KVR Audio

Capo status · Post by **Capo status** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:22 am

hey guys

Well I decided to wanna learn how to read/Write Sheet Music this year.I Self-taught myself A lot of basics but have never play an instrument before but still would be interested in reading/writing music.

For beginners where do i start ? Do Any one have any suggestions ?

tapper mike · Post by **tapper mike** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:02 am

First choose your instrument. Then take classes

Capo status · Post by **Capo status** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:44 am

tapper mike wrote:First choose your instrument. Then take classes

you earn 5 points for that quick suggestion but is there a "shortcut" around this? like teach myself how to draw the g-clef , lines etc etc? I didn't know I needed an instrument for this ....

jopy · Post by **jopy** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:23 am

how are you going to "read" this music if you don't have an instrument with which to execute this reading? you could learn to sight sing, in which case your voice would be the instrument, but that would also almost certainly entail taking lessons.

geroyannis · Post by **geroyannis** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:33 am

jopy wrote:you could learn to sight sing, in which case your voice would be the instrument, but that would also almost certainly entail taking lessons.

Also, that would be extremely harder than learning to play an instrument.

I'm curious though, why do you want to learn how to read music but not play even one instrument? What would be the point?

JumpingJackFlash · Post by **JumpingJackFlash** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:48 pm

Capo status wrote:For beginners where do i start ? Do Any one have any suggestions ?

The following may be of some use:
An introduction to music notation -How to read & write music

federu · Post by **federu** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:56 pm

First, learn to read rhythm, then melodies, then harmonies, after that polyphony. No need to use an instrument. We have one built in.

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:58 pm

Capo status wrote: you earn 5 points for that quick suggestion but is there a "shortcut" around this?

I don't believe this particular skill is available as a download yet.

I think it still requires effort.

sorry

Capo status · Post by **Capo status** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:10 pm

Sorry guys I felt I didn't need a instrument. I only use electronic sounds in daw,in this case a electronic piano at the moment so I'm guessing a piano? This just proves electronic instruments can't replace the real thing thanks for the reply fellas.

jopy · Post by **jopy** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:09 pm

Capo status wrote:Sorry guys I felt I didn't need a instrument. I only use electronic sounds in daw,in this case a electronic piano at the moment so I'm guessing a piano? This just proves electronic instruments can't replace the real thing thanks for the reply fellas.

if you're using a keyboard, that's your instrument, and it's every bit as real an instrument as anything else you could think of. it's probably the easiest instrument to match up with conventional notation, since a lot of conventional notation was developed by keyboardists.

jjf always gives good recommendations in this regard, but it never hurts to get a teacher in the early phases so you can start out in the right direction and ask questions if you get confused.

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:04 pm

federu wrote:No need to use an instrument. We have one built in.

If you never used any instrument, you missed most of what happens in the reality of music.

to the OP: you have instruments in your computer and a keyboard controller. That will be 'playing an instrument' if you approach it as such.

I use mostly virtual instruments and everything I write is at the DAW now. But I am convincing to the degree that I understand music from the standpoint of a player in the first place.

No one is so genius they will supercede all the knowledge gained by experience just out of their head.

federu · Post by **federu** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:45 pm

You can sing instead. Less borders between feeling and doing.

skipscada · Post by **skipscada** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:08 pm

federu wrote:You can sing instead. Less borders between feeling and doing.

Far easier to fail to hit the right notes, though.

Clapping rhythms on you thighs is a good start anyway. One hand hits the beat, the other the written notes.

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:55 pm

when I started in music my voice was not reliable nor was my ear. My ear improved by singing back things and determining the intervals and what they meant as far as the song... and the way to proof was by the instrument I was learning, guitar. How does one test 'it's this note' otherwise? By the piano roll? That pressupposes an instrument, the keyboard, obviously.

there are people for whom the voice is a natural talent and that could be a first instrument. I don't know & I doubt that is the position of the OP and it seems like a dodgy piece of advice per the thread, & as if to justify this 'you don't need an instrument' which is frankly dodgy itself.

I think getting reading rhythm is probably the best first move. At any rate I have noticed that for some it's not the first thing taught and that becomes its own problem.

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:18 pm

It's not a bad idea to get the music for pieces that you have recordings of and follow them visually. It gives you some idea of how the music translates to notation.

Beyond that it's really a case of start from the beginning and move on to each next step once you've mastered the previous one.

learning to read Sheet Music