Well, in fact I totally agree with you on the rhythm aspect of
reading.
To me, rhythm is the most important and challenging point in
music, and
reading can be of great help. Even in Blues. For example, I've
worked some
Jimi Hendrix licks months ago. He used time exactly like a
Jazzman (a lot
of
syncopated notes combinations). Ear is so important to get the
swing,
which
is usually not present in a formal notation. But reading can make
it much
easier to get all the exact different aspects of note place and
duration.
For such a player, and many others of course, it becomes crucial,
as these
tiny details make the whole difference!
Jerome
www.youtube.com/JersiMuse
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Vern [mailto:jevern@xxxxxxx]
Envoyé : mardi 20 juillet 2010 19:32
À : Jérôme P.
Cc : 'John F. Potts'; bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Objet : Re: [Harp-L] How we learn Blues Harp
This thread seems to assume that the only function of standard
notation is
to record pitches. I posit that about 60% of the value of standard
notation
is to display timing. The timing information is the same for all
instruments including all keys of diatonic or chromatic
harmonicas. For
me,
reading timing is more difficult than reading pitches. Most
systems of
tablature are deficient in conveying timing. Tab also lacks the
helpful
analogy that high on the staff indicates high pitch.
Timing is particularly important where several people are playing
together.
I have observed that people who do not read tend to not hold long
notes
for
their full time value and start the next phrase too soon. The
phrases
"don't
know the score" and "not reading from the same page" come to mind.
Except for a very few fortunate enough to have perfect pitch,
readers of
vocal music do not have a fixed key reference. They learn to
find "do" on
the staff and then see intervals between notes. They learn and
practice
this ability by singing the "do re mi ............" note names in a
technique called relative solfeggio. It occurs to me that since the
intervals are the same on diatonics of any key, this approach
would work
for
diatonic players.
It may be that the timing of blues forms are so simple and easily
memorized
so that reading isn't a requirement. Get into CW or other
genres and it
becomes much more important. That said, how would you record on
paper the
timing of tricky blues riffs so that they could be played by
musicians at
a
different place and time?
Vern
On Jul 20, 2010, at 1:07 AM, Jérôme P. wrote:
I do agree, one of the main reasons of not reading music is
probably that
most of harp players change instrument often, which makes reading a
complicated task, if not impossible.
Comparing this difficulty with the fact that most of harp
players play
Blues
or "Blues derivated music", where music sheet is not so
important, it
renders reading a useless task..................