is reading music just bullshit(guitarist)

as a music major if feel like focusing on music sheet has actually hindered me, not as much as a musician, but more as a guitarist.

i can understand its importance in basically all other areas(piano, orchestra director, violin), but with guitar tabs being around alive and well, and all of today's real guitarists barely grasping how to read music sheet and still making the big leagues, i think it's a waste of time if you only care about being a guitarist, especially non-classical. applying to electric/rock guitarists even moreso. i understand it's importance as a add-on skill, but it consumes too much time and practice to develop and maintain imo.

thoughts?

 

As to the practical uses of sheet music for guitar...I suppose you could get a sheet music stand and read sheet music and play guitar. Usually I just don't see the necessity, though, not like you'd have in an orchestra. Maybe if a guitarist just had a really hard time remembering what to play next or something.

 

Well look at it this way, if sheet music is hindering you then you clearly have some sort of weakness regarding music theory and the focus on sheet music should help you become a stronger player.
Tablature is fine but it only contains a fraction of the information able to be encoded in sheet music, and under no circumstance should you be awarded a university degree in anything music related if you can't fluently read sheet music.

 

Sheet music makes good firestarter...

 

It's a medium of communicating music.

 

Exactly,



Just look at the results.

 

You can see the reasons in my reply above LOL

 

I would like to see you play Adinsell's Warsaw Concerto without having looked at the score. Where would you start.!!!!!! (videos in my reply above)

 

i can understand piano players needing it. i play piano and cant imagine doing it any other way, but i dont see requiring guitarists(non-classical) being able to sight read being a necessity.

 

"how do you make a room full of noisy guitarists go silent? put a piece of music sheet in front of them" - my music professor

 

Don't feel bad, though. A lot of great musicians had this same weakness, and a lot of terrible musicians were quite fluent in reading sheet music. It's all relative.

 

Does reading English hinder your ability to speak English?

The primary purpose of music school isn't to teach you your instrument it is to teach you about music. For example I went to school as an electric bass primary. I still had to take Piano, Arranging, Theory, Ear Training, Ensembles, and Private Lessons. One of my teachers had all of his bass students learn Bach Cello Suites.

Also think about it like this. If you can read Treble Clef you can play guitar music, horn music, violin music, piano music, etc.

I'm sorry but the whole "I don't read well enough to fuck up my playing" is just glorifying ignorance. Another one of my pet peeves. Don't be a stupid stereotype.

C/S,
Rev J

 

Stringed instruments that resonate through a hollow body existed before the advent of music notation. Early lute music was written as a form of tablature similar to that used by most guitarists today. The guitar lends itself to natural expressive playing and improvisation. That's what is so great about popular music forms played on the guitar. Within reason anyone can do it with the right effort. It just requires the magic of imagination. Taste and style is what separates a hack from an inspired player. It's not about how big your dick is or how many notes you can squeeze out per second. That's okay for some but it's not my thing.

 

Take my advice: Don't learn sheet music.

 

Paul McCartney couldn't read or write music. And as far as tablature, that's how I learned to play every song I know; plus having a recording of the song I want to learn. And then there's the songs I composed, which aren't written at all.

 

abcdefg
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I OWN MUSIC AND YOU MUST READ SHEET MUSIC NOW.

 

too late!

i've learned it, composed, presented, and performed a number of pieces i've written for various music professors at a university.

 

I can read sheet music.. slowly. but once you figure it out. its actually very easy.. writing it on the other hand. Id have to do it very big and shrunk down. Ive dry boards with those lines on it. has the key in the first left hand corner but no more .. youre on you own 2nd and 3rd.