Missing out by not being able to read music?

[BillyRay]

Crazy how these threads always generate a great deal of heat really, really fast. What's everybody afraid of?
OP, if you want to "Rock the World" all you have to do is pick up your bass, learn some simple riffs, get together with some buddies and....well...."Rock the World"!
I started out being able to read Music on another instrument, and then picked up the Bass Guitar. To be honest, I was a pretty miserable reader and player for a long time but with the help of a couple of good teachers I was able to get my act together to go to UNT and attend Music School because I knew that's what I wanted to do for a living and thanks to reading about players like Carol Kaye and Joe Osborne and studying with successful local players I had a clue about what was going to be required of me.
Personally, I've played a lot of Rock, Country and Pop tours and most of the time Music Stands were nowhere to be found. Ironically, I would not have gotten the highest paid touring gig I've had if I hadn't been able to read. Again, I do this for a living. If you are just starting out and having fun, playing in a Weekend Warrior Band or getting together with some buds, driving across the country and playing shows and living on peanut butter and jelly and crashing on couches in pursuit of the Rock Star Lottery it's not necessary. I'm just saying it helps to get you there faster to be able to read and write Music and communicate it to others that way, IME.

This x1000 times. Reading is an asset for the weekend warrior, but I'll take someone with a good ear over someone who can sight-read every day of the week (and I'll take someone who has both over the two firsts !).

 

[Lloyd on bass]

I play upright and electric bass and can read well ,yes i work all the time.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

It is not, IMO:

- a good way to notate music that isn't easily considered simply as a sequences of 'notes'
- a good way to notate music that is not a linear performance - e.g. rule based music.
- a good way to *record* (for archival) music with very detailed timing (for reasons I've tried and failed to explain already, but if you've ever really analysed the timing of great performances, you will know what I mean)
- a good way to gain insight into harmony, especially non-diatonic harmony (in fact anything other than C major or one of its modes is treated as a special case).
- the only way to communicate with other musicians.

1&2- never saw the score to something like "Thème à la mémoire des victimes d'Hiroshima" by Krzysztof Penderecki ... it is hard to listen to and the score is strange but still, it shows just how much notation can be adapted.
Also any score for prepared piano or stuff by John Cage.

3- I don,t understand how you can't have the perfect timing if you have your score infront of you with a metronome or a conductor.

4- It shows everything you have to know if you have the full score not just the bass part or whatever instruments part. Just because it doesn,t give you where to put your finger doesn,t mean it lack clarity.

5- Not the only way but the most efficiant way especially if you have a lot of musician and you want something without any rehearsal or having to record everything for them.

 

[topo morto]

1&2- never saw the score to something like "Thème à la mémoire des victimes d'Hiroshima" by Krzysztof Penderecki ... it is hard to listen to and the score is strange but still, it shows just how much notation can be adapted.
Also any score for prepared piano or stuff by John Cage.

3- I don,t understand how you can't have the perfect timing if you have your score infront of you with a metronome or a conductor.

4- It shows everything you have to know if you have the full score not just the bass part or whatever instruments part. Just because it doesn,t give you where to put your finger doesn,t mean it lack clarity.

5- Not the only way but the most efficiant way especially if you have a lot of musician and you want something without any rehearsal or having to record everything for them.

1,2) I've seen a few interesting scores, but not the ones you mentioned. It's good that standard music notation can be adapted, but I think I can imagine scoring systems that would be more adaptable...

3) Because the timing information on a score is a rigid grid, plus a set of subjective instructions on how to deviate from it. I don't deny it's good enough for interpretation through performance, but not for archival and analysis of a performance (example - MIDI file would be better).

4) To me it lacks clarity because it assumes you are using one of the modes of C. If you are using another key you have to alter the notes with a key signature, and even worse, if you modulate, you get accidentals - yuk yuk yuk.Again I suppose it is space-efficient, but extremely inelegant IMO.
Why not just put all 12 available notes in the equal temperament scale on, and be done?

5) These days recording is arguably easier than writing a score! But it's definitely true that score is great if you are working without rehearsal.

 

[Febs]

1,2) I've seen a few interesting scores, but not the ones you mentioned. It's good that standard music notation can be adapted, but I think I can imagine scoring systems that would be more adaptable...

3) Because the timing information on a score is a rigid grid, plus a set of subjective instructions on how to deviate from it. I don't deny it's good enough for interpretation through performance, but not for archival and analysis of a performance (example - MIDI file would be better).

4) To me it lacks clarity because it assumes you are using one of the modes of C. If you are using another key you have to alter the notes with a key signature, and even worse, if you modulate, you get accidentals - yuk yuk yuk.Again I suppose it is space-efficient, but extremely inelegant IMO.
Why not just put all 12 available notes in the equal temperament scale on, and be done?

That would be MUCH harder to read.

 

[odarellmc]

It's relative to what your goals and desires as a player are. If you want to do theater, you'll have to read. If you want to be in a successful rock band, it's not nearly as important to read.

I'm in the "learn to read" camp because it helps in making your a fast learner, a more valuable asset in many musical situations, and develops greater musicianship in the long run. If you want to work a lot in a wide variety of genres, it's a big help. That said, Pino Palladino is one of the most highly regarded and well-compensated bassists in the world, both live and in the studio. He can't read at all.

WHAT! Pino can't read. .you're joking right?

 

[Pacman]

Moved to General Instruction, as this is not a technique issue.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

WHAT! Pino can't read. .you're joking right?

