Home Members Forums Music Podcasts Articles Music Blog Resource Library  
Genre List
Related Products
Who's Online
arundqui19 camera US
BloodSoul7 camera tune US
cloudfactory0 camera tune US
Electric Lobster24 camera DE
gail6010 camera US
gdoubleyou51 US
lengold39 camera tune UK
selters38 camera NO
Invisible Members: 9
Visitors: 198
Past 7 Days
Song Uploads: 184
Song Votes: 444
Song Comments: 2738
Forum Posts: 490
New Members: 68
Participation Points: 9090.30


Author
Posts
(Read 610 times)
admiralebay
Forum Regular Poster


Registered: 05/08/05
Posts: 106
Location: Hamilton, OH USA
 
Reading music..
Tuesday, May 13 2008 @ 10:54 PM CDT

Ok, so I've never been able to read music.. I can look at it and figure it out eventually, but not very well. I'm 23 years old, and I want to learn how to read music.

How do I go about it in a way that will make sense to me? I am self taught on everything I do.. so I have been using my ear to get by all this time. It is really hard for me to convert the "visual" part of reading music to an instrument.

Has anyone out there learned to read music after being self taught by ear for many years? If so.. I need some advice--and some pointers. I have friends who strictly read music..and it's like there is a bridge between us. They do things that amaze me, and I do things that amaze them, but when it comes to teaching each other what it is we do-- there is just a fundamental difference in the way we apply our skills to an instrument.
Feter
Forum Full Member


Registered: 07/03/06
Posts: 790
Location: , Syria
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 12:08 AM CDT

I think the best way I found is a method on teaching
reading music called BONA ..there s a nice book and
an excercise hand book for it ..help you to read music !
and no I m too slow in reading and playing but I can
in away to only read and figure out the harmonies on
my head ..good luck !!
chipan
Forum Chatty


Registered: 04/03/07
Posts: 56
Location: , Japan
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 12:26 AM CDT

My piano teacher used to give me the assignment of playing through a hymn book in order to improve reading. If you can't do both hands just start with one hand or even one voice. Do one or two a day and eventually you will improve.

There is really no short cut that I know of to getting faster. You just have to do it a lot. If you don't play piano you can still use the same principle with other instruments. Start slow and try to keep in tempo as you read. Learning to sight sing is also a good skill to learn. I think it's great that you are learning to read. Some people don't think it's necessary and maybe it's not for them, but it's worth it in my opinion. It opens up a whole world of music and makes you a more well-rounded musician. Good luck.
Lennon714
Forum Full Member


Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 164
Location: Gilbert, AZ United States
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 12:39 AM CDT

I'm certainly not the authority on this, but I've been in your situation a million times. I used to be able to read music but lost it after I stopped playing trumpet.

However, when I do get the itch to read and play from sheet music the thing that works for me is getting some staff paper (or just drawing lines). Then, write one of your own songs on the paper. Do this over and over again. You'll get better over time. Also, use the internet. Everything you need to know is already available. Just hunt it down.

Finally, don't do like me and do it in spurts or the practicing it over and over again will be pointless Smile.

Newest Song: Blood on the Chevrolet
rover101
Forum Full Member


Registered: 12/05/05
Posts: 1135
Location: Red Deer, Saudi Alberta Canada
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 06:19 AM CDT

One piece of advice I wish I'd had earlier is to start with drum music, learning rhythm notation before bothering with the actual notes.

Music 200 at your local university/college is a damn good way to 'get it' too.

Also. remember, reading music is to music itself rather what language is to philosophy; you need it to more easily grasp the concepts, but it is only description.

