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Why Should I Learn To Read Music? By Jamie Andreas |
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"The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar" by Jamie Andreas
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There is a lot of confused thinking
out there when it comes to the subject of reading music, especially being
a guitar player and reading music. I
want to examine what some of this confused thinking is, and how people get
this confused thinking into their heads, and why it stays there. Why do
some people think they shouldn’t learn to read music, when they should?
Why do some people think they should, when they shouldn’t (at least not
right away)?
Every
Strength is a Potential Weakness Some
people are very “natural” guitar players, they learn to play by
watching and listening to other players. And that is fine, in fact, that
is great. The ability to just watch someone do something like play the
guitar, and somehow “learn” how to do it yourself, is a great ability.
However, every strength can also be a weakness, and that is true here. Often,
the person who is able to learn this way starts to get an “attitude”
about the more formal aspects of learning music and the guitar, things
like taking lessons, or learning to read music. They begin to form certain
belief systems about the subject. And these belief systems can be
dangerous, because they prevent the person holding them from growing and
developing as they otherwise could. Even
if you are a “natural” guitar player, there will come the day when you
will run up against certain musical concepts which you will be locked out
of understanding because you don’t know how to read music. Learning how
to read music is one way to increase your chances of being the best
musician you can be. Let’s
examine some of the reasons why a person might adopt a belief system that
says “it is a bad thing to learn to read music, at least for me”.
I’m a Genius, and God Whispers Directly in My Ear
Unfortunately,
most people have an ego, an “idea” or “image” of who they are, and
whatever that image is, it carries along with it certain limitations.
Whatever our particular image is, it also becomes our act. We have to live
up to it. We have to keep a mental list of all the things that support our
act, and also a list of the things we have to avoid because they don’t
fit our act. In some professions, keeping up your image is essential to
survival. Politics is one, probably the first “I must, at all costs
maintain my image and my act” profession. Being an entertainer/artist is
probably second.
So,
it is very common, especially in the beginning stages of being a musician,
to decide to play the “I am a natural genius who just picked up a guitar
and played like Jimi Hendrix” routine. The musician playing this role
has decided they are the “romantic, inspired artist”. This is the
image of the artist who gets his inspiration from some divine source. He
or she likes to believe (and likes others to believe), that God, or
perhaps one of his angels, whispers
directly in their ear, and they best not tamper with the process. If they
interfere with the process by getting some “education”, then, God
might get mad, and stop whispering in their ear. God will stop directly
inspiring them with all those great musical ideas and they will just be
another jerk playing the guitar.
Underneath
this feeling is the feeling that they are, in fact, just another jerk
playing the guitar. That is why this particular routine is common with
beginners, because most of us do feel like we are just another jerk
playing the guitar when we first begin to play. And we usually have a
little outside help in the matter, in the form of parents or “special
friends”, ready to tell us to get real when we dare disclose our secret
dreams of actually being professional guitar players.
It
is very important to grow past this little game. If you do decide to make
this image a part of your professional career (as many artists do) you
must at least stop believing your own hype. If you don’t, you will not
move yourself into contact with the resources and situations that exist to
help you grow and develop.
Beethoven
comes to mind. There was never a musician who was more “divinely
inspired” than Beethoven. Music flowed into him and as it came out when
he played, people were left sobbing with intense emotion, or moved to
feelings of awe. When he was young, he would tell people, “I never
listen to other composers' music, it would interfere with my
originality”. He would say that, but he was full of “you know what”,
and he knew it. He was really busy studying with all the greatest
composers and music theory teachers of his day. So he was not only
listening to their music, he was studying it note by note. But he was
smart. He knew he had a good thing going with all these people worshipping
him. He was young, and knew he had to struggle to build a career as an
artist, so he would use this image of the “divinely inspired artist”
to his advantage, and help foster and maintain it in people’s minds. But
he wasn’t dumb enough to believe it himself, or let it get in the way of
the development of his creative powers. Another
artist, and a supremely great one, who typified this attitude was Louie
Armstrong. When asked if he read music, he said “not enough to hurt my
playing”. I believe he was being a bit tongue in cheek here, and
probably also was promoting the “look, I’m just a genius” image, but
there is some truth to what he was trying to get across.
He
was trying to get across the fact that reading music, like reading words,
does not give you talent. Being able to read doesn’t mean you will
actually have something to say, and when you are a musician, having
something to say (in a musical sense) is what it is all about. However, if
you have talent, if you have something to say, learning to read music will
not make you less of a musician, but more of a musician.
