In my last blog, I talked briefly about the importance of learning proper music fundamentals and addressed some of the problems with relying only on guitar tablature or youtube videos for guitar education. Now we talk about learning to read and understand standard notation and music theory. Why is it important? What practical use will it have for you as a guitarist?

READING STANDARD NOTATION

Ok. I'll admit it. There is definitely a learning curve when starting to learn standard notation. It will take some practice and dedication, but everything good in life takes perseverance and hard work. That being said, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I'm not going to teach you how to read standard notation here (that's for another day), but I will convince you of the greatness of it. 

If you've never seen Standard Notation or aren't sure what I'm talking about it looks like this (with guitar tab pictured below):

So, you're a tab reader and you see the above example. The bottom half looks easy. The top part looks crazy. Why would I want you to learn to read music when the bottom part is so much easier to understand? 

HERE ARE A FEW GOOD REASONS:
     
      1. Because it will potentially make you a great musician. 
               Only you can make you a great musician. But being able to read music will open many doors for you.
       
       2. Learning to read music lays the foundation for being able to understand music.       
              If you don't have a basic understanding of how music is written you won't be able to understand the more  
              advanced concepts that come later. Imagine if you had only learned how to read picture books as a child. 
              Without the ability to read words and phrases you are severely hindered in what you can accomplish when 
              you are on your own. Sure, you can have people read to you or show you what you are supposed to do  
              but even the most simple tasks (making sure you use the men's restroom instead of the women's    
              restroom, for example) can be frustratingly difficult because you never learned the language of the world 
              around you. 
         
       3. You will be able to communicate with other (read: non-guitarist) musicians.               
              Let me be very clear here. The times are few and far between (read: almost never) that you will be handed 
              tablature in a band or studio situation. If you're in a band or group setting and a new song comes up there 
              won't be tab available. If you're in a basic garage band, one of the other musicians may quickly teach you 
              your part by rote (monkey see-money do). But in most cases (or if you're the only guitarist) you'll be 
              handed a chord chart or lead sheet with basic chords and changes on it and be expected to play. 

              I can vividly remember one of my first gigs as a guitarist when I was a teenager. I had a cool lead part to 
              play, but the keyboardist also needed to play the part with me. I handed her my guitar tab and was ready 
              to go. Of course, she has no idea what tab is or how it corresponds to the keyboard. So, I took the time 
              to explain how tab works and then expected her to figure out what to do from there! After quite some time 
              we managed to use the relatively small amount of music theory that we shared to figure out what notes I 
              was actually playing so that she could play it on the keys. Had I known then what I know now, the whole 
              problem could have been averted or solved within minutes. 

        4. Learning to move notes to other locations on the guitar.               
             Quick Quiz: Play your first string (E string) open. Name at least four other places on the guitar where you 
              could play the exact same note *answer below*. Sure, if you have a good ear you could sound out the 
              note on different strings and find it that way. But if you don't know what note you're playing, it's really hard 
              to locate that note efficiently on another string and location on the fretboard. I cannot tell you the number 
              of times that I've pulled up a guitar tab for a student online and found that a few of the notes (if not the 
              whole riff) was in a really awkward playing position. With a little knowledge of music theory, I was quickly 
              able to locate 2-3 other places to play the riff and found one that was much easier for my student to play.
              Without this knowledge you are simply stuck at the whim of whatever tab you currently possess. What if 
              you needed to play the above music example at a different location on the fretboard? Could you do it?

        5. Instant Gratification. 
              Here is what it really comes down to. If you want to play the above example and you only read tab, then it 
              may in fact be easier to simply read the tab. But what happens when we get to more complex pieces of 
              music? What happens when you need to transpose it to a different key? What if you need to explain the 
              part to a keyboardist so that he can play the part with you? If you simply want to learn whatever song is in 
              front of you, tab may be an easier solution. But, if you want to understand what you are playing and pick 
              up songs/riffs quicker in the future it is beneficial to understand reading music and music theory. 


So, there you go. That's my take on why you should be learning to read music and music theory. Feel free to leave a comment or question. Stay tuned for part three: Can't I learn music theory without learning to read music?

***Answer to Quick Quiz: B string 5th fret, G string 9th fret, D string 14th fret, A string 19th fret, E string 24th fret***

The impact that Guitar Hero and Rock Band has had on our current musical state is undeniable. When I first started teaching guitar, I was saddened by the songs that most students wanted to learn. Most of it was whatever bland, pop artist was currently on the radio or rap. There's just not much that a guitar teacher can do within those genres. Enter Guitar Hero. All of a sudden my students want to learn AC/DC, Ozzy,  and Boston. Excellent! Now I've got something to work with. Guitar Hero and Rock Band have introduced the current generation to a lot of artists that they would probably have never heard, but will it make you a great guitarist or drummer?

First, lets separate the two and talk about guitar. Sadly, even if you can rock it out on expert on the latest guitar hero, it probably won't help you out very much in the real guitar world. Pushing buttons just isn't the same as having to learn to press down strings. But there are some benefits. It will help you with dual hand coordination. Translation: It may be easier for you to fret a note with your left hand and pick a note with your right hand if you've had some Guitar Hero experience. Depending on the song and your right hand technique (all downstrokes or moving the controller down and up) it may even help with developing more solid rhythm or alternate/sweep picking. So, if I had to rate Guitar Hero's ability to prepare you for the world of actual guitar I would give it about a 3/10, only slightly higher than air guitar.

Now we come to drums. Caveat: I must first admit that I have only had limited experience playing with the drums on Rock Band and haven't had the opportunity to try it on Guitar Hero. That being said, I think that drums on Guitar Hero/Rock band are an adequate preparatory tool for learning drum set. You get the feel of holding sticks and playing with multiple limbs (both hands and your right foot) and it definitely helps with developing a solid rhythmic foundation. While playing drums on Rock Band I had to stop midway through the song and refocus because I caught myself jamming along to the song and playing parts that may not have necessarily been flashing on the screen. The Rock Band drum parts are a very decent replication of what it would feel like to actually play drums. It also gives a feel for staying in a consistent tempo (speed) instead of randomly beating drums in whatever tempo the aspiring drummer may choose. Now for the negative. Although Guitar Hero/Rock Band is a great way to get a feel for drums, it is almost inevitable that bad technique will form that will later have to be broken. Live drums feel and sound different then rubber pads (and are positioned differently), so this will take some adjustment. There is also no Guitar Hero/Rockband provision for your hihat (left foot) technique. But more important is stick grip and hand technique. The "caveman approach" to drumming (manhandling the stick like a club) that Guitar Hero/Rock Band often causes is quite different from the grips and finesse used in modern drumming. To be fair, most students begin drums with this caveman grip whether they have played Guitar Hero/Rock Band or not. Guitar Hero/Rock Band only strengthens a bad technique through repeated exposure. So, if I had to rate Guitar Hero's ability to prepare you for the world of actual drumming I would give it about a 7/10, a noticeable improvement from banging on mom's pots and pans in the kitchen.

It is almost funny to me how many beginner students I have that brag about the level that they can play on Guitar Hero/Rock Band and assume that they will immediately be able to transfer that over to the actual instrument. I think that speaks to our instant gratification culture, but I'll save that for a later blog. 

In closing, here are two guys jamming out to arguably the most difficult song on Guitar Hero. Could these guys play this on real instruments? Not sure, but i'm impressed at their video game virtuosity: