Do you use sheet music

[Ric5]

Do you use sheet music


As little as possible … it does help learning a song

the problem is sheet music is either wrong a little or wrong a lot … very rarely correct

So you need a good ear

 

[Ric5]

The problem with standard notation is quite often you have 3 places to play the same note and the sheet music only gives you the note … and tabs are usually wrong

 

[FatStringer52]

80% of the bass tab is ok

I find just the opposite to be true: 80% is not OK. But it really boils down to who the author is. The ones I really have problems with are those that tab a bar and followed by X3, another bar and X2, etc. Then they attempt to tell you the order in which to play the bars.

 

[Tazziedevil]

I prefer chord charts, followed by Nashville numbering. Unless there is a specific reason for fretting a piece in a certain way, I find TAB mostly gets in the way.

 

[Spin Doctor]

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.

That's pretty much where I am. Currently I only play R&B and Jazz. For the jazz, I use sheet music or chord charts if it's a standard. If it a more recent jazz tune that doesn't have any available music written for it, I just learn by ear and play the R&B covers more or less the way the original is played, depending on how I feel.

But I memorize everything. No music on stage.

 

[JnKlm]

Weird success story here:

I was trained in sight-reading since childhood.
Then had no opportunity to use it live or in studio, for more than a decade.

Suddenly, I was hired to record two film scores in a strangest possible setting:
-- string quartet with electric bass
-- full baroque string ensemble with electric bass
-- piano and two saxes with electric bass

Payed very well and one of the soundtracks even won a national prize.
Never saw it coming.
Do not underestimate reading sheet music - gives you access to Bach and Bartók, but might also serve you professionally even if you do not expect it at all.

 

[Tommyc]

I played classical music for over 40 years. I can read lute tab badly ( French Tab) but my eyes glaze over looking at tab that's used in popular music, so i avoid it. If I like something enough I'll actually transcribe tab into notation.

 

[Wasnex]

I didn't vote as I needed two options. My job required me to read standard notation and chords, and lead sheets often are a mix of both. Depending upon which ensemble I was playing in, I might read exclusively standard notation or exclusively chords. Or I might play without music.

Usually in the ensembles where I played without music, we did record lifts or arranged old tunes in a new way. The process I prefer is to write out lead sheets for preparation and rehearsal purposes, and then give everyone the original recording and a lead sheet so they can do a bit of prep. Basically everyone is expected to write their own cues into the lead sheet and know the material well enough, so they can play the song down in rehearsal while reading the lead sheet. Next, we play the tune in until it's relatively tight, and then lay down a reference recording. The reference recording will be used for everyone memorize and maintain their part. If sub is brought in, they get lead sheets and reference recordings of the actual band they will be performing with.

I don't think in numbers, so I would not be able to sight read Nashville numbers. I can figure out tab, but I think it's preferable to use my own finger and string choices, especially since I play a 6-string bass. IMHO TAB is more useful for guitar chord voicings.

 

[IamGroot]

The problem with standard notation is quite often you have 3 places to play the same note and the sheet music only gives you the note … and tabs are usually wrong

This problem is easily correctable biy indicating the neck fret position of the index finger. Classical guitar music has been doing this for at least 2 centuries. I have doing this about 5 years on bass sheet music.

 

[devnulljp]

yes: Standard notation, chord charts, tabs, Nashville, random scribblings by the songwriter who doesn't know any theory ... whatever it takes

 

[Rip Van Dan]

"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 said "Yes - other" because I will use all of the above. Mostly I use chord charts but prefer regular notation if I need to play something specific that's not otherwise easy to pick out. I "dislike intensely" tabs but will use them if that's all their is. My sight reading isn't all that good because I don't use it that often, but that's the best way to decipher any specific passage I need to play.

I also use the II, V, I or I, IV, V type of notation. When playing Blues it's easy say, "It's a I, IV, V, 12-bar progression, what key do you want to play it in?" I typically build one-page chord/lyric charts for the songs we play and distribute them to the rest of the group.

 

[KohanMike]

I'm digital only chord charts. My uke group meets twice a week and the leader gives us a set list for each session. She will also choose a new song every week or two, and a different set list for each gig we do, so having sheets is necessary. I've memorized just a few songs of the 200 or so we do.

 

[SteveCS]

The problem with standard notation is quite often you have 3 places to play the same note and the sheet music only gives you the note … and tabs are usually wrong

Since the system of standard notation has conventions and devices for providing this information, this is not a problem with the Standard Notation itself. It might be a shortcoming in the score, or it might be a deliberate omission on the part of the editor, possible having in mind the other group of critics that say standard notation is no good because is too prescriptive.
But the solution is simple - it's called a pencil.
Compare these two extracts from two editions of the same piece...

 

[Robscott]

I can read standard notation, chord chart, nashville, whatever. But always use my ear instead, cos it gets me there so much quicker. Occasionally glance at the Real Book for jazz but only if I have to play a song I've never heard before. I have tried over and over to get my reading chops up to speed but once I have played the music through for the first time I remember it, so I kid myself I am reading but really I'm not, I'm playing by ear/memory. I communicate with band members by calling out the chords, or maybe the nashville system. But when I'm playing I don't think that way. I dunno if this has held me back, it doesn't feel like it. But periodically I make a determined attempt to use written music of some kind. One day maybe.......

 

[Slevage]

Yes—What ever the gig requires.
Can’t/don’t use tabs.

 

[Nashrakh]

Mostly standard notation. Two out of three bands use notation and I do so as well in private studies, but one band uses charts because notation would be overkill (50s RnR).

I've come to prefer notation but I can work with whatever is thrown at me.

 

[OptimalOptimus]

I'm much better at reading music than deciphering bass on a recording so.

I never encountered the Nashville system but I've used everything else.

 

[catcauphonic]

When I first picked it up I was plotting along at home with the beginner book it came with, then bought a couple Ed Freidland method books, Bass Guitar For Dummies, etc.

Less than 2 years later I joined my first band. Reading began to fall by the wayside, but I'd make hella notes for the original songs we were suddenly creating.

I know enough to be able to do basic translations between our lead player who is a multi instrumentalist and quite knowledgable in theory, and our rhythm guitarist who plays strictly by ear. Even HE writes out his own form of song notes, so I'm not sure if we're counting that as 'sheet music.'

Those notes are okay during practice and rehearsals, but none of us have (nor likely will) ever prop up a music or a tablet stand onstage... You better have it down by then, since that's what all those notes, home practices, and band rehearsals prior are for.

Does it count if one of those newer numbers being performed requires a cheat sheet written on my wrist in ink? Ultimately I voted NO

 

[Laidback1]

Use chord charts, standard notation sheet music and Nashville depending on the situation

 

[Tom Baker]

Sheet music. lead sheets, chord charts, Nashville numbers. I don't do tab, never even tried. YMMV