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Topic: Discussion: the joys of sheet music. |
Bill McCloskey
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 9:41 am |
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I'm currently working on Eddie Alkire's Ka Pua O Hawaii, a piece he wrote and marketed in 1936. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through it but I thought I'd share some thoughts on sheet music. And learning to read.
First: it is amazing how much information you can pack into sheet music. And learning to read opens up the world of steel music.
The piece has the following sections:
Intro
A Part
B Part
Repeat
C part
Repeat
D part
E part
Repeat
F part
Repeat
G Part
H Part
Repeat
I Part
Repeat.
End.
Or Intro: Chorus: Tag with the Chorus and tag having 3 separate variations on the underlying chord progression.
And yet the entire thing can be expressed on two pages:
Now: I am not a sight reader. I struggle over each bar to plot the chord/melody options in a spreadsheet. And I take it section by section. I'm learning the final variations now.
And I can't tell you how fun it is to bring this music to life. First, there are no recordings to compare yourself to: your interpretation is the only interpretation so you can really experiment with how it sounds. I find myself finding multiple grips for each chord and varying the repeats by playing the same notes on different parts of the neck.
I highly recommend learning to read. It really isn't that difficult to hunt and peck your way through a score. Just patience. And a spreadsheet:
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 10:16 am
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Playing from sheet music really does open up new worlds. You'll find yourself playing phrases and voicings that you never would have thought of on your own. And those new sounds become part of your vocabulary and you can use them in other songs, in other keys. That's how it is with me anyway.
The written music forces us explore different ways to play those notes on whatever tuning we are using... to find the smoothest way, combining the melody with chords or partial chords, or playing the melody notes only. Sometimes the exploration and discovery are more exciting than actually playing the song. 
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 10:27 am
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Doug you have articulated it exactly.
People worry because they can't sight read. While hopefully I'll get better in time, it is still a wonderful slog examining each bar against my neck.
And you are correct about finding new sounds. In this piece I'm working, there are sections were I just go: wow! I would have never found that on my own. |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 12:10 pm
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Yes, and a lot of people will denigrate the system as mere "dots."
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 1:23 pm
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| Well, if you are trying to play a composition that has never been recorded, dots is all you gots. |
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Travis Brown
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 2:47 pm
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It's funny, because just a couple of days ago my oldest son (9) found the sheet music to Stardust and was asking me about it. I told him it was one of my favorite songs, and he ended up asking me to sight sing it for him while showing where I was on the page so he could follow along. I was struck with how condensed notation is, much like Bill alluded to in the first post.
I quit reading music for about 20 years, but a few years back I started using it to document the songs I write and I've been slowly working to get better at it. I'm pretty sure lap steel is going to push me even further. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 3:38 pm
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You can see why people collect sheet music. It is a real lost joy, like letter writing. There is just something satisfying in picking up sheet music for lap steel composed and published in the 30s that has never been performed.
I got a few years work here. Plan is to record it all. |
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Travis Brown
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 7:08 pm
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| Bill McCloskey wrote: |
You can see why people collect sheet music. It is a real lost joy, like letter writing. There is just something satisfying in picking up sheet music for lap steel composed and published in the 30s that has never been performed.
I got a few years work here. Plan is to record it all. |
That is very cool. I don't know what instruments you play, but I play guitar and bass and record myself pretty frequently, so if you need accompaniment let me know. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 7:13 pm
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| I might Travis |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2021 7:49 pm
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| im 70. i have made a living playing music all my life. i learned to read music on the trumpet in grammar school. it was easy for me to apply reading to the underam guitar and electric bass. i cannot even tell you how many concerts or broadway shows, sessions or whatever i have played via reading the music that was put out in front of me. tonight i went to a Church rehearsal. put my ipad on the stand and logged into the planning center and all the songs written out in the published standard notation form came up. touch the screen there it is. entire service played through in 30 minutes. i only read in standard guitar tuning, but i can pick things out in any tuning by just knowing the tuning of the guitar. you dont have to be a speed reader or a sight reader. just the ability to look at a written out piece of music and pick out the notes opens an entire universe up. when i want to record a piece of classical music or something else on the lap steel. i have a guitar around my neck also and read using that and then apply it to the lap. if i made money playing the lap steel....i would spend a little more time learning to read on it! lol but, when i have played the lap guitar with a chart in front of me, i instantly know what the chords are, how to follow the form of the arrangement and what the melody is just by looking at the chart. anything you learn about music will help you as a player. dont think you have to master reading....just start by getting the basics of it and how much you need will determine how much you learn. the old school masters like this alkire stuff....that was a time when reading music was a given. so many orchestras and big bands and such. you were expected to be able to read. i dont recommend any player ever think that they just dont need to bother with learning the basic skill of understanding written out music. you will miss out on so much if you dont. with the advent of the internet....one click and written out music is everywhere. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 8 Jan 2021 8:32 am
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My guitar slinging buddy and myself were practicing to play for a wedding.
We started out with a bass player joining us but he was a "by ear" player and couldn't keep up with the music so he gave up after one practice session.
We played the whole wedding service which included "The Wedding March" and "The Bridal Chorus".
Everything was worked up from sheet music. 
Erv |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 8 Jan 2021 8:39 am
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My main goal in posting this is to encourage those who think that reading music is beyond them, or that they are too old, or it requires some skill learned as children: it isn't.
All sheet music is is an set of instructions and the rules can be learned in an afternoon. And the joy it opens, lasts a lifetime.
And just think: no more tabs!!!
