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The Importance of Sight Reading for Guitarists

Okay, guys, I just want to quickly talk to you about sight reading and how useful this can be for you as a guitarist and as a musician.

Overview

It's a little bit of a controversial subject among popular guitarists. We are somewhat renowned for perhaps not being the best readers compared to other musicians. While that may be true for some groups, sight reading is a really, really useful skill. It has come in handy for me ever since I made it a focus to improve in this area.

Although it may seem overwhelming at first, we can break it down into nice, easy, digestible steps.

Downloadable Resource

I've prepared a PDF for you to download that walks you through the basics of how to approach sight reading.

Why Sight Reading is Important

• If you are doing the Rotschool syllabus, this may be a necessary part of your exam.
• If you opt out of the improvisation section, then you'll be doing sight reading instead.
• It's useful in learning your pieces without relying solely on ear training from backing tracks.
• If you can read, you can learn directly from the sheet music.
• It also aids in transcribing your own solos. Understanding sight reading will allow you to write them out accurately.

Career Prospects

Looking ahead into potential careers as a musician, if you aim to work in theatres or pit orchestras, sight reading is an essential skill. You cannot effectively do those jobs without being able to read music.

In many gigs, you'll typically be presented with charts, especially if you're covering for someone. Having basic reading skills can alleviate the pressure of looking at a page and thinking, "I have no idea what this is."

Final Thoughts

So, just some basic reading skills can really take you a long way. Please do download that PDF and check it out!