Learning to Read
When I bought my dulcimer I also bought a book on how to play it. One of the things I decided to do was to learn to read music.
Actually, that's not true. I already know how to read music, but not very well. I've had two years of piano lessons and played viola for about eight years in high school and college. I did learn how to read music during that time.
Reading music is not easy for me. I have trouble connecting the note on the page with the note on the piano of the fingering on the viola. It is much easier for me to play by ear. I can listen to a song or part a few times and play it. That is how I got by. I'm not sure any of my teachers ever realised what I was doing.
I imagine that this difficulty connecting the printed note to the sound is a lot like dyslexic people having trouble connecting words on a page to the sound a word makes or what an object is. It gives me a certain amount of sympathy for others.
I don't have to learn to read music. There are many musicians, some very successful ,who can't read music. There is another music notation called 'tab' short for tablature. This is where the music is written using the fingering for the note rather than a note as in staff notation.
My husband collaborated with a musician from New York once who encouraged him to learn to read music. Tab is specific to each instrument, for instance, tab for a guitar is different from tab for the dulcimer or lute. If you can read music you can play anything and are not limited to pieces written for your instrument. It opens all sorts of doors musically. He is right.
I'm sure you have heard, as I have, that a key to keeping your brain sharp as you age is to learn new things. Making myself read music is a way of exercising my brain. It gives me a challenge.
There's also another reason. My husband writes music. If I get good enough at reading music I may be able to write down his tunes and play them on the dulcimer. I could also do this by listening to him and then playing, but playing from sheet music would be a challenge and a way to preserve some of his songs.
It's frustrating work. I spent 20 minutes playing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' over and over again. Not because I like the song that much, but because I kept catching myself not following the printed sheet in front of me. I'll keep trying though. The last piece in the lesson book is 'Jesu,Joy of Man's Desiring'. I know the tune, it is the processional at a lot of Lutheran weddings. It's also a lovely and complicated piece. While I do know the basic tune the sheet music has a lot of flourishes and chords that I'll be able to play if I follow it. It is something I'm shooting for.
Actually, that's not true. I already know how to read music, but not very well. I've had two years of piano lessons and played viola for about eight years in high school and college. I did learn how to read music during that time.
Reading music is not easy for me. I have trouble connecting the note on the page with the note on the piano of the fingering on the viola. It is much easier for me to play by ear. I can listen to a song or part a few times and play it. That is how I got by. I'm not sure any of my teachers ever realised what I was doing.
I imagine that this difficulty connecting the printed note to the sound is a lot like dyslexic people having trouble connecting words on a page to the sound a word makes or what an object is. It gives me a certain amount of sympathy for others.
I don't have to learn to read music. There are many musicians, some very successful ,who can't read music. There is another music notation called 'tab' short for tablature. This is where the music is written using the fingering for the note rather than a note as in staff notation.
My husband collaborated with a musician from New York once who encouraged him to learn to read music. Tab is specific to each instrument, for instance, tab for a guitar is different from tab for the dulcimer or lute. If you can read music you can play anything and are not limited to pieces written for your instrument. It opens all sorts of doors musically. He is right.
I'm sure you have heard, as I have, that a key to keeping your brain sharp as you age is to learn new things. Making myself read music is a way of exercising my brain. It gives me a challenge.
There's also another reason. My husband writes music. If I get good enough at reading music I may be able to write down his tunes and play them on the dulcimer. I could also do this by listening to him and then playing, but playing from sheet music would be a challenge and a way to preserve some of his songs.
It's frustrating work. I spent 20 minutes playing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' over and over again. Not because I like the song that much, but because I kept catching myself not following the printed sheet in front of me. I'll keep trying though. The last piece in the lesson book is 'Jesu,Joy of Man's Desiring'. I know the tune, it is the processional at a lot of Lutheran weddings. It's also a lovely and complicated piece. While I do know the basic tune the sheet music has a lot of flourishes and chords that I'll be able to play if I follow it. It is something I'm shooting for.
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