Can you read music?

[daTHChronic]

You see that is what they will do in most "teaching" books Paz, its what I like to read, incase I dont recognize the really high notes, I can just look down and get the fingering.

 

[xpcapox]

I can read treble cleff fluintly,bass cleff I can understand but cannot play electric or double bass to,I dont know how the octaves corrispond if that makes any sense. I know treble cleff because i have been playing saxophone for five years.

 

[travatron4000]

Reading a lot of ledger lines can suck. I dont know why they never switch cleffs for electric bass. Example: Bach cello suits. For Double bass and cello they're in tenor cleff. In an Electric bass book they're in bass cleff with tons of ledger lines or written down an octave. The 1st movement of the Dragonetti concerto in D is in bass tenor and treble and it makes it so much better to read.

~trav

 

[ras1983]

I can't read notes, i just use the sheet music for the worship songs to keep time. Any other usic i learn by ear. You NEVER stuff it up once you memorise it, you never lose track. The bass involves putting in little runs and licks. if you are playing by ear, it is much easier to invent things as you go. So, by ear definately!!

 

[fantasmagorical]

I can sight read bass notation fairly well, because i started playing bass with the school band, where basically they give you the notation, and then expect you to be able to play the song fairly well after about 30 seconds of skimming through it. You'd be surprised how much this helps you learn.
Like many others, i would definitely recommend that everyone who just reads tabs learns to read notation, because when playing from sheet music, you not only know what fret and string you are playing, (like in tab), but you also know what KEYS and NOTES you are playing, which is kind of important.

 

[apoodangle]

I can read alto clef, treble and bass I can kinda because of piano...but not when I'm playing...gotta reteach myself that...

hah where did you learn to read alto clef? i know some musicians who don't even know that it exists :scowl:

i can read treble clef fairly proficiently (guitar is my main instrument) and i can sort of work my way around bass clef. alto/tenor/other clefs are still a pain in the ass.

 

[travatron4000]

Maybe Minger was a Violist?

 

[jayzarecki]

yes, please lern to read. It's very important. Dont be one of those "can only read TAB" people.

pick up a Mel Bay book or somehting, you learn both, but music is important. Besides, what are you going to do when the guitarist says, ok we plkay this song in FM. and you dont knwo where F is?

 

[Nadav]

Besides, what are you going to do when the guitarist says, ok we plkay this song in FM. and you dont knwo where F is?

I agree with what you're saying, but.. uh, what does reading have to do with that last part? You can know the fingerboard perfectly without knowing how to read.

 

[jayzarecki]

I agree with what you're saying, but.. uh, what does reading have to do with that last part? You can know the fingerboard perfectly without knowing how to read.

true , but if you know the notes on the fretboard, than there is no excuse not to be able to read now is there?

 

[bass_drum]

Hey guys I can see a lot of you choose to not use tab, and instead go by your ears.

Well I really dont get how you can learn entire songs by ear, so could someone give some pointers??? I can read treble and bass clef, but because tab is so much easier to get I tend to go with it ( :scowl: ) plz help guys! lol

~JB~

 

[DubDubs]

I can read treble clef pretty well (from playing piano and flute) and I'm ok at bass clef (from piano and bass). It definatly takes me a few seconds per note to register the note on the paper and transfer it to the bass so I definatly can't sight read. I don't play bass in any situation where I need to read but I practice a little anway incase I do end up needing to read. It's a good skill to have.

 

[travatron4000]

to stop reading tab just simply do so. get some sheet music, who cares what it was for, bass or treble. Get some bass stuff or cello, or bassoon what ever... something without tab under the staff and just read it. then you'll get better. eventually you'll tend to stear away from tab. when i started i only did tab. once i started doing music now i get annoyed when there's tab. music is much more efficent. it also makes it easier to use alternate fingerings because sometimes tabbed fingerings don't work for everyone.

~trav

 

[jayzarecki]

to stop reading tab just simply do so. get some sheet music, who cares what it was for, bass or treble. Get some bass stuff or cello, or bassoon what ever... something without tab under the staff and just read it. then you'll get better. eventually you'll tend to stear away from tab. when i started i only did tab. once i started doing music now i get annoyed when there's tab. music is much more efficent. it also makes it easier to use alternate fingerings because sometimes tabbed fingerings don't work for everyone.

~trav

exactly

 

[apoodangle]

Hey guys I can see a lot of you choose to not use tab, and instead go by your ears.

Well I really dont get how you can learn entire songs by ear, so could someone give some pointers??? I can read treble and bass clef, but because tab is so much easier to get I tend to go with it ( :scowl: ) plz help guys! lol

~JB~

most of them are lying or exaggerating how talented they are probably, least that's what i'd imagine. don't get me wrong, ear training is a beautiful thing, but if you don't read music it takes some kind of natural talent to learn a whole song by ear. not to rag on ear training, but you should learn to play stuff from written music before you learn to play stuff without it.

it would be a worthy goal to phase out using tabs. it's hard to do because it is the easy way out, but you'll understand everything so much better if you read it the right way.

 

[jayzarecki]

most of them are lying or exaggerating how talented they are probably, least that's what i'd imagine. don't get me wrong, ear training is a beautiful thing, but if you don't read music it takes some kind of natural talent to learn a whole song by ear. not to rag on ear training, but you should learn to play stuff from written music before you learn to play stuff without it.

it would be a worthy goal to phase out using tabs. it's hard to do because it is the easy way out, but you'll understand everything so much better if you read it the right way.

learning a song by ear is actually not that hard. unless its avery complicated song. Than it takes longer. just play or listen along, and youve got it. I knwo alot of peope who can do it, so i've never questioned it before.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

you should learn to play stuff from written music before you learn to play stuff without it.

I'm big into learning to read, but I don't think I'd agree with this statement. I can't see any reason why ear training and reading shouldn't go hand in hand. Done right, they can and will reinforce each other. IMO part of the whole problem with this debate is that a lot of things are framed as an either-or choice when they should really be about both-and.

 

[jayzarecki]

i agree richard. Reading music is nessesary, but than again it is just as important as ear training. But with the right mix, youre set for life!

 

[Superdave]

Well a lot of transcribing songs comes from ear training, and knowledge of intervals, and scale theory. As I've said it before, learning to read is good because you can analyze notations, and transcriptions, not tab.