The Forgotten Technique of Sight Reading on Guitar

Sight reading is one of the most ignored techniques by guitar players these days. The reasons for this
are clear, one being that the types of music that most guitar players play do not require them to know
how to read music. No styles of blues or rock will require heavy guitar sight reading, and because this
is what most guitar players focus on, it becomes a waste of time for them to learn how to sight read.
Another reason sight reading is avoided is because it is generally connected with more classical
instruments and styles of music, and this may seem un-hip to many guitar players. Whatever the
reason, sight reading for guitar has been pushed aside for players of this popular instrument. The
purpose of this article is to illustrate what those who ignore sight reading may be missing, and why any
musician who happens to play guitar should give learning how to sight read a second thought.

The Benefits of Guitar Sight Reading

It does not take long to realize the benefits that come from guitar sight reading once you get started.
One of the most obvious is simply the fact that you will be learning the basic language of music, and
this will enable you to communicate properly with other musicians, especially those on different
instruments. This means that you will be qualified for more gigs and more musical situations that may
come along. You don't want to be stuck on the sidelines if some well paying gig comes up but requires
sight reading.
Learning music does not just help your ability to sight read on the fly. Your understanding of theory,
including harmony, rhythm, and melody, will be improved by being able to recognize their musical
symbols on paper. This will help you integrate the theoretical information that may have seemed too
abstract before. Trying to tackle higher level music theory is almost pointless without the sight reading
skills to go with it, even on the guitar.
Another important benefit of learning guitar sight reading is that this will give you a lot of help in
learning the notes of the guitar fretboard. Learning the fretboard is a long and difficult task for many
guitar players. There are a lot of frets to memorize and they are not all evenly patterned. This makes not
only learning theory and chords on guitar more challenging, but it also makes sight reading a uniquely
difficult task on the instrument. However, starting with sight reading in addition to some other
memorization techniques is going to be the best way to get all of the notes of the guitar fretboard under
your fingers. You need to be able to do more than just be able to point to a note and name it, your
fingers have to know where each note is in order to properly sight read on guitar.
This brings up the next point. One of the most underrated benefits of learning how to sight read is that
it will help you get used to playing the guitar without looking at your fingers. It is extremely important
to get used to playing the instrument based on feel instead of vision. Sight reading forces your eyes
onto something else, which allows you to really start developing your feel for the instrument and the
fretboard. Make sure that when you are practicing your guitar sight reading that you never look at your
fingers. Figure out where the notes are by touch.
You should see that there is more to playing guitar than amps, pedals, leather guitar straps, and other
items. It is a deep instrument with a lot to offer those who take the time to learn more than a few licks.