The Guitar Player's Resource
When it comes to learning music notation, many guitar players are extremely divided.
There is a lot of disagreement when it comes to whether or not guitar players should have the skill of sight reading music.
Some believe that reading music notation is what sets the real musicians from the rest.
Some find learning to read music nothing more than a hindrance keeping you from actually making music.
And others kind of sit in the middle and think that it's a cool thing to know, but not super important.
The truth is that all of them are right because they are speaking from their own experiences. However, just because one of those ways worked for them, doesn't mean it is the path that you should take.
What you really need to be asking is should you learn to read music notation? Is it something that is necessary for your specific musical path, or not?
Music notation is a tool. If you don't need to use it, you don't need to learn it. Just like how if you are a construction worker who doesn't need to use power tools, it doesn't make sense to have one. Using the tips I gave you, you should now be able to identify if reading music is something you should be spending time on.
Tommaso Zillio is a professional prog rock/metal guitarist and composer based in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Tommaso is currently working on an instrumental CD, and an instructional series on fretboard visualization and exotic scales. He is your go-to guy for any and all music theory-related questions.
