Excerpts From A Public Discussion Regarding Written Music (or perhaps something deeper)

(Editor's Note: This conversation was not at all hostile, as most public forums tend to be. I admire the man who started this discussion, but not for that reason. Authors here are initialed because the identities are insignificant. I don't know most of these cats. I've pulled my favourites from this discussion and left them chronological, if only to accent how late I joined the party)

Cliffs Notes personal background, aka: why Joey's simple status hit home so hard:

-Dad taught me to play by ear.
-self schooled thereafter in punk rock.
-wrote letters above every note of walking basslines to survive jazz band SENIOR YEAR in high school
-felt childish because of this
-honed reading skills
-took every sight reading bass class Berklee offered (because there was no homework. You just had to sight read)
-still enjoy flipping open the book to a tune I don't know, pulling up the audio online, giving a listen and reading it down, then trying to play it.

JUjr: I hope I never learn how to read music. I mean, given that attitude, I doubt I will. But still.

ESR: there is nothing that you can know that you will be a worse/less creative musician for knowing

JUjr: I have no use for it. You can do it. I choose not to. I tried a bit to. It's just none of my business. Charts are for dorks. Math is dumb

CC: math is for people. so is music. don't put us down

JUjr: It's true. But it's more fun to ignorantly whack away at them. Reading music is like reading spoilers. I don't wanna know how it ends!

JOEYJIVES: If you read tabs you read music if you jot down chords on a napkin then play them later than you read music don't argue against knowledge MAN it's not becoming

CS: It's not for everyone. I think it was Dizzy Gillespie who said he liked to play with mostly "ear players". You need to be able to mark a chart to compose and arrange for a few different instruments tho.

JUjr: I get where you're coming from. And it's worked well for you. And you're one of the cooler ppl I've known and don't really have the 'tude of people who can read. And you joe are an ear player who can read well. It's different for me. Everybody plays different right? Different things work for different people right. Just pull it outta you, if it's there. Z'what I'M sayin.

JUjr: With yo HEART not yo HANDS.

SG: How is this different than reading any other second language nomenclature in a post-Cagean world and if it's not then is this racist?

GH: When I started playing out, there was a stigma against knowing too much theory - you were either "too Berklee" (code for having studied somewhere) or condescended to by slumming fusioneers ("I love punk rock - it's so primitive!"). I used to hear both.

As far as I can tell, there's nothing wrong with either approach, though the idea that theory & such can ruin your playing still seems kind of ridiculous. I saw an interview in the 90's where Bill Frisell was asked about that & he replied - I'm paraphrasing here - "you can also make crappy music without learning to read."

JUjr: And now I'm a racist. This has taken some interesting turns.

JUjr: I also hope that I haven't discouraged anyone from reading music, and realize that it can sound alittle ignorant. Maybe I'll learn one of these days my girlfriend Jess has talked about teaching me in the past. But the idea of lording an inability over someone is something I've always been against. But so is taking pride in ignorance. Maybe we'll all be able to laugh over a cup of tea about it. Or whatever.