Piano Lesson on the Web
Piano Lesson on the Web
  • Home
  • Music Courses
    • Testimonials
  • Buy Courses
  • Blog
  • Community
  • Contact Me
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Music Courses
    • Testimonials
  • Buy Courses
  • Blog
  • Community
  • Contact Me
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy

Is Reading Music Necessary in Being a Good Musician?

8/21/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture

FACT: Some of the greatest musicians do NOT know how to read music. 

There are many high caliber musicians who do not even know how to read standard music notation.  Some of which include Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, all four Beatles, and many many more.  Even modern songs developed without standard sheet music still fit all of the aspects of what makes music what it is.  Even if composed on a computer, it still has rhythm, a chord progression, and a melody.  Being able to understand music notation is no longer as necessary to write a song due to the progression of technology.  So, learning to read music notation is not entirely necessary in becoming a top level musician, but even still any accredited music program requires understanding of music notation.  Why is that?


Why is Note Reading a Standard?

Well, ever since the piano was created, sheet music was the standard for recording and playing music.  Obviously there were no computers then, so the options were limited to sheet music and learning by ear.  Sheet music is such a tradition that it is seen as blasphemy by some to not learn it.  Sheet music is fairly effective at recording the intentions of the composer, but lacks freedom of expression in most cases.  Reading sheet music is similar to reading a passage in a book.  You may gain a better idea of sentence structure, but lacks the actual construction of ideas.  How do you speak music?  Well by improvising of course.  Improvisation allows a musician to take what they have learned and express themselves by creating a song of their own.  If you are a poet, you don't want to just read the poetry of others, but you want to develop your own poems.  By improvising, musicians are developing their own music language skills rather than just reciting notes.  Even though sheet music is still common practice; electronics, rote learning, improvisation and other forms of music expression are welcomed more and more.  Musicians that don't know how to read music shouldn't be looked down upon since the more people that can participate in music, the better. 
There are Benefits to Multiple Approaches!

I teach note reading since as mentioned above is a standard in many music schools around the world.  Being able to describe topics at the piano and on paper gives me more tools to explain that topic to a student.  Reading music is also useful in terms of sharing music across different instruments.  For example, a piano player (who doesn't know guitar) writes a song with a guitar part.  That piano player hands that music to the guitar player and so long as the guitar player can read music notation, the song can be played even though the piano player has little knowledge of guitar.  Now, keep in mind that note reading shouldn't be the only thing a student should be exposed to.   Students should be taught to read music, theory, rhythm, how to improvise and many other topics to ensure a thorough competency of music. 
​
You can be a great musician without being able to read sheet music but..

it really depends on YOU.  How you internalize music, how you learn, how you visualize information, and what kind of learning style you have will determine which method works best for you.  You may have trouble reading music but might excel at listening and possess an innate understanding of music.  Of course you may not have such refined listening skills and may prefer the visualization of music notation.  Try out many approaches to see what works for you. 
Stay Connected to LessonsOnTheWeb and Learn Much More!
​LessonsOnTheWeb Academy: High Quality Music Classes
​LessonsOnTheWeb Official Twitter: @LessonsOnTheWeb
LessonsOnTheWeb Official Facebook: Free Videos, and Offers
2 Comments

    Author

    Most  blogs written by
    ​Robin Hague Els

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Christmas Piano Tutorial
    Christmas Sheet Music
    Chritmas
    Cost Effective Piano Lessons
    Do You Need To Know How To Read Music
    Finger Exercises Piano
    Five Things About Reading Music
    Hanon Piano Exercises
    High Quality Music Classes
    Holiday
    Holiday Piano Music
    Holiday Piano Sheet
    Holiday Piano Tutorial
    Holiday Stress
    How To Compose Music
    How To Find A Piano Teacher
    How To Get Better At Piano
    How To Play Christmas Piano
    How To Play Piano
    How To Play Piano Articulations
    How To Play With Dynamics On Piano
    How To Read Music
    How To Read Music For Piano
    How To Read Notes
    How To Read Sheet Music
    How To Sight Read
    Is Reading Music Important
    Key Signatures On Piano
    Kindle Sheet Music
    Learn Christmas Music On
    Learn Deck The Halls On Piano
    Learn Jingle Bells On The Piano\
    Learn Joy To The World On Piano
    Learn Oh Christmas Tree On Piano
    Learn Piano
    Learn Silent Night On The Piano
    Learn The Twelve Days Of Christmas On Piano
    Lessonsontheweb
    Lessonsontheweb Piano Teacher
    Musicianship
    Music Notation
    Music Notation Software
    Music Reading Practice
    Online Lessons
    Online Piano Learning
    Online Piano Lessons
    Online Piano Teacher
    Piano Blog
    Piano Fingering Technique
    Piano Lessons
    Piano Playing Basics
    Piano Playing Tips
    Piano Scales
    Piano Teacher Online
    Piano Technique
    Playing Piano
    Reading Music Articles
    Reading Music For Piano
    Staffpad
    Surface 3
    Surface Pro
    Take Lessons From Anywhere
    Thanksgiving
    Time Signatures Piano
    Tips For Beginning Piano Players
    Where To Find A Piano Teacher
    Work Out Hanon

    RSS Feed

Home
Buy Courses
Music Courses
Official Blog
Community
About Me
​Contact Me

​Testimonials
Copyright 2016-2022 © Lessons On The Web. All Rights Reserved.