Reading music vs. playing by ear

Punks don't read music !

I don't myself know how to read music, but it sure looks cool to see a pianist playing out of black marks tied around here and there.

I am not against reading music. Its an art which needs to be perfected slowly and with practice.

Good Luck.

Maybe Nick just falls under the 'go really out of your way with drugs' category. :lol:

No that would be the" go really out of your way on tequila category! "

Oh.......she cuts me to the quick.....if only it wasn't true. :oops:

The hat is there to cut the glare from my head for video purposes.

Maybe Nick just falls under the 'go really out of your way with drugs' category. :lol:

No that would be the" go really out of your way on tequila category! "

that part was not videotaped (don't think so -- no blackmail yet received)

Let me just say I was not alone polishing off that bottle of Patron.

Somewhat back on topic...it's a good thing I can play by ear, because quarter notes looked like sixteenth notes to me, even with one eye closed.

That's characteristic of the Patron Syndrome: I seem to recall we were using chord charts, not sheet music -- so you shouldn't have been seeing any quarter or sixteenth notes -- those were alpha-numerics and words ... remember the words? There were other issues, but these were later related by the less altered. So you thought you were trying to read music, ended up playing by ear ... and apparently we were all hearing different things.

As for the real topic: I learned to read standard notation many years ago on trumpet. So am used to reading for a single note instrument, and always have been lazy about sight reading on guitar -- except where the rhythm information (note/rest/attack) is concerned. More recently, in learning mando -- and a little violin -- I find reading from standard easier. But these are much more like single note instruments, and clearly I'm learning to play the instrument at the same time I learn to read for it. If I (attempt to) read a piece on guitar, having both standard and tab has value because I'm slow and lazy. OTOH, when I perform -- especially when jamming and doing improv -- I get the key, a sense of the changes and work with a couple of scales (usually pentatonic for safety and a second such as major, diminished or pent + additional notes) to play by ear. Often and entirely by ear, I build both single line work and what one might call comping intervals and chords off those scales. The latter, because all the other guitars in the jam are playing the chord progressions, so adding other voicings and fills with the accents or counter rhythms can make things a little more interesting ... if I can resist overplaying. And that's where playing by ear is really critical: One needs to hear the result of whole band, not just oneself. I might play through a new tune once to come up with something I think will add to it. But if I cannot make the tune better in some way, I will sit out.

Were my profession playing music, and especially doing studio session work, I certainly bring my guitar sight reading skills up to snuff in short order. But for now, I mostly use standard notation for guitar to figure out those complex parts that some other guitarist is playing and I want to learn without spending too much time learning by ear. And I gotta say, much of the popular stuff I've purchased appears to be transcribed incorrectly or inadequately -- according to my ear, that is. :wink:

Oh.......she cuts me to the quick.....if only it wasn't true. :oops:

The hat is there to cut the glare from my head for video purposes.

Sorry Nick, I just couldn't resist. It was way too easy!