Good book for learning to play from standard notation?

[underwhelmed]

Just found a book which seems to be working pretty well for me so far for learning to read. It's published by Hal Lenoard and called Music Reading for Guitar - The Complete Method, by David Oakes. It's part of the Musicians Institute Essential Concepts series.

What I like about this book is that, unlike any other books I've found, it just focuses on reading. It doesn't spend any time showing you how to play guitar (I don't need to see three pages explaining how to play a G chord). Other books I've found had sort of been beginning guitar books, rather than beginning reading books.

The only thing it really deals with as far as playing is picking as it relates to written rhythms. I used to play piano so I already know how to read music, just not on guitar, if that makes sense. I think it covers stuff thoroughly enough that it should also work well for someone who can't read at all.

Hope this helps!

[RDuke]

I've been taking some jazz-style lessons and trying to learn to read. They're really two separate things, at least for me. Time (limited time) spent on one takes away from the other.

Anyway, my instructor started me out with Mel Bay Book 1. It's playing within the first five frets and open strings. Some of tunes in there are good, and others are a drag. I can't see a piece and immediately start playing, and have to struggle through a first reading, but I am reading a little now and four months ago I couldn't read squat. Of course, you also get practice keeping your eyes off the neck and feeling your way through. Start simple and move to complex.

Back to my comment in the first paragraph about two separate things, in my studies the lesson content is opening up the fretboard more than reading. With content, I have to learn to spell the triads and know chords in root position (triad root in bass), 1st inversion (triad 3rd in bass), 2nd inversion (triad 5th in bass), 7th in bass, and so on. That's in the neighborhood of seventy chord shapes that are new to me, and I promise, you will not find in most rock-n-roll. It's not really jazz either -- just music as it existed prior to rock-n-roll. Playing a tune then might involve finding the line in song, and using the root and inversion positions to move along that line, both up and down the neck. Good stuff if you can do it instantly. I ain't there yet.

Anyway, my point is you can open up the fretboard and know a lot of practical theory without learning to read. Heck, after 16 weeks we still haven't touched a scale yet beyond Mel Bay. (Sight-)Reading is still are valuable skill to have for anyone that plays an instrument, so go for it!

Rick

[Teh]

I attended a National Guitar Workshop series earlier this summer and would highly recommend the book they offer, "Sight Reading For The Contemporary Guitarist". Light blue cover, I've seen their books in Guitar Centers.

As a sideline, one suggestion my instructor has proven effective in a short period of time. Take any songbook and open it to any song. Read and play it. You know the notes (FACE for the spaces, EGBDF for the lines), and you know the time value of each note (Whole, half, quarter, etc...), right? Then, no matter how long it takes, read through the music, playing each note. When you are finished, close the book and move on. Do this daily but DO NOT PLAY THE SAME SONG (very important). After a while, you will find yourself getting through songs faster.

I agree with Mapletrees that being a good reader does not necessarily make you a good player. That comes from practice. However, I also agree with David that being able to read will open your playing up to a lot more possibilities. Lead sheets in fake books will only give you chord names and melody lines in notation. If you are even slightly interested in expanding your repetoire with some great jazz and other standards, I'd recommend taking the leap into sight reading...

BTW, I'm going through this same routine as part of my daily guitar ritual. I'm a crappy reader (comparing myself to a 4 yr old with their first Dr. Seuss book would be pretty accurate), but the concept described above is working well.

Good luck!