Guitarists CAN'T read music! Here's how to fix it...

[@beneunson]

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[@Doty6String]

#2 is it. I learned to read on sax a as kid you're constantly reminded of 1 thing to do when you see a note. on a guitar its insane, you can play stuff anywhere. and the notes are all over the place. I can read really well on sax. on my guitar it takes forever.

[@beneunson]

Absolutely, I completely understand!

[@leh3827]

I hate guitar because of that... but I still love it... You can't do everything.

[@TheTylrBllmn]

Boy do I have something for you... ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/11217113

[@KennedyIvy]

For that, tab is highly superior

[@StephenGangi]

Yes. Since a note or triad can be played almost anywhere, the "problem" is, where to play so you can get there in time, AND get to the next note or triad in time. I took classical guitar lessons, and much of it was "how to get there and back" - preparation. A mix of musical notation, tab, hand written info/pics quickly turned my music sheets into a freakin' mess.

[@ox609]

Classical guitarists entered the chat...

[@leestanford2452]

Don’t even get me started on how lazy and ridiculous guitar pedagogy has become. Just learn to be musically literate.

[@ox609]

​@@leestanford2452I was referring to the fact that classical guitarists do read music, actually they should read, like any other classical musician

[@RoyalMusic24K]

​@@ox609 I just figured that out , I'm self taught 😭

[@The0ldboy]

The guitar is an instrument that when you confront it with musical notation, what it returns to you instantly is not precise information as in the case of the piano, but rather it presents you with a paradox of choice and that can reach the human mind to be really uncomfortable when what you expect clarity.

[@DrStabkill]

The big question to ask before tackling reading is why you want to be able to do it. If you want to play classical it’s absolutely necessary and also as a tool for helping understand theory and the guitar in general or when playing high level jazz it can be very helpful. But outside of absolute necessity I wouldn’t recommend it for most. It can be extremely frusstrating and that time could be better spent on skills more tied directly to ones goals. Classical guitarist here - can read pretty much anything put in front of me, but when learning music in the popular vein i very rarely ever use it. So to summarize it’s definitely a helpful skill but it will take pretty considerable commitment so not recommended unless necessary for your goals.

[@DangleSan]

you dont need to be able to read for high level jazz play, only shit ton of theory and a good ear

[@DrStabkill]

@@DangleSan this is true but the further you get along in theory the harder it becomes to understand/ explain without notation. Being able to read made jazz theory considerably easier for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in it.

[@JillandKevin]

There's no question that BASIC theory is a must, or at least a big help, but there's such a thing as taking it way farther that any level that will actually do you any good!

[@DangleSan]

@@JillandKevin I think Berkeley musicians are a great example of that, Even Tosin Abasi(who I think over does it on theory) made a joke on a Rick beatos podcast where someone brought up Berkely and Abasi chimed in "ahhh yes where creativity goes to die" I think a lot of guitar players are thinking through the music instead of flowing through it, even the ones who say that they're playing from feeling if your music sounds like a bunch of robot aliens arguimg in space you're thinking too much theory don't care what you say

[@JillandKevin]

@@DangleSan That sums it up pretty well. I was, however, mindblown at a jam session years ago. A gal spread out sheet music, and proceeded to READ an entire complicated fiddle solo. Turns out she was second chair violin with the San Francisco Symphony! HOWEVER, it was not HER solo! Had I heard it without seeing the sheet on front of her, I would not have guessed though, but again, it was someone else's improvisation!

[@mattb4494]

one thing not mentioned here is how there's many thing you can do on guitar that don't really fit well on a staff, like bends and micro tonality, pick scrapes and muted notes , issues of phrasing like hammer ons pulloffs and upstroke downstroke stuff. I think the way the notation system has evolved (ie western classical) is great for communicating that style, but not blues (which a lot of electric guitar is rooted in) . TAB has been around for hundreds of years and was used for lute music back in the day, but it is very counterintuitive , its very hard to sight sing a melody written in TAB! So its no better really. Other musicians just have to be a little patient with guitarists thats all. On the other hand give a guitar player a chord sheet and most will strum through it fine, while a lot of classical players will struggle to name the notes of an Ab7#11😁

[@Vasioth]

I think there are a few misconceptions here. The first one is the idea you are saying that you cannot communicate aspects that say, tablature might be able to, like bends, muted notes etc. This actually isn't true at all, you can absolutely show these things with ease with traditional notation. The difference is that many find tablature far easier since they don't have to think about the note they are playing, it's just a number they have to play and mostly without any indication as to its rhythmic value so the guitarist is forced to rely more on their ear and gut instinct. Historically since around the Renaissance era, a form of tab did in fact exist for the lute, but the lutist was expected to actually understand what the numbers represented, and rhythmic durations were indicated. Early Music Sources, a brilliant KZbin channel, goes far more indepth about this. The other issue with what you're saying is about pianists. Many shapes for chord types on the guitar are incredibly transferable. The same is not true for the piano. On the piano, many chords, especially 7ths and their extensions, require very specific fingerings, and some chords are far easier to play than others. Most pianists tend to be classically trained so they deal with fairly simple diatonic triads and 7th chords, and rarely do extensions come into play. In classical music, having a 9th is typically considered a non chord tone that has a tendency and is in the process of resolving to the tonic, and is rarely used for colour sake until the Romantic era. So for many pianists, there might not be much point in learning extensions that a jazz pianist might learn since they will be irrelevant to the type of music they are playing. Is my last point a good one? I think every pianist should be able to play in multiple styles and being able to improvise should be something every musician can do. However, the reality for a classical player is that a) they have to be able to sight read a shit ton of music so sight reading takes precedence over improv, b) they have to be very technically brilliant to play harder repertoire, so technique drills take up a lot of time since they are expected to not make mistakes, c) they have to memorise a shit ton of repertoire, so tons of time goes into memorising very long pieces of music like piano sonatas and concertos, many lasting anywhere between 10-40 minutes a piece. Hope that clarifies some things.

[@Meatball996]

Pick scrapes can be notated, lots of scores, even older more traditional ones, will literally have a piece of text saying what to do if it can't be notated traditionally. Sometimes they may make an additional symbol and put before the start of the piece what it means.Muted notes can be expressed by using an X instead of a dot but keeping everything else the same, it's common in fact. Microtones exist on standard notation too, and you can notate bends and quater bends, this has been extremely common since it was first used for brass players in Jazz. For hammerons and pulloffs you can just use a legato line as guitarists generally call playing with one hand as guitar. Upstrokes and downstrokes can't really be notated, but if it's a really fast line, you can use where the accents are and your best judgement to determine where they should be. For instance, an accent would most likely be played with a downpick and the others don't really matter as much, just alternate pick as much as you'd like.

[@scottwalthour558]

​@@Meatball996I have seen upstrokes and downstrokes notated. It's an arrow pointing up or down situated right next to the chord or note played.

[@Meatball996]

@@scottwalthour558 thanks. So I guess everything can be notated then

[@kwimms]

Writing down music is for people who can't really play well. They only mimic other's music. MUSIC comes from the heart, not notes. Also, notes are mildly useful for piano players... guitar is WAY MORE expressive and written music can never capture this...

