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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
To Read, Or Not To Read
To Read, Or Not To Read
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Old Dog
78 posts
Sep 23, 2010
7:02 PM
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I've been taking lessons for a few months with a very good teacher who is an excellent player. I have no music theory background, and can't read any music. He's teaching me lots of licks, and helping me with my timing, structure, etc. Says I don't need to read music now. The only problem is that he isn't close by, and the commute through Boston-area rush hour traffic is stressful to me, a real pain in the ass.
I've found a new instructor, 15 minutes from my home, who seems to be a very accomplished musician, but I don't think harp is his strongest instrument. Mostly sax and keys.
Here's the thing, though... he wants to teach me to read music, says it will make me a much better player. I'm sure he's right about that, but is it enough of a reason to switch?
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I used to be young and foolish. Now I'm not so young.
Last Edited by on Sep 23, 2010 7:04 PM
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HarmonicaMick
151 posts
Sep 23, 2010
7:46 PM
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I learnt to read music many years before I ever went near a harp. It was part and parcel of learning classical piano.
I've never understood for the life of me why so many harp players seem to be so turned off from the idea of learning how to read the dots. It really isn't that difficult, and most harp books give you enough of the basics to get by. There really is very little you have to absorb in order to understand what's on the page. Off the top of my head, this is about all you need to comprehend:
PITCH
the treble clef
the stave (staff)
middle C
ledger (leger) lines
sharps, flats and naturals
RHYTHM
time signatures
semibreves, minums, crotchets, quavers and semiquavers
their equivalent rests
dotted notes
bar lines
repeat lines
When I was a kid, I sponged it all up in about two weeks. It really isn't that hard.
As for the notion that it will make you a better player. I don't agree with that, not directly. What it will do, depending on how deep your study goes, is give you a better understanding of how music works, to put it crudely.
Lastly, I think that a lot of people confuse being able to read music with being able to sight read music. The latter is an advanced skill that can take years to aquire. The former is something that can be mastered in not all that much time at all.
Compared to learning to play, it's an absolute breeze.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
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RyanMortos
812 posts
Sep 23, 2010
7:52 PM
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My 2 cents:
I'm not sure anyone will be able to tell you whether or not to switch teachers. I know I don't know.
What I do know is that learning to read sheet music will only aid you in what your able to play, what harmonica key you play it on, and what your able to discuss with other musicians. Also if you're playing by sheet music that means you know what notes are on which holes on your harmonica which only can get you closer to the instrument. It certainly won't hurt you. I can also tell you I prefer sheet music to tab.
Personally, I'd go for what your gut tells you but I think you should study with someone who's successful on the instrument you want to be successful with. There's no harmonica teacher within an hour of me that doesn't involve city traffic but I'm not sure how bad your drive is.
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~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Contact:
My youtube account
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Hollistonharper
191 posts
Sep 23, 2010
7:56 PM
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Who's your current teacher? If it's a good one, stick with it and teach yourself some basic music theory. If he's not so good, switch to Annie Raines.
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nacoran
2808 posts
Sep 23, 2010
7:56 PM
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There are some systems for reading music that don't involve the regular key signatures. I keep thinking they would be really useful for a diatonic instrument. You'd only have to learn the hole each line/space corresponded to. It's not to hard to learn the basics, and then after that it's just practice like anything else. I can read music, but not at the same time I'm playing harmonica! I still know how to read the bass clef and play the baritone though, and (I can do it in my head) even although I haven't touched a baritone in close to 25 years. I'd go for it. It's a useful skill.
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Nate
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TNFrank
215 posts
Sep 23, 2010
8:46 PM
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Anyone who's played music for any length of time has an instinctive knowledge of Theory, you'd have to or you couldn't play. It's like speaking English without learning about English Theory, you can speak it but you don't know why you do what you do.
