At Pride School of Music, all students are encouraged to read music but are also given the tools to be able to write and improvise their own music as well. Today’s musician must learn to develop their ear. The ability to transcribe music from a recording is a valuable tool for someone who wants to play with others. Understanding how chords and scales are used in music opens up a whole world of musical possibilities, from songwriting to being able to improvise your own guitar solo or create your own bass line. Being able to read standard notation opens your musical world view even further. While guitar tablature is easily learned, it isolates guitarists from other non-guitar-playing musicians. When you can read music you can play with piano players, saxophone players, your local school jazz band and even with professional local theatre groups. Also, while tab is “good enough for Rock”, if you would like to play Jazz or Classical music, it is expected that you can read the same music that everyone else does. Teachers who downplay learning to read music are doing a serious disservice to their students.