[@DlmlZ]

Great advices! Thanks for that! Another thing to mention: As a guitarist -> simply learn to play songs!!! Instead of noodling around all the time and focussing on techniques only!!! Why do we play an instrument? Because we should have the drive and wish to perform live infront of an audience and not in the basement only! However, people don't like to listen to technical excercises, they want to hear songs they know or at least they can remember after a concert. I think it is highly important to build up your repertoire rather than becoming the fastest and trickiest guitarist of all time. Anyway, I really love your content. You are for sure a great tutor and there are many things we guitarists can learn from you! Thanks for sharing! Cheers DimiZ

[@andreasjonsson5823]

Great discussion! I have often found tab to be harder for me to read than regular notation!

[@beneunson]

I have heard a few people say the same thing!

[@davidkeller6156]

I much prefer written notes. It does help some when tab is available to check fingering on difficult parts.

[@athanasiuscontra000]

Same here

[@tweed0929]

Said no one. Never.

[@redpillpusher]

@@tweed0929😂 I find this easier to believe

[@Slarti2]

I've been trying to learn to read music for four decades. I've had piano lessons, guitar lessons, bass lessons. I never developed any speed in reading music. Tab is different. I can play something almost straight away. As you say I just need to work out the finger positions and I've got it. Having a good music ear helps. I think I may have a dyslexic eye problem with sight reading sheet music. I'm never going to get it and I've tried for so many years. Tab is the only answer for me.

[@MarkJKLawrence]

#2 is tricky. Also, not only can we play in position across different strings, but we can also play the same line up a single string. Also, the inconsistency in tuning does make the logic of the fretboard (and building ones relationship with seeing intervals) difficult to master.

[@kenzuercher7497]

Good descriptions, Ben. I meet with a friend each week and read classical guitar duets. That has helped my reading immensely. It's also gotten me out of the first position reading issue which is taking lessons, and reading from the first two Mel Bay books and then stopping without reading in the upper positions. Learning the fingerings from the five CAGED positions also helped a lot as I find many guitarists really don't know the entire fingerboard.

[@beneunson]

That's fantastic you get together with another guitarist to read! The 5 caged positions can help too, thanks for watching!

[@leh3827]

You can use the CAGED positions to more quickly identify where on the neck to play the written notes. Good for you! I'm not there myself. Good for you.

[@JonFrumTheFirst]

Sight reading divides into two challenges - reading rhythms and reading pitches. Both rhythms and pitches come in constantly changing sequences, so just like when you read words in a book, you read measure by measure, not note by note. Both rhythm and pitch comes in phrases, so you need to be able to see a measure's worth of notes and play them as a group, just like you read a few words at a time on a page. You can always sing rhythms on one note, so you don't need your guiltar for that.

[@joeheesakkers]

Sight reading generally refers to being able to play music on an instrument while sight reading, so it involves much more than just being able to mentally interpret the pitch and rhythm.

[@gscgold]

As a teen I studied classic from the guitar instructor at a University here on the west coast after his day he taught private lessons..I studied under him for 3 years in that time I became almost fluent in sight reading.. I was dedicated to that more than anything in my life. It is the one skill that I lost after life took me a different direction that I have always regretted the most. It takes a lot of work to be able to sit down and sight read and play it as it's written like you have played it before, at least on classical guitar.

[@heartycoffee4754]

sight reading classical guitar in my expierience has been harder than reading just the single not melodies that you would find in like a parker omni book for example

[@adriandennis5226]

Hi Ben, thanks for the beautiful video on sight reading. I made a new years resolution in 2023 to work on my reading every day again. For this i like to use the Charlie Parker Omni book. Thanks again, be well and happy reading!

[@1man1guitarletsgo]

I play by ear, and am essentially self-taught. I read the fretboard, visualising shapes and patterns. While this is great for being able to jam in virtually any musical situation, my inability to read either sheet music or tab means that I could never work with a band where these were required. My usual method of learning and playing songs is to have lyric and chord sheets in front of me, reading them as I go. In a live situation, this can look quite convincing, so some people might think I'm actually reading sheet music! If I could have my time again, I'd learn to read music, because I'm pretty sure this would have made me a better player, and opened up more opportunities.

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing!

[@Dawg93]

Learning to read tab takes all of ten minutes

[@1man1guitarletsgo]

@@Dawg93 Yes, but being bothered to learn tab (which I'm not) is the first part of the journey. It might have been more accurate to say that I can't read music, and I can't be bothered to read tab, even though I do understand it at a basic level. Another point about tab: when I _have_ used it to help learn songs, the tabs have usually been wrong, because they're written by well-meaning amateurs who've guessed when they couldn't understand a chord or phrase.

[@hankevans7890]

The chances of you joining a rock band that requires sight reading are zero. Almost all rock musicians learn by ear and can’t read music.

[@1man1guitarletsgo]

@@hankevans7890 Well, yes, that's in line with what I said in my original post; albeit using fewer words and going into less detail.

[@willmurphy8650]

Having been classically trained but working as a session guitarist for jazz and R&B artists, the best thing that came out of that was being able to sight read, being able to finger pick, and developing a good ear. Being able to sight read opens you up to a lot of work that would have been closed had I not been able to read.

[@beneunson]

Exactly the experience I had as well. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@jamessidney2851]

It’s Sisyphean. I work at it daily and the #1 thing that makes it hard is that honestly, it doesn’t really matter if I ever learn to read music or not! I’m a working. musician, but in the style of jazz that I play there is almost never a need for me to read. There’s ALWAYS a horn player there to play the written melody. (Honestly, I could probably fake my way through life not even knowing any melodies, but that would be lame). On the rare occasion when some little part does require me to read comes along, people present it to me apologetically, as if they know it’s going to be hard since I’m a guitarist. They are ready to give me all the time I need to work out a bar and a half of 8th notes. I’m like guys, I practice cold sight reading for 30 minutes a day! I might not read as well as you guys with valves and reeds, but I’m not helpless. So here are a few observations from my journey. 1) it’s a discipline thing. It only develops from consistent repetition over long periods of time. Luckily, small chunks of time are enough. 20 minutes, even just once a day, if you can give total concentration that long. When your mind starts to wander, stop practicing sight reading because you are wasting time. You’ll know when you are getting stronger when it becomes no problem to practice sight reading for 30 minutes, etc. Eventually it will become pleasant and you will look forward to it, believe it or not! You’ll find it easy enough that you’ll want to do it more than you want to do more boring technique things you might be working on. 2) You will be well served by having a very clear understanding of the number of sharps and flats in each key, and knowing EXACTLY which position you choose for that particular key, and why. 3) Being able to read 8va is invaluable. It’s what you will wind up doing all the time in real world situations. So work it in to the routine. 4) Don’t worry about sight reading chord voicings. I’m sure there are some classical players out there who can do it, but remind yourself that that’s maybe one millionth of 1% of the world’s population. A good pianist will quickly handle a big gnarly poly chord in standard notation, because it lays out on the piano cleanly from left to right, with only one place to finger each note. But a guitar is not a piano, the complexities of choosing the right fret become even more intense when you are looking at a stack of intervals. Just leave this for people who want to devote their lives to renaissance lute music or something, and realize that even they are going to be stopping and working out where to finger certain chords and clusters. Lucky for us, jazz chord notation with letter names and dashes and symbols has become the defacto way for composers and bandleaders to communicate harmony to guitarists. Embrace this, and practice doing it. It’s easy and gives you the creative freedom to choose voicings. 5) Ben, what you say about confidence in your first point of this vid is so true. It’s a head game, and its all about trusting yourself (& knowing you will survive the gig even if you fumble a bit). “Nobody ever got hurt by an F major 7 chord” is an expression that helps me. But just like a basketball player on the free throw line at a high pressure moment, if you have practiced this skill enough times that it’s completely automatic you will be able to to relax and disengage from the internal monologue and just execute. Cool lesson. Nobody talks about this stuff much! Thanks.

