The VT Musicians Thread

[GarethRDR]

Someone from one of my favourite bands has just listed their Fender Toronado for sale.

[mjmooney]

 

[mjmooney]

[mjmooney]

I've probably raised this one before (and it could as easily go in the "Things You Wonder" or science threads), but... sight reading sheet music. Dunno if it's a left brain/right brain thing, but I can't do it to save my life. Mostly doesn't matter for a strummy guitarist like me, but I sometimes play music with the missus (she took up the pennywhistle during the lockdown), and she can only play from sheet music - she's equally baffled by the idea of playing by ear, which remains beyond her, even when she's played a tune hundreds of times. She has to have that music in front of her. And I have to learn the tune first, and play chords to the lyrics in my head (if I'm not actually singing). It's weird. Anybody else had this problem when playing in any sort of combo? 

[Lichfield Dean]

31 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

I've probably raised this one before (and it could as easily go in the "Things You Wonder" or science threads), but... sight reading sheet music. Dunno if it's a left brain/right brain thing, but I can't do it to save my life. Mostly doesn't matter for a strummy guitarist like me, but I sometimes play music with the missus (she took up the pennywhistle during the lockdown), and she can only play from sheet music - she's equally baffled by the idea of playing by ear, which remains beyond her, even when she's played a tune hundreds of times. She has to have that music in front of her. And I have to learn the tune first, and play chords to the lyrics in my head (if I'm not actually singing). It's weird. Anybody else had this problem when playing in any sort of combo? 

I was asked to play drums in a youth orchestra that my wife and various friends help out with. I couldn't read the music by sight for love nor money (although theoretically I know how to do so as I did piano lessons when younger). And to be honest, the scores barely resembled the music we were performing anyway. So I sort of got a vague idea what the sheet music was saying about the arrangement, then went and listened to actual originals of that music, and then assembled my own interpretations of the original for the orchestral arrangement and just played from memory. I only used the music as a vague reminder and know how many bars to rest for between bits. Bohemian Rhapsody for instance... I know the drums inside out on that so I just totally ignored the completely wrong score and just played what I thought would work.

My wife is the same as yours - plays only to music whilst I only play without music. But she learnt to play instruments properly and in orchestral settings, I learnt to play by faffing about in bands with my mates at Uni.

[mjmooney]

4 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said:

My wife is the same as yours - plays only to music whilst I only play without music. But she learnt to play instruments properly and in orchestral settings, I learnt to play by faffing about in bands with my mates at Uni.

Yeah, that's the thing. Mrs M had formal piano and violin lessons as a kid, and to her reading music is as easy as reading English. Whereas to me it's **** ing witchcraft. To be fair, her whistle scores have the chords written above the staves, and I can follow the notes enough to know where I am for accompaniment purposes. If, on the other hand, I was playing the whistle melody, although I could never follow the score, with a bit of trial and error I'd soon be able to play the tune by ear. She can't understand how I can do that. It's like two different mindsets. 

[Lichfield Dean]

1 minute ago, mjmooney said:

Yeah, that's the thing. Mrs M had formal piano and violin lessons as a kid, and to her reading music is as easy as reading English. Whereas to me it's **** ing witchcraft. To be fair, her whistle scores have the chords written above the staves, and I can follow the notes enough to know where I am for accompaniment purposes. If, on the other hand, I was playing the whistle melody, although I could never follow the score, with a bit of trial and error I'd soon be able to play the tune by ear. She can't understand how I can do that. It's like two different mindsets. 

And improvisation? A number of music-reader types were astonished when I explained how much music my bands make comes from improvising and making things up to ideas brought in by one member of the band. It's totally alien to them that you can just pick an instrument up and start playing something. Whereas to me the only way I can write parts is by making things up until eventually they organically become a piece of music, often over a period of several weeks and rehearsals.

