Why Learn How to Read Standard Notation?
Many years ago, I took some music lessons–actually about eight years worth of lessons! But they were piano lessons, not guitar lessons. Anyway, I can recall my first lesson, and it was dedicated entirely to learning how to read music in standard notation. It really wasn’t hard, I learned how to do it in under an hour, and I was only eight years old at the time! Since becoming involved in guitar music, I have encountered many players who feel that learning how to read music is really a waste of time, and that players can play equally well whether they can read music or not. There is some truth to this. You really don’t need to read standard notation in order to play the guitar–excepting the classical guitar where a knowledge of reading music is really necessary. For all other types of playing, if you can figure out tab, you’ll be able to play a song. And if you’re really good and have great musical instincts, you’ll be able to figure it out by ear. So, why should any guitar player–pa
