Reasons why you should learn to read music
Being able to read music is essential to speak the language, as it were.
Music is a language unto itself. Given that, how can you communicate if you cannot speak it?
Ensembles, bands, choirs, opera, jazz all operate on the written notes first. As soon as man could sing he wanted to pass on his songs to the next generation, hence the need for written music.
Before learning to have a musical conversation one must learn the language basics.
Simply put, if you cannot read you will never be in any ensemble that requires it. We could really stop right there.
reading music is essential to understanding theory. All of the structure of chords, melody, harmony and so forth can only be understood completely through the written note. Music theory is the building blocks of harmony and melody and must be understood first. It may seem hard, but it is worth the effort.
You can learn music by only reading it like you would a book. When you follow music you can learn a song without an instrument in your hand. If you can read music you can go straight to the book and get all of the basic information on your own. Have you ever learned a song from someone else and not known if you got it right or got all of the information you need? This greatly speeds up the learning curve. You cannot learn from a book the particular way a band performs the song, but you can get the basis of the song and go from there.
You can learn exactly how the author of the song meant for it to sound. I have many times been very surprised to find out a song was written very differently than I have always heard it performed. In “Georgia On My Mind” by Hoagy Carmichael, for example, no ones plays the intro. Even if you have known a song all of your life you may not know the entire version or the way it was meant to sound. I know as a songwriter myself; if I wrote a song and no one ever included a large part of it I would want them to know they are doing it wrong!
When you can read music the discovery of new worlds awaits you. Imagine if you were in a library full of books and you could not read. How sad that would be. Learn to read music today and discover new worlds.
When you can read music the discovery of new worlds awaits you. It may seem a little hard at first, but so was riding a bicycle as I recall. In fact the first time my father let go from holding me on a bicycle I ran into a post and knocked it over! I rarely do that these days now that I have learned how. In fact there are days when I don’t knock anything over.
You will only become a better musician if you learn to read music. Learn to read music and you can discover music you would never hear otherwise, be able to speak with authority
about the intent of the author and you will have more fun, I guarantee it.
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