I have given our high school students their first creative assignment.  With very little direction from me, I asked them to simply prepare and perform a cover song for the class.  I have learned to not give too many instructions, because in our world of standardized testing, students often try to "meet the expectation" rather than showing me what they can do on their own.  I would much rather learn from my students than have them regurgitate a list of expectations.  It's messy, folks, but oh so good for the synapses!

I want to pose this question in that context.  Students have asked me, "Do I have to have the notes to the song?" and some even have asked, "Can I please use the notes?".  Of course, the answer is "whatever will work for you works for me."

This begs the question, why do we spend so much time learning to read music if we can learn music without reading music?

There are many musicians in the world who learn by exploration.  They learn how to play by listening, by mimicking, by watching...maybe they are sound inventors of a sort, experiencing music aurally and kinesthetically.

Written notation helps us to be on the same page, so to speak.  However, it is at best arbitrary.  Here's an example:

This is a piece we are working on in class.  Please listen to it, and then tell me what is the time signature?  Are the cellos and basses plucking quarter notes or eighth notes or perhaps even half notes?  What is the key signature of this piece?

My point is, there are times we place so much emphasis on reading that we neglect what really matters when we play music.  My list is not exhaustive, but includes: feeling a pulse, audiating a tonality, hearing and expressing a certain style or affect, playing with a developed sense of sound and tone, communicating with the people you play with and for...

This is not a directive to stop learning how to read music, however I am asking us to put it in perspective.  Note reading gives us the tools with which we can organize ourselves as musicians.  It simply informs and orders the music that is already happening off the page.

What do you think?