Seth asked:


So , I’ve been thinking about what a good musician is. I play upright bass for a school orchestra and in classical music it seems that a musician gets more respect if they have outstanding technique and can read music extremely well to the point where they can sight read and play a piece perfectly. No where is the idea of expression through music as an art form even taken into consideration. In my opinion I see an accomplished jazz musician who can improvise his/her way through a song with complex chord changes more impressive then someone being able to play a Paganini violin piece . Sure it’s difficult to play, but where is the expression , a robot can replicate the notes but can they actually use an instrument as an emotional extension of their mind?
I don’t understand why classical musicians gets more credit than jazz musicians, when the composer is usually the only “artistically expressive” musician in the bunch, in an orchestra at least… Am I comparing apples to oranges? Because it irritates me that other orchestra kids continue to discredit Jazz music and really anything other than classical as inferior ..

Learn How to Read Music

Emily asked:


I’m 15 years old and I play guitar. I taught myself how to play by ear and by using tabs online. I sing in my schools choir and I used to play the flute so I know some basic things. I don’t sight read music very well, mainly because I can’t get used to how the rhythms are being expressed. I listen to a lot of classical, jazz, and indie music that’s more complex than what most people my age listen to, but I have no idea what is going on in those songs. I’d like to be able to recognize “Oh, this song’s in 5/4.” or whatever.

I especially need help with time signatures and how to recognize what they are/count with them. For some reason I never got the hang of recognizing what key something is in, or the names of what note/chord is being played.

Are there any good sites/tips that could help me understand a bit more? My lack of knowledge is sort of hindering my learning the guitar, and I’m not going to be able to learn in school until at least next year. Thanks!

How to Sight Read Music