Ray Charles would be an outstanding example to the contrary; he could work out entire arrangements in his head and then dictate them, note by note, to a copyist who set down the original copy for his band.
This is surprising to me. What with jazz being improvisational, I’d have thought that reading music was by no means a requirement for a jazz musician, as long as they’ve got the improvisational skill and the ability to jump into a wide variety of musical situations and add value to what’s coming from the band.
In the past, yeah, maybe. I’m talking about presently, where Jazz is largely performed by total music wonks who do things like brag about how quickly they graduated from BerkLee, etc.
I don’t think Elton John can read music, either.
I’ve been told that the Australian soprano Joan Sutherland can’t read music and simply learned all of her roles by heart. I find it hard to believe.
Yup, harder still to believe she managed to study at the Royal College of Music without reading music.
What is it with these urban legends, that it is seen to bestow some special status on somebody for not reading music?
Some strange sort of reverse pride, perhaps? “So-and-so was so talented and had such innate musical gifts that he was able to rise to the top of the opera/jazz/pop field **despite ** being unable to read music!” My mind always boggles at the mere thought of the countless hours in rehearsals. A performer who couldn’t read music wouldn’t be tolerated. Indeed, he’d simply not be able to keep up.
Heh. And he also turned up in this thread.
I can’t think of any named musicians, but I remember an anecdote from one of Admiral Daniel V. Gallery’s memoires. He’d been the commander of the US Naval base at Guantamino Bay when he first heard Caribbean-style steel drum music. He decided it was so great he’d ask some of the drummers to come in and help the base’s musicians learn to make, and play the instrument. (If you’re not familiar with it, the requirements for being a modern military musician are pretty impressive to this layperson: they have to be concert quality in, IIRC, three different instruments at the time of enlistment and FWIU they keep adding more instruments as time goes on.) Anyways, the drummers came in and enjoyed teaching the Navy musicians about the drums and how to use 'em, but Gallery noted that they drummers were a bit miffed at the end of the lessons (about a week, IIRC) when the Navy musicians were playing proficiently - they felt that the squids were cheating because they could read music.
I think the anecdote was in his Eight Bells, but I can’t swear to it.
My favorite country/pop artist Keith Urban writes a lot of his own songs and cannot read music . Interestingly enough , this was just discussed on his fan club message board .
Björn and Benny of Abba.
Acclaimed? Not. but I have to post it anyway.
Yanni neither reads nor writes music.
Trumpeter Chet Baker never learned how to read music, nor did he really know much music theory. He would play completely by ear, hearing him play or sing, this strikes me as amazing. Too bad he pretty much gave music the cold shoulder for Heroin, the man was really talented! Also, as a trumpeter myself, i find it amazing that Chet played most of his career missing one of his upper front teeth. i can’t imgine how the man would make any sound let alone the beautiful Jazz he did.
The first band the lovely and talented Ms. Amos started was named for her music troubles at Peabody. It was called Y Kant Tori Read. She didn’t stay at Peabody for long at all. My guess is that she learned to read a little bit, but that’s just a guess.
I just want to say that I’m not trying to be smarmy here. The point is to leave the answer off and let you figure it out. This would’ve been an evil thing to do several years ago – I hate inside jokes where you’re on the outside – but in these days of search engines there’s no difficulty in plugging in the names and getting the answer in rapid order.
It just wouldn’t be the same if I just gave it to you, though.
IIRC (and there’s no guarantee of that) from an interview long ago, her problems at Peabody were due more to her unwillingness play what she was told. I suspect this may have led some of her instructors and classmates to assume she couldn’t read.
Absolutely untrue. Or is that your opinion of their music?
I heard (or did I dream it) that Jimi Hendrix couldn’t read music at all. I’m almost certain this was true. Also heard the same about Clapton but let’s take it with a grain of salt until someone can come up with a reliable source.
I got the impression she had both problems, as I’ve read that she preferred playing popular music anyway.
Come to think of it, are any pop musicians absolutely and completely illiterate musically? The basics of reading music are not that hard to master, and it doesn’t take that long to be able to read simpler melodies and even mentally follow along and hear the tune in your head. I’d think that in the course of a decades-long successful career any pop or rock star, at some point, would be exposed to notation and pick it up.