Cheers, Shaky

Seek the zone
Ibstrat
Forum Regular Poster


Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 99
Location: N/A
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 06:58 AM CDT

I did the same thing you are doing-played by ear for years then learned how to read and went to music school.You're much better off playing by ear first and then learning how to read-I think the other way around is much harder! The way that I did it and I think the only way that will work is to find a good teacher.Actually paying for lessons will probably motivate you to practice.Learning with a teacher is much faster than doing it on your own.I think you play guitar- the books that I use are "Solo Guitar Playing" by Noad(Classical fingerstyle-starts out boring but has some really good music later on in the book),"Modern Method for Guitar" by Leavitt(Pick style-starts out boring and stays fairly boring thru 3 books but if you can make it thru the 1st 2 books you will have mastered the whole fingerboard.)and "The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method"(Another classical book-good music all the way thru)Learning to read is a hard thing to do especially on guitar but it's well worth it-you get access
to hundreds of years of information!Good luck.
guitapick
Forum Full Member


Registered: 01/18/07
Posts: 1045
Location: New York City,
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 07:45 AM CDT

Although you can teach yourself, I definitely am in Mark's (Ibstrat) camp. Get a teacher. It'll help motivate you (paying money is a great motivator...as is not wanting to be scolded Wink), provide much more structure, and (very important) will keep you from getting into bad habits when it comes to shifts (both with chords and solo lines) on the fingerboard.

I, too, started out playing guitar (not the other instruments) by ear and then took lessons which included a lot of reading. For awhile I was very good at sight reading...like reading a book and very cool. But you really have to keep that up in order to be fluent, and, with the addition of new, very important people and things in my life, I made the choice to put that skill on the shelf. Concentrate much more on composing and playing my own stuff, nowadays. It's like writing books instead of reading them. But I'm very glad I learned how to read on the guitar. It's there when I need it.

I encourage you to learn to read. It improves technique, gives you the ability to play other people's music, and also gives you new ideas for writing your own music, and the technical ability to translate those ideas into art.

That will be $75.00, thank you...

I live between the notes
damiengh
Forum Full Member


Registered: 12/21/06
Posts: 762
Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 08:08 AM CDT

I'm with Mark too on getting a good instructor for motivation, but I'd like to add that nothing brings you up to speed quicker than putting yourself in the hotspot.

Getting into an ensemble situation puts the pressure on you very quickly to get it right. Whether joining a rehearsal big band at a community college, where you learn to comp in time and get the occasional lines to play or a guitar ensemble where everyone must play their part together, will give you chops very quickly.

Total immersion really gets you there fast. When I went to music school, aside from the required music ensembles, I volunteered to play on many a person's project just to get the reading experience and a means to keep the blade sharp so to speak.

Even now, I keep my reading in shape by joining different types of situation, though some may feel uncomfortable, just to push myself. Sometimes you screw up, but it helps you get better.

One other method a teacher recommended for me, was to sit with a metronome and the real book, and just go through it, tune after tune, measure after measure, constantly going forward without stopping and going back to correct mistakes. ( Figures tend to repeat, so you have a chance to get it right along the way.) This type of practicing, gets you ready for real world situations where someone can throw a piece of music in front of you and you don't get freaked.

Plow ahead dude and you'll get better. More, More, faster, faster......

I know who I am and you know who you are, but who and the hell do they think they are?
mikey_d
Forum Full Member


Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 641
Location: Everywhere but home, USA
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 09:05 AM CDT

Flash cards can be quite helpful and something you might want to consider.

Here's a link to a free interactive site-

http://www.musicards.net/

Some videos I put together are here- http://uk.youtube.com/user/mikeyd122
HenriROGERsoloandbands
Forum Newbie


Registered: 04/26/08
Posts: 2
Location: , France
 
Re:Reading music..
Wednesday, May 14 2008 @ 09:29 AM CDT

I agree with the ideas above .
I would insist on the rythm aspect of reading .
It's also good to work with drummers books to focus
on the time divisions.
When you're more familiar with this, transcribe
the rythm of musics you like .


Search This Forum:  
Forum Jump:  



My MacJams
Username:

Password:

Don't have an account yet? Sign up as a New User
Missing your password? [Click Here]
Support MacJams!
MacJams Chat
Friends
iLounge - All things iPod, iTunes and beyond

Dish Network - the dish network limited time bonus offers - get all three
Free Direct TV HD DVR
Dish Network Free DVR with HD