meshack m asked:
Will it definitely doom my saxophone hobby not to be able to read. I taught myself how to play the instrument I am now battling with improvisation. I am working at a senior level in a company and I dont have time to do music classes. I cant drop the saxophone because I believe I’ll be wasting talent. Can I play without the reading part of it. Do people feel I must really learn some reading and writing. I record my compositions on a recorder and memorise them because I cant write….
Tags: Music Classes, Read Music, Sax Player
How to Read Music Notes
As far as a hobby goes, there’s no hard reason to learn to read music. If you’re able to quickly learn new pieces by ear and improvise well then it sounds like you’re doing fine. If you ever want to play w/ a group, however, you’ll need to learn to read music. So it really depends on the goals you have set for yourself.
Learn How to Read Music
If it’s a hobby, it won’t really matter that much, and seeing as you have taught yourself how to play the instrument, I’d say that you’re pretty musically talented. If you can learn to play by ear fairly well, then it won’t matter if you can’t read music. But if you would like to play with groups, learning to read music isn’t really that hard. It would take maybe a couple of weeks for you to get used to it, but if you don’t have time to, it probably won’t affect your playing.
How Long Does it Take to Learn How to Read Music?
Providing you never want to play in a band, you don’t need to read music. But it surprises me. Anyone with the ability to play an instrument, such as the Sax, would I would have thought, wanted to read music.Anyway as much as you are talented, you will never be able to play any other piece other than your improvisations.Don’t you owe it to your talent to learn to read music?
learn to read music
Of course you don’t have to read music to enjoy playing.
It *will* impact your ability to play with other people, though. For instance, if you’re into jazz and want to jam, a knowledge of basic theory (key and time signatures) will help you. And it will help you with your improvisation, too — because improv happens over a base of a key signature and chord structure. And you don’t need to take lessons or use a textbook to learn theory, you can do it over time with no pressure. I reviewed some of my favorite books for adults learning at home on my website.
But — all that said — I know musicians who don’t read at all who can jam with anyone.
The important thing is just to play as much as you can, listen to recordings of other sax players, and just immerse yourself in playing sax in your off time. Just enjoy yourself! Oh — and keep composing — that’s awesome!
How to Read Music
Obviously you are concerned about this, so why not just learn to read? Learning to read music is not that difficult. Take a few lessons and learn how. Take a weekly lesson on the weekends, like Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I’m sure that with a little bit of help, you will pick up on it really quickly.
I am a musician, but I also have a day job. I take music classes at night so that I can continue to improve my abilities. If you are interested in composition, and are truly devoted to becoming a good musician, take the time to learn to read and write music. If you can’t it’s just like being able to speak, but not being able to read or write the words. It’s just like being illiterate. I hate to say it, but when I listen to a musician play, I can tell whether they know their stuff or not. Learning to read music will help you understand the theory behind the music.
Just start at the bottom of the staff. Remember Every Good Boy Does Fine for the lines, and FACE for the spaces. These are acronyms to help you remember the notes on the staff. There are five lines and four spaces between them. I could continue, but there are probably even free websites that provide materials on how to read music. Try Googling it.
Believe me, given that you already play the sax, and you may even be aware that there are different keys, it will not be that difficult to learn to read. Just don’t be afraid of it.