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Reading Music
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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 RE: Reading Music (in reply to n85ae)
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Congratulation n85ae, on acquiring a valuable skill.
When I was a kid trumpet player I was a fluent sight reader and transposed at sight, since trumpet parts up to the 19th century were usually for an instrument in some odd key other than the standard B-flat trumpet of the 20 century.
That is to say, when you see a "c" written on the page and play the note with no valves on the most common modern trumpet, it really sounds as B-flat. Up to the 19th century, before there were valves, trumpeters had a few different horns, and they had pieces of pipe to add to the ones they had to change the pitch.
So in a Brahms symphony you might be issued a part marked, "Trumpet in E." When the part said "c" it was supposed to sound as "e". To get concert "e" on a B-flat trumpet you have to play f#. So you learned to transpose at sight.
On guitar I can sight read, but much more slowly. By the time I can play the piece I usually have it memorized.
There are fluent sight readers on guitar. In 2000 there was an international guitar festival in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Wolfgang Lendle had with him the manuscript score of his "Carmen Fantasy," based on tunes from the Bizet opera. He was discussing getting it published with a well known publisher.
Eliot Fisk was one of the headline performers. One afternoon I passed by the luthiers' display area and heard two guitarists ripping through tunes from "Carmen." I joined the assembled small audience. Eliot and Wolfgang were seated in chairs with a couple of guitars borrowed from the luthiers' display. Wolfgang's score was spread out on the floor in front of them. Eliot was zipping through the piece at flank speed. Once in a while he would paint himself into a fingering corner, stop and laugh, then start over with different fingering, zooming right along.
He could read faster than I could play.
RNJ
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Date Feb. 2 2016 2:40:10
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El Kiko
Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland
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RE: Reading Music (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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Many instruments are transposing instruments ... trumpets ,
saxophones in Eb and Bb alto and tenor ....
But it doesnt matter to the player as you just play what you see what comes out is what it is ..for you its just relative , meaning if you play one sax you can play them all even though they all transpose to different pitches ..
anyway dont forget the guitar is also a transposing instrument ....!
people forget this ..as it is an octave out ..so C is still C but not the same one as , say the middle C on the piano ...
Written music , on a staff will always be better than TAB , which is incomplete in information...it reminds me of early lute music ..many examples of which you can see on line ..
but it doesnt give the value of the notes .,
Although many here say ,", i can read TAB really quick and play all these tunes ."..all well and good , but if you heard it ..or played it before ..then your not really sight reading ...merely using it to re-enforce what you have already learned ..
technically , you can only sight read a piece once ..
it took me while to get into the way of sight reading and you have to force yourself to read ahead , to avoid any upcomming surprises...
But ..it was my job for years ..thats what you get paid for in studios etc ... time is money ...you get the music , you play it ..you get paid ....
if you cant ,,someone else can ..and they get paid instead...
Guitarists have always been bad sight readers, i think its maybe just more of a visual thing ...
not many other instruments have this problem ...Like you , Richard , when you got your first trumpet ..it probably came with a book ..that had written music in it ..scales ..tunes etc ...
your first guitar book ...if you had one , probably didnt ...it probably had little pics of chords with dots marked on a fretboard.....
oh well....
Anyway keep at it n85ae ... its worth the effort
_____________________________
Don't trust Atoms.....they make up everything.
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Date Feb. 2 2016 12:06:25
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Ricardo
Posts: 14801
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: Reading Music (in reply to Sr. Martins)
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Being able to visualize the contour of the music at a glance is helpful for sight reading or following a score, which standard notation is superior for. Unfortunately guitar music more often requires special fingerings which for learning can be overlooked with out a VERY busy score, or simple tab UNDERNEATH the standard notation. Tab is superior in that sense for specific fingerings, where as standard notation is better for an overview. For music such as flamenco or a Bach Fugue arranged for guitar, I would consider tabs superior (if allowed only one option). For sight reading a jazz standard head and chord chart, standard notes are far superior.
Classical guitar tries to be part of the classical world, so embraces the standard notation and downplays the advantages of tab...that is no good. Reading on keyboard or horns where you have ONE place to play middle C is not the same as for guitar where you can have 4 or 5 places to play a single note. Other string instruments also have this problem, except as mainly ensemble instruments also only have to play one note at a time usually. Guitar/lute which is vertical instrument most of the time (chords, multi voices more like keyboard) does well with two staves, also like keyboard music (bass and treble clef left and right hand normally), it's just that the other stave could be the Tab to clarify positions and fingerings required for a special sound rather than allow interpretations.
I agree about rhythm problems that Rui points to are bogus...but...I must add that rhythm problems are simply typical for all but percussionists. Look at most flamenco guitars transcriptions and the timing issues they include regardless of standard notes or tabs.
Ricardo
_____________________________
CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com
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Date Feb. 3 2016 18:10:20
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