Essay Test Questions for Music Notation Readers

John Alexander · Posted 15 Jul 2014 6:44 pm

Anyone is invited to add questions on this topic that they would like to discuss. My two questions are:

1. What have been the most valuable benefits to you from learning to use music notation?

2. What have been your most useful approaches to learning to read and use music notation?

My answers:

1. For me the most useful aspect of learning standard notation has been learning the rhythmic notation, not so much for the purpose of reading or writing rhythms, but for understanding and using the underlying rhythmic conceptual framework and vocabulary. This has helped a lot to improve improvisation and comping. Also, as a pianist, through reading I have access to a huge body of written literature for study and enjoyment.

2. The ability to play by ear seemed to make it harder to confront the challenge of reading. As soon as I had a clue of what something was supposed to sound like, the impulse to play it by ear would interfere with the project of learning to comprehend and rely upon the notation. Eventually I found a good way to improve my comprehension and use of music notation was to do it away from the instrument, from books (like Hindemith's Elementary Training for Musicians, Robert Starer's Rhythmic Training, and Ottman's Music for Sight Singing), by singing, tapping or imagining whatever I could from the musical examples provided. What I'm getting from this is an increasing ability to look at notation and know what the music is supposed to sound like. Then, playing it is equivalent to playing by "ear."

Jim Robbins · From: Ontario, Canada

Interesting question.
1) I learned to read before I learned any theory so in my view theory is a lot easier if you know notation. In my teaching days I tried teaching theory without notation to some students but it wasn't easy -- like teaching arithmetic without using numbers.
2) Being forced to sight-read. Playing in big bands and playing accompaniment or musical examples in front of a class -- especially the former.

I hardly ever have occasion to read any more although I got pretty good at it once upon a time. & I'm the last person to say that reading is necessary to be a good musician. But it is a connection to centuries and generations of musicians, which in itself is cool.

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

1. What have been the most valuable benefits to you from learning to use standard notation?

Access to information.

The ability to communicate with other players.

The ability to compose music and keep track of ideas (my own and others).

Money. The little bit of reading I am able to do has opened very big doors that I wouldn't have even know existed without that ability.

Learning and understanding the neck. When I read a piece of music I need to find those notes on my tuning. As I learn where the notes are different positions and phrasing options show up.

2. What have been your most useful approaches to learning to read and use standard notation?

Outside of the steel sight singing is great and helps on all sorts of levels. I also enjoy slowly reading through stuff like the Bach solo violin suites, fiddle tunes and jazz transcriptions.

Although reading is not nessesary for many types of music it can only help one to become a better musician. There is no down side. Like if you visit Japan you can have a great time but if you can speak Japanese while you are there it will be a much more interesting trip.
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Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Great answers, Bob. Your first one is best: access to information. I respect and admire the great abilities of players who won't read because they prefer to learn everything by ear; it requires total recall of everything even if you've heard it only once. (not sure how these ear players learn things that they haven't heard.) But it is more than I can possibly keep track of.

Even Mozart went back to the Sistine chapel on Friday (wonderful story; Google it)

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Eric Philippsen · From: Central Florida USA

Duplicate post deleted

Eric Philippsen · From: Central Florida USA

1. What have been the most valuable benefits to you from learning to use music notation?

Without a doubt, unquestionably, the most valuable benefit has been the playing jobs I have gotten because I can read charts. I do a lot of 6-string jazz work and I get a lot of calls because of that. Huge.

2. What have been your most useful approaches to learning to read and use music notation?

Learning to "read ahead" in a chart. That is, I'm reading 2 measures-or-so ahead of what's actually being played. Sounds odd, but in reality it isn't. Also, I still practice reading a lot.

But, decades ago, this was what REALLY got me better at it:

I happened to land the guitar job in the college jazz big band. I'm sure it was because I was the ONLY guitarist at the audition who could (just barely) read the charts. Now, every single rehearsal would start out with the director passing out a chart for a new tune. You had 30 seconds to look it over before he gave the downbeat for the first run-though. Then, you had 30 seconds to clean up your part before the second run-through. After that, the director would say, "Uh, guitar (sax, trumpet, etc), play what you have starting at measure 14." Naturally, that was the section where you screwed up. So, you had to play it again while the whole band sat and listened to you screw it up again! Jeez, it was brutal. I hated it. It was motivation by fear. I practiced my reading so hard and it worked. My reading got lots better.

