Re: Why you should learn to read

Steve Freides wrote:

You're a rebel without a clue. Music reading is more a _business_ skill than a _musical_ one? GMAFB.

When, exactly, are musicians asked to sight-read, meaning read a piece cold and play it at the same time, other than as part of a business transaction? The only other situations that come to mind are *some* auditions (where sight reading is required for the gig anyway) and the sight-reading contests some people talked about.

Go to your local Craigslist. Here in Phoenix out of the hundreds of listings (over 300 in the last week) there are only three different ads that mention sight reading in some form. In all three cases it is a musician saying he can sight read rather than an ad requiring someone to sight read.

I point this out because sight-reading is just not a major or even minor factor in the day-to-day activity of most singers, guitarists, bassists and drummers. It *is* an essential factor if you want the gigs like JS describes: church performances, musicals, cruise lines, etc. Those are business situations.

From the musical director's perspective, it's also a good way to weed out the less skilled people. Obviously, it takes a lot of practice to be able to sight read, so chances are a musician in the sight-reading circle is probably going to get the job done. It also saves the director a lot of preparation time and allows them to make last minute changes.

That's why I say it is more of a business skill than a music skill. Sure, it requires musical skill, but that skill is primarily in demand in business situations.
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