@Eeveecat

3 months ago

Speaking as someone who grew up using standard western notation and is now learning an alternate form (减字谱，for the 古琴) , it's really interesting to see how some of this advice (from the whole series) can apply to 减字谱，and how some or it can't. But it's a great reminder to always challenge yourself and both go back to basics and challenge yourself with new things! Thank you for this wonderful concise but thoughtful primer on sight reading! ps: if anyone reading this is curious about 减字谱 (jianzipu) or the 古琴 (guqin), I highly recommend checking it out. it's a beautiful instrument, and the writing system is fascinating. It gives you a lot of information standard notation doesn't (such as what finger to press down on what string at what place, and what finger to pluck with going what direction), but also skips some of the information standard notation considers vital (such as how long to hold each note, or even displaying them visually relative to each other), because of the way the instrument was historically taught, using a mixture of sight reading and playing by ear. pps: I'd love to see you do a series on alternate/historical musical notation! I feel like there's so much you can learn and take away from it even if at the end of the day you go back to standard, and it tells you so much about what was prioritized at the time and for that specific instrument!

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