Telecaster Guitar Forum - View Single Post - Learning to read music- any short cuts?

Mojohand40 · June 5th, 2009, 02:47 PM

There are some great tips here! Thanks fellows.
I used to read decently enough, learned to read from playing recorder many years ago, then when I was learning Violin, really got into it. Why? No violin tab!
It's a skill I let lapse, only occasionally using it to play from easy fake books on the piano. (Mainly around Christmas..I usually brush up on the piano around then for a few carols for family and such).
Anyway, recently I've been diligently working at learning to sight read lap steel. Why?..because there's not a lot of lap steel tab!....readily available tab is a huge blessing for guitarist...but also a curse...

I'm facing the same challenges. The tip of getting clarinet music or flute or any non-polyphonic instrument as a practice aid is good. I've been using fake books with melody lines, but actually found a few old ukulele books to be a huge help for what I'm doing.

It's slow going for me, but after about three weeks now of daily reading practice, I'm seeing results....(but I'm still playing at a snails pace with awful timing....arhhhg!)

Anyway; learning to sight read is a certainly a lot of work (and I'm still in the camp of "it's not completely the end all, be all necessary skill for pop guitarist"), but it is a rewarding skill that can open a world of printed music up to you....so, I'm keeping at it.

My goal is to be able to sight read at a decent level on the 6 string lap steel, E7 tuning in a years time..

..

June 5th, 2009, 02:47 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mojohand40 Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 960 4 Photos	There are some great tips here! Thanks fellows. I used to read decently enough, learned to read from playing recorder many years ago, then when I was learning Violin, really got into it. Why? No violin tab! It's a skill I let lapse, only occasionally using it to play from easy fake books on the piano. (Mainly around Christmas..I usually brush up on the piano around then for a few carols for family and such). Anyway, recently I've been diligently working at learning to sight read lap steel. Why?..because there's not a lot of lap steel tab!....readily available tab is a huge blessing for guitarist...but also a curse... I'm facing the same challenges. The tip of getting clarinet music or flute or any non-polyphonic instrument as a practice aid is good. I've been using fake books with melody lines, but actually found a few old ukulele books to be a huge help for what I'm doing. It's slow going for me, but after about three weeks now of daily reading practice, I'm seeing results....(but I'm still playing at a snails pace with awful timing....arhhhg!) Anyway; learning to sight read is a certainly a lot of work (and I'm still in the camp of "it's not completely the end all, be all necessary skill for pop guitarist"), but it is a rewarding skill that can open a world of printed music up to you....so, I'm keeping at it. My goal is to be able to sight read at a decent level on the 6 string lap steel, E7 tuning in a years time.. ..