[@catocall7323]

About number 4) Originally a lot of classical music was written with chord notation and a melody line and the musician was expected to fill in the gaps.

[@gitarmats]

I think the big underlying reason is that it's just not how guitarists are usually taught to play in the beginning, unless you are specifically learning classical. A lot of us find ourselves wanting to work on reading when we get to music school after already having played (and learned) a certain way for many years. So we end up starting a new skill from scratch, in addition to also having to balance it with our other practice topics. It's rare that I need to sight read something on the spot, but is very often beneficial to have at least some ability in this area so you can understand what is happening on the page. I still have a lot of improvement to do on my reading though!

[@beneunson]

I think you're absolutely right, Mats - it's not typically included in the earliest stages of guitar education. When I learned piano as a child, the way notes on the piano keyboard correspond with music notation was taught on day one!

[@davidmiller4078]

During the 1960 s when the guitar became popular and it was easy to buy guitars with no back up tuition avalable Music publishers also put out easy to play guitar songs for Beatles tune for example Also the RnB boom had been under way and feeling was considered more important than reading notation I know because i was that guitarist in 1967 who taught myself RnB by ear but who gradually worked back wards into understanding piano charts with the help of some of the fellow nerd musicians i bumped into Fourtunatly i love the musicals of Fred Astaire Gene Kelly and Donald OConnor who used songs by Irving Berlin G Gerswin and the incredible Cole Porter These songs push the self taught Guitarist into being hungry to learn and after a while your ear hears changes and patterns So yes i agree with you there is so much to learn and enjoy Clasdical like Bach Flamenco Fusion style as epitomied by John Mclaughlin difficult to pick up by ear if onr hasnt at least some basic cord theory under your belt ? I liked yor altered scale vid by the way i love Antonio Carlos Jobims songs and im currently enjoying learning some of Charlie Parkers Heads wow good to have hobbies lol

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing!

[@UrbanGarden-rf5op]

Great tip about constraining to one position. Will definitely try that. Thanks 𝄢

[@jimbonacum8917]

I am a guitarist who struggles with sight reading. I have a lot of work to do, but I thought I might share an idea that I have been trying and see what you or anyone else might think about it. A few years ago someone recommended that I practice the Segovia scales. These are a set of 8 fingerings, four for major scales and four for minor scales where you ascend playing the melodic minor and descend playing the natural minor, which were developed by Andres Segovia. The fingerings can be played in all keys depending on which note you choose to start on. I find them helpful because I tend to mostly play across the neck from the sixth string to the first string. Segovia's fingerings move up and down the neck. For example his fingering for G major begins on the third fret of the 6th string and goes up to the 15th fret on the first string. So they are very useful for developing your ability to move around the fingerboard. Now as to the problem of where to play a specific phrase or note, my idea lately has been to start by looking at the key of the piece and then finding the first note somewhere within the Segovia scale fingerings. I start there and see what develops. Oh and I found the scales and fingerings by googling "Segovia scales" so they should be easy enough to find. But there is one aspect of sight reading that I struggle with the most that you did not mention, namely the rhythms and timing of the notes. I know that a quarter note gets one beat and an eight note gets one half of a beat etc. And I can look at my part and tell you the names of each note, and I can find them on the neck. But unless it is a melody I am familiar with I struggle to get the timing of the notes. And if there are rests and ties things really go off the rails. Now like anything else probably the only solution is to practice until I improve. But if anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate hearing them.

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing - Segovia's approach is absolutely worth investigating. And identifying rhythms is very important, great to have your input! 😀

[@hankevans7890]

Most of the best and most revered guitarists in rock, blues and metal can’t read sheet music. I would bet that 99% of non classical guitarists don’t bother with sheet music. I teach guitar for a living and if I made my students learn the Hal Leonard method on day one, half would quit out of boredom. I save sight reading for much later in their guitar education.

[@machitect]

That’s what happened to me when I started at 11 yrs old. I immediately tried to avoid my teacher who would come to our house to teach us 4 kids. Eventually I asked my brothers to teach me Jimi Hendrix and Metallica and what not. I can play my classical pieces no problem with form and stuff,but with sight reading, now I wish I paid more attention. Although I have to say at 11 sheet music IS incredibly boring.

[@ronb3406]

I used tab for classical to start but switched to reading music. Standard notation has more information and tells you where to play on fretboard frequently. I’m not a sight reader, but I’ve gotten better at reading through and getting fingering fairly quickly. It’s like any skill-you have to work at it. My limitations technically slow me down more than reading.

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing!

[@leh3827]

Ben, if even your sight reading is slowed down by the fact that there are 5,6,7... different positions, and an infinite number of lineal pathways, that guitarists can play what is written, how in the world can someone like me ever expect to become proficient at it?! Learning tab is another major task ... and then when someone hands me a sheet of standard notation I am still lost. If I can get the jist of the chord changes (ie. chord/lyric chart) I can at least pull off some rhythmic things; chordal or harmonic lines. Ornette Coleman's 'harmolodics'. Playing over my head are often some of my best moments. I should have stuck to the jews harp 🤥

[@inconsolablegraphite2126]

Your video hits a sore spot with me. I’ve been playing the guitar since 1975 and in the 80s studied classical guitar to grade VIII. Right from the beginning I recognised the value of sight-reading. I think it’s a vital skill. Once you have a piece ‘as written’ you can then improvise on it if that's your thing and you can do it in real time. I also play keyboard but not as well as the guitar. Improvisation I find trivially easy. Frustratingly, despite going on to gain a diploma in music theory, which I have no trouble in understanding, I still cannot read notation fluently, so it takes me months to learn anything. There seems to be some kind of cognitive deficit which stops any meaningful progress. Someone else has commented below about a similarity to the difficulty in performing basic arithmetic for some which I’m also troubled with. I’m inclined to agree, I’ve asked a few highly competent musicians exactly ‘what’ they are doing when sight reading, but it seems immune to any kind of introspection in the same way as asking someone what they are doing when reading standard text, so they can never give a sensible answer. Once you can do it, it’s almost impossible to say ‘how’. It could be something I’ll just never be able to do, but find most of the proposed solutions on KZbin or elsewhere to be pretty unhelpful even if well-intentioned. With respect, suggesting whizzing through Bach partitas illustrates the gap in understanding.

[@gadget348]

I learn by ear, the best way I can describe my attempts a sight reading years ago is that my ears shut my eyes off when the music starts. I even gave up on tab because after baby stepping a tune into my fingers I often found that I needed to unlearn mistakes in the tab which I could only here properly after I'd gotten up to speed. It should also be remembered that many sight readers would give their eye teeth to be able learn a tune by ear.

[@jonnyrace6900]

Have you tried working through a method like Hal Leonard or Bill Leavitt?

