IMO, there is no compelling reason to not know more and understand more about anything you want to be good at. Knowing how to read music greatly enriches you as a player, even if you are not required to do it all the time. No knowledge is wasted.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Can you read music? Do you think it important?
- Thread starter Aussie Player
- Start date
There is one:time. Not everyone is lucky enough to have enough to learn everything we would like to.
The question is not so much whether learning to read is useful and enriching - it's whether it's the most useful and enriching thing you could do with that time out of the things you're not doing already.
That's far from an argument against. Saying I don't need to learn it doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't help my practical knowledge base.
It may or may not be, depending on the individual and their circumstances.
That doesn't seem to relate to what I was saying, which was that you have to weigh it up against other things you could be doing with that time.
A while back I found myself in an impromptu combo, playing music between and under poetry readings from this girls' art program that my daughter was in. We had me, a guitarist, a harp, and two flautists. We had very little notice to throw together some kind of musical accompaniment to go with these poems. What I discovered was that the guitarist and I could just jam and play stuff (and pretty well, to judge by audience response); the harpist could both join in on a jam, or play set pieces she had learned, I assume originally from sheet music; the two flautists read the poems and then went home to pick sheet music pieces and couldn't keep up with a jam to save their lives.
The point being that there are some people who can play by ear/feel but don't read (me and the guitarist); there are some who can read but have no feel (the flautists); and there are some that do both (the harpist). They are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, I would say a musician should aim to do both.
I think this actually encapsulates it very well. There is no reason not to learn to read in the sense of reading being a bad thing. But while all knowledge is good to have, it also takes a certain amount of time and effort to acquire. So the question for any individual is whether the knowledge is worth the time and effort for their goals and plans. As a medieval historian, I know all kinds of things about Charlemagne that the average person - even the average educated person - doesn't really need to take the time to learn. For a weekend cover band player like me that can figure out whatever I need by ear, it's probably not important (though I can read a little, just slowly and painstakingly). For someone who wants to be a pro, I think it should be essential without a doubt.
Agreed, and I really wish I could read better. It's a painful process at this point. I used to sight read beautifully when I was a kid and taking piano lessons, but years of neglect (like thirty years) have rusted out my abilities in that regard.
It's not a priority for me at this point but some day I'll get proficient again.
Try talking to OTHER musicians without it. Tell a keyboard player that you're playing in the key of 5th fret G string and all you'll get in return is a blank stare. And the only musicians less likely to read than guitarists and bassists are drummers. Fact.
Bet you have time to watch your favorite TV shows. And in the time that you spent posting anti-reading messages on here, you could have learned the basics.
As has been said on here many times, the only people who shortchange the benefits of reading are non-readers.
I agree totally. My point wasn't that a musician should rely only on standard written music notation to play from. My point was that standard music notation would have been the most acceptable way to communicate a piece of music to the harpist and flautist in written form. An impromptu jam and a performance of a written piece of music are two different things. You are correct in that they are not mutually exclusive either. Simply being able to read music doesn't make one more proficient at their instrument. If you don't ever have to play from a piece of written music, then reading isn't very important.
I think that it would probably be more accurate to say that they couldn't improvise or play by ear. That is not the same as being unable to play with feel.
there are many famous "musicians" who did not get there for their musical ability as well...(which is frustrating to me personally, but that is another topic)
no matter what, reading music will NEVER be a bad thing or a waste of time....NOT reading can definitely be a hindrance and can lead to wasted time. Do I read music when I am making up bass line in my metal band? No....BUT all of the music I HAVE learned by reading definitely comes into play as an influence when I am writing my bass lines. The theoretical knowledge I have gained by learning to read, and applying the read passages DEFINITELY helps me create what I think are are very cool bass lines that help support the guitar/vocal/drum parts. I know from personal experience that as I became a better reader, my bass lines have made more sense. When I was just an "ear" guy, my bass lines were sometimes a bit "out there" in a bad way...like I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole...
I can and make it a point to read everyday.
I'm a part timer and aside from a 6 month stint with a motown band that was 100% reading I haven't been required to read anything more complex than a chord chart so I guess you can say I don't need to read.
However, reading has opened up an entire world of music that would otherwise have been lost to me. And reading and playing and learning from that music makes me a better musician.
I'm a part timer and aside from a 6 month stint with a motown band that was 100% reading I haven't been required to read anything more complex than a chord chart so I guess you can say I don't need to read.
However, reading has opened up an entire world of music that would otherwise have been lost to me. And reading and playing and learning from that music makes me a better musician.
Roy Vogt
Supporting Member
- Sep 20, 2000
- 4,433
- 537
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Kiesel Basses, Ampeg Amplification, Hotone Ampero II effects
Wow! There are certain things that always start a fire here on TB-reading vs. TAB, players with highly developed technical ability, pushing the envelope. I have absolutely no idea why that is, except we may have a lot of casual hobbyists, weekend players, kids and retirees from Rock Bands in their 20s on here as well as people who work as bassists and bass teachers.
As far as learning anything new, as long as the Pain of Same is not greater than the Pain of Change nothing tends to happen, IME. When the Pain of Change is less people take the steps to do so.
As far as learning anything new, as long as the Pain of Same is not greater than the Pain of Change nothing tends to happen, IME. When the Pain of Change is less people take the steps to do so.
As someone who played for years without having to read a piece of music in a band, I would disagree completely with that. I not only was able to figure out what to play faster because of it, but I was able to figure out what everyone else should be playing faster than they could. Then I'd get frustrated waiting for them to pick it out slowly, offer up a little advice, then get yelled at for trying to tell them what to do.
Even if you never read a sheet of music in your band, it benefits to know how to read music.
funny, i can read but i still transpose everything to tab. weird huh? did that all through jazz band in high school. teacher didn't get it. i still do it sometimes if i'm reading treble clef.
I can't read music and I do think it's important if you want to be able to do more than just playing a pre-rehearsed repertoire.
I keep starting to learn but I go through periods of no free time and lose all the progress I made. I've got the music stand still set up right next to me but haven't used it for weeks. :/
I keep starting to learn but I go through periods of no free time and lose all the progress I made. I've got the music stand still set up right next to me but haven't used it for weeks. :/
You're answering your own question...you had to turn down studio work because you couldn't read. If you can learn by ear, have good feel and can "jam" along with other musicians, then that's the only thing potentially "holding you back". But then, it's all about your personal aspirations...I for one wouldn't want to have to turn down a gig simply because I was missing what many consider an invaluable piece of knowledge.
To each his/her own though.
