Reading Music necessary

[zack]

Is reading music really necessary for the guitar player? do most of the greats read music? also, would i need to in order to do well in a musical college?

[Temujin]

Is reading music necessary for the guitar player? No, you do not need to know how to read music to play great music, but it will be extremely beneficial for you to do so. It helps open up many doors for you as a musician, both privately and publicly. It will also help you get more respect from fellow musicians you may work with in the future. There are some musical situations where you must be able to read music to participate in.

Do most of the greats read music? Well, it depends on who you define as great. Almost ALL classical and jazz players read music, the same goes for "shredders." Contrary to popular belief, a lot of blues musicians do as well, perhaps the majority. As for rockers, I'd say a 70/30 split; 70% do read music.

There is simply no reason for one not to learn the art and science of their craft. There is definitely a science behind every craft, and music is no exception. The science of reading music is very easy to learn. You'll learn it so fast you won't believe it.

I say go for it. It'll make you a much better musician ;)


--Temujin

[Temujin]

Yes, you'll need to learn to read music well before going to a music college. Some music schools make it manditory that you know how before you can even go.

[sum1]

for college you will need to know it, i dont think its the biggest thing you should learn on the guitar, i am at least familiar with it.. the timing you will deffinitely need to know to be great, should you be able to sight read? no i dont think thats key.. should you be able to transcribe something to tabs from sheet music given some time.. yes

[AtkaJoe]

Guitar sight reading can be really tough since there are so many positions on the guitar and harmonics are really tough to sight read (according to my friend). A few tips that I kinda figured out on my own to make the learning process quicker:

Learn where all the open strings are on the staff. Then learn where their octaves (12th fret) are. Then learn all the notes in between. If you can get your hands on Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven) sheet music (for guitar) or some other classical songs (Like this spanish one called Romanza) it'll be a great help. Try to learn them without listening to the song or getting tabs. Make it a project... 15 mins a day or something like that.

[Guitar-Blink182]

;) Ok,ok,ok see reading music isn't nessacery in some cases if your in a band you make up your own. When your in a band you can give the string certain letters and put them in a pattren to make the background music. I think it's easier don't know about you guys.

Guitar-Bink182 :eek:

[Musiceroko]

I started reading music a month ago,
and it helped me a lot in certain lessons.
Its really not that hard,but some musical terms are hard.

[CaNaDiAN,Eh?]

As the others said, reading music is not necessary to play the guitar. However, there are many situations where it would come in handy. You mentioned musical college, and yes it would be necessary to read music if you wanted to go to such an institution. Another example is if you wanted to try out for a band, and say they handed you some sheet music to play for them. It wouldn't look so good if you told them you couldn't read it, although I doubt many bands do that sort of thing. Reading music is a skill that won't hurt you so you might as well just learn it. Plus it will come in handy if you ever decide to pick up another instrument.