Advise needed please guys

[kay]

Hello everyone

Kay the beginner here with a dilemma.

When I first started I told my teacher I couldn't read music and wanted to learn by ear as I'd feel a right prat on stage with music sheets :laugh: BUT, my lovely teacher (and she really is a gem) is giving me music sheets and theory homework and banging on about C majors and minors and sharps and flats and well I think my head might just explode :x

So my dilemma is this: Do I stick with my teacher or buy some books and go it alone? I would be interested to have opinions from people who have done both to see which way seems to be the best.

Cheers

Kay 8)

 

[ken]

Hi Kay,

I'm not telling ya with that avatar

No, I did exactly the same with my tutor and surely he started to introduce music reading (I'm absolutely hopless at it and always have been). Just lately I've come to the conclusion that I'll try to learn again, but (strangely) like you, I can't get on with the way the tutor presents it.

I've decided (don't know if it's a good idea) to buy myself a keyboard to attempt music learning with. I sold my last keyboard to buy my tenor, but I seem to feel that it's easier for music learning.

Don't think that fits in with your question, but just 2c.

Good luck,
Ken.

 

[Bobby G]

Probably best to stick with the teacher who should be able to tailor the lessons to your ability, especially if you think she's lovely. Then again I haven't had a formal lesson since I was about 11.

I had paino lessons as a kid before moving on to teach myself guitar then sax, and I think the formal teaching early on was very useful. I do nearly everything by ear or off chord charts now, but my basic reading skills and knowledge of theory are still useful nearly 40 years on.

Since joining these forums I've started exploring the jazz theory a bit, and being able to read a bit, knowing about keys, intervals, dominants etc and being able to bash them out on a keyboard is definitely very useful.

All the best for whichever road you take.

Cheers, Bob

 

[mfox]

being a teacher, it is very difficult to teach someone to play by ear..
you really need a little theory to get the most for your money..
if your just interested in jamming along to records, tell you teacher what tunes you would like to play..she then should be able to explain the basics of the tune, how the chords work. the scales to practice for the tune..this way i found pupils clic to the theory much quicker than if working from a tune a day book..
but you both need to make it clear what you both expect from each other..
now stand in the naughty corner for that avitar..

man city supporter here

 

[rs2sensen]

In the long wrong, heck, even in the short run, those things will be worth it. Eventually you'll find reading music will become incredibly easy, very much like a second language. The chord stuff is also quite important, but far from easy. I too have a lot of trouble with it. Check out Pete's lessons on it, especially the ones in the "extra pages." They really helped me understand at least the basics. I really wish I knew more chord stuff at the moment, now that I'm really serious about playing.

And remember, your tastes change. I got into sax envisioning myself playing Jazz, but rather recently, 7 years into playing, I've discovered I like playing classical saxophone better. I could not play any classical whatsoever if I couldn't read music.

With my students, I strongly emphasize the importance of being able to sight-read, and chord study helps with that. I've gotten to be rather good at sightreading in through playing numerous musicals and other performances, and through building my own fundamental skills.

I'd stick with your current teacher. Eventually you'll begin working on more actual music stuff, and your lessons will become fun. I know I look forward to mine every week. Your teacher sounds like a nice lady, and she's really doing what any quality teacher would do.

 

[griff136]

I taught myself and skipped the notation and i got to a stage where I wasn't progressing i got asked to play in a fairly decent band and I had to decline as my reading was poor.

I would, as rs2sensen suggests, stick with your teacher and learn the theory it will help you in the long run and be worthwhile.

 

[RedBottom]

There are times when I wish I hadn't been taught to read music, because then I would hear much better when trying to improvise, and I wouldn't use the dots as a crutch as much as I do.

But then there are times when being able to read it (very well, I might boast) is a big positive. You won't always be able to solo or do your own thing in a band - often you have to play the same as everyone else and blend in, and you can't do that unless you're all, quite literally, reading off the same song sheet.

I would stick with it, Kay. Once you've got it, you don't have to use it.

 

[Simon]

Hi Kay

Books and notated music are short cuts to learning fast. Teachers are even more important because they're experienced players who can sift through the stuff and recommend the most important bits, so you progress faster.

