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For guitar I usually trancribe cover songs by ear. When I don't have enough time (or when I'm plain lazy) I google the tabs. A lot of them need finetuning, but the general idea is usually pretty solid. Our solo-guitarplayer and I use extended tabs to get ideas across. As for the fly-droppings: For guitar I find them harder to read than tabs. Especially when chords are displayed as a stack of notes I feel like I'm solving a Sudoku. When singing my sight reading is getting to a level where I can actually read a piece at real time. Not that I see a new piece for the first time, read it and nail it, but I get the general idea of the part. Then comes the woodshed part of the job 
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And that exists beause Guitar Pro developers recognized the very problem with Tab files that I cite and came up with their workaround.
The way that Guitar Pro handles Tab is an exception to the rule, though, matter of fact what they do is a darned good idea but the vast majority of Tab charts do not do this, which results in no way to get the rhythm figures across, as I stated.
The nonreader of music would still be faced with the same problem there, too - if they can't read the dots then they likely can't read the rhythm figure symbols taken from the dots such as the note stem flags and other rhythmic value symbols.
No big deal as in this instance, "its all good" applies IMO.
--Mac
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Both.
I can read music, and am a good sight-reader.
I also have trained my ears so I can play by ear as well.
If given a choice, I prefer to have the music in front of me and also to use my ears to get the nuances that the music doesn't provide.
Personally, to be a complete musician, I think you need to do both.
Insights and incites by Notes ♫
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
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Both, I taught band for 37 yrs. and reading scores is second nature.
Playing jazz, hardly ever used a chart.
Since retiring I am sure my note reading has diminished from lack of use.
Recently been gigging, for pay, with a new group where playing tenor from a C fake book
really keeps the reading sharp.
While reading and writing on this topic, I was reminded of the post "are singers musicians?"
In my opinion being able to read is one of the factors in determining my evaluation of a singer as a musician.
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mac, i was recently commenting on the many liberties chet atkins would take regarding tempo throughout a piece, but he could make it work. how are such variations 'chart-able', if they are?
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Quote:
mac, i was recently commenting on the many liberties chet atkins would take regarding tempo throughout a piece, but he could make it work. how are such variations 'chart-able', if they are?
To indicate slowing down, you can pen the written command, ritard which is the abbreviation of ritardondo.
To indicate a passage that is to be played faster and faster as it goes by, accelerando would be the written indicator.
One can also simply restate a new Tempo anywhere at any time by penning in a new metronome beat. For example, if, at the top of the page the original Tempo was penned as "quarter note = 120" (the number being in BPM) and later on in the piece we want it to be slower, might pen something like "quarter note = 90" above that bar.
One can also combine the above. Say you wanted the piece at 120 to gradually slow down to 90, then you'd start by using the ritardondo command, sometimes stretching dots or a line after it to indicate the area involved, ending in the new Tempo declaration at the right bar, "quarter note = 90".
--Mac
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Good explanation Mac
And let me add rubato, which means a flexible tempo, not strictly on the beat. In pop music you usually hear this in introductions (but not exclusively).
A good, basic music theory book will familiarize you with a lot of expressive elements that can be put into basic music notation. There are markings for tempo, dynamics, and even ornaments.
Insights and incites Notes ♫
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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I can do the rigatoni part. And delicate fffffz. I just wish there were bar numbers but part letters work too.
Ok, at zz, taper the heavier horns..like bullets not bricks. (John nods ok...where's my pencil?)
LOL. Looks like something Glass would have done....(shudder)
John Conley
Musica est vita
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No problem that's a piece of cake, it's just medley of Mist, Feelings and the Hokey Pokey. Mike I hope this helps as I am happy to be of assistance.  Later,
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I love the "cresc or not" designation, as well as the "remove valve" directive. I've seen this before. I had forgotten how funny it is. Who's going to share with us a BIAB file of this piece. What style to use? 
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Sorry Mike. I've forgotten all of that. Don S.
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mike, i see an abacus and a billiards rack above 'new orleans' must be a blooze or jazz number. lol
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... remove cattle from stage
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hi you all Noticed that near the left bottom the score, on top of the last system, it's written "add bicycle". Was wondering if any of you have ever seen Frank Zappa playing bicycle on the Steve Allen show. I guess it was in the fifties. The recording isn't good, but it's worth watching. Zappa was amazing in all his ventures. Serious or not. I also really like his orchestral pieces. This the link to the first part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e3I0iagWXU
Last edited by Pierre Julien; 01/26/11 02:47 AM.
Best of all and hope your day is a nice one
Pierre
IMac OSX 10.6.5 / latest BIAB
vista BIAB 2008
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I've got that music hanging on the wall of my office.
So far I've mastered the repeated section under the directive "Have a nice day".
I'm working on the rest.
Notes ♫
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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I too am practicing the whole rest. I had 5 things to do.
1. Breakfast with my buddies.
2. Visit my son/grandson.
3. Pack Instruments in car.
4. Pick up wife, grab food.
5. Brass Band rehearsal, and post rehearsal beverage.
I had an bowl of oatmeal alone.
A nap.
Planning a nap.
Take pills.
Sleep.
Anyone want a cold?
I think I'm going to put a fermata over the whole rest.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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I'll add my 2c and agree you really need both. I'm a good ear player and a good fake book player but a not so good two handed piano music sight reader. This is why I'm called fairly often to be the rehearsal pianist for two big bands but I've only done a few gigs with them. I've got a good feel for the music and I know a lot of the cool chord voicings but big band music is just that, music. The original charts as received from a publisher do not have any chord symbols written above them but luckily most of the piano charts have those chords written on them by somebody after the fact. Having those chords allows me to get through a tune and that's ok but there's a lot of little specific licks that need to be read and played as written. I was screwed at one rehearsal where there was a written out 16 bar piano solo intro and I had to stop the band for about a minute while I figured out at least the basic thrust of it. When I got home I found the tune on YouTube and that intro is a piece of cake if I could have just heard it for 10 seconds. I can read but not so fast that I can pull out #247 and have the band leader say "you've got the intro, 1-2-3..."
In spite of that I look forward to those rehearsals because one, there's nothing like that sound and two, I really have to stretch to do it.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Thanks for the input so far folks, very informative and for myself I am a mere beginner perhaps in comparison to the very informed replies. It is around eleven years since when I first took up brass, and finding it still hard work to get better at it. I put that down to an age thing at now 62 I am finding you can teach old dogs new tricks, it just takes longer.
As for playing by ear or reading the dots, I know of a quite good keyboard, piano, organ etc player, he only needs to hear a piece once and can near as dammit play the whole thing. Considering he was born blind, Steve once said, "I would love to be able to read music." I reckon that puts the whole thing in perspective.
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I played with a blind musician for years.
He had the biggest set of ears I ever knew.
But he also read music, in braille.
Notes ♫
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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