed, thank god I took high school music theory AP on a whim...

Same here...... music nerd in high school. But a couple years later and being a working musician paid off and with lots of fringe benefits too!

ChopTart · #8 09-25-2006, 10:01 PM

Piano since I was 4...if I didn't know how to read music I'd be a bit ashamed right now

It really is a good skill...and not TOO hard to pick up.

Reminds me of the old joke:

How do you get a guitarist to turn his amplifier down?
Put sheet music in front of him

**elcid** · #9 09-25-2006, 10:09 PM

Yeah I can, from grade school through jr high we had mandatory music classes. Then I took theory in HS.

mi2tom · #10 09-25-2006, 10:16 PM

A bit so that is yes

No complicated stuff though, will get headache if I try to

C.Thep · #11 09-26-2006, 12:20 AM

Yes, very fluently in bass clef, but still a tad rough on treble clef.

I know theory well too.

Jem#5150 · #12 09-26-2006, 12:41 AM

i always read in treble. we are learning the bass clef in music theory, and it's a bit more challenging, but nothing i can't handle!

ZOMB13 · #13 09-26-2006, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChopTart

Piano since I was 4...if I didn't know how to read music I'd be a bit ashamed right now

It really is a good skill...and not TOO hard to pick up.

Reminds me of the old joke:

How do you get a guitarist to turn his amplifier down?
Put sheet music in front of him

I thought it was

How do you get a guitarist to stop playing guitar?
Put sheet music in front of him

Platon · #14 09-26-2006, 02:03 AM

Eight years of playing traverse flute have taught me standard notation. Now on the guitar I struggle with reading polyphonic scores (more than a single note at a time).

markg5150 · #15 09-26-2006, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platon

Eight years of playing traverse flute have taught me standard notation. Now on the guitar I struggle with reading polyphonic scores (more than a single note at a time).

That's about the same for me (but with a trumpet many years ago)

I think its very easy to be lazy about standard notation because tab is so easy to understand