The Importance of Reading Music

Imagine you and a friend are going to spend a year in a non English speaking country. Your friend speaks the native language but you don't. It's fine, your friend will translate back and forth for you, right? So you're going to attach your friend to your hip 24/7? Of course not. That's a great way to lose a friend.

Now you're not reading this because you want to go backpacking in remote somewhere on earth with a buddy… you're reading this because you want to be or already are a musician. Maybe you know how to read music already. That's okay, keep reading and I will endeavor to give you arguing points for your fellow musicians who don't or won't read music. If you fall into the latter category, and you want to be the best musician you can, keep reading, maybe I can change your mind.

• Speaking the language

It's inevitable; if you are passionate about music and learning to play an instrument (this applies to vocalists too, the vocal cords ARE an instrument), sooner or later you will want to play with others. No one instrument sounds phenomenal all by itself… but when you combine instruments (correctly), magic happens. But being a part of that kind of collaboration can be exceedingly difficult if you don't know what anyone is talking about, or if you have to have someone translating back and forth for you.

• Facilitating learning

If you learn how to read music you are going to significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to learn your instrument. Being able to read and write music gives you another dimension to draw from in your learning experience. Most people learn by using more than one of their senses. Learning in this way enables them to gain a broader understanding much more quickly, and to develop a level of control they would not easily gain in a more one dimensional method of learning.

• Mastery

If you truly want to be the best that you can be, you'll need a healthy working knowledge of music theory. Guess what… that includes reading music.

Imagine trying to comprehend the works of Shakespeare by reading Cliff Notes, or the story of Moby Dick by picking up a graphic novel.

There are a ton of great resources out there for learning to read music, not the least of which is your local music schools, like Drum & Drummer School of Music or Pima Community College here in Tucson. I definitely recommend them first and foremost, there is simply no substitute for one on one learning from a master. My favorite supplement to this is lynda.com.

If I've managed to convince you this is something you should learn, fantastic! I hope you share your progress! If you're still tripping over your own ego, I challenge you to prove me wrong. I will enjoy the ride either way. After all, good music is good music.

#music