I apologize immediately for the title perhaps too generalized, but as a guitarist I started to take a look at the buddies from the Hall of Fameand I found it interesting that most of the big names DON'T know how to read music! It is an ancient debate, with pros and cons and without winners or losers.
But one thing is certain: reading music does not seem to be a discriminating factor to reach the Olympus of the stars, at least in the field of XNUMX strings ... but not only!
Check out who we tracked down!
Adrian Smith by Iron Maiden stated that "most rock musicians play by ear - if the piece sounds good then we do."
Robert Johnson, among the founding fathers, worker in the cotton fields in the early twentieth century. He was among the first to join Club 27, leaving this land at the age of only 27. For economic reasons he never studied music but the fact remains that many, including Eric Clapton, believe that "he is the most important blues singer who ever lived".
The Beatles, would you have said it? The most famous group in the world! Plunged onto the world music scene like an atomic bomb, without knowing how to read a note! “None of us can read music,” John Lennon said in a 1980 Playboy interview. “None of us can write it. But as pure musicians, like humans inspired to make noise, we are as good as anyone else ”.
Jimi Hendrix
Probably the latest guitar icon. He delivered classics like "Purple Haze" and "Voodoo Child" to history without putting a note on paper.
Some believe that the lack of canonical musical notions has allowed Jimi to focus even more on the feeling of his genre making it unique.
Eric Clapton
Among the most respected guitarists in the world, "slowhand", Clapton in his autobiography touched on the subject of reading music, describing the anxiety he felt during a guitar session with Aretha Franklin. “I felt so nervous, because I couldn't read music, and they all played the music from the scores on the music stands,” he said.
Eddie Van Halen the man who put the neoclassical shred e
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two-handed touch in his spectacular “Eruption”, Mr. Eddie Van Halen, said he can't read music. In this case, however, there were lessons, of piano actually. When asked in a 2 edition of Guitar World magazine if the piano lessons made him opt for the guitar, Van Halen replied, “Oh, definitely, but in a very subliminal way. Because I never really learned to read, I used to make fun of the teacher. I did everything by ear ”.
Slash by Guns N 'Roses, another icon, another musician who cannot read and does so without shame! He publicly stressed the importance of jamming over studying.
"No, I can't read music," he said during the Snakepit Q&A. ”I play by ear. I try to reproduce what I feel (sometimes only in my head) by letting it come out of my hands on the guitar. "
Angus Young of AC / DC
creator of legendary riffs. When asked by Guitar Player magazine if he knew what he was playing in musical terms, Young simply replied "I haven't a clue !!!"
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, father of Metal, was not very adept at
reading music when he invented the genre. Like many guitar pioneers, Iron Man only did what he believed was best at the time. “First of all we did jazzy blues. It was certainly something I hadn't thought of - I didn't know how to read music, ”Iommi told the BBC. “I had no knowledge of anything. I like classical things - various types of music, jazz, blues, and even classical music, have played an important role in influencing my compositions ”.
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine he is known to be self-taught. As has been reported, Morello began reading scores after joining the Audioslaves in the early 2000s.
"As a teenager, Morello fell in love with both rock music and politics, and he was almost totally self-taught on the guitar (in fact, he learned most of the things about the instrument, practicing during his time at Harvard University, where Morello was graduated in political science) ”, reads his bio.
Adam Jones of Tool, self-taught, he has perfected his guitar playing in a unique way, so it's no wonder he has one of the most distinctive touches in music history.
"Jones, being a talented self-taught guitarist, manages the concepts behind the Tool videos," reads an interview with ABC.
James Hetfield of Metallica, the frontman got to know the guitar in childhood. As he has pointed out on many occasions, the instruments were like games for him, so learning to play them was a natural thing.
As James said in one of the documentaries on "Black Album", the band hired an orchestra to support some parts in "Nothing Else Matters". The video shows Hetfield remembering how he explained the piece to the musicians, admitting he didn't even know the names of the notes!
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, another master of metal.
"I'm self-taught, so no one can use the fact that I can't read music against me," Dave said during an interview with Death and Taxes.
Dimebag Darrell of Pantera he cannot read music and has made no secret of it in his book "Riffer Madness". “I'm not very good at theory and reading scores” he said “I only know 2 or 3 scales”.
Rosenberg Trio one of the largest and most technically skilled gypsy jazz groups. Maybe in Jazz you don't expect it, there are a lot of notes compared to Rock, but it is interesting that none of the 3 Rosenberg brothers know how to read music and their official bio confirms it.
"None of the three can read or write music, but they are undoubtedly one of the best jazz bands today and certainly the best in gypsy jazz," reads the official website.
Tommy Emmanuel, the extraordinary Australian guitarist, king of fingerpicking. Let me break a lance for this exceptional guitarist I adore, and please look for him if you don't know him!
As his official bio quotes, Tommy picked up the guitar at the age of 4, he never learned to read music and he doesn't regret it.
"He had his first guitar at the age of 4 and his mother taught him to use it" reads the official website. “Tommy, he learned quickly by ear, with no formal education, and he never read music. At 6 he was already working as a professional musician in the family band "