Having Talent/Nurturing Talent
If
you are an artist, if you feel you want to be a guitarist, then, you would
really be much better off eliminating the word “talent” from your
vocabulary. You should not even be concerned with whether you have any or
not. You should only be concerned with how much you love music and the
guitar. You should only be concerned with how much you need to do it.
Whether you have talent or not is for other people to waste their time
wondering about.
When
you stay focused on your love for what you are doing, the path of your
development will become clear to you. If you love blues guitar, if you
want to play like Jimi or Stevie Ray, and that is all you want to do, then
it will become clear to you over time that learning to read music is not
high on the list of priorities. Playing constantly with other people who
play that style is high on the list. Learning and copying the solos of a
hundred other players is high on the list. Of course, along the way, maybe
you WILL feel the desire to learn to read. When
I was starting out, my friends would show me blues scales and licks. I
wasn’t much interested in just learning finger patterns, I wanted to
understand in a mental way, what I was doing. I wanted to know the note
names and so forth. That was just my personality. I didn’t know then
that a few years later I would be captivated by the classical guitar,
which is a style that absolutely requires note reading and musical
understanding in a technical sense, in order to develop. I was just
following my nature. So, being in touch with yourself, your true nature
and needs for musical expression, is the first
thing. But don’t interfere
with that awareness by clinging to some dumb “self-image” that says
you “shouldn’t” read music. Should
YOU learn to read music? What
I say now should be understood and used in the context of what I have
already said. There are many players for whom this question never even
comes up. They know already, intuitively, the right answer to this
question as it applies to them. But many people do have questions about
this issue, so I will try to provide the clarity they need.
IN
GENERAL, everyone can only benefit by learning to read music. Believe me,
if you DO have talent, if you have something to say as an artist, you are
not going to lose it by developing your mental understanding of the
“theoretical” aspect of music. The only people who will lose their
artistic ability by education in music are the ones who didn’t have any
artistic ability to begin with.
If
you DON’T have much natural ability for music, or much experience in
playing music, then learning to read can open up a whole world of
understanding for you. It can give you the keys to understand the
“mysteries of music”. I love to teach students to read, because then I
can teach them music theory. In fact, for the guitar student, learning to
read is like an insurance policy against future confusion. So many guitar
students, as time goes by, start bumping up against concepts that they
can’t understand, and it is a source of great frustration for them,
because understanding these concepts is the doorway to new and more
sophisticated playing abilities.
I
often get questions from students (other peoples' students) like “can you
explain secondary dominants”, or “how do I use a harmonic minor scale
in improvising”. Unfortunately, I can’t answer these people. They
don’t realize that in order to understand the answer, a knowledge of
music theory is required. And in order to learn music theory, you must know how to read music. In other
words, I have to use a particular language to answer these questions, and
they don’t know the language. So we can’t communicate. They are stuck
with their question.
It’s
like trying to learn grammar without being able to read words. You may be
able to get some understanding if you find a creative teacher, but you
will never achieve a complete or satisfying understanding of grammar in
the way you would if you could read.
So,
in general, I always recommend learning to read music.
Who Should Learn
to Read
Specifically
speaking, the following are the types of people who definitely should
learn to read music. Ø
Anyone who really wants to. Ø
Anyone planning on someday having a complete and sophisticated
understanding of music and music theory. Ø
Anyone planning on a career in music, unless it will be a career as
a rock/blues musician, or folk musician. Even then, of course, it won’t
hurt, it is just not as necessary. Ø
Anyone who wants to play the classical guitar.
Who
shouldn’t Learn to Read Music
Ø
Anyone who really doesn’t want to. Ø
Anyone who is planning on being only a blues/rock musician or a
folk musician. Ø
Most people who are just starting to learn to play the guitar.
When
to Begin to Read Music
There
is a common belief that students should learn to read music right from the
beginning. I don’t think so. I rarely do that with students. Usually, it
is just a way of throwing water on a fire that is just beginning to burn.
With guitar, it is very easy to teach music in the beginning without
learning how to read. By doing so, the student is connected right away to
music in an emotional way, and it is the emotional aspect of playing music
that made them begin lessons. Learning
to read music is a very complex, mental affair, dealing with many abstract
concepts. Doing it in the beginning is kind of like reading your
girlfriend an essay on the philosophy of love on your first date, instead
of just being romantic with a box of candy and flowers. So
I believe in fanning that fire first. I find a song they love that has
easy chords, I teach them how to practice, and we’re off and running.
