Ok, I already posted a similar message on a different topic, but I’m going ahead and asking for HELP here too.
Very embarassing , but does anyone know of a good tutor program or website that teaches how to read sheet music?
I can only read very slowly (with the old EGBDF method from elementary school!) and I don’t know what all the symbols, slides etc mean. Not all of them anyway.
I’ve always just picked up a new instrument, fiddled around a little bit, and played entirely by ear. It’s nice, but I would love to be able to come into the middle of a session, look at the sheet music people have laying about, and play right along ya know?
Anyway, I appreciate any help, and all “rag-ons” are fully accepted at my not being able to read it!
The Bill Ochs tutor (the one produced for Clarke’s) gives a good rundown of the basics. All you really need to know is the treble clef (EGBDF/FACE), note values, time signatures and sharps and flats…and it all gets easier with practice.
Notation for ornaments can vary, and some (myself included) don’t even bother writing them in, as ornamentation styles can vary from player to player (or even from one playing session to another). Cuts and taps are usually indicated by “grace notes” (tiny notes “tied” to the primary note), rolls by either a sideways “S” or a curved line (like a sideways paren) under the note. “Slides” or “smears” can be written above the note as “Sm” or “Gl.” (for “glissando”). Trills are written above the note as “Tr.”
Music reading is like reading print…the more you do it, the easier it gets. Start with tunes you already know, so you can get a feel for how it works.
No “rag on” required! There are a lot of people here who don’t read music! It isn’t strictly required, though I think it’s a useful tool that one should cultivate, if possible…just as one should cultivate the ability to learn by ear.
Redwolf
[ This Message was edited by: Redwolf on 2003-02-20 15:11 ]
This page is “Kitchieboy’s Music Tutor
Learning to Read Music
(But Not Enough to Hurt Your Playing)”, part of the Kitchen Musician website. I’d highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn to read music, especially fin the context of playing traditional music. It covers what you need to know, and with the sense of humor that permeates the Kitchen Musician website.
On 2003-02-20 15:51, peeplj wrote:
Perhaps they just don’t bring it with them?
If they did bring sheet music to a session, I’m sure they would have to put up with a lot of kidding, if not ridicule.
Well, that’s a shame.
If you are very in my part of the world, give me a call–you can sit in on a session where you will never be ridiculed for what you bring, what you play, or how well you play it.
On 2003-02-20 14:39, Zubivka wrote:
Fantastic source for the basics and more, with printable documents, downloadable Javascript tutorials : http://www.musictheory.net/
On 2003-02-20 14:57, Ridseard wrote:
I’ve never seen sheet music at Irish trad, bluegrass, or old time sessions.
No-one ever saw me reading a book when sharing a mug in a pub,
and discussing Life, The Universe, and Everything.
No-one infered from it I don’t read.
Or that I can not.
On 2003-02-20 15:51, peeplj wrote:
Perhaps they just don’t bring it with them?
If they did bring sheet music to a session, I’m sure they would have to put up with a lot of kidding, if not ridicule.
Well, that’s a shame.
If you are very in my part of the world, give me a call–you can sit in on a session where you will never be ridiculed for what you bring, what you play, or how well you play it.
Gee, sheet music in a session. I’m sure it must be a very creative environment! Next time I’m with my girlfriend, I’ll make sure to have my Kama Sutra book with me. She’d better not ask me to surprise her though, I can’t read and improvise at the same time!
I picked up the tin whistle tutor from http://www.MadForTrad.com a while back. They start off start off with a few pages on the rudiments of reading music…Which was just as well, 'cause in my case the rudiments of music had disappeared to the same place as the rudiments of calculus, geometry, physics, chemistry etc. etc.
On 2003-02-20 19:30, Azalin wrote:
Gee, sheet music in a session. I’m sure it must be a very creative environment! Next time I’m with my girlfriend, I’ll make sure to have my Kama Sutra book with me. > > She’d better not ask me to surprise her though, I can’t read and improvise at the same time!
So you got the book.
Now the topic is : can you read it, or you just look at the toons ?
[ This Message was edited by: Zubivka on 2003-02-21 03:58 ]
, but does anyone know of a good tutor program or website that teaches how to read sheet music?
