As we all know, guitarists are not generally known to be the best sight readers on the planet. Of course this is a huge generalization, but for the most part it’s true. Guitarists have so many options that make reading seem unimportant. However, being able to sight read music can do amazing things for your playing and your musicianship. This month I’ve just listed several points for you to consider if you are thinking about weather or not you need to learn how to read music.
Knowing how to read music enables you to:
- have access to the huge source of written materials out there. There’s a lot of incredible learning information that you can use in learning guitar that is written for other instruments. For example, I doubt you’ll ever find the Charlie Parker Omni Book written in TAB, but if you can read music, it offers you a great learning source.
- be able to write your music so that musicians, other than guitar players can play your charts and tunes. For example, if you know how to read and write standard notation, you can write out charts for everyone in your band – keys, bass, horns, etc… so they can be able to play your stuff the way you intended it to be played.
- be able to take gigs that require reading – Big shows, pit orchestra work, studio work, etc…
- increase your overall confidence as a musician, knowing that you can read and write using the “Standard” notation of your craft. You can walk into a situation, and if someone puts a chart in front of you, you don’t have to make up excuses. You can just play the gig.
The Intelligent Guitarist