Is reading music necessary to be good?

[Ben]

Do you have to be good at reading music to be a good guitar player and if so how good do you need to be?

I think you can be a good guitar player without being able to read any music, but reading music makes you a better musician because you can speak the language of music.

Is it sufficient to read tabs only?
I lean towards using tabs and my ear more than the music when learning a new song.

Do you have to be good at site reading or is it enough to slowly pick out the notes?
I learned to "site read" at a low level of proficiency in the region of the first five frets. I am not effective in frets 6-12. I feel the need to improve this. Do you think improving my skill in frets 6-12 is beneficial?

I would like to know your opinion on these questions so I can decide how much effort to put in on it.
I would also like to know your experience level and proficiency on the following simple scale.

Scale
Beginner (You can't play half the songs you want because you have low skill).
Armature (Everyone else)
Professional (You pay the bills this way)

I am an "Armature" with about 7 good years of experience in the past 47.

[Brion]

I don't beleive that in order to be a good guitar player one must be able to read. There are many examples of great players who reportedly could not read. I've always found sight reading for guitar to be very cumbersome due to the layout of the instrument itself. It takes a long time to become proficient at it and to learn it you must do it everyday for at least 30 minutes using different material so that you don't start to memorize the patterns or melodies. Learning to read will probably help you become a better player and certainly won't hurt you any as long as you can spend the time to keep your current abilities up to par.

[tonezoneonline]

I would say reading music has nothing to do with guitar playing.An accomplished pianist can read music very well but probably not play guitar well.
I do believe you need to know a certain amount of music theory to progress as a guitar player.There have been many good guitar
players who don't know how to read or don't know theory but I would bet the majority of the great guitar players know some theory.

[lhallam]

Reading is a vehicle that allows one to play without having heard the music or without having to figure it out by ear. So basically it saves time and also opens up your musical world just that much more.

Can you get along without it? Yes, until you get a call for a big band gig and they throw a chart in front of you that you've never heard before. Section F has a written out gtr solo doubling the sax - uh oh.

Sufficient to read tabs only? Arguable. I say learn both.

Sight reading helps, the more proficient, the easier and faster.

You should know your entire neck, so yes, learn to read past the 5th fret.

How much time should you spend working on it? No less than one hour a week.

Armature or amateur? Regardless, my skill level should make no difference in this topic. I did major in classical guitar and graduated summa cum laude if that gives my feedback any more credence.

Some examples where reading helped me besides in college.
1) Big Band calls - sight reading charts
2) Reading fake books with a jazz quartet
3) Pulling snippets out of books. For example, we did "I Shot The Sheriff" so I pulled out the intro to "Under The Sea" from "The Little Mermaid", read through the line, memorized it and used it in my gtr solo. Another example, got some ideas from Eric Johnson book that I developed. I've been known to steal a line or two from the classical masters.
4) Being band director in different situations
5) Reading through the score of "The Rite Of Spring" during a New York Phiharmonic performance. AWESOME!!!!
6) Writing my own music
7) Teaching parts to others

[rwe333]

Reading music is advantageous for communicating w/ other musicians, particularly those that play other instruments.
More important w/ some styles than others, for example: most jazz players read, many blues/rock players don't...
The ability to read also allows access to a wider range of study materials and/or undergraduate studies. Also aids in the comprehension of time/key signatures, rhythm...
Not mandatory to be a good player, but - like everything - the benefits will only truly be revealed once you actually dig in and do it.

[Ben]

Sorry that was amature not armature.

My request for the scale below was not to see if you know what your doing, but to understand the point of view. I expected the professions may get some music thrown at them and need to be able to learn it quickly.

Similar to lhallam's post.
"Can you get along without it? Yes, until you get a call for a big band gig and they throw a chart in front of you that you've never heard before. Section F has a written out gtr solo doubling the sax - uh oh."


Scale
Beginner (You can't play half the songs you want because you have low skill).
Amature (Everyone else)
Professional (You pay the bills this way)

[Old Tele man]

...to be GOOD? NO!

...to be VERSATILE? Yes.


...yes, I sight-read Notation as well as Tabulature.

[trisonic]

Paul McCartney can't read music to save his life.
Would he be better if he could?

Best, Pete.

[Mark C]

Couldn't read: SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Wes Montgomery, McCartney, Van Halen etc...

