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Learn to Read Music on Guitar

A while ago I decided I wanted to learn to read music on guitar. I did this because I think it provides several advantages to any musician regardless of instrument. First I’ll list the advantages to reading music and then I’ll recommend you an excellent and affordable method I am currently using that works great.

  1. Communicate with other musicians. Regardless of instrument, music notation is the only universal music language that any other musician will understand. You can then write down your ideas so other musicians can learn them and you can do the same with their ideas.
  2. Interpret songs without ever listening to them before. Because of the way music notation provides pitch and rhythm, you are able to interpret complete pieces of music on the fly. Imagine how cool it would be to pull off a gig without even knowing which songs you were going to play.
  3. Credibility. The fact that you know how to read music tells people you are better prepared than other musicians because of the work this involves.
  4. Become more flexible. You can adapt to many different situations and genres. This is an invaluable asset for any musician, for example when working as a session player you can go there and play your parts without further explanation.
  5. Interpret pieces arranged for other instruments. Ever heard beautiful violin pieces and thought you would like to play them? Finding good tabs for these is hard, but the music notation is generally available.

Now that you know several advantages to why you should learn to read music on guitar, I want to share with you an excellent method I bought and I’m studying. It’s called A Modern Method for Guitar and it’s released by Berklee Press. This method will not only teach you how to read, but it’ll also develop your theory knowledge, fretboard awareness, and guitar technique.

The method is very well designed and builds skills gradually so you keep using them on every chapter of the book. You will have to dedicate time to practicing, maybe half an hour a day, but I can assure you after going through this method you will be able to read music on guitar. Besides, the fact that it is published by one of the best music universities in the world says it must be good.

Take a look at the reviews on Amazon and buy this book, I guarantee you won’t regret it.

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