Resources or website for learning standard notation

[john.westhoff]

Do you guys have used websites/tools for learning standard music notation ( for guitar). I'd love to learn to read scores and am interested in good tools to speed up or support that.

[grathan]

I think guitarBots has a lot of potential here. I learned to sight read piano(MIDI) in a similar fashion where it scored you based on correct notes and timing.

If you hit "n" on the keyboard it switches from fret number to note names. I know this isn't the same as sight reading a staff, but it starts in the direction of at least knowing the name of the note your're playing.

https://guitarbots.com/play/0
https://forums.guitarbots.com/index.php?topic=215.0



One thing they used to teach in elementary music class was a way to remember the notes on the treble cleff staff.

Every, Good, Boy, Deserves, Fudge. that is the line notes going from the botton up.
and FACE. that is the spaces.

[Fruitloop]

I can recommend 'A Modern Method For Guitar' by William Leavitt. I'm going through it at the moment and it is great. The curve is just right, you progress at a steady rate without being so frustrated. I've been trying to teach myself to sight read properly for ages and it's doing the trick finally. If you start with too difficult scores it will impede your progress. Tenacity is key, it's a slow thing to learn but it is very rewarding.

[Jim1233988]

+1 on Williams book. I've been at it for about 10 months now. It's awesome. I'd get the one with all three volumes together.

[imwjl]

If you have an "i" device consider the app: Musicopoulos.

Without the app, their 3w site offers what looks like all or most of the app content - examples follow.

http://www.musicopoulos.com/music-theory-lessons
http://www.musicopoulos.com/sight-reading-music

[stanron]

There is very little to reading notation. Once you know where the open strings are on the staff, what key signatures and time signatures mean and how long each note lasts, all you have to do is practice it. No online resource or mobile app is going to help after that.

There is a kind of inference that if you get the right web page or piece of software it will be easy. It won't be easy. Al least not at first. You have to do the work and when you first start the work is a slog, slow and dense. As you persevere it gets easier.

All you really have to do is, one note at a time, 'that note is here', play it. Over and over and over. No short cut, no easy way out, see note, play note. Eventually groups of notes become phrases and then phrases become tunes but it doesn't happen overnight and it doesn't happen unless you, yes you, personally, persevere.

I hope you do. I hope you succeed.

[softballbryan]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[icuker]

I'm another one that recommends the William Leavitt book. The tunes actually sound good. My reading has improved a lot since working out of that book and I'm not even very consistent in working through it.

[john.westhoff]

Thanks guys, i've got a copy of the william leawitt book and as always i'll have to put in the hours....

[Fruitloop]

Originally Posted by john.westhoff

Thanks guys, i've got a copy of the william leawitt book and as always i'll have to put in the hours....

Sounds great! I like to record myself playing one part of the duets as I'm going through it alone. It adds another level of challenge to not flubber any notes but it's great practice and keeps me engaged, metronome at a very slow tempo of course.

[Dalegreen]

William Leavitt books are excellent, they cut to the chase, no fluff.
I would say just pick up book #1 ( not the three in one book ) as that one is almost impossible to keep the pages from flipping over on the music stand.
I find it generally takes 2 years for one of my students to go cover to cover and end up with a very good reading ability, good general sight reading ability and a great start to chord comping / melody playing. Also the ability to use position playing and move up and down the neck with relative ease.
Book #2 and #3 elaborate more on what you have already studied in the first book.

[bbrown]

The Carcassi Guitar Method book is wonderful. The tunes are a joy to play and he progresses through everything you need to know, not only to read music, but to play fingerstyle guitar as well: studies, exercises, and beautiful melodies to practice. It's all in one book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087...Z1GTZE7J3VKQJ9

I have a very old copy; I assume it's the same as this.

[stanron]

Having read through the above posts I thought I'd give a warning regarding learning to read music from just one book.

Using only one book you could fall into the trap of starting to play from memory rather than from actually reading. Once you know the basics you should find a wide range of musical material from which to read. A good source for reading practice is traditional fiddle tunes. There are hundreds of them, they are mostly in simple keys and time signatures, they are monophonic and there are lots available free online. You read through and play each tune just once (following marked repeats of course) and go on to the next. The point is not to learn the tunes but to read afresh each time.