GUITAR LESSONS – PLAYING BY EAR OR READING MUSIC?

There are many budding guitar players out there who will swear by one or the other.  I know many guitarists who have learnt to play by ear from the get go and know no other way to do it.  Quite frankly their argument for not learning to read music is valid – “if I can hear it why I should I bother to read it?”

On the flip side there are equally as many guitarists who see reading music as the best way to go.  If you can read the rhythms and understand the music, then you can play better and more accurately.  By having the information in front of you there is no excuse for error.

If you’re interested on my stance on the matter than it may surprise you to know that I favour both.  As a guitar teacher in Aberdeen my job is to give students the greatest freedoms when playing guitar.  I honestly believe through my 20 years plus of teaching that having a good ear to hear music and the skills to read it when required gives you the most freedom any player can realistically have.

My approach when teaching guitar is to start with basic reading.  Even if you choose not to read music notation you still need to understand the rhythm it provides.  You can use tablature or chord boxes to do the rest – it doesn’t have to be taxing. 

Once you have a basic understand of rhythm and technique as well theory (understanding chord progression from a scale, how to work out keys etc.) you can begin to use that to your advantage.  Listening to music as a musician is very different from listening to it as a consumer (someone who just enjoys listening to it).  We, as musicians need to be able to separate the instrumental layers and hear the rhythms.  We need to recognise the chord changes and melodic shifts and we need to be able to pick out the techniques being used. 

If you have a fairly good grasp of reading music and you have the ability to count and recognise different rhythms you’re half way there when it comes to playing music by ear.

As a guitar teacher in Aberdeen it is my job to ensure that you, the student (during your guitar lessons) is able to become an independent player.  You will thank you me for it (I hope) in the long run.  Learning to read so that you can better hear and visualise music is the only way to become a proficient guitar player.  Get reading and get listening!  Keep rockin’.