How Many of You Can Read Music?

[Will 2,215]

I, for the record, cannot.

 

(If another similar thread already exists, I apologize -- I did a cursory search and didn't find any such thread, but I could have missed it.)

[nightscape94 965]

Yup. 

[Loert 2,510]

Yup.

[Marian Schedenig 8,178]

Yup.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Far more pleasurable than reading most words. 

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

I know what the symbols mean, but I'm not competent at translating them spontaneously into sounds.

[Will 2,215]

9 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

I know what the symbols mean, but I'm not competent at translating them spontaneously into sounds.

 

That's actually kinda how I am. Although I don't know what all the symbols mean. 

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

I was remiss in neglecting to apply the same caveat to myself!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Nope. I forgot it long ago.

[Will 2,215]

38 minutes ago, loert said:

Yup.

 

By the way, terrific "The Falcon" transcription. It has all the spirit of the full orchestra version. I wish I played piano... Action music sounds really cool on piano, particularly a rhythmic masterpiece like "The Falcon," which, I must add, is growing on me as a cue every day. When the score came out I wasn't a huge fan, now I have it running through my head quite often. Finn's theme (or whatever it is; some disagree) is so good! 

[Datameister 2,037]

Yes. Not as quickly as I'd like to, but it's gotten better.

[justaguy 68]

I can read (very slowly) pitches, but placing them in time is harder. I also don't know most of the symbols (only most "common" ones I guess). I would say I'm between "Yes" and "No", leaning towards "No" - definitely not something I'm proud of.

[Wojo 2,453]

I've been reading music since 1991 when I learned to play the flute. I've been playing the piccolo since 1998. I like when we sight read music during band practice, though I haven't participated or played for 18 months. But it's just like getting back on a bicycle. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Yep. It says "lalalalala-dadadada..."

[Bespin 8,480]

I was a clarinet player in another life.

[Loert 2,510]

9 hours ago, Bill said:

 

By the way, terrific "The Falcon" transcription. It has all the spirit of the full orchestra version. I wish I played piano... Action music sounds really cool on piano, particularly a rhythmic masterpiece like "The Falcon," which, I must add, is growing on me as a cue every day. When the score came out I wasn't a huge fan, now I have it running through my head quite often. Finn's theme (or whatever it is; some disagree) is so good! 

 

Thank you for the kind words. Capturing the spirit of the orchestral version was something I tried very hard to do when writing the transcription. And yes, "The Falcon" really is a terrific piece of action writing!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

7 hours ago, Woji said:

I've been reading music since 1991 when I learned to play the flute. I've been playing the piccolo since 1998. I like when we sight read music during band practice, though I haven't participated or played for 18 months. But it's just like getting back on a bicycle. 

Yeah I will just pick up my accordion and I will be back in form in no time.

Reading music is like learning a new language. 

[Bilbo 3,709]

I said yes. I know what everything means but I'm terribly slow at it and don't practice that often. It's not difficult to learn but takes a lot of practice to be able to do it at speed. 

[Wojo 2,453]

23 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

Yeah I will just pick up my accordion and I will be back in form in no time.

Reading music is like learning a new language. 

 

Well if you last played the accordion twenty years ago, or last touched a bicycle twenty years ago, then of course it might very difficult to get back into it. I used to do backwards somersaults as a child but I no longer remember how. The fear of my fat body breaking my neck stops me. 

 

Music is definitely its own language. It's Italian, it's math, rhythm, counting, breath control, timing,and communication.

[Bespin 8,480]

It takes courage to publicly admit having played accordion.

 

Respect.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Bilbo says it's not difficult to learn. But for me it was very challenging. I had to work very hard at it. My sister who is fluent in 4 languages had no trouble, she reads and plays the flute and clarinet well.. I hoped I had retained enough reading skills when I got my baby grand and I had some. But I knew I was not going to put in the time to get better. I admire all of you who play.

[Jay 37,322]

Nope, not even a little bit.

 

Wish I could, though.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

38 minutes ago, Bespin said:

It takes courage to publicly admit having played accordion.

 

Respect.

My father loved polka music. He demanded I learn to play. I did. I didn't hate it. I figured if I could carry and play the accordion I was strong enough to put someone in there place. Plus the accordion is a gateway instrument. It leads to piano playing. 

[Wojo 2,453]

I almost bought one on auction for $40.

