How to Read Music Better in One Easy Step

Guitarists generally suck at reading music. How do you get better at reading music? Do it a lot. But that’s not what this post is about.

Look at Your Hands

There’s this weird stigma against looking at your hands while playing. Some people feel it’s a crutch. Others feel that looking ahead of your hands is really what good guitarists do.

In either case, there’s a universal truth about reading music: no one knows the fretboard well enough to read and find notes on the fly without the occasional look at the guitar fretboard.

This is especially true if you’re one that gets flustered and thrown off by a wrong note. You want to create an environment that makes it easy for your eyes to scan back and forth from stand to left hand to right hand and back again.

Move Your Music Stand

You can read music better just by moving your music stand. Put it to your left, in front of the guitar fretboard. This will give you a clear view of the music and your hands. Ideally the stand should be a bit lower as well.

Guitar Music Stand Placement
Music Stand Placement
Guitar Music Stand Placement View
See the Music & the Neck

Posted on in Musical Interpretation and Musicianship

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