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Reading music and elitism

#23
TABS are absolute garbage. Awesome post.

JimmyM said:
I saw a comment in the new BP today that just angered the living crap out of me. They asked a poll question: "Should we do away with TAB in our transcriptions?" To which one halfwit replied:

"Losing the TAB would make the magazine way too elitist."

Another joker replied:

"Not all of us had mommies and daddies who could pay for music classes."

Really? You really think it's about money and elitism? Yeah, you're right...I learned out of a book that cost $5 in addition to joining the middle school band. My wife, who had no previous musical skills, wanted to learn the piano a few years ago. I bought her a piano for Christmas and a $15 piano method book. She worked through the book herself and taught herself how to read. Real big money there, eh?

So stop with this nonsense about reading music being elitist. I'm sick of it, and it's just a lame excuse for not wanting to put in the work. You never see anyone who can read music talking about how much it costs or how elite they are, do you? Nope, only the whiners who resent people for working for it.

That's what it boils down to...not wanting to put in the work. It ain't brain surgery, folks.
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#26
Learning to read music: Worst decision I ever made.

First of all, it turned me into an elitist, just like the OP pointed out. Why, with each quarter-note I read I become an even bigger snob. I'm only about two measures away from being completely insufferable. Before learning to read, I was a nice, tolerant guy but now I openly despise anyone who can't read music - even if they don't play an instrument.

Secondly, it stifled my creativity. Gone are the days when I could freely create by throwing a bunch of notes together without an inkling of how they relate to each other. Everything I play now sounds calculated and boring and predictable. Oh, to be freed from the bondage of knowledge!

Third, and worst by far is that now, when I walk down the street, dogs bark and babies cry and people point at me and speak in hushed tones.

Reading music sucks.
 
#27
I agree that the need to be able to read music notation isn't found as much depending on the genre/scene of music you are in. I remember being self taught slightly through high school then taking classes for fun first years in college just to "master my craft". But over the years they just hasn't been much use for it for where my music has taken me. I wouldn't say I've forgotten everything. I'm sure if I pick up a piece of sheet music I can read it again no problem. Would take time since it wouldn't come naturally anymore.

As for tabs being garbage I would totally disagree. For one I happen to teach guitar for a non-profit for kids ages 7-13. I can only teach them so much in one hour and then easily tell them to research songs they like on tab websites I give them and keep practicing. If anything the "garbage" aspect would come from tab websites being ran by self submissions from novice guitar players so the actual submitted tab is not too good. A really well made tablature can be of a lot of help.
 
#29
Lo-E said:
Learning to read music: Worst decision I ever made.

First of all, it turned me into an elitist, just like the OP pointed out. Why, with each quarter-note I read I become an even bigger snob. I'm only about two measures away from being completely insufferable. Before learning to read, I was a nice, tolerant guy but now I openly despise anyone who can't read music - even if they don't play an instrument.

Secondly, it stifled my creativity. Gone are the days when I could freely create by throwing a bunch of notes together without an inkling of how they relate to each other. Everything I play now sounds calculated and boring and predictable. Oh, to be freed from the bondage of knowledge!

Third, and worst by far is that now, when I walk down the street, dogs bark and babies cry and people point at me and speak in hushed tones.

Reading music sucks.
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ha ha best post I've read all day
 
#30
Im here in support of all us non readers. We have to work much harder to get decent gigs than you lazy readers. We also have to learn our theory intuitively, which can take decades longer, and sometimes never even happen. We have to rely completely on our ears, while you get to cop out and use other skills that make playing music much much easier. I ageee. Reading isnt an elitist thing. :)
 
#31
Well I guess tabs are here to stay and there's no putting the genie back in the bottle, but I find it much easier to say "This song is in Ab" rather than say "This song is in lowest string 4th fret."

