Bridging the gap

Over the years I’ve amassed a small collection of guitar books, various different levels and genres. I’ve always found it tremendously frustrating as a learner that there seem to be assumptions made about my music notation reading capabilities, even the more basic ones. 

I find that I can pick things up by ear with some ease and do appreciate learning that way but there’s a wealth of knowledge sitting on my shelves and I feel that it’s all a bit inaccessible. 

I can read tabs and chord diagrams just fine, but that’s not where I feel like I want to be. For example, I have a lovely Barney Kessel book and after 30-40 pages of intro, It dives right in with a ‘let’s assess your reading skills’ before we move on, without guiding me back to where I need to start from. 

It’s also interesting that guitarists, perhaps more than any other instrument outside the drums/bass possibly often go a lifetime without ever addressing notation, whereas in other disciplines there is more of an emphasis in musical language and consequently the reading side of things already tends to be addressed by the time they might be in a position to further develop technique. It feels like I need to go the opposite direction, as technique is fine. 

I came across the following post on jazzguitar.be which I though was quite helpful and straight to the point. 


Basically, if you pick something up and struggle with it, step a level back. 

As such, I now have a kids method book the I bought for my son ;) but is actually for the two of us. 

It might seem silly, but I now know how to draw out a staff, a treble clef, bar lines, double bar lines, quarter hashes, quarter rests, know what a measure is and feel like I’ve progressed the tiniest little bit. 

I know a lot of books have these sort of drive through notation anatomy sections but following a child’s method has been a bit of an eye opener. Very basic concepts, repeated, without extraneous information actually works for an adult. Well at least for me! 

Would be good to hear some contributions from anyone else who might have struggled with something similar or those who have taught and can offer pointers on this approach. 
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Comments

  • I was lucky enough to get that sort of education when I was aged 10 and starting to learn classical guitar. My hat is doffed at someone of mature years (like me, now) starting that journey. Particularly because so many guitarists can't read or write notation on a stave and don't see it as an issue. Until they try and communicate something musical to a musician who doesn't play a guitar or read tab. 

    Keep going, fella! :-) 
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  • BradBrad Frets: 658
    Reading on the guitar is hard, well it was for me. I was a late starter and even now my reading isn’t as good as it should be. It always feels like it’s glaringly obvious that I’m the weak link on a reading gig  haha. Also, when I have a run of reading gigs, my reading is a much better place, so consistency is key. 

    I agree with the post you shared. Some really good points made there. 

    So if it feels right and achievable to start from a kids book, go for it! No shame at all if you’re getting the right info and learning. It needs motivation and consistency to get better, so if you start with a book that feels out of reach etc you’ll suffer and probably lose motivation to do it. 


    There are a load of great books out there that I could suggest, but many of which need a certain amount of prior understanding to really get into so I’d keep doing what you’re doing for the time being. Once you’re more comfortable with the nuts and bolts you can check out some dedicated music reading books. Music Reading For Guitar by David Oaks is a decent place to start.

    Perhaps some things to think about more long term...

    Music is primarily pitch and rhythm. The notes being WHAT we play and WHERE, with rhythm being HOW we play those notes. That’s a lot to take in initially.  But you don’t always need a guitar to practise rhythm which is great. Getting the basic types of beats internalised will make things a lot easier when working with pitches.  

    When you’re learning something by ear or TAB and the notation is there, try and see where things match up with the notation. Gradually trying to only work from the notation. 

    Transcribe - this is good one. Simple melodies such as nursery rhymes are great places to start. Writing them out on paper is a great exercise (use a pencil!), writing anything on manuscript, even just scales or chords is a great step forward. Don’t worry if you make mistakes, that’s how learn. Or get something like Musecore as it plays the notes back to you as you go.  

    As I said, it’s not easy. Think about how we teach kids to read, and take that approach. It needs a lot of repetition, little and often is the best bet. Don’t expect too much from yourself and enjoy those breakthrough moments, no matter how small they seem.

    Good luck!  :)
     




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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14034
    tFB Trader
    Reading music is something that is very much part of the 'orchestral' side of the business - I'm not saying you should or should not read - But with more traditional instruments, many pupils will have a teacher and go through the grades - So it is part of the accepted process to learn to read, starting of with say 'London Bridge is falling down' 

    It would pretty much be unheard of for a violin player to turn up for a concert with the London Phil, to get the gig, if they could not read

    Maybe someone can learn to play Rodriguez Guitar Concerto by ear - Ditto Paginin's Variations etc  

    But in jazz, rock and blues it is almost a reversal of that - @danishbacon you mention B Kessel - I'm not sure if BK could read or not - Many jazzers did not - But they might have 'headers' which are effectively a rough guideline of the song - My dad was pro for a few years in the late 50's and early 60's and often the MD of the band would listen to the charts top 50 - Come up with such  a header of the latest song and they would go live with it at the next gig with little/no rehearsal - But such headers gave you licence to adapt - But in jazz/rock/pop/blues for many it is not about playing an exact copy of the song, but instead playing your version of the song and as such for many you don't need to read 

    I think some musicians need to read it - Others don't 

    Guitar is different in many ways as you can read rhythm chords etc of a song and play the appropriate support role, without needing to play/read the melody - Even then, the chord alone allows you to play various versions of the chord, to suit - Maybe in a studio/session environment you might need to read - Ditto in a pit orchestra - But playing/jamming along with the record then it is seldom required

    I can't sight read any longer - Not enough practice for years - But my initial ability to site read came from a younger age when I played trumpet - But If I wanted to say play a 'solo arrangement' of Yesterday and was handed the dots, I could get through it with enough time and practice - Today I tend to do both - I might learn some of 'yesterday' by ear - But then if I get stuck, or my version lacks variations and ideas, then I'd look at a written arrangement and borrow from that - But I'm not working with the BBC on Strictly come dancin' so as such I don't need to read 

    For many popular songs then books like '101 hits for buskers' are great - And there are many volumes of this series - They are great as a simple sketch pad with melody and chords - Then use this sketch pad to add your own ideas around a simple basic line - This is effectively what many jazzers do - But again some are 100% playing by ear - Autumn Leaves is often a popular/basic tune to start with and then embellish as required
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