I find that a lot of times when I do take the time to dig into Theory(not one of my favorite subjects) that it's something that I already know but didn't know what it was called. Just like the 12 Bar Blues, I'd been playing that way most of my guitar playing life, I knew about the 3 basic chord changes and how they were structured in a song but I didn't know it was called the "12 Bar Blues". I just knew that it sounded right and that's how it was done.
As far as learning to read sheet music, it won't make you a better player, playing is something that comes from the heart more then the head but it will make you a more versatile player because you'll be able to pick up any piece of sheet music and know what it sounds like in your head by the notes you see on the paper. That WILL give you an edge on people like me who play by ear or by TAB(a form of sheet music) and if you're going to play in a studio you can learn to sight read and play pretty much anything that's put in front of you.
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Harmonicas:
Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb
Hohner Special 20 in Bb
Suzuki HarpMaster in C
Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E,F
Hohner Hot Metal harps in G,A,C,D,E
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Greg Heumann
787 posts
Sep 23, 2010
9:14 PM
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Sure learning to read music will help you, but it isn't necessary to enjoy harmonica. What concerns me more is "but I don't think harp is his strongest instrument."
If you want to learn to be a musician, to read music - maybe switch to this guy. If you want to learn to play harmonica, you're better off with someone who REALLY knows the instrument. You can learn theory any time - its a good thing - but it isn't learning to play harmonica.
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/Greg
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sammyharp
38 posts
Sep 24, 2010
12:22 AM
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To be honest, it really bugs me how many people think that reading music isn't a necessary skill. It's pretty much equatable to being illiterate. You can speak the language, but can't read or write. One can a very eloquent speaker, but the moment someone hands them even something very basic to read, they're lost.
If we're talking about the purely technical side of harmonica, learning to read music isn't necessary. Sheet music doesn't teach you how to bend a note or do an overblow. What it does do is give you a visual reference for what you are creating on the instrument, hence giving you a better understanding of what you are playing, both musically and technically.
I don't mean to be disrespectful to anyone who can't read music. Some of the best musicians of all time couldn't read music. Not learning this skill, however, makes the process a whole lot more difficult.
Last Edited by on Sep 24, 2010 12:23 AM
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WestVirginiaTom
6 posts
Sep 24, 2010
4:12 AM
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sammyharp wrote:
"Sheet music doesn't teach you how to bend a note or do an overblow. What it does do is give you a visual reference for what you are creating on the instrument, hence giving you a better understanding of what you are playing, both musically and technically."
This sums up my feelings pretty well. I learned how to read music many years before I picked up a harmonica, and I think that has aided my development as a harp player. I have a hard time playing tabs that consist of numbers and arrows or +/- signs. I don't get any visual cues for relative pitch or note length. I've been playing harp for a couple years, and I still get confused when I see a 4 with an up arrow follwed by a 4 with a down arrow; in my mind I expect the 4 with the down arrow to be lower in pitch (and of course it isn't). That's why I prefer sheet music that provides both tab and ledger (e.g., David Barrett books). With both, I know what hole I should play, and I also get info on pitch and timing that is missing with tab alone.
As far as which teacher to go with, I suppose it depends on where you want to go as a harp player. If you are striving to approach the professional level, I would suggest learning how to read music early in your development. If you are doing this for kicks, I'd say that learning to read music is far from essential.
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TNFrank
216 posts
Sep 24, 2010
4:23 AM
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Some people have an instinctive ability to play music. Call it a "Talent" call it a "gift" call it what you will but they simply can pick up an instrument and in short order they can make music with it. Most all people have an instinctive ability to listen to and appreciate music. They don't have to know the theory behind "why" is sounds good they just know that it does.
The music came long before the Theory. Theory is only the attempt to try to explain why we like what we do and how the music that we like is structured.
There are other ways to "read" music besides shape notes. Many people(my self included) can read and write in TAB so that I can understand or communicate a musical concept to someone else that can read TAB.
