How to read music  (Page 2/6)

Learning to read music accurately and independently

Common notation

Most people, when they say they want to learn how to read music, are referring to common notation . This is the "notes on a five-line staff" notation that was invented in Europe and has since spread around the world. There are other methods for writing and reading music, and each method has advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages of common notation include:

• Common notation is an efficient way of organizing a large amount of information so that it can be read quickly.
• Because it is so widely used around the world, in so many different musical genres, it serves as a "common language" even among musicians who play different instruments in different genres.
• It does not depend on the instrument. Once you learn how to read common notation, much of what you know will still be useful if you switch instruments or learn new instruments.
• Common notation includes enough information so that you can learn a piece without hearing it. Many other notations leave out crucial information, such as exact rhythms.

The biggest drawback to common notation is that it is a challenge to learn how to read it well. The main reason for this is that it does condense a lot of information into a format that you can read quickly if you are accustomed to it. If you are not accustomed to it, the amount of information that you must decipher in the space of one beat can seem overwhelming. So the hardest part of learning to read music is getting started.

Confusing now, but convenient later

Another part of the challenge is that it is often not clear to beginners whether they are playing the written music correctly. In order to decide, they must pay attention simultaneously to the written music, the physical things that need to be done to produce the notes (such as fingerings ), and the sounds they are actually making. The experienced musician can focus attention where it should be, on the sound, because the reading and the physical effort have become fairly automatic. Inexperienced music readers may be uncertain what kinds of sounds match the written music, as well as having difficulty with listening attentively at the same time that they are playing.

Reading rhythms accurately is particularly difficult for beginning instrumentalists. If you are using the correct fingerings or keys, you may be reasonably certain that you are playing the right pitches. If you are not certain, you can stop to check. It is more difficult for the beginner to be certain whether a rhythm is being played correctly. Also, rhythm is the aspect of music that happens in real time, so the rhythm changes if you stop to check or correct things. Many beginners can easily fall into bad habits such as misreading triple meters or adding extra time for difficult passages, because they are unable to listen critically while they are playing and also uncertain as to how to interpret written rhythms. After a time, the bad habits can be difficult to correct.