[@robertYTB78g]

I had the idea of sight reading Classical guitar live for 10-15 years, mostly trying to get past the fact that once I had mastered a piece I became tired of it. How nice I thought, to be able to open a book of sheet music and play my way through it. After many years of hard practice I just couldn't get past the fact that only the memorised pieces had any real expression, since the sight read pieces couldn't make it, for the simple reason I wasn't fast enough at reading, or at least the technicality was getting in the way. Fast forward to learning to read music on the piano for retirement - no such problem, the dream is coming true. The simplicity of reading the piano compared to the guitar has made everything so much easier. After all the piano really only has one simple pattern of keys which repeats all the way down the keyboard like you were playing just one guitar string! Those repeated notes on the guitar were a killer for me. NB I could read single line melodies with expression on a guitar, and still can, eg to a backing or simple duets - highly recommended and great fun. But reading the majority of classical pieces where the guitar plays chords and melody, for me, Guitar no, piano yes.

[@beneunson]

Thanks for sharing!

[@CJMarsicanoPA]

The whole issue of middle C being in five places on the guitar neck is something I usually point out when people think guitar is an easy instrument, not to mention the issue with sight reading. Also, since guitar is such a malleable instrument, capable of being tuned in several different ways, that’s another reason why tab is useful. When I was buying Guitar World on the regular, I used to take their guitar tabs and re-transcribe them because I was used to seeing the standard notation above the tab in my other tab books. I’m not the greatest sight reader at all, but I’m used to seeing standard notation. But growing up in the early punk rock 80s, I found myself having to learn certain bands’ songs by ear because there was no sheet music for Black Flag or Dead Kennedys, and later found myself having to learn songs for cover bands completely by ear (well, writing out chord sheets) for a combination of reasons. If a guitarist doesn’t sight read, that’s not a dealbreaker for me. A deal breaker is when a musician doesn’t even know the names of the fucking chords he’s playing. I’ve seen this more often than not in recent years.

[@beneunson]

Great points here, thanks for sharing!

[@MrMjp58]

An excellent video Ben. In my teaching (mostly of beginners), I’ve started combining tab with note values, rests etc. I put in the number and add the tails, dots etc, beneath or above. It works rather well and I don’t understand why it isn’t done more often. Introducing standard notation risks putting off all but the most dedicated. I played for several years before attempting to read/sight read. When eventually I started trying, it took a long time and a lot of effort. It was worth it for me. Some personal and experiential observations: Reading classical guitar style material is easier than rock, jazz and single note stuff. Reading on other instruments (piano, violin) is far more straightforward. Playing from notation (even of humdrum music) can be a relaxing, meditative activity. One can achieve a certain competence in some aspects of reading, whilst still really struggling with others. Accepting one’s overall academic ability, or lack of, is part of the process. Reading at any level is better than not trying at all. Music theory is a different aspect altogether.

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing your insight!

[@rtyler1869]

i have just picked up the guitar and started taking lessons. During my second lesson surprised my instructor by telling him I wanted to learn to read music. 3 months latter am very confident in the first 5 strings and starting to cover the 6th

[@beneunson]

That is absolutely fantastic, keep going on your path! Reading is a fantastic skill to develop so early in your playing 😀

[@JohnA000]

having studied classical guitar if I see middle C on the staff I usually go to the C on the 3rd fret of the A string not on the B string as you illustrated even though that may be the correct pitch. As far as tab goes, I use it as a supplement to standard notation as you suggest. I really should put effort into it, ty for the tips.

[@Cavie1974]

I was recently recruited to play in the pit for a school production. The music required me to play parts that were either unison or harmonies to string parts. it took some real work on my part to transfer my reading which is "ok" to the fretboard. I plan on spending a lot more time working on this.

[@christianboddum8783]

I've never got past simple etudes but I still practice reading for the challenge and satisfaction, persistence pays off...

[@liamsandal6360]

Force yourself to go through the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Course. After mastering levels 1 to 7, your reading will be perfect.

[@beneunson]

Thanks for your suggestion, and thanks for watching!

[@paulbonghez7841]

I've been recently reading through Pat Metheny's Warmup Exercises For Guitar and I find it excellent for developing switching positions on the fly, as he tends to play all over the fretboard and thus forcing you to adapt ASAP. Great stuff!

[@kwimms]

Great! Maybe if you keep practising, you'll sound like someone mimicking Pat's playing in about ten years... we can't wait.

[@beneunson]

That's a great book! I have it as well

[@paulbonghez7841]

That's not the point of practising nor the scope of the book @@kwimms

[@christianboddum8783]

I remember a discussion about reading music, and there was a point that you encounter written language Everywhere and subconsciously your reading is trained all the time, however with music you have to take out your sheet music to train your reading. If written music was to be found everywhere our reading would be much better. Just a thought.

[@athanasiuscontra000]

In my boomer guitar world of the 1960s, the primary role models I heard about were Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, Paul McCartney, and Phil Keaggy. They were all crystal clear that they Did Not Read. So it was not just a legend. It was a fact of “how the big kids in school” actually did what we wanted to do.

[@DavidJNann]

Quite a few years back,I went for a Job with a in house Band ( Holiday Camp) in the audition I did quite well on all Chord Chart sections but there were a few noted runs/licks which through me, after 3 or 4 songs, the MD ( Keyboard /Piano player) you're a good Guitarist but like so many Guitarists you don't read very well, I was mortified, not only because I wasn't going to get the regular Job income( good money) but felt I was half a musician, I can't say that I can still sight read that well after some years, but it spurred me on to do lots of reading and studying 🎶

[@beneunson]

Thanks for sharing!

[@bobrich1950]

While i share your logic about this as a guitarist myself, i've often wondered why it is string players(violin, cello, etc.) don't seem to share our anxieties and frustrations about this? Are we just inferior as musicians?? I think some of it can be attributed to how we learn the intrument from the time we first pick it up to study. That "rock star" mentallity i think contributes to this to some extent. Also, the guitar typically is made to "look" so easy to play. When we all know it simply isn't. Perhaps a lack of a work ethic to be committed to mastering reading notation contributes as well. And while i can "read" big band charts, my site reading pales by comparison to that of any good horn players. Just some random thoughts here. Thanks for listening.

[@beneunson]

Good question! I'll have to ask some violinists/cellists... would be interesting to know

[@bobrich1950]

@@beneunson Yes! I would be very interested to hear their take on this as well. Thanks !!

[@Zarunias]

I think it's just practice and habits. I'm a cellist and from the day I've started to learn the instrument I also learned to read sheet music. Of course it began with empty strings, but I had the sheet music in front of me. For cello there simply isn't any alternative. For guitar you can either use tabs, or chord symbols if you just want to sing some songs. I've never seen a beginner on the guitar who uses classical notation. Also: Classical string instruments only have 4 strings. I think this helps a lot (although there surely are a lot of gambists out there who seem to manage it).

[@jrpipik]

The biggest reason is: guitarists usually don't have to be able to read music. For the most part, a musician in a pop-rock band can get away with being able to follow a chord chart, and many don't even need that. Session musicians may need to read music, but a more valuable skill is being able to come up with a part on your own (as well as developing a good tone). Jazz and classical musicians on any instrument need to be able to read music, of course. But for your general folk, pop, or rock musician, reading music is mostly unnecessary.