Robbie Daniels · From: Casper, Wyoming, USA

I learned to read at an early age. My first instruments were horns which required reading. I studied theory and chord structures in college and theory is invaluable in so far as puting chord structures into what you are hearing. I never have regretted learning the structure of music because as I progressed and started playing with musicians that play by ear only, I relied on the knowledge of the chordal structures in order to embelish on what I was hearing. That does not make me perfect by any means but it sure helps.
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Bo Legg · Posted 16 Jul 2014 8:51 pm

1. What have been the most valuable benefits to you from learning to use music notation?

It affords me the ability to speak the language of music fluently.

2. What have been your most useful approaches to learning to read and use music notation?

I approach it from the stand point of not necessarily becoming a great musician but just learning it and using it for the pure enjoyment of it.

I would ask a third question.
3. If you love music why would you not enjoy reading it?

The ability to play an instrument well is not required in order to master music theory. Visa versa.
A person can be an expert on the subject of steel guitar through study all the while lacking the ability to play the steel well. Visa versa!

Apples to Oranges!

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

A musician who can't read music is like a truck driver who never learned how to shift gears. Whoa!

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Lots of great philosophy here. I also played instruments that require reading before I played steel. Trivial though it may sound, one use I find with tab that has no melody staff at the top is to write in the rhythm using notation, not even on a line, just in mid air. This instantly tells me how it goes if it's a tune I don't remember too well.

Also, if I want to copy something I've heard on a record, I write it down first (I've had lots of practice at dictation) then figure out where on the guitar I can find the notes. I'm only a beginner and I can't imitate things straight on the instrument - being able to read and write solves many a puzzle.

That answers Q.1 - as to useful approaches I have the difficulty that I learned to read music so young I don't remember. Sounds cool, but it came back to bite me when I had to teach kids to read, as I couldn't identify with not being able to!
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John Alexander · Posted 17 Jul 2014 11:24 pm

Thanks to everyone for the interesting responses. I love the variety of metaphors: teaching arithmetic without using numbers, travelling to Japan with or without knowledge of the Japanese language, driving a truck without learning to shift gears.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Johan Jansen · From: Europe

music is a language. If one only speaks and can't read, we call this person an an-alfabethic..

That is not neccesary for reading the classical music notation. There are more ways to notate, with grafics or TAB. I see TAB as a nice explanation for positions and strings to play, but without the audio it is like drawing with numbers...
A lot of good players don't read music. I personally like reading books, to know more about the world I live in. I see this the same with reading and understanding music, music of all kinds and ages...
JJ

Christopher Woitach · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Great topic!

1. The biggest benefit has been access to information that would've been difficult to get any other way.

Next would be all the work I wouldn't have gotten without the ability to read. Not only have I gotten many many gigs I wouldn't have otherwise, but I never would have been able to teach at the college level, which has been satisfying and financially rewarding. I also would never have gotten to play some of the complex original jazz music written by other composers, something I that has helped me grow, musically, in many ways.

The ability to write music has made it possible to communicate clearly with other musicians.

2. The most useful approach to learning has really been doing it over and over again, as well as reading while listening, helping me to recognize various figures aurally and visually. Composing and writing my own music down has also helped a lot.

The book "Melodic Rhythms for Guitar" helped me a lot with reading rhythms
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John Alexander · Posted 20 Jul 2014 2:56 pm

Another good practice technique for reading: Go through a score away from the instrument and just name the intervals between notes.

For example, if you're looking on a melody that starts on C natural and moves down to the nearest B natural and then up to the nearest D natural, you would think/say "down a minor second" and then "up a minor third," and you would continue on through the whole melody in that way. Do this until it becomes easy for all notes/intervals.

This trains you to look ahead to see where each note is going (rather than just reading each note in isolation), and this eventually helps for getting the hands (and feet/knees) to the right place and time as needed on the instrument.

John Alexander · Posted 20 Jul 2014 2:56 pm

Another good practice technique for reading: Go through a score away from the instrument and just name the intervals between notes.

For example, if you're looking on a melody that starts on C natural and moves down to the nearest B natural and then up to the nearest D natural, you would think/say "down a minor second" and then "up a minor third," and you would continue on through the whole melody in that way. Do this until it becomes easy for all notes/intervals.

This trains you to look ahead to see where each note is going (rather than just reading each note in isolation), and this eventually helps for getting the hands (and feet/knees) to the right place and time as needed on the instrument.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I have a CD with a dozen fake books on it and the "Classical Fake Book V.2", a music-only book of Miles Davis songs and I've found some websites with transcriptions of various jazz soloists. And I am never, ever, ever bored. The whole universe is in your lap.

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