Sight Reading Music for Guitar Players

Today I will admit two things that will probably make you close this blog:

1. This blog won’t teach you how to read music. That’s like saying this blog will teach you karate…too much info for one blog.

2. I’m not a very good at reading music…but if you’re taking the time to read this I’m probably better than you!

But don’t close it yet! I’m going to make the pitch why you need to learn notation if you’re dedicated to guitar and I’ll even offer up a few resources for places to get started.

You know that joke, how do you get a guitar player to stop playing? Put sheet music in front of him? I think this joke should become obsolete! Guitarists need to take responsibility for their musicianship and learn at least basic sight reading to interpret melodies and rhythm. WHY, followers of tablature may ask?

1. Because it’s the language of music. You want to move to another country that doesn’t speak English and go, “Eh…I’ve got my translator book here and the locals speak a little English, so I don’t need to learn another language”? You miss out on a wealth of opportunities, friendship and learning by doing that. Same thing with music, as you’ll attract a higher quality of musician to your circle if you can interpret notation.

2. Don’t even think about trying out for school bands or orchestras knowing only guitar tabs. I know, guitar isn’t a big orchestral instrument, but as the popularity of the instrument continues more teachers are adding it to get students involved in music.

3. Admit it, the ability to hear what a new piece of music sounds like just by playing it is a pretty cool skill to have.

4. I bought a book once on odd time signatures for bass. Opened it up, NO TABS! Fortunately it came with a CD and I had a good ear, but I wasted a lot of time playing that CD over and over, when having reading skills (which I’ve acquired since) would have gotten me to the finish line much faster.

5. Session work? A paying client calls you in, wants a specific part. “Here, check out the music and we’ll start recording in ten minutes.” The music likely won’t be in tablature.

6. A drummer friend calls, “DUDE! We have a gig at an upscale country club tonight. Money! Food! Audience! But our guitarist woke up with the flu! Can you fill in for him?” Your first response might be, “You crazy? I don’t know your songs!” to which he’ll respond, “No problem–we’re just reading charts.” So you go to the gig, read the first chart and bust out the song as if you’ve always been part of the band.

I’ll be honest, I’d probably screw up number six if given the opportunity. My sight reading chops are a tad on the weak side for playing casuals. But if I were given the same charts a day or week in advance? No problem, I could invest a little extra time on the melody and changes without having to drop everything else in my life and show up comfortably prepared. But that’s because reading is among the many goals I pursue in music, along with guitar techniques, bass, singing, recording, film scoring, etc. Other players–perhaps YOU–might only be interested in guitar, guitar, guitar, in which case you could become a first class sight reader and play anything on the spot perfect the first time you play it.

What if you’ve written a tune you need played a specific way? You want to keep calling out the changes as you’re rehearsing it? Let the keyboardist improvise when you have a melody picked out? Nope…you write out exactly what you want so there’s no room for noodling. And be prepared to do the same when a chart is handed to you.

If you’re still reading this far, thanks–especially considering that I’m not going to teach you how to read on this blog! I can’t, ya see. It’s not something you explain in a quick tutorial and presto, you can read. Like normal reading, you need to learn the alphabet, start with See Spot Run and graduate to the grown up literature. But if you’ve got ten minutes to spare check out this cool intro tutorial I found on Youtube that explains how the musical staff works. Go ahead…I’ll wait.

Alright, you’re back. To actually put all the “Every Good Boy Does Fine” stuff to use you need to get a “method” book that starts with easy notation and gradually raises the bar. Here are some of my favorites:

Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method: This is book one of a seven book series. A lot of cheese here, classical and folk, so it might not be your thing. But this is a classic sight reading method that is STILL in print after decades, so that says something about its’ quality and popularity.

Wolf Marshall Guitar Method/Primer: My favorite for introducing students to reading music.

Hal Leonard Guitar Method

A Modern Method for Guitar: This one’s a bit more hardcore, aimed at folks who want a theory AND sight-reading intensive. I’ve never studied it, to be honest, but I’ve heard players like John Petrucci recommend it and I’ve glanced through the pages enough times to put it in my own to do list someday.

There are other method books as well, but the only recommendation there is to avoid sight reading books that also include guitar tab because it’s too tempting to cheat. The above books start with simple scales and melodies, moving into more complex stuff, adding chords, etc. Along the way I’d also recommend a series of books Hal Leonard puts out: Easy Pop Melodies, More Easy Pop Melodies and Even More Easy Pop Melodies. Each of these books has around twenty classic songs from The Beach Boys to Queen to Nirvana, all written out in chart form, basic chords and the singing part translated into guitar notation. You can use these charts in band situations as well if your band wants to tackle cover songs. They’re not exact translations of the original songs, giving you the opportunity to create your own strumming patterns and such without worrying about the complexities of the original parts. Turn The Beatles “Can’t Buy Me Love” into a reggae song, a metal tune, etc. I put on a student concert once and had one of the bands do Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”. They FREAKED when I first handed them the chart, but once I explained this version would involve lots of distortion and wailing they got on board and took it as a humorous interpretation. I fooled them into learning!

From there you can get yourself some fake books, big huge monstrosities with hundreds of songs prepared similar to the Pop Melody books above, basic chords and melody.

The cool thing about sight reading for guitar is that you don’t have to completely master it before you start seeing the benefits. Five minutes a day will sharpen your skills, develop your understanding of rhythm and get you interpreting basic tunes that will inevitably come your way. I had a student once who wanted to learn Jingle Bells and I didn’t have it anywhere in tablature. I found a piano book with the tune and we figured out the melody line (the top row of notes), which is basically the part everyone knows. Saved by the skills!