[@Jonjzi]

I've been playing guitar much longer than piano but I read much better on piano anyway. However, just reading more music at all has still improved my reading on guitar. What helped me was isolating each step involved in reading, namely, identifying the pitch, interpreting the rhythm, understanding the note in context of the key/harmony, and finally locating the note on the instrument. The first three applies to all music, so focus on each of those individually to the point where it is near instantaneous, then let your brain fit it all together. It will feel far less confusing that way.

[@Jonjzi]

Also interval shapes, as well as seeing the silhouette of the highest and lowest notes of a passage, which will give you a rough idea of where to position your playing for a given passage. I also noticed that very good readers are already reading the next measure before they are done playing the preceding measure.

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing!

[@thedustykeratometer8570]

I think you nailed it.

[@beneunson]

Thanks for listening!

[@mikeg9b]

For musicians that learn to play an instrument in a school band, they read every note they play from day one. For guitarists, if they learn to read at all, it's something they learn in addition to their regular guitar playing. It's like speaking your native language verses speaking a foreign language.

[@beneunson]

Great point!

[@wolfganghuber8103]

Of course, it can also be applied to other things to a certain extent. From driving a car to skiing to more complex processes. For me there is an essential question. And I ask experienced notists because the others can't answer them. So when a notist who can sight-read finally plays completely “freely” in a band context and has to react improvisingly to the smallest deviations of his musicians (also a form of perfection) Is he still thinking about notation or not? Or does he then visualize the notation for the sound or chord in his mind's eye. Or does he only have an overview of the key points? Another question is the topic of pulling the tones, distorting the tones and general acrobatics that can still be expressed in notation. Because then he would have to think of a distorted notation image in his head at the same time in order not to say paint along. That doesn't happen on the piano.

[@christheother9088]

As a keyboard player I sometimes watch guitar tutorials on particular songs and find a lot of them where the guy plays slowly and says things like: "put your finger here" so I have to figure out the note by ear and counting half steps down the string hes on. Painful if you're not a guitar player, but a useful skill for keyboardists.

[@jacksonvalad8012]

Reading music is not that hard gents. I tell everyone I try to teach that reading sheet music is very similar to a coordinate plane. Your X axis is time, meaning each note value is a specific instance in time divided up into certain intervals read left to right, and your y axis is a given pitch value. Thats it!

[@steve17]

Great video, and it touches on many important subjects, but I think as a prerequisite to the things mentioned is knowing all the notes on the fretboard reasonably well. You don't need to be a virtuoso spelling out arpeggios on the spot, but you shouldn't be hunting and looking for notes either. You can make your own method, or you can use an app. I like Fretboard Forever as it takes like 5 minutes a day to go through everything after the first week or so. But the first week is definitely slow and painful lol

[@emmahillstv]

Thanks me too I'm facing reading as to challenging ❤❤. Thanks for making this video. I need more videos like this. Any other video in depth tutorial you recommend that covers all the basics about reading music??❤❤ Thanks for sharing this amazing video

[@beneunson]

Going to go into more depth re: reading soon! Thanks for watching this video!

[@quailstudios]

First time I have watched one of your videos.

[@beneunson]

Thanks for watching!

[@Mtaalas]

Unless they're graduates from music school. In music school you HAVE TO learn to read, no matter your instrument. And that is one edge that schooled musicians have over self taught. If you went to music school and didn't learn to read, they failed you.

[@jubnx2781]

It’s also that you can mix and match different places to play the same note in a line. So you could play a line starting on your pinky and playing “below the root” or start on the same fret but with your index and play “above the root” But it’s worse. A simple 1 2 3, can be played on 1 string with your index middle and pinky, or… On three different strings using your fingers pinky then middle then index. So you have to figure out, in real time, where and how and which fingering will match your picking style etc.

[@SorooshMhs]

The problem with guitar is not only that it has 6 strings (each being able to produce 20-24 pitches, with lots of overlap), but also the fact that guitar is a polyphonic instrument, played polyphonically a lot of the time. Figuring out single note lines from sheet music on guitar might not be too difficult, but doing that for 6 strings at the same time (playing polyphonic lines, that is) is what turns into a nightmare. Many instruments don’t have this issue. If we take something like the clarinet or the human voice, for example, it can only play monophonically, one note at a time. That makes it fairly easy to sight read if you’re practiced enough. I believe orchestral strings don’t have this issue either. They can play chords but most of the time they don’t. And on instruments like piano/keyboards or harp, they are played polyphonically a lot of the time, but unlike the guitar, every pitch can br played in exactly one place. Also, there’s the whole world of alternative guitar tunings. Where basically all of your sheet music knowledge goes out the window. The instruments i mentioned above obviously don’t have this issue

[@beneunson]

Great points! Thanks for watching

[@MusicianParadise]

I was introduced to music notation at a young age, around 4-5 years old. Regardless of the instrument I was learning, I absolutely hated sight-reading. To avoid reading sheet music, I would aim to memorize as much of the piece as possible by ear, while my teacher played it for me. I never understood the argument that sight-reading opens doors to music I wouldn't otherwise access. After all, we live in an era where virtually every piece of music, even the most obscure scores, are recorded.(Perhaps some musicologists might not agree on that😅). So, I entertained myself by transcribing increasingly complex music that interested me - jazz, classical, atonal, you name it. Fast forward 50 years, and I found myself making a living by professionally transcribing music and crafting arrangements for all types of combos, bands and orchestras. I have a passion for transcribing music into standard notation, making it as accurate and beautifully readable as possible for every given style/genre. I also enjoy analyzing music scores. However, I still have a profound dislike for sight-reading. My brain just rebels when I'm faced with music to sight-read. I ended up primarily doing MD for several projects, and the best part was that I didn't have to read anything. By writing everything, I knew every bit of music by heart. Am I the only one here with such a strange relation to this music reading issue?

[@beneunson]

Fantastic experience that you've shared here, thanks so much for taking the time to discuss this!

[@Bart91127]

Accurate insights,superb English accent..not utterly American,neither British..couldn't pinpoint ur origins Sounds like an american,RP ,highly educated scholar..kudos maestro! Greetings from Havana.

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@CurroMarín-k3c]

Thanks Ben!

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@chansouvannarath3789]

If you play classical you really need to know how to read. There's no way around it.

[@beneunson]

I agree!

[@tomnewman602]

If you are a working guitarist who plays all the time and makes your living playing music you need to be able read! Read well; Hear well!

[@TheRichie213]

If you're playing something you've never played before or not that good at live, ya. If you're just learning a song, memorizing one, or just playing along at home, tablature is fine. As long as you have the recording and use your ears along with looking at the tab.

[@jacksonvalad8012]

Or jazz

[@thegeeeeeeeeee]

The hardest part for me is reading music not arranged for guitar. Some voicings are impossible or not practical. Even complex music arranged for guitar can be hard to play in the correct positions when sight reading. I love tab, charts and using my ear! 🎸 you are a beast player btw. I think you’re one of the best players alive. I wish you continued success!