[Jilal 569]

59 minutes ago, Jay said:

Nope, not even a little bit.

 

Wish I could, though.

 

Why don't you try and learn to? It shouldn't take that much time for anyone frequenting these forums.

[Jay 37,322]

At some point once we get settled into the new house I might finally get off my ass and learn how.  My life is way to busy right now.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

You'll never learn properly unless you're a child. Once you reach 10 and you haven't begun yet, your life is over!

[SafeUnderHill 205]

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

5, then!

[Bespin 8,480]

2 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

My father loved polka music. He demanded I learn to play. I did. I didn't hate it. I figured if I could carry and play the accordion I was strong enough to put someone in there place. Plus the accordion is a gateway instrument. It leads to piano playing. 

 

It's funny you talk about polka, that's my favorite dance!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

40 minutes ago, Bespin said:

 

It's funny you talk about polka, that's my favorite dance!

My dad's too. I could play oompapa tunes.

[Bespin 8,480]

Even John Williams recorded some polkas. So it mean something.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

Maybe I could decipher it given enough time and a dictionary.

But I think I'm better with Latin and Ancient Greek, which I studied many years ago (and forgot almost all about by now).

 

So effectively: Nope, haven't the foggiest on reading music.

Good thing I have no need to either.

[Datameister 2,037]

Sheet music is essentially just a graph of pitch as a function of time, with additional symbols and words that augment factors like speed, volume, and playing techniques. IMO, it's significantly easier to learn than a foreign language, although actually getting fluent - i.e., being able to read music and hear it in your head as easily as you'd hear words - is a task that continues to elude me.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

That's the part that is precisely the same as linguistic learning.  What do these visual things mean sonically and how do I internalize them without needing to sound them out audibly (or in the case of music, play them on an instrument).

[Datameister 2,037]

Fair enough. It's a pity that part has always been so tough for me. I can read rhythms very fluently, but it takes me a moment to internally work out what's going on as far as pitch goes. (Which is funny, because I read written words unusually quickly, and I've got a pretty decent musical imagination - I can hear collections of notes and their relationships quite well in my head.)

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Even after more than 20 years of reading music, I still don't exactly "hear" the most dense harmony or counterpoint.  It's more just a feeling.  I know there's a particular quality to it.  And the same happens when I'm writing.  I know sort of what a particularly gnarly chord looks like and feels like, and I just fill in the notes that seem to fit.  It's not always that I'm hearing something precisely and then writing it down just as precisely.  But, I've found that not fighting that and not constantly resorting to a piano to work things out is how you get freshness and spontaneity.

[Datameister 2,037]

That makes sense to me, and lines up somewhat with my own experience, although what I'm hearing internally is probably a few diopters blurrier than what you're hearing. Even simple melodic lines just take me a hair too long to work out, especially when accidentals are involved. That's part of why for recreational piano playing, I've always preferred playing by ear. I'm much quicker and more fluent with that. Play me a simple ditty that's short enough to remember, and I'll be able to play it back to you on the first try. Give me the same thing in sheet music form, and...well, I'll get there, and possibly with greater accuracy, but it'll take me longer.

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

After five years of piano lessons at school, my teacher looked at me during one lesson, somewhat aghast, and asked "Are you playing this from memory?" Until that moment, I hadn't realised that I was using my memory any more than a typical tutee, and the tutor hadn't realised that I was taking in hardly any information from the score after the first read-through. From then on she tried forcing me to look at the page and not at the keys, but I wasn't very interested in either playing the piano or reading music at sight and gave it up shortly after that...

[Datameister 2,037]

My poor piano teacher would always tell me, "You're playing what you think it should sound like. Let's try playing what's written."

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Yup.

 

5 hours ago, Datameister said:

 i.e., being able to read music and hear it in your head as easily as you'd hear words - is a task that continues to elude me.

 

Dude, there are apps to help you do that these days. 

 

5 hours ago, TheWhiteRider said:

Even after more than 20 years of reading music, I still don't exactly "hear" the most dense harmony or counterpoint.  It's more just a feeling.  I know there's a particular quality to it.  And the same happens when I'm writing.  I know sort of what a particularly gnarly chord looks like and feels like, and I just fill in the notes that seem to fit.  It's not always that I'm hearing something precisely and then writing it down just as precisely.  But, I've found that not fighting that and not constantly resorting to a piano to work things out is how you get freshness and spontaneity.

