New to Guitar Should I learn to Read Music or just tabs

Hey guys,

Long story short 40 years old, Always wanted to learn guitar and now both my 14 year old son and I are doing it together..Reading Music is killing me and just want to learn a few songs to have fun...Having a problem understanding the Tabs and how to play them..Is there a place on this site to get a better understanding of what I should be doing?

Love hard rock music!

Thanks in advance

Hey and welcome to the site.

Originally Posted by: rinkrat15Is there a place on this site to get a better understanding of what I should be doing?

Reading music is not absolutely necessary; but is an invaluable skill.

I suggest to people that are only interested in playing guitar as a hobby or on an amateur level it is not necessary to be able to sight read music notation, but it is good to at least be able to read and understand the information in music notation.

For your son, I would recommend definitely to learn to read music.

Start at Guitar Fundamentals 1. It is a great way to learn from the ground up. In it you will find info on how to read tab in chapter 2.

http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=1

Follow that with Guitar Fundamentals 2. In it you will find info on how to read music notation in chapter 4.

http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=2

Let us know how it goes. Ask more questions as necessary. Best of success to you both! :)

Originally Posted by: CSchlegelHey and welcome to the site.

Reading music is not absolutely necessary; but is an invaluable skill.

I suggest to people that are only interested in playing guitar as a hobby or on an amateur level it is not necessary to be able to sight read music notation, but it is good to at least be able to read and understand the information in music notation.

For your son, I would recommend definitely to learn to read music.

Start at Guitar Fundamentals 1. It is a great way to learn from the ground up. In it you will find info on how to read tab in chapter 2.

http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=1

Follow that with Guitar Fundamentals 2. In it you will find info on how to read music notation in chapter 4.

http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=2

Let us know how it goes. Ask more questions as necessary. Best of success to you both! :)

As a fellow 40 year old, based upon what your goals are, I would not learn to read music, but rather learn to read tabs so you can play your favorite songs(which you can find all over the interent). I think its a great skill to read notation, and have tried in the past, but what i have found is if you don't put it into practice by using it regularly, then you will never retain it. I play at my church, and they just use chord sheets so I never get a chance to utilize notation, therefore, can't develop the skill for real world use.

There is a lot to learn with guitar, and notation is a luxury but not a necessity for the casual player - now if you had aspirations to be a studio guitarist, then that would be a different story.

Thanks for the great info guys!

Really appreciate it!

Might depend on what type of music you plan on pursuing too. A lot of classical guitar stuff is written in standard notation as opposed to tablature.