I imagine that if I was going to build a house I would want more tools than just a hammer and nails. I’m sure that with the right wood, it could be done, but just think of the time it would take. With my music school, my kids, my band, and my other time-consuming stuff in which I’m involved I just don’t have the time to put in, so I don’t think I’ll try that. I think that building a house would be cool, but I just don’t have the passion to prioritize it up to a place where I could do it. A lot of your favorite rock stars have done something similar, though. Without ever learning music theory or even reading music, people like Eddie Van Halen, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and countless others have aspired to and reached the greatest heights of musical stardom, success and influence. How did they do it? They played a lot. When I say a lot, what I mean by that is A LOT; as in virtually every waking hour for years and years. They had the necessary passion to do something very difficult with only the most basic tools.
Having a passion is great, but if you are like 99.9 percent of the world and don’t share the same passion as the musicians above, but still want to play an instrument, I suggest you use as many tools as you can get your hands on. It will save you a lot of time and make it so you don’t have to give up your job or your kids.
What I’m talking about specifically is learning to read tablature, standard notation, chord charts and rhythmic notation at least. Music theory is another good idea. Each of these things helps you to perform different jobs in just the same way as different tools on a job site will help you build a house. Tablature is great for learning exactly which fret and string your favorite guitar player uses to play that guitar solo or riff you’ve been wanting to learn, but it looks cluttered and confusing if the song is performed with mostly chord strumming. Chord charts will perform that job much more simply. If you want to play with other people, standard and rhythmic notation will make it a lot easier. Before I learned to read standard and rhythmic notation it would take my band a week to put a song together. We all played different instruments and didn’t really know how to speak each other’s musical language. Standard and rhythmic notation are the common language for all instruments. When I learned those and played in a band with other people who also spoke that language, we were able to put together as many as a dozen songs in a single rehearsal. It really does make that much of a difference.
A lot of music students resist learning to use a lot of those tools though. A lot of people say to me that learning to read is too hard and Clapton didn’t read music so why do I have to? Well, you don’t have to, but from my experience I can tell you that not learning to read is harder. I understand the desire to do things the way your musical heroes did them. Like them, I prioritized playing music above sports, friends, parties and other hobbies. I shared the same passion as The Beatles and Van Halen. I also had the time to do it. I was a kid when I played that much and didn’t have a whole lot else to do. I don’t have nearly that amount of time now, I’m lucky that I do it for a living, otherwise I don’t think I’d get to play much at all.
If, then, you are like me and the vast majority of other people on the planet, I suggest that you take the time to learn to use all the available tools. Otherwise you are making it more difficult on yourself than is necessary; like building a house with just a hammer and nails. We’re all trying to have fun here so why not make things easy on yourself?