[@johnwinward2421]

When I did my classical guitar grades, hated the reading. Then switched to lutes, which were ORIGINALLY published in different styles of tab. LOVED it. Not just easier, but you could read off how Dowland and Weiss FINGERED their own stuff - so unlike Grade exam. pieces

[@Marklar3]

As a pianist who plays some guitar, I think the biggest hurdle for guitarists is just lack of exposure to new sheet music. I was once a subpar sight reader. Even though I spent hours every day staring at music, I was rarely reading something that I hadn't seen before. This ties in with your 3rd point, because a lot of the reason I didn't read new music was how it reminded me of the shame of not being good at it. It's easy to learn to read music, but sight reading even simple music skill takes years of practice, so it's okay to not be good at it. Bach partitas might not be a the best option for beginning readers though. There's plenty of other free music on IMSLP to explore. I'd sooner recommend reading 1 or 2 lines at a time from Bach's chorales, or maybe reading the melody line of Mozart's piano sonatas.

[@beneunson]

Great insight, and great suggestions! IMSLP is a great resource!

[@kwimms]

How long did it take you to learn how to walk? Maybe if you start now, you can learn to read music before your brain stops working entirely.

[@greevar]

The first instrument I learned to play was a trumpet, which means that standard notation was what I learned first. That said, tab is better for guitar. It's especially true if you're using Guitar Pro style tablature. Every number on the tab includes the same time notation that standard notation uses.

[@beneunson]

Great points, thanks!

[@vlazed4809]

I need bigger goals, not only to be able to read. Sadly i dont have one, my dream to be a professional musician also pretty much impossible, i have to realize as im getting older im just playing guitar for fun. Even though i want to be able to read. There are many factors, including how to mixed guitar technique like using tremolo, bending, legato, and many more. Just too complex. And also having adhd made it more difficult for me. Good explained by your video, thanks for sharing.

[@beneunson]

Thanks for watching, and best of luck on your musical journey!

[@neka7663]

Man this video is a testament to Ben's dedication to the instrument...what an inspiration!

[@beneunson]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@Adam-2112]

I think one big problem is that you're always told as a guitarist that only the best guitarists play by ear and have taught themselves, and that all that holds you back is natural "talent." Also, a lot of guitarists want to be able to improvise and play flashy solos, and tab is such an easy shortcut to playing what you hear your guitar heros already playing. Even further, when one usually starts becoming aware of scales, they learn them vertically just by using finger patterns, as opposed to horizontally across the fret board by actual note names, so you get stuck in these "boxes" that really hold you back without being able to actually navigate your way around the board. This usually results in the dreaded noodling, instead of actively learning.

[@kwimms]

Monkey see, monkey do. Play from ear and be an individual.

[@Pix3lB]

I want to learn a violin next so Ill have to learn sheet music. This video is helpful

[@beneunson]

Thanks for watching!

[@hawkbirdtree3660]

I'm a pianist. Not sure how I ended up here, but this is solid musical advice, especially for orchestration.

[@beneunson]

Thanks for watching!

[@PeterFrayne-o4n]

I found reading music on classical guitar is easier than electric. You can quickly get an actual tune together with thumb for bass and a couple of fingers for harmony and melody and progress is more visible and audible.

[@beneunson]

Great insight! Thanks for sharing

[@bradenaustin5482]

I've been wanting to learn how to read music! That's a really cool guitar you're playing btw!

[@Twistaholic]

I see #2 causing a lot of confusion for my students. I always say get ahold of first position then start moving up the neck.

[@beneunson]

Great point, and great suggestion!

[@davidlynch4338]

Great video, I am slowly learning to read after 33 years of playing guitar. My first real attempt to to read any kind of "non-tab" was when I studied Indian classical music (Sitar/Esraj) with Ali Akbar Khan. In North Indian Classical music, notation is slightly frowned upon, especially while performing, but slowly the tradition is changing. I would say the number 1 reason that guitarists can't read is because it is rarely part of the learning process on guitar. Most guitar players commit songs to memory and learn primarily by ear or have it shown to them. I only realize pretty late in my music career that sight reading is super important and actually quite a powerful creative tool.

[@beneunson]

Great observations, and that must have been an incredible experience studying Indian classical music!

[@AC7AC]

#2 Not only the same note on different strings, but different position / starting finger on the note.

[@josdurkstraful]

Quick tip: if you are familiar with the fingerings of the major scale it will be no problem to read parts with many accidentals: if you know the key it is in it's just as easy to play in C# (7 sharps) as it is to read in C (no accidentals). That's the BIG advantage of the guitar as opposed to piano! All normal western music is based on scales, so know your scale fingerings in and out and you're already half way there. What about minor scales then? They are just modes of the major scale so all fingering patterns will be the same, only the root will change (for example: a minor = Cmajor).

[@beneunson]

Thanks for sharing!

[@peterhans1652]

I'm a professional guitarist (went to music collage) in rock, pop and jazz music and honestly my sight reading is shit. But it's funny how far I've made it without it. I'm depending on my hearing 100% wich sometimes comes in handy, because I just play back what I've heard to the point that it's faster to hear a melody once than to read it. Also I play of of lead sheets most of the time and that's something I would say I'm pretty good and fast at. But.... I've also encountered many situations in which sight reading would have been very helpful like jazz sessions or playing from a musical score. And so I've started my journey to become good at sight reading because I hope it also enhances my knowlage of the guitar. Also I cannot justify to call myself a professional musician any longer without this essential ability. For anyone starting out to play rock or pop music you should probably focus on other things first in my opinion.

[@beneunson]

Thanks for sharing!

[@fartwrangler]

Classical guitarists are among the best sight readers I know. Your second reason is, indeed, a serious consideration for the guitarist. I present this to my students as both an challenge, and an asset -- you have multiple options for getting the sound you want. This issue, by the way, is not exclusive to the guitar. There are at least four different fingerings for playing a 1st line Eb on clarinet, for example. Yet most clarinetists learn to read notation without major problems. As regards tab, that is part of the myth -- that learning tab is easier than learning notation. It isn't, really. I read both; it took about the same amount effort to learn each. Tab has its place -- it shows you specifically where to play a passage (although you give up your options for that convenience). But tab is crappy for showing complex rhythms -- standard notation is much better for that. Guitar is more of a "pop" instrument than many others, and you don't necessarily need notation or theory to play in a pop setting -- say, strumming chords for people singing at a party. For that matter there are plenty of pop keyboardists who never learn to read, as well. But I think your first reason is probably the main reason -- the myth. If you tell someone over and over that they can't do something, eventually they'll start to believe you. But learning notation is not that difficult. Really.

[@beneunson]

Great insights, thank you for sharing! I think the "myth" really is a big problem!

[@Felipe..Vieira]

standard notation is meant for classical guitars, where there is only 2 unisons to pick from either way, i think a person can get away with tabs and chord charts if he wants to be in a contemporary band, working with other musicians that will do the job on the rhythm and melodies, and in most cases, neither of the others in the band read sheet aswell, but if a guitarist wants to be a composer and compose all the parts by himself, standard notation is by far the best composing tool in contemporary music, each musician responsible for a section is also responsible for writing their own parts, like a drummer does his percussion, the vocalist do the melody etc, unlike classical music where musicians will sight read and reproduce what the composer wrote for them

[@beneunson]

Thanks for sharing your insight!

[@floydturner2346]

I went to university as a classical guitar performance major. Oddly enough, my "opinion" of the value of reading never came up. It was simple: either you can read (and read in ALL positions) or you can go home and screw around with tabs in your basement.