[veloman]

Got thrown in at the deep end when the band I was in got a residency that required backing Cabaret. The keyboard player was  very good reader - former teacher at Kings Rise school. I only learnt the basic Sine to sine / coda to coda , watch for the repeats etc. BUT .. there were times when knowledge of the number was invaluable. At another gig I had  - on a Sunday evening - the organist could read fly shit but had no feel for more modern numbers. One  act turned up and wanted "We're in this love together" - Al Jarreau - i couldn't read much of the part but knew the number and I had to help him through it. Another gig was at Penns Hall where the act was Renato (he of Renee and Renato). I was scared stiff of cocking up until realised he wasn't following the music anyway ! He was a massive Villa fan btw. I reckon it is good to read and busk.

[mjmooney]

9 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said:

And improvisation? A number of music-reader types were astonished when I explained how much music my bands make comes from improvising and making things up to ideas brought in by one member of the band. It's totally alien to them that you can just pick an instrument up and start playing something. Whereas to me the only way I can write parts is by making things up until eventually they organically become a piece of music, often over a period of several weeks and rehearsals.

Yep. I've tried explaining jamming to Mrs M. If you're a guitarist, you know (at the very least) the minor pentatonic scale, and you can hear the changes, you should be able to noodle away. The main thing is to listen to the rest of the band, get the groove, and ease your way in, by feel. It's the greatest fun, for me. But no, she has to see those dots. 

[mjmooney]

4 minutes ago, veloman said:

I reckon it is good to read and busk.

It's absolutely ideal if you can do both. But I know surprisingly few musicians who can; it's usually one or the other. 

[GarethRDR]

21 hours ago, mjmooney said:

I've probably raised this one before (and it could as easily go in the "Things You Wonder" or science threads), but... sight reading sheet music. Dunno if it's a left brain/right brain thing, but I can't do it to save my life. Mostly doesn't matter for a strummy guitarist like me, but I sometimes play music with the missus (she took up the pennywhistle during the lockdown), and she can only play from sheet music - she's equally baffled by the idea of playing by ear, which remains beyond her, even when she's played a tune hundreds of times. She has to have that music in front of her. And I have to learn the tune first, and play chords to the lyrics in my head (if I'm not actually singing). It's weird. Anybody else had this problem when playing in any sort of combo? 

Reminded me of this...

Which is very much me, if it's not tabbed I haven't the foggiest.

[leemond2008]

I tend to noodle about on the guitar by ear or with tabs but for the piano I 100% need sheet music to play.

Saying that I'm actually looking a flogging my piano, Yamaha P45, by all means if anyone on here is interested give me a shout.

[mjmooney]

[osmark86]

If you could only read sheet music to play you would miss out on the greatest part of the musical experience: improvised jams. 

I can't read sheet music either and only learn by ear and memorization. And tabs. Tabs are good.

[JoshVilla]

It all depends on the background, I guess. One of my tutors at Uni was big on sight reading and would often put scores in front of us and say "go". Then, other times, that would be taken away and we'd need to figure things out purely by ear (Being given an hour to work out Steely Dan tunes by ear and then having to play it in a band off the bat was erm, fun)

Both ways are good, and I've always thought that working towards having a good ear is most important first and foremost. I do a lot of weddings/functions (well, before Covid anyway) and only once have I been in a function band where I was handed the sheet music. It's more common when doing dep/session work, I suppose.

[mjmooney]

For that Hendrix sound: 

[leemond2008]

Finally should be getting my Spark Amp soon, had it on order from GuitarGuitar since mid January, can't wait to get my hands on it.

Also going to be looking to get a Fender Strat soon as well

[veloman]

On 31/03/2021 at 22:32, JoshVilla said:

 (Being given an hour to work out Steely Dan tunes by ear and then having to play it in a band off the bat was erm, fun)

 

Very interesting ! If you play guitar and are given  an hour to learn Reelin' In The Years or My Old School or Peg - then very good luck. As a (former) bit of a drummer , if I was asked to play AJA I'd just give up !!!!

[theboyangel]

Quick question - is a Spark Amp worth getting with the ‘jam along’ app function? 
 

it looks quite fun and assume it’d make playing on your own (ooh Matron) a little more interesting. 
 

 

 

[veloman]

19 hours ago, leemond2008 said:

 

Also going to be looking to get a Fender Strat soon as well

Pre CBS ... 'natch !!!!