Songwriting and Sheet Music Rant

C

Cal D

New member
I am wondering how many songwriters use sheet music to play songs? There is a reason why i am asking.

I've always found sheet music very distasteful. To me, it's like trying to reduce something very pure (like the spontaneous writing of a song), into something scientific or mathematical.

I also find it disturbing when a musician cannot play unless he/she has sheet music in from of them. I have been writing songs for a very long time and I play music completely by ear.

I have never captured a song on sheet music and find it amusing when others do this to my songs so that they can play them. I've always maintained that if you wake up the next day after you write a song, and you can't remember how it goes, then it isn't worth remembering.

So......I don't mean to ofend anyone, but I think the true artists live and breath music and they don't have to write it down. It's just part of them.
 
I don't write anything down. It's all recorded on tape.

However, there are times when writing down music on paper is beneficial such as the following:

-anytime you are communicating music to another musician. Assuming he knows how to read, it makes it much easier to convey the basic idea across. If you are arranging music for a song that requires more than the average four piece band (such as brass, woodwind, or string instruments), and you want live players, you better chart that stuff out.

-When you are stuck someplace without your instrument and you have a great melody in your head. You can jot it down on staff paper. Even if you don't know how to put down the actual pitches, getting the rhythm down can help keep it in memory.

-Also assuming you are away from your instrument, you can put random notes on a page at random rhythms and later play what you wrote. This way, you aren't bound by the same old intervals and rhythms that are engrained in your head. It may sound like crap the first few times, but then you'll realize that you can make it more melodic by sticking to something that looks a little more scalar.

So yeah, writing music down is not necessary in many instances, but it can be a musical life saver and yet another avenue to break writer's block. At minimum, I think learning the fundamentals of reading rhythms and understanding the dynamics in sheet music are essential.

Cy
 
Cal

It was good enough for Beethoven. And a few others who would probably qualify as being reasonably artistic.

Irony aside, I guess a lot of musicians' ability lies in things like phrasing, emphasis, subtle shifts of timing and dynamics which cannot be replicated on paper.

But that doesn't make sheet music worthless. It's just a means of communicating. If you say to your bass player "just try playing the root on this A chord and then walking up the arpeggio on the G that follows" is that such an artistic travesty? What's the difference between saying it and writing it down in a well accepted shorthand?

Or do you also refuse to write your lyrics on paper, which is the logical extension of your argument?

No disrespect, but I'm not quite sure what you're saying and I very much hope you're not saying that anybody who can't do it your way is less of a musician....I'm sure you're not saying that.:)
 
Trad. way of writeing..The classical artist of the past would have prob. really liked a lil'pocket recorder..If you can "pen" easily them its no distraction..There is no way more valid than the other..What ever the ends justifys the means..ect.Cal, you have never in your life said ..Sh*t ..how did that go! Your a better man than me ;)


Don
 
Cal D said:
I am wondering how many songwriters use sheet music to play songs? There is a reason why i am asking.

I've always found sheet music very distasteful. To me, it's like trying to reduce something very pure (like the spontaneous writing of a song), into something scientific or mathematical.

I also find it disturbing when a musician cannot play unless he/she has sheet music in from of them. I have been writing songs for a very long time and I play music completely by ear.

I have never captured a song on sheet music and find it amusing when others do this to my songs so that they can play them. I've always maintained that if you wake up the next day after you write a song, and you can't remember how it goes, then it isn't worth remembering.

So......I don't mean to ofend anyone, but I think the true artists live and breath music and they don't have to write it down. It's just part of them.
Click to expand...

It sounds like sour grapes to me. "I never learn't to read music, so it isn't worth doing". Of course writing a score isn't the only way, but to some of us, reading and writing music is quite natural. If I learn a song by listening to others perform it, well, fine, but I might end up copying someone else's interpretation. If I've a manuscript in front of me, I can study it, transpose it if necessary, and make up my own mind how I want to sing it. I personally don't see anything wrong or "disturbing" in that - it's just my way of working.

Sarah
 
Knowing how to read and write music is a tool. Song "writing" would indeed imply writing. Is an artist an artist without a canvas and paint brush? Is a poet a writer without written words? For that matter is a carpenter a tradesmen with no hammer?

I have lived and breathed music for the majority of my 50 years and while I've never been able to read and write music as well as I would like, (simple lack of disipline) I respect the importance and the need to effectively communicate music in a written format. I have been a reasonably successful musician (about 4,000 gigs and counting) and out of the 100-200 songs I've written I've actually written one or two good ones. Being able to read helped me get several of those gigs and being able to write helped me document the songs.

Most certainly, I can "learn" a song much faster from a recording, and possibly document a written song faster on a tape deck - but recording equipment is not always available and without doubt, many well paying gigs require some reading chops.

I have no idea how old you are Cal, but every musician I know who has been around for any length of time has recognized the importance of reading and writting. With due respect, suggesting that someone who can read and write music is less than a true artist is a narrow minded and taken in context foolish.
 
The notion that there is something wrong with sheet music or its use is ridiculous, in my opinion. Sure, it doesn't completely specify all the nuances present in the performed music, but so what? A written play is probably even farther from recording all the nuances present when a good actor performs it.

I wouldn't say that you need to know how to read or write music, either. How useful (or necessary) it is depends a lot on what you're doing and what sort of music you're playing. There is a great deal of music (classical, more harmonically complex popular music) where written music is pretty close to necessary.

I'm sure that when writing was invented a few thousand years ago (or more recently, depending on your culture), devotees of the oral tradition thought it was a bad idea too. I can memorize poems and plays, but I don't think writing them down (or, to be more general, being able to write them down) is such a terrible thing.
 
cal..
Anyone can play the 3 chord progressions....I hope you are not stuck in that mode...if so I suggest you broaden your scope before you slam others who may be a little more advanced. Not saying that you are stuck in that mode..I guess you need to clarify your assertions.
 
For the record

Thank-you for all of your insights. I don't interpret anything anyone wrote as an attack; likewise, I never intended to have my comments interpreted as an attack either ;-)

I have a lot of respect for those who can read and write music. My comments were more on a philosophical vein, as opposed to the practicality of writing things out. I agree that being able to read/write music is an invaluable skill; one that i sometimes wished I had.

I'm not about to get into a debate as to how my age has any bearing on my views, or how good of a songwriter I am in terms of depth and knowledge.

I my view, and I don't expect people to agree with me, there is a paucity of evidence that supports the notion that being able to work with sheet music enhances my songwriting ability. This is only a personal observation that pertains to me, and is not suggested to be a universal truth.

Also, I never intended to suggest that those who rely on or prefer sheet music, are any beter or worse musicians that those who don't. On a philosohocal platform, my statement remains. It is almost like trying to chart out laughter. Some things can be done; but sometimes they lend themselves to action as oppossed to being a natural remedy.

Thank-you for your input. If the truth be told, I was also hoping to stimulate discussion.

Have a nice holiday everyone.
 
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