[@נדבישרהוכמן]

I can read sheet music ok in both bass and treble clefs but my sight reading sucks because Iv never been in a situation where sightreading is needed so I just took my time and did it right. No regrets yet.

[@johancnilson]

I recommend thinking numbers: Key C: Ab=b6, F#=#4, etc..

[@beneunson]

Great suggestion!

[@opforgeron]

29 years of playing guitar here and these are my conclusions on why guitarists can't read music. I started learning with notations (classical and jazz guitar). Than some years later I stopped playing guitar for 2-3 years. When I restarted to play guitar, I learned with tabs and I lost all my reading notions and theory. Later in my life I wanted to relearn how to sight read music sheets. It was a hard learning curve. I'm getting better at it but I still have to take my time. So why I think guitarists can't read music is because tabs exists and they make us lazy. My brain doesn't read the same way when I see tabs instead of notations. I read faster with other instruments than on guitar because I learned them without "cheats". When I learn a song with tabs, 15 minutes later I forgot it but when I learn by reading notation, it stays in my memory way longer. That is my personnal experience with sight reading on guitar.

[@beneunson]

Thank you so much for sharing your story. Really appreciate you drawing from your experience!

[@joshuacervenkamusic327]

One thing I see a lot is when a capo is involved. Where it can get extremely tricky. For example they'll say capo at the 2nd fret. But all the notes are written still written as if we have not added the capo. So the note B will be written but they want the pitch C#. Its written as how many frets you should move up from the nut.

[@beneunson]

Great point! Thanks for watching!

[@ernestdenov3599]

Guilty as charged! I'm self-taught and can read chord symbols and rhythmic figures, but I can't read notes except in slow motion and rubato. I've still managed to make a living playing guitar for 45 years. Now I'm not saying anybody shouldn't learn to read music; I sometimes wish I could. I have developed a good ear and good memorization skills and that has gotten me by. I once played the entire album of Chick Corea's "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" with a 4 piece band and some friends in the audience were shocked that I memorized the whole thing while the other 3 guys were reading it. Well, that's how I roll... not that I wasn't swamped with homework; it was some of the most difficult music I ever had to play! The biggest down side to not being able to read is that I can't play Broadway musicals. I actually could if I had a week or two to memorize a full show, but sometimes the shows are brand new and have never played before. It's not that I love Broadway musicals (I don't), but I could've made a whole lot more $$$ if I could sightread. I'm an old dog that can't (or won't) learn new tricks, especially now that I'm a senior citizen. But if you're on the fence about it; I think you should learn to read music!

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing your insight!

[@ernestdenov3599]

@@beneunson Well I told a small lie about being self taught; I did take lessons when I was 10, but he was a bad teacher and I was a bad student. His "method" was that he'd give me some lead sheets of standards like "The Days of Wine and Roses" and told me to play it for him next lesson. So as soon as I'd get home, I'd have my mom (who was a hobby pianist) play my new charts. She didn't know what I was up to; she was just happy to have something new to play. But I was quickly picking them up by ear and memorizing them, then I'd go to the next lesson and pretend I was reading them. I had him duped for a full year! But he finally figured it out and put a new chart in front of me and told me to read it... and of course I couldn't! So he gave me 2 weeks to get my reading together and of course I didn't and he dropped me. I never took a lesson again after that. I didn't quit playing; I had a band I'd practice with once or twice a week and I'd leave my guitar at the house we practiced at (DOH!). So on the summer that I graduated high school, I admitted to myself that I'd been playing for 7 years and I still sucked! And I practiced with a metronome 7 hours a day every day that summer. Taught myself the modes (though I didn't know what they were called) and whole tone and diminished scales, etc. Everything I could think of except learning to read. Within 5 years, I was in about 8 or 9 bands playing all sorts of musical genres and lots of original material. Sorry for the long post! BTW, I have your albums (I discovered the older one 2 weeks ago), Ben. I dig them a lot; you're a great player!

[@knoton3747]

I play in the pit for community theaters. Lots of gigs over the years. It opened doors for me and introduced me to some of my best friends. Entirely due to being able to read. Not even sight-read. You get to study the score before ever showing up.

[@beneunson]

That's fantastic! Thanks for sharing

[@tsot9837]

I learned to play classical guitar in college. We didn’t use tabs. Notation included fingerings and strings so you knew where to play the notes. It seems now most guitar music is tabbed, but with programs like Guitar Pro. You have a choice to have tablature, notation or both. I prefer notation because tabs don’t always have a defined rhythm. I like to learn by ear, but I need help with the more complex music.

[@erik9817]

My biggest issue with learning sight reading is that I question myself so much (whether I played the right note). Thanks for the violin notation tips, I'll consider buying violin sheet music.

[@partimentoguitar]

#2 is probably the most crucial. As a classical guitarist, I’m constantly reading new music. Because lots of musical patterns come up all the time, sight reading a lot of music reinforces how the left hand fingering goes. So, even though there’s lots of ‘possible’ solutions, I’ve engrained what the most probable solution is. It doesn’t fix the problem, and really complicated counterpoint throws a wrench in it a bit, but I can sight read most classical pieces at sight now - even pretty hard stuff.

[@beneunson]

Thanks so much for sharing your insight!

[@theguitarnoobph]

Am a guitar player but just started learning sight reading on bass guitar. So bass clef. Hahah. The book is by Jeff Berlin. Thanks for this video. On point.

[@MarkFromHawaii]

Great video to inspire me Ben. Beat subdivision is my kryptonite. What helps me is to listen to a recording and then transcribe it. I’ve found Musescore to be a great tool for notation and learning. Hopefully if I can discipline myself to transcribe a bit every day, it’ll rub off on me and help with my sight reading.

[@beneunson]

Beat subdivision is a great thing to be aware of when reading! Transcribing every day is a great idea!

[@Dreyno]

I would suggest another couple of reasons. Firstly, when learning contemporary music, you’re usually learning something written by someone else who doesn’t read music so things are often very random. There isn’t the same conventions that many other types of music have. Another is that guitar involves an incredible amount of techniques. A 10 second solo can involve pre-bends, hammer ons, pull offs, pinch harmonics, right hand muting, heavy vibrato, unison bends, raking etc. all in those few seconds. Standard musical notation can’t represent those things and even tabs doesn’t fully. And the last reason is that, unlike classical music, for example, we have the definitive version recorded. If you play Mozart, you interpret the music. Every recorded version of it is an interpretation. When you play a solo by Jimmy Page, Larry Carlton, Slash, Jeff Beck etc., we know exactly how it was supposed to sound. You can do it your own way and some would say you should, but if you’re trying to play it as it was recorded, standard musical notation can’t be more than a rough guide. All those little techniques that standard musical notation can’t show. Most guitarists I know use musical notation for orchestration. For writing pieces for other instruments or working with an orchestra. They mostly wouldn’t use it playing with a band and definitely aren’t comfortable enough to sight read it. I used to be able to read music as a kid because I played piano but I switched to guitar in my teens and found I gradually forgot how to read it because there really wasn’t a good reason to do it. I regret that I let it slide and have been meaning to relearn it but it will never be to the level of sight reading it.

[@beneunson]

Great points, thanks for sharing!