Pino gets hired as a stylist so he's not a great example and even so he's an exception to the rule. Look at it this way, if you just wanna hang and talk with yer pals you don't need to know how to read words. If you want to make a living as an actor or public speaker the ability to read and write is almost essential.

 

[bassmeknik]

I have been a performing musician for 45 years this year (40 years on bass) and learned to read music fluently in school band. I seldom use it today in my pop bands as I learn by ear very well and always have a recording to learn from. In my praise band however I may get TAB, lead sheets, or traditional 5 line concert staff and I need to be able to interpret all of it.

SOOO... You can be an excellent bassist without learning to read music, but you WILL be a BETTER bassist if you take the time to learn to read.

 

[carl h.]

Some of the folks who have posted here scare me.

Some of the other posts explain some of the stuff I have been forced to read at gigs.

I've been fortunate enough to play with some serious talent in my career. The big acts bring sheet music and expect you to know how to read it - right now, not later. I've also recently been involved with some regional and local type acts where notation was optional or nonexistant. The local stuff required hours of practicing specific to their gig because they did the music the way they learned it - which often had very little to do with the original charts that were on the radio.

I'm also waiting for Topomorto to tab out the song from west side story.

Seriously dude, show us how your way is better by doing it and not talking about it! (And pick F#, I could read that in standard notation all night)

 

[Ed Fuqua]

It's just going to be one less on the train.

 

[bigboy_78]

The only time not being able to read is going to hold you back, is when you are expected to read something.

The only time that being a good reader will hold you back is..............................

 

[Lichtaffen]

Actually, don't learn to read. The more people there are out there who can't read, the more work there is for the few who can. Why are we encouraging these people anyway? Obviously, you're waiting for the right person to come along and say "don't worry, you can be the next _____ without knowing how to do anything." Because what we're all missing is that all the greats never practiced or studied. They just partied all day and somehow managed to be a virtuoso when a bass was thrown over their shoulder.

Sorry dude, no one who is great at anything got there without practicing and studying their asses off.

Another point: can you read what I just wrote in English? Why bother learning how to read English? All the best speakers were just born with the knowledge of how to communicate. See where this debate is going?

 

[Aussie Player]

I haven't been on this site very long but this topic is likely the most abrasive I have seen and by far the most likely to highlight pomposity in the extreme.
Music is in the ear of the beholder, but you all really knew that.........

 

[Lichtaffen]

It has nothing to do with being pompous.

I know a guy who reads English on a third grade level and has a business. He has to pay many other people to do common tasks for him because of this. Do I need to tell you he's not very successful?

 

[bassmeknik]

this topic and the mixed driver topic from the Amps forum seem to be the most polarizing subjects on TB... get the popcorn ready

 

[Musiclogic]

I've been struggling with this question and perhaps there are more bass players with the same concern. Am i missing too much out by not being able to read music fluently? I feel like i am, i feel like if i did id be able to grab anything in any style and "rock the world"
Any thoughts?

There is an old saying among those with an intense work ethic and a "never take NO for an answer" mindset.......

Anything you can do to better yourself, will give you a leg up on those who rarely try.

Learning to read, and read well is totally worth the time. You will gain understandings of why people do things in songs and give you a repetitive road map to figuring out lines and progressions that perplexed you, It will also make you a better writer and overall musician.

 

[fdeck]

I'm a fluent sight reader, because I started on cello as a kid, and have found ways to keep up my reading chops since then. In threads about reading, my only intention is to bust a couple of myths.

Myth #1: You can't play with "feel" or "groove" while reading. Fact: Sight reading while playing with feel is just a level of reading ability.

Myth #2: Reading is just for full time pro's, not for weekend warriors. Fact: What about weekend warriors who play jazz or non-guitar-oriented music? There are plenty of us.

Because of the genres and instruments that I play, I simply have to read in order to be taken seriously and to hang with bands. It's not an option. Bandleaders (including those who are weekend warriors themselves) assume that I can read, without asking.

I think it's a divisive issue because electric bass lives in two worlds. We have one foot in the world of folk and popular music, and the other in the world of jazz and classical (if we play upright). Both worlds produce great electric bassists. In the folk world, lots of players do just fine without reading -- especially on the weekend warrior circuit. In the jazz world, reading is taken for granted.

 

[topo morto]

That would be MUCH harder to read.

If you mean having all 12 notes on -

There would be advantages for music that transposes a lot, or is not in major, minor or one of the modes... and you could even expand it further for microtonal music.

That you'd have more steps could be a disadvantage, but you can imagine ways to make them 'jumpable' by eye - perhaps with differently drawn lines or dots for, say, the 5th and octave.

Is that one of the shortcomings you were thinking of? What other shortcomings do you think it would have?

 

[topo morto]

I'm also waiting for Topomorto to tab out the song from west side story.

I think that part of the conversation died out, and not because of me, unless I missed a post?

Seriously dude, show us how your way is better by doing it and not talking about it! (And pick F#, I could read that in standard notation all night)

The ideas I have for a better system are perhaps a bit half-baked (and of course I am not talking about 'tab' here!). I have experimented a bit with them, but this is a text-based forum, hence here, we are talking, not doing. (I don't see much score in the thread either.)

... and even with all the words, the talking is pretty boring here. Too many people laying sandbags around their 'position' (yawn), rather than actually discussing.

If you read music, great (you already know that, right?). If you don't know what it is or how it works, you probably should find out. But if you know what it is and decide it's not for you - that's fine too. It really is!