Satriani
Ok, first off, I want to stress that knowing how to read/write Key Signatures is ONLY for people who actually bother to learn how to read music notation (NOT TAB). If you are prepared to put in the work and learn this new language, it will give you a great advantage over people who attempt to learn songs by looking at tabs (which are wrong 99% of the time) off the net.
Here are the cons of Tab:
1) They are hardly EVER accurate
2) Even if they are accurate, you have to actually hear the song and have a decent sense of rhythm to duplicate what is played, because TAB does not have note values in it, only pitch values.
Here are the pros of Music Notation:
1) You can play a song you've NEVER heard before note for note (assuming you are good at reading)
2) You can get lead lines, or entire scores for more advanced songs/pieces/movements
Now I'm the first to put my hand up and admit, I am NO sight reader. I've never devoted the time to it (which I do regret), and while I actually learn everything I know by ear, and it is dead accurate, I still buy Joe Satriani books, and stare with tears in my eyes at the flurry of notes when looking at the notation. I actually gave a Satriani song to a professional pianist and asked him to sight read it on the spot, and he himself said it's unlikely anybody can sight read notes going by that fast, so in essence, you really will and would start off sight reading with very basic music.
There are 3 things that go into music notation before you even BEGIN to start reading the actual notes. They are:
1) The Key Signature
2) The Time Signature
3) The Clef (Bass or Treble for now)
1) The Key Signature
This tells you just by looking at what Key the song is in. By knowing how many sharps or flats are in a particular key, you will know what the melody is based on in the song, and you will find it much easier to follow along when you know which are the most obvious notes used in the melody. This is NOT a hard and fast rule, because it is quite common as well to use Chromatic notes (notes that are not within the key of a song). Notes/chords that ARE in the key of a song are called Diatonic. Notes that are not are called Chromatic. Chroma means Colour, and that's exactly what Chromatic notes do. They add colour to your music, but that's a topic for another day ? Check the next topic for the Circle of Fifths, which will help you identify a Key Signature within a second once you know it.
2) Time Signature
This confuses alot of people. I personally hate working with fractions, but this is REALLY basic stuff, so take the time to learn and understand it. The most common Time Signatures you will see are 4/4 and 3/4. 4/4 is often referred to as Common Time. The top number of the fraction tells you how many beats are in each measure/bar. The Bottom number tells you the VALUE of each beat. So if we have 4/4, this means that there are 4 beats NOT NOTES!!!) in each measure, and the bottom number tells you that each beat has a value of a Quarter note, represented by the 4. If the bottom number were an 8 for example, you would have 4/8, meaning that 4 beats in each bar, and each beat is worth an eighth note. (PS - I will do a lesson on how to count different rhythms soon, so if you don't know how the difference between note values, check it out)
3) Clefs
I'm not getting to involved in this, because as guitarists, there is only 1 clef we use, which is the Treble Clef. Bassists only use the Bass Clef. Pianists use both, Bass Clef for left hand, and Treble Clef for right hand. (also called the Grand Staff). As a guitarist, you only need concern yourself with the Treble Clef for now. I don't know how to insert a Jpeg image of one, but just Google Treble Clef, and you'll see what it looks like
NorioDS
Quick note, your lessons are great, so post your name and number in your signature and start getting some exposure with each lesson!
Satriani
Thanks for the tip. I am going to see my 'proof' for my new flyers I'm having made tomorrow morning, so if I like what I see, they'll be distributed literally across Gauteng and Pretoria. I also need to start finding quality teachers all over South Africa (Drums, Bass, Piano/Keyboards and Acoustic & Electric guitar, Vocal coaches) because my school will be offering all those lessons along with all the usual stuff. IF anybody on here reads this, and is currently teaching and wanting more students, please contact me on 084-666-6609
