[Harp-L] Reading or playing by ear.

Tue Dec 20 12:00:30 EST 2016

A few comments regarding some of the recent posts on this topic:

1)  Reading music and playing by ear are not mutually exclusive, any more
than reading English and playing baseball are mutually exclusive.  They're
different and complementary skills.  So "reading OR playing by ear" is a
false argument, full stop.

2)  Learning to read music improves your ability to play by ear.  Why?
Because reading engages a different part of your brain, and that part of
your brain can be brought to bear when you're learning by listening--which
is what "playing by ear" means.

3)  The idea that learning to read makes you a less expressive player is
pure nonsense.  Of course there are players who don't have a lot of
expression in their playing. We've all heard them too many times.  The idea
that it's reading that makes those players so boring is ridiculous.  I've
heard plenty of people who can't play blues with expression, and reading
certainly didn't make them the boring players that they are. Some people
just don't get music, even if they can manipulate an instrument to produce
a sound.  (On a different topic, I find that listening, not playing, is the
first and most important musical skill.  My best students are the ones who
can hear what makes a performance great, even if they don't yet have the
skills to do it themselves.)

3)  There are plenty of situations in life and in music where you're better
off knowing more about what you're doing, as opposed to knowing less.  Most
of my best-paying and widely-heard gigs were available to me because I can
read. And no, I can't produce a good performance of a Prokofiev piano
concerto at sight. I'm not a brilliant sight-reader, but I can figure out
the stuff on the page fast enough to get it done, especially because most
composers don't throw the really heavy stuff at a harmonica player  (One
guy who played keys in Jeff Beck's band said in an interview that after he
sight-read the equivalent of a Prokofiev concerto in a session with the
London Symphony Orchestra, he went outside and threw up. That s--- is not
easy, and I thank heaven that I've never had to do that in a session.)  But
when a producer calls you for a gig and the first words out of his mouth on
the phone are "You can read, right?", you'd better be able to say "Yes" if
you want a chance to play that session.

4)  I am and will always be skeptical of any argument that says "You don't
need to be better at what you do tomorrow than you are today."  Acquiring
some skills takes effort over time.  15 minutes a day is what I spent on
sight-reading when I was a freshman music major in college and HAD to learn
it, no argument allowed, if I wanted a degree.  Within a year, I learned to
read well enough to stay in the program.  Did I read as well as my
classmates who'd been steeped in the classical tradition since they were 4
years old?  Hell no. Did I read well enough to get that degree, and to get
some choice gigs afterwards?  Uh huh.

5)  I'll summarize the argument above quickly:
- More skills are better than less skills.  If you don't think so, you're
not paying attention.
- Reading doesn't make you boring; it just makes you more capable of
playing more music, in more genres, more quickly.
- If you're a boring player, try listening more carefully to hear how great
players are shaping notes and phrases to fill them with emotion. But keep
up the reading.

Finally: I've said it before and I'll say it again: if your goals and
ambitions are about having fun and hanging out, just do what you like and
have fun. I shoot arrows for fun, and I practice enough to reach my modest
goals, which are about staying fit and hitting the target most of the time,
nothing more.  If I needed to use my bow to hunt for food every day, you
can bet that I'd learn every skill I could to make damn sure I hit that
target dead center every time.  If your ambitions are about greatness,
learn what makes music tick, learn to play your instrument as best you can,
and learn enough theory and reading skills so you can walk into a room full
of heavy hitters and acquit yourself honorably. Either way, stop telling
yourself that the people who put in the time and effort to acquire the
skills are wasting both.  It's not a waste of time to become a more-skilled
anything.

Thanks, Richard Hunter

-- 
"The Lucky One" 21st century rock harmonica project at
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/richard-hunter-s-the-lucky-one/x/5259889#/
Author, "Jazz Harp" (Oak Publications, NYC)
Latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://hunterharp.com
Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick
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