:D
 
#34
JimmyM said:
You benefitted from reading immensely even if you never use it anymore. It isn't all about sticking a sheet of music under your nose and being able to sight read it. It's about learning chord structure, it's about learning the names of the notes you're playing, it's also about understanding what's going on with music at a higher level than you had before, which I'm sure happened with you. If you never read another sheet of music again in your life, you benefitted from it.
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Hmmm, well said. I hadn't considered that.

I would probably attribute my personal knowledge of that stuff to the years of private lessons my parents were kind enough to pay for, but looking back on it I would agree that having that base knowledge of reading even if I can no longer sight read helped a lot to build off of.

If anyone was against learning scales, chords, or the names of the notes they were playing then they could REALLY piss off



EDIT:
I would also like to step in and defend tabs here!!! Just because sight reading is a legitimate pursuit doesn't mean tabs are garbage! They are sweet tools! If I want to learn a rock song, rather than spending my time earing it out i'll just google up a tab and i'll have the whole thing down in seconds to minutes, and I don't have to spend hundreds of hours developing my sight reading to do it!

The only thing tabs don't have is timing. If i'm writing out a line for myself to remember sometimes I will tab the notes and include rhythmic notation underneath which I think is the ultimate system, but if it's a hit rock song then you can just match each note up to the sound you know. I find figuring out tabs is a decent ear exercise because to play them properly you have to listen to the music and follow it note for note.

You tab bashers are just as bad as the anti-notation crowd!! Both are tools. And there are good musicians and bad musicians who use both of these tools to do both evil and good
 
#35
musicians read music. if you care enough to subscribe to these magazines, im confused why you would bother with tabs at all..

just my opinion. i dont see whats so taboo about reading music. i know its hard to learn, but not learning it makes everything harder and limiting.
 
#37
JimmyM said:
I saw a comment in the new BP today that just angered the living crap out of me. They asked a poll question: "Should we do away with TAB in our transcriptions?" To which one halfwit replied:

"Losing the TAB would make the magazine way too elitist."

Another joker replied:

"Not all of us had mommies and daddies who could pay for music classes."

Really? You really think it's about money and elitism? Yeah, you're right...I learned out of a book that cost $5 in addition to joining the middle school band. My wife, who had no previous musical skills, wanted to learn the piano a few years ago. I bought her a piano for Christmas and a $15 piano method book. She worked through the book herself and taught herself how to read. Real big money there, eh?

So stop with this nonsense about reading music being elitist. I'm sick of it, and it's just a lame excuse for not wanting to put in the work. You never see anyone who can read music talking about how much it costs or how elite they are, do you? Nope, only the whiners who resent people for working for it.

That's what it boils down to...not wanting to put in the work. It ain't brain surgery, folks.
Click to expand...

I agree, For years I couldnt read a single note of music but I didnt intentionally not learn or use excuses for why I could not read.....I was striaght up being lazy and I knew it.

Now I can finally read music quite well because I spent the time to learn it.....how I learnt to read.....hal leonard bass method book 1 for less than 10 bucks, cheaper than paying for one lesson or a pack of smokes.

Atleast if you dont want to learn something and are being lazy just admit it, the no money excuse is stupid....we have the internet you can learn almost anything for free.
 
#38
JimmyM said:
Well I guess tabs are here to stay and there's no putting the genie back in the bottle, but I find it much easier to say "This song is in Ab" rather than say "This song is in lowest string 4th fret."

:D
Click to expand...

You seem to have this idea that using a tab somehow removes all knowledge of what notes are what.

I might tell someone the song is in G minor, and then tab out the riff for them - why? Because it is easier. ---4---- in a tab means the 4th fret, but there are many people who use tabs and still know all the notes and a functional level of theory!


Tabs versus notation is not theory versus not having a ****ing clue
 
#39
Joe Nerve said:
Im here in support of all us non readers. We have to work much harder to get decent gigs than you lazy readers. We also have to learn our theory intuitively, which can take decades longer, and sometimes never even happen. We have to rely completely on our ears, while you get to cop out and use other skills that make playing music much much easier. I ageee. Reading isnt an elitist thing. :)
Click to expand...

This is a joke, right?
 

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