I've been trying to learn to read music. I know the basics and have been practising sight reading on http://www.musictheory.net as they have a trainer for that.
Now, although I can recognise single notes quite quickly it obviously takes much longer for me to read chords as I need to look at each note. I've spoken to my friend who can read music and he says that he doesn't read individual notes but more like when you read text you don't read each letter but see the word as a whole.
I'm looking for exercises to practise this without my guitar. I am aware that practicing with the guitar would be ideal but at work I don't have that option. But don't see why I should waste the odd ten minutes free time I get here and there...
You might check out Guitar Pro. You can download a demo version and then go download a few guitar pro tabs that will show both tab and notation if you want it to show both. It will play the music as fast or as slow as you would like, and it looks like karaoke for guitar.
E doesn't = MC2, E = Fb
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You might check out Guitar Pro. You can download a demo version and then go download a few guitar pro tabs that will show both tab and notation if you want it to show both. It will play the music as fast or as slow as you would like, and it looks like karaoke for guitar. Can't install software on Work PC's. I'm not adverse to using old fashioned pen & paper though, so was thinking more along those lines...
Couldn't you just take any songbook and look through it? Photocopy a few pages at a time and keep them in your pocket so you can pull them out when you get a few spare moments and drill yourself. It's true that reading chords gets to be just as quick as reading individual notes, but takes regular practice. (I don't do it as regularily as I should.)
Your friend is right about it being like words vs characters.
One thing that helped me though, was *writing* the notes on a staff. Just doodling, scribbling, but doing it on a handdrawn staff. You mind starts going "Oh, that's a B...." and pretty soon you have all the notes down pat. It's almost a subconscious thing, but I think it works because it's not just input - like "see it, know what it is." It adds output to it and you get a mental 'loop.' Like "write it, recognize it, name it."
I'm currently constructing all the chords from 'scratch' then seeing whats played the guitar and writing them on a staff. I think I'll also get some songs I know and write them out on staff paper.
This web site has some lessons. Check them out. One has a guitar neck you can print out and just practice labeling the notes.
Musictheory also has a triad trainer, try that.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
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