My experience - I'm not a natural musician, I can't play things by ear straight up. It takes me time and alot of repetition to get it. However, theory and books help to focus on specific things and together with an enthusiastic, knowledgable teacher you cover alot more than learning by yourself. It's also more fun and they make you work at what they can do too! They can spot bad habits before they become ingrained. Also, you can waste alot of practice time just playing stuff you can already do.

The real question is - how fast do you want to learn? Without a balance of teachers & books, you're cutting your progress immediately.

Simon

Kay wrote:
Hello everyone

Kay the beginner here with a dilemma.

When I first started I told my teacher I couldn't read music and wanted to learn by ear as I'd feel a right prat on stage with music sheets :laugh: BUT, my lovely teacher (and she really is a gem) is giving me music sheets and theory homework and banging on about C majors and minors and sharps and flats and well I think my head might just explode :x

So my dilemma is this: Do I stick with my teacher or buy some books and go it alone? I would be interested to have opinions from people who have done both to see which way seems to be the best.

Cheers

Kay 8)

 

[Bobby G]

I agree with all that Simon says - I've totally loved playing for all these years, and enjoyed the progress I've made on my own, or informally with others, but I could have learned much more with a proper teacher.

Maybe my rock'n'roll rebellious music streak, following on from formal teaching as a child, along with my 'lack of application' (c/o M.Slaney & others, Hatfield School reports, 1967-72) was what made me shy away from teachers :erm: Having been teaching myself sax for a while, I can easily see the benefits of a teacher. I may still get one, but life is such that I couldn't guarantee regular attendance at lessons. That could just be an excuse though!!

One thing I'm fairly sure of is that teacher or no teacher, I don't think I could love playing any more than I do.

Cheers, Bob

 

[saxismyaxe]

My instinct from the very beginning of my musical pursuits (5 yrs old) has been to play by ear. I am able to memorize a piece after hearing it once through, and work my way through it on the instruments I play straight away.
I quickly realized however, that if I wanted to take this to anything beyond a casual level, it would be necessary to become literate in reading and transcribing etc. ESPECIALLY if you want to learn much of it on your own later on.
Studying from even the most basic materials available will require that you can sight read, let alone any advanced theory/pieces/exercises.

My advice is simply to buckle down, and however slowly you must take it in, learn the fundamentals of sight reading music notation.
You'll be very glad you did later on, even if it only remains a hobby.

 

[oliver_bentley]

Halifax Town fan here, so no threat from that avatar!

As to the less important things: Its probably a good idea to stick with your teacher - you can always learn by ear in your own time at home - a good musuician (in most cases) can both play by ear and read equally (ish) well.

Stick with it if you can - patience is always the key, and with your theory will come a better understanding of how to work things out by ear, and with your increasingly better ear will come a better understanding of how to use your theory, and with this you may even, in time, come to support a decent football team 😛 (rich from me that eh?)

Oli

 

[kay]

Thanks for the advise.

So it seems everyone's in agreement that I should stick with my teacher (who's called Tasha and is a very nice looking sax player) Sorry, i'm deviating onto another topic I was reading earlier

I'll keep up the lessons and learn to read the music. It's a hard instrument to play and I guess I didn't realise how much more there was to it than just picking it up and blowing 😉

Thanks again Even the one's who were unimpressed with my avatar!!

UP THE REDS

Kay

 

[mr__myles]

Kay, I fully believe you should stay with your sax teacher. I have a sax teacher and he helps me out a lot. With a book you can only go so far, and some concepts just won't click unless you can apply them and hear what suppose to be going on. You said you wanted to learn a lot by ear, a good way to devolpe that is to get a play-a-long book and jam it out with your teacher, try some interval training too (just playing perfect fifths, fourths, and eighths on a piano is a great way to start ear training). She can tell you what notes you should be hitting to define the chords, and what scales you should be using while improvising. Also, just hearing how she plays will greatly affect your style, and help for you to create your own licks (try trading 4 bars).

 

[Greywolf]

Of all the skills on my 'to do better' list, reading music especially sight reading, is top of my list.
Stick with your teacher!! There's a lot to learn and you need to get it right.

Learning to read music is like learning to read words. Watch how your average 5 year old struggles. it takes years for children to read well and the older you get, the harder it is.