It isn't necessary, but I personally think tabs are one of the worst things that ever happened to guitar in some ways. Reading tab doesn't make you think about notes - it makes you think about patterns and fret numbers which is not music! Learning by ear is a fantastic exercise - basically every great guitar player can play what they hear in their head, just like you learn a language by ear and then later learn to read. In the early days of rock, guitarists had no choice but to learn by ear since there were no transcriptions available.

Reading sheet music can be very valuable to a musician, but it isn't necessary to sound good, as long as you develop your ear to a very high level. It isn't too hard to learn though, and really, everything you learn gives you more of an opportunity to improve as a guitarist, so why not learn to read?

[MickYoumans]

No, I don't think so. Music is more of the ability to take what is in your soul and express it through your instrument, whatever instrument that may be. If you are a professional musician working in the studio environment and having to play a lot of songs you've never heard before, then it would certainly be a handy knowledge to have. Written music is how musicians have communicated through time. The bottom line is if you don't have music in your soul, it doesn't matter how good you can read, it will come out pretty stiff sounding.

[Old Tele man]

...true, but MUSIC and LITERATURE have a lot in common:

...the more literature you read, the more in general you know about LITERATURE...from scientific to historical to fiction to politics!

...the more music you read, the more in general you know about MUSIC...from blues to jazz to rock'n'roll to country!

[Brian D]

Originally posted by Ben
I think you can be a good guitar player without being able to read any music, but reading music makes you a better musician because you can speak the language of music.I think you answered yourself pretty well right there. Basically, anything that you can learn about music or guitar will give you more tools to create and play with.

[landru64]

uh... why don't we define "good" for starters?

[Tom Gross]

Originally posted by Ben
...I would like to know your opinion on these questions so I can decide how much effort to put in on it.

Now this is a valid question. It depends on where you want to go with guitar and what you want to do with it. I guess this is what everybody else is saying, but my point is whether it's worth the effort or not - to you - is an important question. It would be great to read well, a lot of the posts here talk about what it can provide you. But would 6 months working with the tab in sheets of sound make you happier with the results? Would the time spent working with a teacher on something else make you happier? Or would 6 months working on reading, followed by 10 years of playing jazz & classical pieces from standard notation make you happier? That's the real question.

I focus on this aspect because for myself it has helped to be able to take somethings I would LOVE to learn and say - I can't do that right now, maybe someday, but now I'm gonna focus on x.

[AlexT]

It's all important - but this would be my partial prioritized list:

- Practicing/playing
- Theory
- Listening
- Reading

My 0.02

[lhallam]

Originally posted by Ben
My request for the scale below was not to see if you know what your doing, but to understand the point of view. I expected the professions may get some music thrown at them and need to be able to learn it quickly.

Sorry Ben, a constant discussion on this board is weighing peoples posts on their abilities. Sometimes I can be a prick.

rwe333 added a big benefit that I left out:

#8 - reading education books such as "Joe Pass Guitar Style" and Jack Zucker's "Sheets Of Sounds" among others.

BTW - Paul McCartney may not be able to read/write but George Martin (among others) did transcribe the parts he sung for the orchestral members to play. I'd bet Paul wishes he could do it himself and save a step.

[DigitalTube]

I think reading is very important for anyone that wants to make a living as a musician, and it is so simple that I don't understand why alot of people don't take the time to learn.
I wouldn't have my job, if i couldn't read and write charts for the musicians i work with, especially brass charts.
My advice would for everyone to learn it..it really is easier than it looks.
E.B.

[ddavidd]

When you know the song i dont think that its very important to be able to read. its when you are learning the song that it makes things a lot easier. after all the most important thing is to be able to play. if you can only read the music it doesnt get very funny for the audience... or does it?:D

[DigitalTube]

Originally posted by ddavidd
When you know the song i dont think that its very important to be able to read. its when you are learning the song that it makes things a lot easier. after all the most important thing is to be able to play. if you can only read the music it doesnt get very funny for the audience... or does it?:D

Sometimes there are last minute changes, like when you have to play a few tunes just for one performance, it would be a waste of time memorizing it, that's really when you realize how important reading is, it has saved me many times, I sometimes write the charts and tape them to the stage floor, no one in the audience can see it and I get the job done.
E.B.

[jzucker]

Why bother to learn any form of written communication? Helen Keller learned to talk (sign) without being able to read. You don't have to read the written word in order to be able to talk but it sure makes it easier to communicate (this forum for example...)

[Ben]

It looks like this question struck a nerve in both camps.
Thanks to everyone for the responses.

Ihallam - I am not bleeding, so all is well. Your posts are worth the abuse, just keep answering the questions.

