In the world of guitar playing, there are many ways to get by without learning to read music. Tablature, chord boxes, YouTube videos, lyric sheets, and simply having a decent ear are all the tools a beginning guitar student needs to start playing. To prove this, I will refer to a joke most of you have already heard. If you haven’t already heard it, I’m delighted to be the first person to tell you.
“How do you get a guitarist to stop playing?”
“Put music in front of them.”
I have had countless lessons with new students who say to me, “I don’t want to learn how to read music.” I get it. As a young guitarist I suddenly lost interest in the note reading portions of my guitar lessons when I first discovered guitar tabs. Sadly, I’m not easily swayed when a new student resists learning to read music. When a student is learning chords, scales, and licks without learning to read music, there finally comes a point in lessons where the teacher will eventually sit back and say “You would definitely understand this more if you learned how to read music.”
I’ve had to give many “You definitely should learn to read music” pep talks over the years, so I decided to condense them down to a concise list.
1. You will have a deeper understanding of the music you are playing
When I have students who are struggling to learn something by ear, I always write out the passage so they can see the rhythms in front of them. Suddenly the veil of mystery has been lifted. The students stop second guessing themselves and start playing the music with true understanding. Vocal students have a much easier time finding pitches when they look at a written melody and see the direction the melody is moving in. Musical notation also serves as a roadmap, so you will know the form of a song on a deeper level.
2. You will have more opportunities as a musician
There are lots of ensembles out there, and many of them require you to read music. Whether you’d like to play with ensembles to make some extra money or just to have fun, being able to read music will help you pass that audition.
3. Your musical world will open up
There are so many resources for musicians out there. Method books, massive songbooks, technique books, solo transcriptions, sheet music collections, etc. etc. Let’s say you become obsessed with Charlie Parker and you want to learn his art of bebop improvisation. The Charlie Parker Omnibook exists, and the only key to Bird’s mind is the ability to read music.
4. You can learn music at a much faster rate
It is an incredible skill to be able to play by ear. In fact, I do not mean for this article to discourage you from learning songs by ear. By all means, go out and do it. Sometimes you need to learn music quickly, and the best way is to crack open the sheet music. Having the music in front of you will also help you to learn the music as accurately as possible.
5. You will be able to play other instruments
If the curiosity ever strikes you to take up the piano, clarinet, or violin, having the ability to read music on the guitar will instantly begin to help you. While some other instruments have their own forms of tab, there is only one instrument that reads “guitar tab.” Sadly, guitar tab will not help you learn how to play the oboe.
6. You can learn music theory
The biggest pre-requisite to learning music theory is being able to read music. Don’t have an interest in learning Music Theory? Well from one music nerd to another potential music nerd, it’s fascinating. Music Theory helps you understand all the hidden secrets behind what makes your favorite music work. With a good knowledge of music theory, all of the music you listen to will be changed for the better.
7. It helps with composition/songwriting
Many musicians are just full of ideas, and the better they are at reading (and in this case, writing) music, the easier it is to turn these ideas into songs, whether they are simple jingles or massive symphonic works. In addition to being able to record your ideas, being able to give other musicians sheet music of your song will make it much easier to put an ensemble together to play your music.
8. Create professional quality scores with notation software
If you find that you have become quite good at composition and/or songwriting, a big next step is to turn this music into a professional looking score. There are many great programs out there – Finale, Sibelius, and for those looking for free software – MuseScore. Since this is “notation software,” being able to read music is a pretty obvious prerequisite.
9. Become an expert at transposition
Transposing is a very important skill when it comes to being a musician. Many times you will need to learn music in a key that is different than what you have. Perhaps you are working with a singer that needs the music in a different key. If you get into making arrangements of music for solo guitar, you will need to know how to transpose the key so the music fits on the guitar easily. Being able to read music means you are able to simplify the very complicated process of transposing music.
10. Keep a record of the music you need to remember
When you see a truly organized musician at a rehearsal, you may notice they are constantly jotting little notes down in a notebook. There is nothing more embarrassing than showing up at a second rehearsal and realizing you completely forgot what the ensemble went over at the first rehearsal. By taking notes, you will be able to remember what you need to work on at home. You will also have a “cheat sheet” of the music you need to know for future rehearsals/performances.
11. Make money teaching music!
Let’s say you take your guitar playing to the level that you would like to make some extra money giving private lessons. It’s pretty important to be able to read music for this job. Teaching your students how to read music is a crucial part of training them as musicians. It’s also very helpful to be able to write music well. There are points in almost every lesson where you will need to write music down.