 

When I used to do 3D modeling or drawing and the like on a more regular basis I got very adept at being able to visualize something in my head and then trying to recreate it on the page or in a 3D space. 

 

But the more experienced you get, the more you realize the brain as a creative engine is actually counterintuitively more conservative and limiting than the physical world. It's constantly trying to make things fit into its sum of experiences. My most creative work tended and tends to be when I have a "sense" or "suggestion" in my head. I have rough ideas, and all the shapes and forms seem like a blurry suggestion in flux.  Then you start fiddling about with ideas, at a physical, mechanical layer and find new interesting stuff.

Muscle memory is easy to overcome. You can train yourself out of habits with a pencil or piano. You turn your paper upside down, work in a mirror, etc. But the brain? The brain is a beast of a trap. It's unbreakable some days. This is probably why LSD is so profound for artists...it shatters your brain's "MUST MAKE SHIT FIT INTO WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE REALITY/CORRECT" filters, censors, and oppressors. 

[Will 2,215]

I used to play violin, but the program I was in was focused on playing by ear, so letter note-names (A, E, etc.) and reading music in general were things that were touched on but never covered in detail. 

[Gnome in Plaid 219]

9 hours ago, TheWhiteRider said:

Even after more than 20 years of reading music, I still don't exactly "hear" the most dense harmony or counterpoint.  It's more just a feeling.  I know there's a particular quality to it.  And the same happens when I'm writing.  I know sort of what a particularly gnarly chord looks like and feels like, and I just fill in the notes that seem to fit.  It's not always that I'm hearing something precisely and then writing it down just as precisely.  But, I've found that not fighting that and not constantly resorting to a piano to work things out is how you get freshness and spontaneity.

I'd say that's about where I am.  I'm better when it comes to pitch than rhythm.  For as long as I've been in choirs, I remain terrible at sight-reading rhythms without some help.

[KK 3,307]

Yup.

[Brónach 1,301]

I can understand what I'm looking at unless it's something very weird, but I can't hear it in my head. Looking at multiple lines is sort of meaningless, I focus on only one. Chords also become meaningless. 

[Jilal 569]

I'm pretty ace at sight-reading for a single staff instrument (both rhythm- and pitch-wise) as I played the oboe for about a year, never practiced and was thus forced to sight-read in class (), but it tends to get a bit tricky when sight-reading piano scores. It all depends on how well the score is prepared, really. I'd often drop more theoretically correct notation for notation that's more intuitive and easier to read.

[Will 2,215]

Does anyone who does NOT play an instrument know how to read sheet music (not necessarily fluently, but at least enough to find looking at sheet music interesting)? 

 

I've been reading a few theory pages online. Not really sure how serious I am about learning this stuff yet, but we'll see how it goes and when I have time. 

 

Anyway, bottom line is that I used to play violin but now can't play any instruments (well, maybe I could still sort of play the violin, but I don't have it anymore anyway).  

 

But do any of you stand as living evidence of the possibility to understand some music theory without actually being able to play an instrument?

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

My wife has played several instruments over the years, but not for some time. She's become far more fluent at reading music since then. There is certainly no requirement to be an instrumentalist.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

1 hour ago, Will said:

Does anyone who does NOT play an instrument know how to read sheet music (not necessarily fluently, but at least enough to find looking at sheet music interesting)? 

 

I've been reading a few theory pages online. Not really sure how serious I am about learning this stuff yet, but we'll see how it goes and when I have time. 

 

Anyway, bottom line is that I used to play violin but now can't play any instruments (well, maybe I could still sort of play the violin, but I don't have it anymore anyway).  

 

But do any of you stand as living evidence of the possibility to understand some music theory without actually being able to play an instrument?

 

Do you count voice as an instrument? It's something you already know how to use, and I'd argue it's the most important tool for any musician. You can truly internalise pitch and even rhythm if you use your voice in tandem. I've played piano for 16 years but it wasn't until I started using my voice for sight singing/rhythm reading that I was able to read fluently. 

 

It's like learning to read a language without physically speaking it. You can do it, but it'd probably take far longer without the extra reinforcement that the physical activity contributes.

[Giftheck 916]

I've not learned the musical scale yet though I understand the terminology and I understand the way notes are written denotes how to play them. So I'm midway between 'yes' and 'no'.