It's Not The Be-All and End-All!

The problem with the brass section seemed to be communication. When the bandleader said, 'Ok, let's go from the second chorus and tighten up the middle eight,' the horns would flip through their charts and ask, 'What bar number is that?' I was baffled because we'd been rehearsing the set for weeks and I couldn't understand why they still weren't playing it by ear – so I had a chat with the saxophonist. 'We don't play by ear,' he said, 'we always read.'

I was shocked. Although this saxophonist is also a Grade 8 pianist and enjoys a reputation as one of our area's finest brass, he freely describes himself as a charlatan because he can't play any musical instrument without written music in front of him. More disturbingly, 'For classically trained musicians,' he added, 'this is the norm.' A piano tutor also staggered me by admitting that after playing for thirty years she had never composed anything of her own. She also never improvised because, apparently, classically trained musicians 'don’t improvise' and describe anyone who can as 'amazing'.

'Amazing'? My perspective is slightly different. Learning how to read music is definitely a good idea. If you're a 'reading' musician you'll receive more employment opportunities, the respect of other musicians and also enjoy the financial benefits of being able to learn directly from tuition books and scores (rather than having to pay a teacher to explain everything to you). But it's simply not the be-all and end-all!

The idea of learning to play a musical instrument is to express yourself. It's about how to get that emotional 'idea' out of your head and into the real world using the instrument as a medium, whether that's for your satisfaction or the entertainment of others. This approach was around long before anyone had the idea of writing music down and, whilst its usefulness as a means of recording and resurrecting art and culture is undisputed, written music is ultimately a learning tool, not a performance tool. Being unable to play a musical instrument without written music is like being unable to hold a conversation without a script.

Learn how to read music. It's better to have the ability and not need it, than need it and not have it. But don't forget that you're a human being, not a robot; and if all we ever do is learn how to reproduce the work of others, we can never expect anything new and original.

For complete books with exercises and audio clips, please visit these websites:

Study packs and audio for drum kit and percussion group HERE

Sheet music with MP3 files for drum kit (make your own book) HERE

Sheet music with MP3 files for drum kit (make your own book - PAS format) HERE and HERE