To Read or Not to Read (part two)

   This week on Have Guitar Will Travel, I'd like to follow up on my open letter to Guitar (and all music) students in regards to note reading. While others out there on the net will undoubtedly disagree with me, I still think learning to read standard notation is "where it's at". As mentioned in part one of this article, learning to read is a gateway to a lot of the advanced material in music. And, that's why here at The School of Music in Rockville MD, all of our teachers require students to complete some level of note reading proficiency. It just prepares everyone for greater things to come. So without further ado, here is this week's #2 reason for learning to read notation.

Reason No. 2- standard notation does a much better job of conveying musical concepts than tablature does. At least once a week, a student brings in a song that they got off the internet that's from some guitar tab site. If I've never heard the tune, your guess is as good as mine as to how it's supposed to sound. I usually have to go to the computer, go to You Tube, and listen to it. The reason for all of this is that tablature is usually devoid of any musical information pertaining to rhythm, dynamics, meter, etc. It only shows you where to put your left hand fingers. Now some people will argue that they have a good ear and don't need anything other than their ears and the occasional tab to get by. That's great - having a good ear is more important than anything in this whole article. However, I think we have to be honest with ourselves ; is it that we all have great ears or do we just not want to put in the time to learn how to read?

So there you have it, reason # 2. Tune in next week for Have Guitar Will Travel's  next installment of To Read or Not to Read.