Reading Music?

Any suggestions for a good method or book for learning how to read music?
Thx!

Welcome to UU!
Check out this site "Ukulele Yes"
http://www.ukuleleintheclassroom.com/student_edition_C6.htm
Note that there is a teacher edition to these books too (see the banner).

–Lori

The Lil Rev method books (from Hal Leonard) look good, from what I could tell my skimming through them. They seem to teach note reading sort of "along the way" of teaching ukulele in general.

JJ

Thanks Lori and JJ. I'll check out those books. I appreciate the help!

I am illiterate too. Music theory might as well be algebra, as far as I'm concerned. That's why I started taking paino lessons. I've already played a song after my 1st lesson.

Nickie said:

I am illiterate too. Music theory might as well be algebra, as far as I'm concerned. That's why I started taking paino lessons. I've already played a song after my 1st lesson.

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Hey, that's awesome! Congrats on the first song.

I think it's waaaay easier to understand how music "works" when you approach it from a piano perspective. (But I started on piano, so maybe I'm just biased.)

JJ

40 years ago,my brother in law offered to teach me to
read music.(He is a classically trained pianist,I was then
a skinny guitarist)
Well,I can read chords and Tablature.I'm still learning to
read music! Its something that those who can,say is easy,
and others (like me!) struggle with.You either take to it
quickly and master it,or you don't.Just my opinion!

I taught a number of adults to read music out of this book.

Adults learn differently than children: you need examples and building on complexity so as not to tax concentration. This book starts with reading rhythms, then reading pitch (the note), then combines the rhythm and pitch into melodies. It uses a keyboard for playing, which is the easiest instrument to learn music on (no embouchure, etc, ) so a cheap Casio could help with this task. Borrow or buy one.

luthien said:

Its something that those who can,say is easy,
and others (like me!) struggle with.You either take to it
quickly and master it,or you don't.Just my opinion!

Click to expand...

I think anyone can master it, but it's not easy, and some people are speedier at getting there than others. We call this speediness "talent".

But it's that way with everything. Some people might learn a new instrument quickly, but take forever to learn how to dance. Or they might pick up a foreign language quickly, but be really slow at figuring out how to play Bridge.

I think a lot of people tend to confuse "not being able to learn something quickly" with "not being able to learn something, period". If you're willing to put in the time and effort, you can read music (or play uke, or dance, or speak French, etc.). Anyone. No question.

It might take a lot of time and lot of effort though. (It sure did for me. 30+ years at it and my reading skills are still improving!) But, like with anything else, if you put in the work, you get the results.

JJ

Gwynedd said:

I taught a number of adults to read music out of this book.

Adults learn differently than children: you need examples and building on complexity so as not to tax concentration. This book starts with reading rhythms, then reading pitch (the note), then combines the rhythm and pitch into melodies. It uses a keyboard for playing, which is the easiest instrument to learn music on (no embouchure, etc, ) so a cheap Casio could help with this task. Borrow or buy one.

Click to expand...

I learned to read musical notation for piano and classical guitar. I don't find that helps me jump into instantly reading the notes for the uke tuning or banjo tuning (maybe some people can, but not me). If you want to be able to read notation for playing ukulele, I would suggest a program that is geared specifically to that purpose. Learning music theory on a keyboard is easier, so I think learning about how chords and scales are constructed is best introduced there. Knowing where the A#, D or middle C on a uke is best learned with ukulele tutorials for reading music.
–Lori

Reading music is not all that difficult, learning where all the notes are on the ukulele is a different story.
I have found that playing a song from tab where the music notation is also present helps me.
When I see a "C" note I know what string/fret to play. I may not think about it being a "C" note.