After a few months, I bring the subject of reading music up, and by then
there is no problem in doing so. Also, by then they are more able to
understand why it is important. Teaching
children to learn to read is very tricky, and requires great skill. It is
often done badly. Suppose, for instance, that you are trying to teach a
third grader to read, and you have to teach the concept of dotted notes.
In order to understand dotted notes, you have to understand fractions, you
have to understand the concept of “one half of something”. They most
likely DON’T understand that. So, you have to be a math teacher for a
bit. It can take six months to really have a 10 year old understand this
one musical concept. In
fact, I believe many adults who have had trouble learning to read music
are the victims of bad teaching. There are often a lot of unexplained, and
under-explained vital concepts along the way, which are the real culprits,
not a lack of ability to “get it”. And
finally, it should be understood that learning to read music can be a long
process, in the same way that learning to read words can be. It takes
enough work, over a long enough period of time. You can learn to read
enough to go slowly through music, as you can learn to read slowly, or you
can become a “speed reader” and read music you haven’t’ seen and
still play it up to performance level. Whether
or not to learn to read, and how far to take it is up to you. But it is
certainly a subject you should make an informed choice about, based on
careful consideration.
BOOK REVIEWS AT GUITARPRINCIPLES!
The best books out there to use for your continued growth as a guitarist and musician. Read Jamie's reviews and find out WHY you should use them, and HOW to use them, and also, WHO should use WHAT! Metal Lead Guitar (Troy Stetina): find out why this is one of the best books for acquiring the basics of this style. Bob Dylan Made Easy For Guitar: some of the greatest songs by one of the greatest American songwriters. Great for horizontal growth in players at the "strumming/singing" stage, or those learning how to apply more sophisticated accompaniment techniques. Position Studies For Guitar: there is no entrance to the higher mysteries of the guitar without a knowledge of the fingerboard. For those who have gotten a handle on notes in the first position, guess what, it's time to get to work! This book is a great introduction to the neck, moving fret by fret, teaching you the relevant scales and keys for each position on the neck. It will go a long way toward making you a literate and educated musician. 100 Graded Classical Pieces (Fred Noad): an excellent collection of classical material suited to the intermediate player, or those approaching the intermediate stage. Metal Rhythm Guitar (Troy Stetina): Troy takes you step by step through all the basic rhythms and techniques used in your favorite metal music. Voice Technology: A State of the Art Studio: an incredible study of the mechanics of singing, including much work on vowel and consonant production, and insight into the science of phonetics, which underlies the study of speech and singing. Best of all, the book comes with a COMPUTER PROGRAM you can use to SEE your voice, how it is producing sound, and how to change it for the better. A must for those wishing to improve their singing! Kitharlogos: The Path To Virtuosity: This book is for classical guitarists what Troy Stetina's "Speed Mechanics" is for metal heads! Lots of well thought out exercises that help you progressively develop classical technique. If you know how to do Principled Practice, you will go far with this book. Beatles Made Easy For Guitar: Many of the greatest songs by THE greatest pop/rock (and beyond) songwriters of my lifetime! The great thing about this book is that all the songs are in easy guitar keys, so it is perfect for those just getting the hang of chord changes and strumming. Speed Mechanics For Lead Guitar: This is an excellent book for the serious rock/metal guitarist. Troy Stetina has put together a series of exercises designed to develop all the essential techniques used by the virtuoso electric guitarist. If you want to be blazing like Kirk, Eddie, Steve & Joe, this is the book for you! Library of Classics: A great collection of classical guitar pieces for the intermediate student who is looking for a lot of the greatest, most popular, and most played music in the standard classical repertoire. Clear and easy to read, a lifetime of great music to study and play, all in one convenient place! The Voice Book: The best book I have found on singing. I will give this book the highest compliment I can, it is for the voice what my book "The Principles of Correct Practice For Guitar" is for the guitar. With great analytical detail, the author gives you ALL the right information, in the right order, along with "Foundation Exercises" to remove the obstacles to improving your ability to develop your voice. Ultimate Folk Book: After you have begun the process of learning how to practice by using The Principles, and you have learned the first position chords in the key of G with "The Path Level One: Chords & Rhythm",, it is time for some Horizontal Growth by learning a good number of songs, and some Vertical Growth, learning new first position chords, as well as more sophisticated strums, and accompaniment techniques such as BASS RUNS, and ARPEGGIOS. |
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