Reading music vs reading words

[madny]

Today someone told me they were reading a book and i was like "Ewww reading." and he told me "You read sheet music" and i said "Its different though. I like reading music, I don't like reading words." Then he said "Doesn't a word carry the same value as a note?" and i said "Kinda"

I could not explain to this guy the difference, so i wanna know:

1) Do you guys think there is a difference between reading music and reading words?

2) If there is a difference, what is it?

[El Regulus]

Um, there's a definite difference between reading sheet music and reading books. Several differences, in fact.

In music, you're reading notes, key changes, tempo changes, accidentals, etc. There's much more involved, as opposed to a book, where you're just reading words. Yes, you do read words in sheet music, such as in musical instructions (for volume change, tempo change, note accents, directions on where to go, etc) and lyrics, but it certainly isn't limited to that.

In music, there's math involved, particularly in figuring out rhythms. Not so much in reading, unless it's like some weird murder mystery where the killer is an insane advanced calculus professor who leaves behind calculus riddles or something.

Now, one similarity I can see is that the reader must sometimes make use of their imaginations. In music, you do "imagine" the sounds and rhythms when you don't have an instrument right then. In books, you imagine the descriptions of people, places, objects, and so on (otherwise, you're just wasting time looking at whole sentences while taking nothing in).

But both activities can be engaging, no matter what you say =P You just have to find something that interests you, is all.

Hope some of that makes sense.

[RehdBlob]

You could argue that reading music is like reading a book. But you could also argue that they are completely different.
I personally believe that it is similar in some ways, such as the fact that you use your eyes, but fundamentally different in terms of the type of thing that they result in when expressed; music is expressed as... music, while words are expressed a speeches, etc. I find that music tends to be more abstract than writing, as notes tend to carry more emotion than words when put together, and that writing is much more specific in meaning. But that's just what I feel.

[bally]

In some sort of deep, philosophical way, yeah!

Both words and music can be tools to convey meaning, so in a sense, they are extremely similar, but worlds apart at the same time.

Neat thought!

[MetaKnightMK]

There is a slight difference. The length it takes to read a word is not the same as a note's value. There are different tempos that tell you how fast the note moves, there is nothing that tells you how fast to read.

Some people (Mostly people who take a Music Theory class) can play the song they read in their head with the correct note values and pitch. If you read a book, you can't read it perfectly. You make spelling mistakes and mis-pronunciations.

The only similarity I see between the two are the words that are usually printed on the sheetmusic. Words like "Allegro" or "Adante" may be in a different language, but it's read just like the words in a book.

[PopTart]

I love philosophical things like this That's all I gotta say lol

[madny]

Nov 9, 2009 18:21:47 GMT -6 PopTart said:

I love philosophical things like this That's all I gotta say lol

Lol then say what you think! You can't love it and say that's all you gotta say