In case your wondering, I'm going to learn the remainder of the neck, to at least a low level of proficiency. I don't expect it to make me a better player just a better reader and communicator. At least that way I'll be able to read the music I can't play well. It's better that not playing well and not reading.

[jzucker]

These are always such silly discussions.

Does being able to read the written word make you a better poet? One could argue that art comes from within and that external influences should not matter.

However, as a poet wouldn't it be nice to be able to read someone's poems instead of being limited to oral presentations in order to understand others' work.

[bbarnard]

I'm right in the middle of learning to read. It has not been easy but I'm finding that it is probably filling out my playing more because the songs I'm learning to play to learn to read are "outside" of the normal type of music (blues) that I tend to play. I initiated my journey on reading because my teacher gave me a theory book and it did NOT have tab in it. Thus to really effectively use the book I had to learn to read.

I compare it to learning grammar and spelling/writing. With regard to music, I can communicate like a 5 year old but can only write/spell like a one year old (playing time vs time l been reading music).

Oh and just to stir the pot further, it is SIGHT reading (sight like in eyesight) and amateur (just yanking people's chain here). :D

[TonyV]

for christ's sake what's the big debate about?
How long could it possibly take to learn to read music?
Some people hem and haw about it so much they could have learned how in the meantime.

If you gave it an honest few minutes a day you'll know how in a couple of weeks. Then overtime as you read charts more you'll become a better sight reader. As long as you are consistant in the beginning you will learn it, it's friggin easy.

Now if you want to get serious and notate professionnally you would have to have all the notation rules down but I bet you can write English well enough without being a grammer expert.

Sorry for the rant but I just don't get the big deal so many people make

[KRosser]

I teach at GIT and I hear this ALL the time, mostly because everyone hates their sight-reading classes.

Of course, there I have a built-in answer - "Why pay all this money to come to a school to get information and then ask me what you DON'T need to learn?"

They say Hendrix & Wes didn't...fine, I say. I'm pretty sure from people I've met that knew either of them that they both regretted it.

"But I don't want to be a studio player" is another idiotic response I get. I tell them Brent Mason, one of the first-call Nashville session guys, doesn't read a note, and they think I'm about to agree with them, and then I tell them: yes it's possible to have a career, even a very successful career, and not read, but like Brent, Hendrix or Wes, you'd better be ready to compensate for it in a huge way in another area.

At that point they usually roll their eyes, slump down in their chairs and get back to the sight-reading...

[lhallam]

Originally posted by Ben
It looks like this question struck a nerve in both camps.
Thanks to everyone for the responses.

Ihallam - I am not bleeding, so all is well. Your posts are worth the abuse, just keep answering the questions.

In case your wondering, I'm going to learn the remainder of the neck, to at least a low level of proficiency. I don't expect it to make me a better player just a better reader and communicator. At least that way I'll be able to read the music I can't play well. It's better that not playing well and not reading.

Hey Ben, if you don't know the names of the notes all over the neck, send me an e-mail. I've got a methodolgy for learning the names of the notes that you may find useful.

[Ben]

I can sight read in fret 1-5 ok, at least for the single notes. I have no trouble figuring out what the notes are above the 5th fret. I have the 6th, 5th and 1st strings memorized above the 5th. I can find the other notes in about 2 or 3 seconds per note. I just don't have that read a note, place a finger thing, down when I play above the 5th fret.

Can some one recommend a book or point me to a web site where I can get some music to practice with. I tried some songs but when I know the melody I end up just playing by ear.

[KRosser]

Originally posted by Ben
I can sight read in fret 1-5 ok, at least for the single notes. I have no trouble figuring out what the notes are above the 5th fret. I have the 6th, 5th and 1st strings memorized above the 5th. I can find the other notes in about 2 or 3 seconds per note. I just don't have that read a note, place a finger thing, down when I play above the 5th fret.

Can some one recommend a book or point me to a web site where I can get some music to practice with. I tried some songs but when I know the melody I end up just playing by ear.

I like the Bill Levitt Berklee books, I'm pretty sure they're just called Reading Studies and Advanced Reading studies. "Advanced" really just means the same thing from the 7th position and up. I like them because they do a good job of exploring each position in all 12 keys, they're easily available and pretty inexpensive. I use them myself all the time.

[landru64]

Originally posted by Ben


Can some one recommend a book or point me to a web site where I can get some music to practice with. I tried some songs but when I know the melody I end up just playing by ear.