TAB will not cross platforms, i.e. you can't take Harp TAB and play guitar from it and you can't take Bass TAB and play Sax from it but it does give people the ability to write down their musical ideas onto paper and pass them along to others who play the same instrument.
For a Studio Musician reading music is a must, no way around it and you really should be able to sight read too so that you can instantly play whatever is put in front of you. For most of us though playing by Ear works fine. If I can hear it I can copy it and if I can't figure it out, well, that's where TAB comes into play.
If you want to talk about music to other musicians then you need to know theory but if you simply want to play then you just have to have an instinct for it, no theory is needed because really, theory is just trying to explain what we already know instinctively as musicians.
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Harmonicas:
Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb
Hohner Special 20 in Bb
Suzuki HarpMaster in C
Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E,F
Hohner Hot Metal harps in G,A,C,D,E
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MCM545
2 posts
Sep 24, 2010
8:03 AM
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IMO, your best time spent will be working on using your ear. This goes for any instrument.
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Old Dog
79 posts
Sep 24, 2010
9:22 AM
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Thanks, guys, for all the genuine advice. I'm thinking that I'll try the new guy for a few weeks (I prepaid, might as well get something for my hard earned money!), then go back to my original teacher (and the mind-numbing traffic), I'm sure he can teach me to read if I find it's helping me.
@ Holliston, if you want his contact info, get hold of me off list. He's a good teacher.
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I used to be young and foolish. Now I'm not so young.
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bluemoose
315 posts
Sep 24, 2010
9:38 AM
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Do both! Hit the commute once a month, the close guy
for the rest of the month. Consider it "cross training".
But realllly work hard on the once-a-month harp guys stuff to nail it, but bring in the theory/reading to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it.
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earlounge
157 posts
Sep 24, 2010
9:49 AM
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I can read music and this is how I look at it...
The best reason to learn how to read music is to have access to the vast amount of written music. You can learn a lot by playing a piece of music. You can study that composer’s structure, rhythm and harmony.
Reading music is like reading a book. It is not necessary to read music to play music, nor is reading the written word necessary to speak. You will learn more vocabulary from reading books than listening to others speak.
When people speak they usually do not think about the way the words look written down, so logically you probably will not "see" musical notation when you are playing music. I don't even envision TAB when I'm playing.
My opinion on switching teachers depends on where you are at, and if you have harmonica technique down. If you have mastered the technique, then studying music is a logical next step.
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TNFrank
221 posts
Sep 24, 2010
10:00 AM
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Every Good Boy Deserves Cake and FACE are a couple things that I do remember from taking music in school. It was either 4th or 5th grade and we were learning to play the Recorder(the flute deal, not the tape deal.LOL) and they were trying to teach us to read shape notes.
I kind of envy some of ya'll when you start talking in Theory Speak, I know you're conveying some great into to each other but it totally goes over my head.
Still, even with not being able to read music I have had a lot of fun playing it and really for me at my age my dream of "making it big" as a Rock Guitarist is pretty much over. Now I'm just into music for the fun of it. I love to express my feelings thru music, nothing else even comes close. Good luck on the lessons and keep us posted as to how you're doing.
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Harmonicas:
Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb
Hohner Special 20 in Bb
Suzuki HarpMaster in C
Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E,F
Hohner Hot Metal harps in G,A,C,D,E
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barbequebob
1262 posts
Sep 24, 2010
10:15 AM
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As far as sight reading skills go, unless you're doing jazz, classical, or going to be a full time studio session pro, sight reading skills ar far less important now, but learning music theory, which is a seperate, but related skill, is far MORE important and many harp players tend to be clueless and knowing theory, you can far more easily work your way out of a mistake and handle changes that would make the average player just urinate in their shorts in fear over.
Learning to sight read is definitely worth learning, but theory even more. I taught myself theory, a bit of sight reading, tho as far as I'm concerned, it's not quite good enough to be a studio session pro.
When you learn theory, you will no longer perpetuate the stereotype of the harp player being the dumbest musician on the bandstand.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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