Should I learn to read music?

The question, “Should I learn to read music?” almost certainly crosses every new guitarist’s mind sooner or later. It’s easy to assume that all the great players read musical notation. But do they? And you should you make the effort to learn yourself?

Well, let’s first start with a definition to make sure we’re all talking about the same thing.

What is musical notation?

You can think of musical notation as any organized system of written symbols that document the way a musical piece is to be played. A musician can read and interpret musical notation in order to accurately reproduce the music as it was written down by the composer. Modern western music uses a very specific system that has developed over hundreds of years to indicate note pitch, note length, the space between notes, and more.

Do you need to learn to read music?

Before we talk about whether you should learn to read music, let’s discuss the question of whether you need to learn to read music. It’s a subtle but important difference between those two questions.

Many of us have gone through the band program in our public middle school or high school. Undoubtedly if you did, someone tried to teach you to read music. Likely with varying degrees of success.

You were basically taught that in order to play your instrument, you need to learn to read music.

Unfortunately, you probably remember little of it now if you’re an adult. In fact, you very likely forgot how to read it as soon as you no longer had to use it in band practice. You probably also forgot how to play that trombone, but that’s a different issue.

And now, here you sit trying to learn to play guitar. You’ve been taught that the ability to read music is a must. But is it?

The simple answer: no. You can absolutely become a great musician without knowing how to read music.

How can I learn guitar if I can’t read music?

I’ve talked in different articles about the patterns on the guitar. And I’ve discussed music theory to some extent. If you master those concepts and others, you can become a truly accomplished player without ever reading a single note of sheet music.

You can learn to play guitar at a basic level with basic chord shapes. Scale patterns help you understand the instrument. You can master the pentatonic boxes and develop great lead guitar skills.

Hang out with more accomplished guitar players who are willing to tolerate someone who’s learning. You can take lessons from a teacher who might not even know how to read music herself. That won’t make her lessons any less valuable to you.

In reality, you have so many different ways that you can learn guitar without the need to learn to read music. Nothing I’ve taught in any of the articles on this site relies even in the slightest on the ability to read music.

You can learn literally everything you need to master in order to be a great guitarist even if you can’t read a note of music.

Do all great guitar players know how to read musical notation?

OK; but what about the really great guitarists? Surely they must know how to read notation, right? Well, there’s an old joke about guitar players:

Q: How do you get a guitar player to stop playing so loud?

A: Put sheet music in front of him.

Sometimes old jokes ring very, very true.

Of course, it’s not true about all guitarists. Many guitarists can most certainly read musical notation fluently. But I’d venture to guess that most of those are not blues, rock, pop, country, or folk guitarists!

The truth? Most guitarists probably read a little bit of musical notation. They might be able to pluck out the melody based on what’s on the written page.

But they can’t really read sheet music. Not in the sense of a classically trained musician who can sit down with a piece of musical notation for a number they’ve never played or even heard before and play it flawlessly based solely on what they read.

You simply do not need to learn to read music in order to learn to play music. You can master your instrument–any instrument, but certainly the guitar–without the ability to read a single note of musical notation.

Has any guitarist become successful without reading music?

Not convinced? Here is a list of 10 guitarists you may have heard of who do/did not know how to read musical notation fluently:

• George Harrison
• Eddie Van Halen
• Jimi Hendrix
• Robert Johnson
• Eric Clapton
• Elvis Presley
• Doc Watson
• Taylor Swift
• Bob Dylan
• Slash

Now, I purposely picked some players for that list who you wouldn’t consider primarily guitarists. No one thinks of Taylor Swift or Bob Dylan as guitarists first, and many people might not even know that Elvis played guitar at all.

On the other hand, some of those names are considered among the most talented guitarists ever.

I wanted to give a bit of a cross section of guitarists so hopefully you find one that matches the playing level you aspire to.

The point? No; all great or famous guitarists do not read music.

Does it help to learn to read music?

Now before the music purists get too angry with me, I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn to read music along your guitar journey. I’m merely pointing out that you don’t absolutely need to learn to read music.

But the ability to read music does help you as a musician. As with the classically trained musician I mentioned above, the ability to read musical notation enables you to understand and interpret a piece of music that you’ve never heard before.

That’s most definitely a great skill to have. You will never regret possessing that ability.

And if you aspire to be a professional musician who can sit in with a group on a moment’s notice, the ability to read music could be indispensable.

When you get the call and you show up at the studio, it might not be enough to simply have your guitar in hand. You won’t know what you might be asked to play. And if the client hands you a piece of music and says, “Play this,” they’ll be showing you the door pretty quickly if you say, “Well, I never did bother to learn to read music.”

That’s not to say you could never be a hired gun without the ability to read musical notation. Plenty of jobs might be out there in the right situation. But if you plan to make a living at that, the ability to read music will give you one more valuable aspect that can become another income stream.

So, don’t get me wrong. I said you don’t need to learn to read music. I didn’t say you shouldn’t learn to read music. Big difference.

So, should I learn to read music or not?

Well, I guess I already answered that question above, at least for those of you who want to be session musicians. But what about the rest? Should you learn to read music?

My answer: yes you should.

Now before you freak out too much about the work that’s going to take, let me qualify my answer. You should learn to read music at least to some extent.

I leave it to you to decide for yourself what that extent should be. But a basic ability to sit down with a piece of sheet music and work out the melody at the very least can only help you.

And honestly, it doesn’t take that much effort to learn some very basics.

For most of us, becoming an expert reader just isn’t important. You’ll be better served if you spend the time to study your instrument. But a little ability to read goes a long way.

So, I’ve given you the general answer, and I stand by it. Learn to read music at least a little bit. But it’s up to you to answer the specifics for yourself.

Consider your goals as a guitarist. Maybe you simply want to strum through some basic cowboy chords so you can lead a singalong around the campfire. Your need to learn to read music may be minimal. But the skill can still come in handy.

On the other hand, maybe you want to be able to sit in on a moment’s notice with any band that needs a hot guitarist. Your need to read music may be much higher.

So, yes, I suggest you learn to read music. Only you can answer what level of ability you need to strive for.

Conclusion

The question of whether you should learn to read music differs from the question of whether you need to. You do not absolutely need to learn to read music in order to learn guitar. Many very accomplished guitarists have never mastered that ability.

You can still learn to play the guitar even without the ability to read musical notation. You can learn patterns, chords, scales, and more all without reading music.

Still, you should learn to read music. The ability can only help you. But that doesn’t mean you need to be an expert site reader. You’ll have to determine for yourself the right level to strive for based upon your goals as a guitarist.