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Ear ear, who's reading?

© Ray Chandler

For centuries folk musicians could not read music, and had no opportunity or desire to learn. Traditional folk music was learnt by ear and passed on through the generations. It was the preserve of simple rural people, so those early instrumentalists and singers couldn't read words, let alone music.

Today, of course, folk music is enjoyed and practised by educated people who have learnt the rudiments of music at school and have had every opportunity to continue studying musical theory, either while still in formal education or for their own interest. So many folk musicians today are musically literate, and an increasing number to a level which enables them to sight-read music fluently at first glance.

People disagree about whether this skill is an asset or a liability - and they don't take sides simply according to whether they can personally read music or not. Some who can read perfectly well have doubts about it, while many who can't read wish they could.

An ability to read is a great asset in one respect, making accessible a huge range of music that would take many lifetimes to learn by ear. The wealth of tunes printed in books and downloadable as printable files from the internet opens up a vast potential repertoire to the player who can read the dots.

And of course reading ability enables players to get far more benefit from instrument workshops and tune-swapping events - indeed some of these specify that being able to read at a least a simple line of music is essential.

On the other hand, many musicians agree that when you learn a tune by ear it goes into the brain quicker and stays there longer, whereas learning from printed music makes it harder to retain and there's a lingering dependence on the visual reminder.

There's also a view that playing from memory allows more expression than reading, but this undoubtedly depends on the level of reading skill. Besides, in public performance the player wouldn't normally tackle a new piece at first sight - it'll be very familiar material with the written music used only as a memory aid.

In these circumstances a good reader will be just as expressive as when relying purely on memory - indeed the expression might even be greater because there's less need to keep thinking ahead.

But apart from the practical and artistic considerations, there's another factor - prejudice. Absurdly, at many folk clubs and folk festivals it is simply not done to turn up with music stand and tune book.