3+1 Reasons to Learn How To Read Music

“Why should I learn how to read music?”

If I had a buck every time I was asked that question, I would probably have enough money by now to get an extra set of drums —cymbals included. Yet, it’s a legitimate question.

You’ve set up your acoustic or electronic drums, you’ve got the right pair of sticks and you’ve been teaching yourself through youtube videos —and maybe “Guitar Hero”— up to a level that feels it’s enough to play some basic grooves with not too much difficulty.

So, why bother learning how to decode all those indecipherable symbols on that weird 5-line system?

1. Better Understanding

Music is naturally perceived by the auditory system of the human brain. However, vision is the primary sense we use to identify and analyze our environment.

When you therefore read a music manuscript, especially while listening to that particular musical piece, you are better able to comprehend what is being played and that will allow you to get a deeper and broader understanding of that musical piece and music in general.

That way you can evolve as a musician, become more aware of the different parts and various nuances played by the drums and grow a taste for drummers.

2. Easier Memorizing

As mentioned above, when you visualize the information you analyze it more in-depth. In addition, you can memorize it easier. It’s like when you’re trying to learn a poem by heart: it’s much more difficult to do if you don’t have the manuscript.

In fact, when I try to play something without looking at the transcription, I often find myself visualizing it in my head, at least at the first stages of the memorizing process. And even if there is no transcription available, I still imagine it in my head.

Once it is ingrained in me, I can then forget about the transcription completely and play around a bit with the interpretation of the music, provided I have the artistic freedom to do so.

3. Study Musicians You Admire

One of the main elements of drum practice is studying the drummers you admire and taking a closer look at all the different nuances of their playing style and vocabulary.

And what better way to do this than reproducing note for note their performances. Playing along to your favorite songs and making the drummer “disappear”, meaning you’re playing exactly what the drummer is playing and thus making it sound as if you are the drummer on the track, is one of the most beneficial and efficient ways to practice —and my personal favorite one.

And to do that you need to be capable of reading a drum transcription —and not just on a basic level.

+1. Compose Your Own Music

This (plus) one could be called an “elusive obvious”. That’s because it might seem evident that you would sooner or later get to a point where you would either desire or need to come up with your own grooves. Is it obvious, though?

I happen to know quite a few people who play music, even on a pro-level, who have never composed anything. And it’s not that they’re not capable of doing so, nor that it makes them less talented or less accomplished musicians. It’s just that composing is seemingly not for everybody.

Now say you’re composing a song with your band, and you just came up with that smooth groove that fits beautifully with the bass line and the rest of the orchestration. Yes, you can always record it on your smartphone.

However, writing it down makes it much easier to analyze and develop it into a 4-bar intro phrase let’s say, adding a cool fill at the end, or coming up with an interesting variation of it on the toms, which you can use for the bridge of the song, or even embellishing it with ghost notes on the snare drum so that it sounds richer on the chorus.

That sums up my take on why being able to read music is beneficial, if not essential, if you want to be the drummer you admire.

I see music as a conversation and if you want to take part in one and be a congruous conversationist, you need to be a well-rounded musician. And one of the key elements of becoming one is being able to read and write music, as this will expand your tool kit to a whole new world of musicality.

And if you are already in the process of learning, drum book Stick to the groove Vol.1 will provide you with more than 800 grooves and fill ideas, as well as technique exercises, that will give you the head start you need for your journey through music. You can also get it in a bundle with videos for all the exercises in the book.

The right time to have fun and be creative is now!