[@bassyey]

I have the same level as you, as long it's a regular time measure, quarter and eighth notes are no problem. Maybe I'm good at swing because it's easily recognizable on a music sheet, if written deliberately. Another way to improve your reading is to transcribe and write! I cover songs and transcribe every song I learn myself. In 30 minutes, you'll have staff memorized.

[@Eidosgod]

I believe is a matter of constant use. When in back in college I learned to sight read in months. 3 to 6. However I cannot do it now because I dont use it. A flutist and a violinist use it every time because they mostly play in symphonic orchestras. Also composers uses it too.

[@zerikaz55]

This is my obligatory engagement because guitarists should take an interest in sight reading and using sheet music. Tabs and cheat sheets are great, but sheet music communicates everything they fail to, and enables us to create and communicate with other musicians in vivid detail.

[@dan_kay]

Guitarist here. We can read. Whenever it says G5, we play a G5, and when it says A5, you guessed it: A5 it is. Anything beyond power chords is jazz, and nobody likes jazz.

[@grzegorzklicki8983]

Yes, for guitarist scores don't have a one way to playing; hence this one the the same scores writing can be play on guitar neck on harder / easier manner , can be playing in differnt sound's color etc... Using scores on guitar is more challange compare to many others instruments. But the most challange issue in this subject is rythm interpretation... We must remember that in the scores there is not only sound's writing, but also the rythm... Try to play any piece of music without heard it before - you will know what I'm talking about.

[@cooldebt]

@0:03-0:06 was one of the most beautiful licks I've ever heard 💖

[@beneunson]

So glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!

[@cfrost87]

I can read the treble staff for singing or piano, but I'm learning to play the violin and that is a whole other story. Learning where the notes are on the fingerboard of a violin is different.

[@RobertWGreaves]

I started out on a coronet in the fourth grade. Within a week of learning how to blow through the mouthpiece and play with the valves I learned what the cornet could do. I went to lessons at the elementary school where several of us were learning to play the cornet at the same time. My problem was that, the moment I heard the music piece played correctly, I already knew how to play it. And so the sheet music meant nothing to me. I played the coronet for 2 years in the school band. I played in the school concerts and knew my parts, I even performed solos at assemblies with the sheet music in front of me which I actually ignored. There were times when my music teacher suspected what I was doing, but he never knew for sure and I never confessed. In high school I switched to the saxophone. The same thing happened. As soon as I became familiar with the saxophone and knew what I was supposed to play, I could simply play it by ear. I played the saxophone for another year in the high school concert band but never learned how to read music. The best I could do was every good boy does fine and FACE and wait until I heard someone else play it correctly. That was when I switched to the guitar. Everything I played on guitar I played by ear. When I was in high school, my sister started taking piano lessons. My parents bought a piano, and I could hear my sister with her teacher struggling with her lessons. I got into the bad habit of after my sister was done practicing her lessons, I would then go to the piano and play her music lessons without any of the sheet music, all without practicing. It’s so discouraged my sister that my parents forbad me to touch the piano. After a few years, my sister quit the piano, and my parents allowed me to play the piano. So the first thing I taught myself to play was Bridge over Troubled Waters. I am now 72 and retired. I’ve worked as a recording session musician and a producer. I also taught sound engineering at a local college for 15 years. There were several times when I had to write out the music I was producing for various other musicians. So I bought Finale and kept it up to date. At first I was doing a lot of the every good boy does fine thing. I also had to tap a pencil on the table to decide what value of note I needed. It took me quite a while to write out the music. But I finally got to where I could write out the sheet music and other musicians could read it and play exactly what I intended. With MIDI it was even easier for me to play my MIDI controller to the click track and then just print the resulting staff view. Today I can write the sheet music I need to, but I still cannot read it and play guitar without all kinds of stoping and thinking. I bought a few scores for classical guitar. And it was still the same problem. As soon as I knew what I was supposed to play, I just played it. So at 72, I have decided it is not worth trying to learn to read sheet music. And in case you were wondering I am no faster trying to read TAB either. I use it just to help with difficult passages like learning Cliffs of Dover, but once I learn the piece, I just play it from memory. Seeing the sheet music can help me with the rhythm, but I just ignore where the notes are on the staff.

[@beneunson]

Fantastic insight, thanks for sharing!

[@rossthemusicandguitarteacher]

I don't regret being a good sight reader and it is even more powerful if you have strong theory fundamentals

[@CentrifugalSatzClock]

If the world all listened to my compositions and watched me play you'd be making videos titled "Why are guitarists so good at sight reading?"! I've always LOVED reading music on the guitar. The instrument makes simple things hard but that's no impediment! Know your notes by heart all over the fret-board. It really helps in hundreds of ways and settings. Great video!

[@beneunson]

Absolutely, thanks for watching!!

[@evangoodrow]

The 3 reasons aren't necessary, just something like #2 -It comes down to a massive amount of decision making that has to happen in real time to work effectively. That comes down to "available brain load" and it's something that has to be crucially worked out, unless you're in the 1% that can simply do it with no effort. Many of the guitar greats that were creative genius didn't read at all, so there may be a hint in there that the master of something like guitar sight reading is oppositional to the operations of a creative imagination in playing.

[@bobpanczak6728]

Back when I was a kid learned by site reading. As I branched away and played on my own and in garage bands broke away and started playing chords. Found sheet music was inadequate in terms of guitar leads and stopped reading. Pay bu ear know Been playing over 50 years.

[@yellownoiseclub]

you have to know all the notes on the fretboard which is way harder than on other instruments. and then the same note at the same pitch can be played in many positions also, before you say but its hard to know all the notes on the violin or trumpet etc, but those instruments are traditionally taught with sheet music so you grow up learning that, but guitar is taught more casually. also when u learn scales and chord, you only learn one shape and move it up and down so u don't actually learn the names of notes, just the root, but for piano example, you have to know which notes you are required to play and where they are

[@hisproperty1438]

G'day Ben, The answer to your question is yes, guitarists should read sheet music. The main problem with guitar tablature is that it doesn't include timing or rests, which is what changes notes into a melody. I learned to read sheet music at guitar lessons that I took in 1985. I had to stop taking those lessons in 1988, and have lost the skill of reading notation. Now, I want to take music lessons again, and regain that skill. I think that you failed to mention that whilst a note might be played in many different positions on a guitar, the tone of that note changes with those positions. Another example of note positions on guitars arises due to the guitar's tuning. My music teacher transcribed Romeo & Juliet (by Dire Straits) for 1 of my lessons, but he transcribed it in Standard C tuning. I only learned last year that Mark Knopfler wrote the song in Open E tuning, with a capo at the 3rd fret. I've been relearning the song recently, & have had to translate my initial transcription to different positions, as well as new chord positions. Finally, when I learned music, my teacher spent the 1st part of my lesson writing out the notation. At that time, the programs and printers to do that job were prohibitively expensive. You can get programs to write sheet music today, but they are still expensive, with an average cost of about $200. For a beginner, that's the cost of a new guitar. That makes tablature popular, because it's free, and easy to use. Thanks for an interesting video. Andrew

[@beneunson]

Thanks Andrew, some great points here. You're absolutely right - the location of where you play a certain note changes the tone completely, and will certainly influence where you play (or read) on the guitar neck. Thanks for sharing your insight, and thanks for watching!