Last edited by Bill McCloskey on 8 Jan 2021 8:49 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 8 Jan 2021 9:27 am
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If you want to play jazz and can’t read, unless you are a prodigy, good luck!
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 8 Jan 2021 10:46 am
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There are YouTube videos that advertise “Learn to read music in 15 minutes!â€, which is marketing code for “Here is a 15 minute video showing you how to learn some basics about reading music. Keep clicking back to this video every few days for a year and you’ll have it, plus the number of hits will sure make me look good!â€
I agree with Doug B. - Notation, Tab, Charts, Fretboard Grids, Ear - They all have something to contribute to musical growth. The system that got me reading music on guitar involved using notation with fretboard grids. It wasn’t easy but it was a major improvement over standard notation alone. For lap and pedal steel instruction, notation with tab (like TuxGuitar or Tab|Edit) should be the standard, IMO. If you learn that way, picking up sheet music without the Tab is a little less mysterious, and the knowledge acquired in the system can be put to use very creatively. |
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John D. Carter
From:
Canton, Ohio, USA
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Posted 8 Jan 2021 12:24 pm Playing by note
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| I read music, but for steel guitar I TAB the notes and learn the TAB. I can therefore play anything written for non-pedal, but I do not sight read per se for steel guitar.(On the other hand on my trombone sight reading comes natural for me.) TuxGuitar, which I just learned about on this forum is going to be so beneficial for my style of learning. Forums are great for learning, in just about any subject that one wants to pursue. |
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Doug Taylor
From:
Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA
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Posted 8 Jan 2021 1:18 pm
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| I taught myself how to read after I retired 3 years ago. Not great at it but can get by. Don’t know why I waited so long! I have yet to try to apply reading to pedal steel but intend to. |
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Paul DiMaggio
From:
Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 10 Jan 2021 6:58 am
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I learned to read voice in grade 4. I took up bass in the mid 60’s. Then onto guitar.
Around that time there was a theory that came out that said if you were a natural musician , learning to read would inhibit your creativity.
Being lazy, I jumped on that band wagon. There was standing room only on that wagon.
Of course if anyone had thought about the previous generations that had created jazz and that had all read music , that theory would have disappeared.
Fast forward to the mid 2000s. Here am I unable to play guitar anymore so I took up steel
And had to relearn to read ,mostly because I couldn’t remember anything I learned with tab. I now read standard notation pathetically slowly but it has helped me a lot. |
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Tom Keller
From:
Greeneville, TN, USA
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Posted 10 Jan 2021 10:18 am
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| I learned to read from the 1930's Gibson Hawaiian Guitar System. Learning to read was one of the best things I ever invested any time into. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 11 Jan 2021 7:19 am
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I was very fortunate when taking guitar lessons in my youth.
Besides teaching you to play the guitar they also taught you "music".
Erv |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 11 Jan 2021 11:43 pm
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Reading music doesn’t bring me pleasure, so I don’t do it. I’m also not very good at.it. I admire and envy those that can read it well, and especially envy those who enjoy it.
There’s no doubt that I’d be a better musician if I could read better, but I still get better every day through practice and studying music theory. Both of these activities bring me pleasure, so I do them.
Like every skill, when you know something you can always choose NOT to do it. If you don’t know something, you can never choose to just do it. If you can read music, there’s nothing stopping you from playing by ear. If you play be ear, you can’t play sheet music unless you learn how to read it.
I’m 64 and retired. I guess I am very fortunate that I’m in a place in life where, “I don’t feel like itâ€, is a good enough reason for me not to do it!
_________________
Current Tunings:
6 String | G – G B D G B D
7 String | G6 – e G B D G B D (re-entrant)
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database |
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Paul Seager
From:
Augsburg, Germany
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Posted 15 Jan 2021 7:25 am
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I taught myself electric bass, guitar and steel by ear and have often tried to teach myself to read but I always gave up too easily.
Since I started playing upright bass (3 years ago) I have been pushing myself to read music. My bass clef reading is coming on nicely and I am slowly getting better with treble clef for lap steel.
I borrowed some clarinet sight reading books from the local library and if one ignores the fact that clarinet is a Bb instrument the material works nicely for A6 and C6 tunings. These tunings are close to the clarinet's tonal range and early exercises are very pentatonic oriented.
I can now pick out melodies from jazz fake books and here I agree with Mike that reading is essential for learning and playing jazz.
As with any skill, you learn it, use it or lose it but it is a worthwhile investment of time regardless of one's musical ambitions.
\paul |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2021 9:41 am
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| Paul Seager wrote: |
I borrowed some clarinet sight reading books from the local library |
This is a great way to start reading. Music for any monophonic instrument is obviously written one note at a time. There are no double stops or full chords or ties into another note to worry about, like with string instruments or piano. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 15 Jan 2021 9:49 am
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| Paul Seager wrote: |
I can now pick out melodies from jazz fake books and here I agree with Mike that reading is essential for learning and playing jazz.
\paul |
And the reason I say this is because much of the time you are playing together with people who bring their own arrangements or original tunes in and they are written out. I write my arrangements, though they are mostly pretty loose and open. And much of the time, I play with different cats and kittens, the same as everyone else. Jazz is really great like that where you can have countless people capable of stepping up and killing it.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 15 Jan 2021 7:50 pm
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There’s a free app called Music Tutor I’ve found very helpful in reinforcing sight reading for treble clef. It quizzes you to ID just one note at a time, you can use it anytime you have a spare moment.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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