Why do I need to learn to read Sheet Music?
It is true, that you do not need to learn to read (and understand) a certain language before attempting to speak it; the same thing applies for music! You do not need to learn to read sheet music to play music.
BUT!
By learning how to read sheet music is just like learning a new language, and in doing so, it helps to deepen and improve your understanding on it. This definitely helps in your development as a musician to be much more independent in your learning and self teaching!
Real Life Applications: Reading of sheet music
For musicians that plays in gigs, it is sometimes impossible to commit many new songs to heart almost immediately and sometimes unexpected changing of songs might happen at the very last minute.
Being able to read sheet music is definitely an asset to your skill list as a musician.
How to read (and play) Drum Scores?
We have two ways we would like to recommend on how to read sheet music.
Co-dependence and Independence
Co-dependence Style
The Co-dependence style is a style where you would read the sheet music left to right and play it:
without the use of a metronome
without a tempo
By doing this, it helps you to better grasp an understanding of what
Independence Style
The Independence style is a style where you break down the sheet music into parts to play, using the top-down approach!
By seeing the sheet music this way, you would break down the sheet music into the different parts of the drum kit, and slowly adding the other parts of the drum kit into the groove you are playing as you get more comfortable.
Metronome Practice
Whether you use the Independence or Co-dependence style of practice, you definitely need to practice with the metronome to get better!
with the help of a metronome, you can be much more accurate and get better at playing!
Tip by Teacher Jolin: Start slow on the metronome, perhaps 40 BPM. You can eventually go faster and faster, and try to go for however fast you can manage!
See You next week for the next Lesson!
