Guitarists - reading music

alexthecheese

alexthecheese

alexthecheese

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OK, I'm giving up on tab. Before Christmas I told my guitar tutor that I wanted to learn to sight read, and I had my second lesson in this yesterday and it seems pretty damn hard at the moment.

Tab was easy to pick up, but sheet music is a completely different beast altogether. Not just reading the notes and having to know where they are on the fretboard, which I am shamefully bad at doing, but reading the timing as well... just sitting there clapping out the rhythm is hard, let alone actually getting it down and playing it. It's frustrating as my playing ability is far beyond the things I am going to have to read to get better.

Anybody experienced this? Im a bit miffed with myself that I didnt do it years ago, but it's better late than never I guess. I can see the potential in sticking with it, but it's going to be tough....
 
I've played piano since I was about 5 so I can read music fine, but if I'm going to learn something on guitar, I use tab. It's a great thing to learn if you are thinking of playing another instrument in future. I suspect there a many great guitarists who wouldn't know how to do it mind you.
 
I can read music, I am learned in classical musical theory but I can't read and play at the same time very well.. there's some sort of filter between my eyes and fingers that just stops it happening :p I have a lot of respect for people that can :)
 
Well that's what I'm aiming for, reading it on the fly.

Anybody know where I can get some sheet music to practise just working out the notes fluently? I figure that you dont actually need a guitar with you at all times to do this, so I could do some at work... ;)
 
I’m good at reading sheet music. It’s just all those black and white dots with squiggly and straight lines attached to them that I can’t understand!

I believe some very famous guitarists can read sheet music; Jack Bruce immediately springs to mind.

Anyone who can read and understand sheet music as one can read and understand a newspaper has got my admiration. I did it at school in the '60 and as they say "Some fell on Stony Ground." Believe me blindfold chess is easier!
 
You are giving up after your second lesson?

I have know how to read sheet music (treble cleff anyway :p ) since I was about 8, it will take time but will ultimatly be worth it and can play any song off sheet music.

But for guitar, tab is the most well known method, and you will be able to find it anywhere on the internet, sheet music guitar might be harder to come by.
 
I have read music for 28 or so years now. God im getting old...
But I have played Piano/Organ for many years and just started to learn the guitar and to read Tabs.

Tab reading, well I find it easy to read the actuall Tabs. Getting my fingers on the right frets and plucking the right string is another story altogether. But that comes with practise. Drives me bonkers picking the wrong string I tell you.

As for sight reading, I can do it on the keyboard to a certain degree. Plus I am slowly being able to do it on the guitar, but basic though. Few strings. Only 4 weeks been playing the guitar.

Satriani watch out! :D

As for learning Sheet Music,
Try learning scales, that may help you. You are only learning one clef though i expect? (Treble clef) unless you play the Bass Guitar then it would be Bass Clef, which is not a bad idea to learn as well as maybe eventually you may wish to transpose on the hop ?

Anyhow, try some scales. You may find that helps.

Plus when you can read sheet music, it opens a lot of other doors to you anyhow.

Pretty much any music you come acrosss (Except percussion) you should then be able to read and play.
 
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Why do you want to sight read? There are instances where it's useful, for example if you're a session musician or playing in a gigging band with other musicians (non-guitar players, keys players, horn players etc) if you have to sit down on the night and play something from the word go.

Reading music in general is -incredibly- useful, if you can sit down with a piece and learn it from the actual notation then this'll help a great deal compared to using tab. In my opinion you'll understand rhythm a whole lot better (well you'll have to work on it to be able to read in the first place), but no doubt you'll become a much tighter player from studying how to read.

If you ever get into more complex chordal/harmonic theory too (such as Satriani esq mode noodlings for the best example) you'll be able to see how they work much easier with a sheet of notes in front of you rather than a page of tab.

There's tonnes of ways to learn the notes, what I do is teach students the notes on the E and A strings up to the 12th fret. Then go through teaching them interval shapes, octaves to begin with, as this can drastically speed up your fretboard knowledge.

A good exercise when you've been learning your notes for a while is to set a metronome ticking at 60bpm. Then say to yourself you're going to play 'X' note in every place on the neck. Go ahead and try to play each note on the beat, if you can do this then speed up the metronome.
 
I think I wanna learn to sight read more for the periphery of benefits as opposed to the actual method of learning to sight read music - like learning the notes on the fretboard, knowing the notes for each chord intimately, working out the harmonies... being a more complete player.

I dont know what else I guess, you're clearly far more knowledgable of this stuff Andelusion so can understand the benefits better, but a lot of the time when it comes to improvising I'm just noodling in a scale regardless of the chord I'm playing against. Another thing, like you say, is the rhythm - analysing the rhythm and actually counting it out from a piece of paper is infinitely harder than listening to a piece of music and just playing it - but already I understand grouping of notes a lot better and am able to see more clearly how pauses etc. can help to make the music sound infinitely more interesting.

I think the most frustrating bit is that I should've done this years ago, and its forcing me to play stuff that would take me 2 seconds to pick up by ear and tab but about 15 minutes from a piece of sheet music.

The metronome idea is cool, and I'll only be reading the treble clef, aye, and I meant that I'm giving up on tab... not the sheet music. :)
 
I have some software called guitar pro 5

cost £30 and you can get it to play music you download, and it will give it to you in tab or sheet music style

or you can get pics of a guitar neck, or a piano and it will show you what to play. you can also stap a note a time for learning purpsose

You used to be able to download loads of free music for it, but you just cant get it any more, because of copyright laws :(

makes the software much less use but still good
 
Bolerus said:
I have some software called guitar pro 5

cost £30 and you can get it to play music you download, and it will give it to you in tab or sheet music style

or you can get pics of a guitar neck, or a piano and it will show you what to play. you can also stap a note a time for learning purpsose

You used to be able to download loads of free music for it, but you just cant get it any more, because of copyright laws :(

makes the software much less use but still good
Click to expand...


I use it and Power Tab, This site I find brilliant for free Tabs for Guitar Pro though:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/
 
Phalanx said:
just remember

Treble clef = F A C E or FACE

Bass Clef = A C E G or All Cows Eat Grass

:p
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I don't know anything about guitars, but surely you'd need to know the notes that lie on the lines as well as in the spaces? :p
 
p4radox said:
I don't know anything about guitars, but surely you'd need to know the notes that lie on the lines as well as in the spaces? :p
Click to expand...

E G B D F ( every good boy deserves football)
 
Bolerus said:
E G B D F ( every good boy deserves football)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. I was trying to make sure he didn't have a gaping hole in his knowledge where all the notes should be. :)

I use Every Green Bus Drives Fast :cool:
 
dont feel bad, David Gilmour cant read sheet music either...

im also in the same situation as you, my tutor keeps stealing my tabs away from me, telling me to stop it! - i think hes gonna block UG.com from my PC.. along with bassmasta.net :P

its just getting the time to do it though to be honest, you'll get frustrated countless times, but you'll always get there with practise
 
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