When I was studying with Steve Khan, he recommended Berklee's Melodic Rhythms book. It's great for sight reading as it relates to jazz keys, rhythm and harmony. The real book is not bad either. Frankly, I think most guitar sight reading teaching is ill conceived. Position-based reading, especially as taught in schools from the lower frets up leads very easily "position prison," "scary zones" and its cousin, "fear of heights" (fear of ledger line reading).

I am very, very fond of Arnie Berle's Sight Reading book as a first step, and also Bruce Arnold's Single String Studies books. They emphasize first learning to read on one string at a time, along the full length of the string. Arnie makes a nice case for this approach, having watched the great session readers do their thing over many years and noting that they seemed to be able to move up and down the fingerboard with great fluency.

Now, this is great for note recognition. Rhythm's another thing entirely... I think that's just about getting experience figuring out rhythms in a wide variety of music and in a wide variety of tempos. David Oakes' (MI) Sight Reading book has a lot of good beginning reading material, too.

[KRosser]

Originally posted by landru64
Frankly, I think most guitar sight reading teaching is ill conceived. Position-based reading, especially as taught in schools from the lower frets up leads very easily "position prison," "scary zones" and its cousin, "fear of heights" (fear of ledger line reading).



All of that is a result of a lazy student and teacher, not position-based reading techniques. There's no better way to address "scary zones" than to isolate that position and do more work reading in it. There's no better way to deal with "fear of heights" than to practice reading music with lots of ledger lines in the 12th position and higher. And my teaching experience has been that "position prison" happens when you're not familiar ENOUGH with the positions, not the opposite. I have, and use, lots of tools for opening up the whole fingerboard and breaking out of position playing. But, as a way of first learning to break down the mystery of the fingerboard, it's a good approach.

Position-based reading is a great place to start reading practice in my experience. All the ills you mention above should be pretty easy to deal with if you do your homework with position-based stuff and then move on to reading things in every direction on the fingerboard and that use the full range of the instrument. But, most of my students aren't ready for that yet.

I'll check out the Arnold Berle book. I'm not familiar with it and knowing of him, I assume it's very good. Since I teach at MI I'm very familiar with David Oakes' stuff, since he also wrote the curriculum I use every day. I think it's very good, but MI is a one year program and any serious student has to keep going much further than that. My hope at MI is that my students leave with the tools to chase after that themselves.

IMHO the real problem with a lot of guitar teaching, not just sight-reading, is a tiny bit of information masquerading as "the whole story" because of lack of long-term follow through by the student, or even the teacher sometimes.

[harryjmic]

Two thumbs way up for Berklee Melodic Rhythms a must own. Learn the tunes in one position (2nd postion for example) then learn them again in another position (7th postion for example). Then learn to transcribe what you read by playing whatever the key signature is and moving the key on the fly. For example take the tune written in F and play it in C. This does a lot for note reading and note to chord relationships. The notes generally don't kill me (except for big stacked chords), it's usually the rhythms that do me in.:eek:

[Old Tele man]

...I advise my students to "...learn how to play each song in EVERY key..." not just the key it was written in!

...how many people "miss" the point that the "professional / horn"-keys of Eb and Bb are, respectively, just a half-step away (down from E; up from A) from the good old familiar "rock-n-rock"-keys of E and A?

[Dave B]

Originally posted by Ben
.....
Can some one recommend a book or point me to a web site where I can get some music to practice with. I tried some songs but when I know the melody I end up just playing by ear.

Another Berklee plug. Expounding upon what KRosser said,

"I like the Bill Levitt Berklee books, I'm pretty sure they're just called Reading Studies and Advanced Reading studies..... they're easily available and pretty inexpensive. I use them myself all the time."

These are good books to practice your sight reading skills, as is their Classical Studies For Pick Style Guitar.

To get a foundation for tackling these, as well as broadening your overall scope as a guitarist, take a look at Berklee's three volume set called A Modern Method For Guitar (by William Leavitt). This series was written specifically for guitar with all new material (no familiar melodies) and is comprised of exercises and concepts to make one a well rounded guitarist, regardless of style.

Arpeggios, inversions, triads, chord-melodies, comping, learning the neck, rhythmic subdivisions, chord forms, right hand development, guitar specific fundamentals, basic theory, etc., are all part of this foundation.

Your sight reading skills will be improved, as will your overall musicianship, allowing you to delve deeper into other areas. They don't really go too heavily into theory here, but you can dig deeper elsewhere.

