//// Do you know how to read and write music?

[Yadgyu]

I myself am totally ignorant at reading music notes and writing music in the correct "language".

But does having that ability enhance music?

[mazz]

I've been reading and writing music since I was a kid so it seems almost like second nature to me. It's really opened up a lot of doors for me, for instance I can play a gig with people I've never met and with no rehearsal. If they have charts, I can play a whole night with them, and if the players are good, it will sound like we had been playing together for years. Also, if I need a violin or sax part (or whatever), I can write it out and the player can read it down and probably cut it in 2 or 3 takes at the most if they're a good reader and the part is well written.

As a composer, being able to write out orchestral sketches, etc., gets me away from my instrument and my ingrained muscle patterns and forces me to hear the music in my mind and not be influenced by what I might play out of habit on my instrument.

It's really the only way to keep a large ensemble together, everyone is literally on the same page and if you say "let's start at bar 53", everyone goes there, you don't need to say "you know, the bridge after the second chorus which has an extra two bars, you know where I mean, right?".

All that being said, reading music is no substitute for having great ears, and there are certainly plenty of musicians that have had wildly successful careers that can't read a note. But for a working musician who may never be a rock star but still wants to make a living, I can say that it's a valuable skill set to possess, at least in my experience. It's opened a lot of doors for me that would have been closed if I didn't know how to read.

Mazz

[elser]

But does having that ability enhance music?

It doesn't make the music any better. It doesn't make us as performers any more or less talented. But it speeds up the process of learning new music, and it enables us to play more complicated music than we could if we were to rely only our memory. I have played in groups that had a song list of around 1400 songs. Everything from Vienna Waltzes to Santana. Those types of gigs pay much better than the average band doing 5 sets on Fri and Sat night, and I've played with plenty of those too.

It isn't an absolutely essential skill, but if you have serious aspirations about being a life long professional musician it will definitely give you an edge.

[davewalton]

I don't read or write music very well at all... not really an "academic" composer. Writing stuff for film/tv, it's never come up or been an issue. They use the music as the end product... how I got there doesn't matter. Now keep in mind that I'm not doing Hollywood feature films but to be honest, even if I were, the budget for those are big enough to hire orchestrators.

If I had a "do over" I would definitely learn to read/write music. Since I didn't do that, I put my efforts into writing/recording music the best way I can... idea in my head straight to Sonar through various virtual instruments.

[crs7string]

When the subject of reading music comes up, I always point out that there are 26 letters in the alphabet and only 12 pitches in the chromatic scale. We all learn to read letters and words and there is more to learn!!!

I think the perceived difficulty of reading music is blown a little out of proportion.

Obviously, I'm oversimplifying this a bit. When you start dealing with rhythmic permutations and stacking notes vertically to create harmony, reading music does become more difficult.

I don't think you have to read and write music to be successful as a songwriter or composer, but it sure can't hurt.


Chuck

[matto]

I don't think it's nearly as essential as having good ears, but it's helpful. Especially if you compose rather complex music (such as orchestral).

You can learn a lot by listening to such music, but the orchestra is such a complex beast and the music often so dense that it's usually impossible to hear exactly what each instrument is doing.

If you read music, you can study the score and literally "see" how a certain "sound" is obtained.

[rnrmachine]

Well if you are doing "your own thing" then not so important. But if you want to write for specific things.. knowing chord progressions of specific genres, knowing proper harmonies for them, etc... goes a LOOONG way.

Rob

[Kolstad]

I can read slowly, and stagger myself through writing, but to be honest.. I never had much use for it. It comes with learning music theory, though, as the best books uses notation. I use the Nashville number system far more. It's really practical. Music notation is just another tool, though.

Useful to know, and can only enhance music if you use it with that focus. It's often necessary to move a note or two around, especially when you do midi, so there it can certainly come in handy and if you're thorough, you can create more variation in your work, by narrowreading notations of your work. But who does that? If you work with orchestras and as a session player notation is essential, though. Not only for your own work, but to understand what the others in the session does.

[fusilierb]

I started out by ear and then learned to read music about four years after I was already pretty proficient on my instrument and at writing music. I really only learned because I went to college for music and was forced to.

It's not necessary, but I do highly recommend it. It's not hard to learn and, just like playing your instrument, the more you practice the more second nature it becomes. If you're not "composing" music to be performed by other players, its probably not necessary. But man it sure does open up a world of understanding that you can't get without it.

hth's
B

[mojobone]

But does having that ability enhance music?

Not in the slightest, in my opinion; that's what the weed's for.

But seriously, the ability to read and write standard notation is extremely handy in communicating music or about music, even though nigh-instant transmission of packet data has made it perhaps less relevant than it once was. Still, it'd be pretty silly to keep a room full of musicians waiting while you hum all their parts to them one by one.