Re: Reading music

["Robert Paparozzi" <chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

      Reading isn't imperative to be a great musician, I think I was making
some great music, before I could read a note 25 years ago. I did however get
frustrated at rehearsals when I wanted to show the band new tunes and I had
to resort to humming the groove or melody and stomping my feet to show the
drummer the beat I wanted. I think when you decide to play with others
professionally, you owe it to yourself as well as the rest of the music
world to learn the "language" of music....here's a recent example:

Last week I got back from a tour of Japan, on the last two nights of our
Tokyo engagement, our Special Guest ( Eddie Floyd), had to leave early for
the States and it was decided to to bring in a Famous Japanese Rock Star
(Kyoshiro Otawano) for the last two nights to play with our band (The
Original Blues Brothers Band.)

 He brought in charts for 3 of his songs and we read them down at a
rehearsal on the afternoon of the gig....and it all sounded great and the
process of "reading" saved the gig!!!!  Attemping to try to pull this off by
memory on such short notice would have been a disaster for sure.

         There was NO problem of lacking any SOUL, we had Steve Cropper &
John Tropea on Guitars, Lou Marini on Tenor Sax, Alan Rubin on Trumpet and a
full band of players that not only "Grooved" but got the job done on time!

     The point is, not everybody is at the same level of reading
proficiency, but a common core and Knowledge base is imperative if we are to
commuicate with other musicians, in this case the Rock star spoke hardly any
English, but it didn't matter....his charts were in a language we all
understood.,-)!!

     OK, harp content! Kyoshiro played a solo on diatonic on one of his
tunes...he played one of my Lavoie Vermont Maple Harps and "Loved" it!
..........love & peace...rob paparozzi


- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Hunter" <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harp-L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 10:16 AM
Subject: RE: Reading music


>
> The reading debate has degenerated to the point where people are being
> told that non-readers are kiddie punks.  This is untrue.  Non-readers
> are musicians -- sometimes very talented -- who lack a certain skill.
> That's all.  The issue isn't about who can play and who can't.  The
> issue is that the lack of this skill in particular can have big
> professional consequences.
>
> If you want to get as much work playing your instrument as you can, in
> as many different styles of music as possible, learn to read.  You're
> not going to get called as frequently for studio gigs in particular if
> you can't read.  Rob Papparozzi says that 30% of his studio work
> involves reading.  Do you want to give up 30% of your gigs?
>
> If you only want to play one style, and all the people you're ever going
> to work with in that style don't care if you can read or not, then maybe
> you don't need to read.  But be careful; you never know when the big gig
> with the big player is only available to someone who can read.  Big
> players don't like to waste time in rehearsals, and it's a waste of time
> and money to teach the harp player all the parts, note by note, while
> everybody else stands around collecting their salaries.
>
> I prefer to get as much work as I can, to do the job quickly and well,
> whatever it is (so I get called back for the next job), and to play as
> many different kinds of music in my lifetime as I can.  That's why I
> read.
> Ask yourself what your goals are, and act accordingly.
>
> Thanks, Richard Hunter
> http://www.hunterharp.com
> Turtle Hill Productions
> turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
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