[JimmyD]

Learning to read music is worthwhile no matter what your skill level is IMO. I wish I was better at it, especially reading rhythms. It definetly opens up additional avenues for you.

You can definetly play without knowing how to read, but why not give yourself every advantage?

Jim

[szango]

Wes montgomery didnt read?? wow, i had no idea.. i find that players that dont read tend to use more simple chord voiceings... wes blows me out of the water!! ive transcribed some of his stuff and at times was stumped trying to figure out the exact way he voiced some chords... never knew..

(well, i guess you can still have a really good understanding for theory... but most that do still can read... )

[enharmonic]

Jimi Hendrix couldn't read a lick of music. If you think that he was good, then the answer is no, you don't need to be able to read...but then it helps if you're from another planet like Jimi was :)

[jzucker]

Originally posted by enharmonic
Jimi Hendrix couldn't read a lick of music. If you think that he was good, then the answer is no, you don't need to be able to read...but then it helps if you're from another planet like Jimi was :)

Agreed about Jimi but what does that have to do with the subject matter? Did Ray Charles lack of sight prove you have to be blind to be good?

[enharmonic]

Originally posted by jzucker
Agreed about Jimi but what does that have to do with the subject matter? Did Ray Charles lack of sight prove you have to be blind to be good?

The subject matter is "Is reading music necessary to be good?"

Did I miss a memo or something? :confused:

[DigitalTube]

I think you can be a great player, and never read a note all your life(some of my favourite players can't read..) especially if you only play your own music, but in the REAL world if you read you'll make life easier for yourself, and the other musicians you work with, I hate it when people assume you can't read when they see you playing electric guitar, so yes I think reading will make you a better and more versatile player, try playing some styles like classical guitar if you can't read, it won't be easy..
just my opinion.
E.B.

[dryland]

Originally posted by lhallam
Hey Ben, if you don't know the names of the notes all over the neck, send me an e-mail. I've got a methodolgy for learning the names of the notes that you may find useful.

lhallem,

Not to horn in here, but I would like to try your method for learning the fretboard. So far I've tried rote memorization with mixed results. I tried to e-mail you but was blocked by the board.
You can e-mail me at ak_lights@yahoo.com

Thanks,

dave

[Bassomatic]

Originally posted by enharmonic
Jimi Hendrix couldn't read a lick of music. If you think that he was good, then the answer is no, you don't need to be able to read...but then it helps if you're from another planet like Jimi was :)

Problem is, we don't know how differently Jimi might have played with reading chops and an expanded grasp of theory. I have a hard time believing these skills wouldn't have added to his depth as a player.

[Dave Orban]

Originally posted by dryland
lhallem,

Not to horn in here, but I would like to try your method for learning the fretboard. So far I've tried rote memorization with mixed results. I tried to e-mail you but was blocked by the board.
You can e-mail me at ak_lights@yahoo.com

Thanks,

dave
Ditto...!

mojo.y@mindspring.com

[lhallam]

Memorize these rules.

Rule #1

Notes go:

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A..etc

Look at this keyboard:

http://www2.freefoto.com//images_d/11/14/11_14_19_thumb.jpg

There is a pattern of three black keys, two adjacent white keys, two black keys, then two adjacent white keys.

The note "A", is the first adjacent white key to the left of the last of the three black keys.

Going from left to right playing only the white keys they go A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A.

When you play a white key and then an adjacent black key, that sound is termed a minor second AKA one half step. For example play "A" and then the next black key to the right you get "A#" AKA "Bb".

Now notice that there is no black key between B and C and no black key between E and F.

That is because when playing a B and then a C the sound is one half step. The same for E to F.

Rule #2

From B to C = one half step AKA minor 2nd
From E to F = one half step AKA minor 2nd
All the rest are whole steps AKA Major 2nd.

In other words, play an A and then a B the sound is one whole step,
B to C = 1/2 step or minor 2nd
C-D = whole step or Major 2nd
D-E = whole step or Major 2nd
E-F = 1/2 step or minor 2nd
F-G = whole step or Major 2nd
G-A = whole step or Major 2nd.

Rule #3

Each fret on the guitar equals one half step.
Two frets on the guitar equals one whole step.

That's it. Based on these rules you can figure out every note on the guitar.

So starting on the low E string (6th string) play an E, then put your finger on the first fret. That note is an F. (E to F = one 1/2 step or 1 fret). Put your finger on the third fret to play a G (F to G = one whole step or two frets).

Here's your homework.

Starting on the 6th string, play open and name the note OUT LOUD. Then play an F, name the note OUT LOUD.

