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As I see it, notation on sheet music is a tool for translating musical ideas into something that can be read/interpreted by others and played back, given they understand the same set of rules.

I assume also that the way one approaches to music or the instrument played makes thinking about music itself very different. So when it's time to write or create some music, maybe someone trained to see through the lenses of musical notation would come up with some sort of "patterns" or ideas that another person more used to digital creation would have different. It's like if the tool was shaping the craft somehow.

Some time ago I've came across a bass workshop by Victor Wooten that made me think about music in a different way. He explains music as made of 10 elements (notes, rhythm, space, dynamics, articulation...). He believes that all of these are equally important to make music, not even good or bad music, simply music, because you can find them in every melody or song.

Introduction made, now the question. On my personal journey to learn music I've tried guitar playing with no attention to music theory and after that some time in an music school. I'm not reluctant to theory, in fact I like it, but what I fail to see it's the point of making the staff the center of my learning when I don't want to be a classical nor professional interpreter.

I want to understand music, its elements and details to be able to express myself with no more limitations than my abilities. Beyond some basic knowledge of notation that certainly is good to have, is there any fundamental element that is better learned using music written on a staff? I'm thinking in rhythm but not sure.

I can read English. I could read a thesis about nuclear science, or whatever, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense to m, although anyone listening may be able to understand what was being read.

Sight-reading is a great skill to have, but I don't think that that, in itself, will particularly give you a great insight into music, or music theory. Learning how to sight-read may well help, as there are certain premises and facts that are important to know and understand whilst learning how to sight-read.

So, studying theory - with the all important practical playing in tandem to make it make sense - is your better route, learning how to sight-read on the way will help, but purely sight-reading things won't necessarily give you much insight into music. Apart from being able to pick up anything, and play it, so bringing that sheet music to life, and perhaps meeting other genres that, if you can't sight-read, may be denied.

I don't see how sight reading would help with learning the fundamentals of music theory, but there is a very strong case of the converse: a better understanding of music theory makes you a better sight reader.

So much of the "Classical" repertoire is built around fundamental patterns of scales and triads. When a pianist simply knows their scales, sight reading a Mozart piano sonata becomes much easier. Instead of tallying a string of 50 straight sixteenth notes, a student adequately trained in music theory will recognize those sixteenths notes as patterns of the A-major scale; the music then almost plays itself.

In the world of jazz, a string of nine chord changes might look completely foreign to someone untrained in music theory. But the adequately trained student recognizes it as a string of ii–V–I progressions; now suddenly the student hearkens back to their training and the improvisation flows naturally.

Keep in mind too that "music theory" isn't just written theory; it also involves ear training. Musicians that "don't want to be a classical nor professional interpreter" often prefer to play by ear. In such cases, the knowledge of common chord patterns makes playing by ear (not to mention composing) much easier and much more successful.

Reading is pretty basic to understanding theory, because we name things differently based on the notation (e.g. an augmented fourth sounds the same as a diminished fifth). Reading also gives a notation to rhythm, and articulation through slurs, legato lines, staccato dots, etc.

In any field it's useful to have some kind of nomenclature. It gives you something to wrap your head around and communicate with others. You could get along by demonstrating what you mean if you don't have a language to describe it, but notation gives you a faster and clearer method.

That said, "sight" reading means being able to interepret a piece that you haven't seen before. I think it's a useful skill for the work I do as a guitarist, but it's certainly not essential for all guitarists, and the speed at which you can recognize things like intervals and chords isn't much of a barrier to understanding music theory - if you can follow and understand the written examples in theory texts, you're reading skills are sufficient, and reading faster won't help al that much.

I want to understand music, its elements and details to be able to express myself with no more limitations than my abilities. Beyond some basic knowledge of notation, is there any fundamental element of music that sight reading would help me to understand better? I'm thinking in rhythm but not sure.

After reading your waste introduction I assume that you actually mean understanding sheet music as you mention just some basic knowledge of notation and the 10 elements of music ...

Reading and understanding of sheet music will be of an interactive benefit for the process of understanding music theory, listening, analyzing and also for the skill of sight reading. Each moment you are investigating to improve your skills for reading scales, intervals, triads and all sorts of chords, rhythm, solfège, clefs and scores will have agreat benefit for all other occupations with music, also for someone who comes from computer music or any instrument.

Don’t forget that all the genius performers who were musical analphabethists were not those genies because they were lacking of reading knowledge, they didn’t know to read sheet music because they were poor and didn’t have the opportunity to learn it.

Standard notation inherently relates to a certain model of what music is - for example

• The idea that music is made of 'notes' and 'rests'


• The idea of rhythms as being constructed of units of time that are hierarchical subdivisions of a bar


• the idea that a piece of music is assumed to be diatonic and can be said to be in a certain key

(There's no reason you have to think of music as being made of 'notes', or having a 'key' - that's just a particular model, albeit a very common one).

The more used to standard notation you are, the better you will be at thinking of music from the perspective of the model that is implied by standard notation. But if thinking of music in that way is already straightforward for you, then it might be that there isn't any major new musical concept that sight-reading or reading music is going to teach you.

That isn't to say that reading music might not be an incredibly valuable skill, of course. But then learning Chinese, or real estate law, or welding could also be incredibly valuable too. You have to focus your efforts where it seems the return will be greatest.