Do you use sheet music

[IamGroot]

"Sheet Music" includes any written, printed, or digital nonaudible media for communicating the performance or analysis of music

"Use" shall be construed to mean "for performance, study, analysis, or archival purposes

 

[vancamp]

"Sheet Music" includes any written, printed, or digital nonaudible media for communicating the performance or analysis of music

"Use" shall be construed to mean "for performance, study, analysis, or archival purposes

Where's the "Yes, all of the above"?

 

[IamGroot]

Where's the "Yes, all of the above"?

Say yes to the entry you use the most. I can do all the above, but i am checking most std notation.

 

[Passinwind]

Say yes to the entry you use the most. I can do all the above, but i am checking most std notation.

That's what I selected, but lead sheets with notation and chords (i.e. Real Book charts) would be more accurate in my case.

 

[SAlcott]

Sheet music, Nashville numbers, and chord charts; all part of being a blue-collar bass player.

 

[Malcolm35]

Chord charts, aka, fake chord sheet music for covers.
Nashville numbers with Praise music.
Scale degree number when needed to flesh out a bass line. R-3-5-b7
Standard notation when I need to see what has been done.

 

[FatStringer52]

This is one where multiple votes would have been handy. I prefer standard notation. However, there are times when I want to convey specific fretting that I will combine standard notation with tab. Chord charts are great because I'm not practiced enough to sit down and sight read a piece of music without ample time to work thru it. Most of the time I/we use Nashville Numbers is during impromptu jams sessions.

 

[BassChuck]

Sheet music. Published arrangements, rented parts (musicals), special arrangements (written in standard notation especially for the group). Chord charts. Some published big band arrangements have sections that are standard notation, other parts that are just chords and slashes.
I can and have read Nashville number charts, but that rarely comes up for me.
Basically if it can be written down, you need to be able to read and play it.
Even players who are skilled sight readers (that is, performing a standard notation part correctly the first time you see it) will work on bettering that skill. (and if you have that skill, you will always be able to find work).

 

[Thum5b]

I only do enough sight reading to keep my skills up but I use standard notation all the time for writing, no tabs.

 

[JRA]

That's what I selected, but lead sheets with notation and chords (i.e. Real Book charts) would be more accurate in my case.

same here, iamgroot: what i print from sibelius is essentially a 'real book' chart (concert, Bb, and Eb). i print an f-clef chart for the bass part and sometimes a bone part is needed. i'm printing parts/harmonies for the horns, so standard notation is about the only way to go....horns don't do tabs.

 

[Chrisk-K]

Choices are wrong. People who read music can also read tabs.

 

[twinjet]

"Sheet Music" includes any written, printed, or digital nonaudible media for communicating the performance or analysis of music

"Use" shall be construed to mean "for performance, study, analysis, or archival purposes

I prefer standard notation but have used lead sheets and Nashville numbers.

 

[bbh]

If I start with sheet music, I can never memorize it. Therefore, I shy away from it unless it’s a recording session.

 

[brianrost]

Standard notation, chord charts but never tab. For study, only used on a gig in an emergency.

 

[2112]

I use standard notation only for sax and I use tabs only for bass.

 

[Kmonk]

I have been playing for over 40 years. I have toured and currently compose and record for several television shows on major networks. I have never used sheet music, cheat sheets or notes of any kind when performing live. I learn everything by ear to the point that I can play without the need for written notes.

 

[2F/2F]

I can read, and write, sheet music. But I can’t sight read. Nor do I ever truly read as I am playing.

To learn a bunch of songs quickly, I make simple single-page chord/structure charts. I dissect the structure of the song, write out chords charts for all the different parts, then label each part with a letter: “A, B,” etc., NOT “chorus, bridge,” etc. Then at the end of the page, I write out the order of the parts (e.g. “INTRO, AAB, AAB, C, B, AA, OUTRO”).

If, after that, I am unsure of anything, I keep these notes on my amp or on the floor, or on a music stand if I can put it way to the side. If I am drawing a blank (remembering the song titles is always the hardest part), I refer to them before the song begins, but never during.

I chart like this mainly as a way to quickly commit songs to memory, as opposed to providing myself with something to actually read. Deconstructing, and actually putting pen to paper, really helps my mind to remember things.

 

[CallMeAl]

My preferred and most proficient written method is chord charts. I use Nashville numbers too, but thats all verbal/mental, never write it down. Plus a whole lot of good old fashioned playing by ear!

Im a pretty strong treble reader (trumpet,) but even with 2 years of piano I’m a slow bass clef reader. I have recently purchased a few sheet music transcription books (mostly jazz) and am making a structured plan to improve.

I use tab or instructional videos (YouTube “bass covers”) when all else fails

 

[Nick von Nick]

I started music at 10 years old as a trombone player, and based on my elementary school's music program, I naïvely thought that all musicians use sheet music all the time. I was quite wrong...

After learning to play bass (specifically for my school's jazz band), I use lead sheets more than anything. I like Real Book-style sheets the best (melody/chord/essential licks/unison lines). However, I will use rough chord charts and a few key bars of music for some scenarios (ever see someone using sheet music at a punk show?).

I've had too many "sheet music debates" with people over the years, and the most common reason people scoff at music seems to be laziness/discomfort at something new masked under the guise of "figuring it out my way." I also hear the excuse "XYZ artist didn't use sheet music, so why should I?" I will buy that argument the second you outsell or out-compose the Beatles, Stones, etc.

From an anthropological standpoint, civilizations record information such that people can readily pass that information on. Sheet music falls into this realm. Heck, there are theories that Homo Sapiens outlived the Neanderthals because the latter did not record any information and had to relearn things with each successive generation. I'd rather learn a song from sheet music or by transcribing it to a lead sheet - it allows me so much for flexibility when I don't have to keep every note top of mind.
~NvN

 

[Roxbororob]

This

This is one where multiple votes would have been handy. I prefer standard notation. However, there are times when I want to convey specific fretting that I will combine standard notation with tab. Chord charts are great because I'm not practiced enough to sit down and sight read a piece of music without ample time to work thru it. Most of the time I/we use Nashville Numbers is during impromptu jams sessions.

And this

Standard notation, chord charts but never tab. For study, only used on a gig in an emergency.

Edit: Also my own special notation chicken scratch on songs transcribed by ear.