Keep going up the neck playing each natural note (ie. No sharps or flats) until you get the to the 12th fret which is E an octave higher from the open string and name each note out loud.

Now go BACK DOWN the neck and play & name each natural note out loud until you get to open E.

E = open
F = 1st fret
G = 3rd fret
A = 5th fret
B = 7th fret
C = 8th fret
D = 10th fret
E = 12th fret

Do this everyday and within a week or so, you should have it down. Now to find sharps, just go up one fret from the natural note. ex F# = 2nd fret.

To find the flats go down one fret from the natural note. ex. Ab = 4th fret

Test yourself.

Once you get the E string down, start on the next string (5th open A). Figure out the notes using the above rules.

My serious students got the whole gtr down in about 5 weeks (one string a week). Once you learn E, you've got the 1st string.

Note that the pattern repeats from the 12th up to the 21st or 22nd fret. So once you memorize up to the 12th, you've got the rest.

I don't know why my email is blocked. Feel free to e-mail or post if you have any questions.

challam2@juno.com

[landru64]

Originally posted by lhallam
Here's your homework.

Starting on the 6th string, play open and name the note OUT LOUD. Then play an F, name the note OUT LOUD.

Keep going up the neck playing each natural note (ie. No sharps or flats) until you get the to the 12th fret which is E an octave higher from the open string and name each note out loud.

Now go BACK DOWN the neck and play & name each natural note out loud until you get to open E.

--snip---



this is a nice approach: it is similar to that of bruce arnold's single string studies books, except that he organizes the studies by key and the notes are random and rather large steps apart. he emphasizes doing so with a drone (root) note or chord (ear training, built in!) and not looking at the fretboard

single string study dramatically improved my reading! i highly recommend it.

[lhallam]

Originally posted by landru64
this is a nice approach: it is similar to that of bruce arnold's single string studies books, except that he organizes the studies by key and the notes are random and rather large steps apart. he emphasizes doing so with a drone (root) note or chord (ear training, built in!) and not looking at the fretboard

single string study dramatically improved my reading! i highly recommend it.

Sounds interesting. I am a great proponent of ear training.

I was taught this method by the late Jerry Fields from Richmond Va who directly or indirectly affected just about every guitarist in Richmond in the 70's.

The method worked for me and my students who hung around for more than one lesson.

[MrDoty]

IMHO the real problem with a lot of guitar teaching, not just sight-reading, is a tiny bit of information masquerading as "the whole story" because of lack of long-term follow through by the student, or even the teacher sometimes.

hmmm, Im glad I read that Ken.

[Clifford-D]

It looks like this question struck a nerve in both camps.
Thanks to everyone for the responses.

Ihallam - I am not bleeding, so all is well. Your posts are worth the abuse, just keep answering the questions.

In case your wondering, I'm going to learn the remainder of the neck, to at least a low level of proficiency. I don't expect it to make me a better player just a better reader and communicator. At least that way I'll be able to read the music I can't play well. It's better that not playing well and not reading.
When it comes to reading, be aware
there are no repeated notes
in four fret sections up and down the neck. (two whole steps on one string)
Except between the 3rd and 4th string. The tuning thing.

It does make it easier to read when you know there
is only one location to play the note.
As per Mick Goodrick.

Of course this doesn't take technique into account. Reasons for certain fingerings.

So maybe that puts us back at zero???

Maybe it's just one of those trivial points.

[Mike T]

Reading is by no means necessary. Music is sound, not notes on paper. But that said, I find it indespensable.

[JamesHealey]

Couldn't read: SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Wes Montgomery, McCartney, Van Halen etc...

It isn't necessary, but I personally think tabs are one of the worst things that ever happened to guitar in some ways. Reading tab doesn't make you think about notes - it makes you think about patterns and fret numbers which is not music! Learning by ear is a fantastic exercise - basically every great guitar player can play what they hear in their head, just like you learn a language by ear and then later learn to read. In the early days of rock, guitarists had no choice but to learn by ear since there were no transcriptions available.

Reading sheet music can be very valuable to a musician, but it isn't necessary to sound good, as long as you develop your ear to a very high level. It isn't too hard to learn though, and really, everything you learn gives you more of an opportunity to improve as a guitarist, so why not learn to read?

Dispite what Eddie says, he can read music and he plays piano very well sight reading, of that im pretty sure.

As for reading? well it's pretty essential if you want to make a career being a professional musician and you want to do sessions etc.