Reading is the ability to reproduce music from written notation. It includes five phases: note recognition, alternate note locations, rhythm recognition, fingering considerations, communication terminology and interpretations.
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Reading Standard Music Notation
Reading on guitar and to a lesser extent on the ukulele is hard. With note duplication and alternate locations. The fingering issues inherent to the non-equal distant tuning. It's no wonder guitar and ukulele players a like avoid learning to read.
Sight Reading vs. Reading
There are two types of reading. One is sight-reading. This level of reading is akin to reading a book or magazine. You are reading it in real-time without having seen it beforehand. Studio and show musicians do as part of the job.
The second is reading music when learning a new song or exploring music written in standard music notation. This level of reading is a lot easier and obtainable goal.
Either way, reading is the ability to read notes, chords, and rhythm. Whether it's a simple chord chart or a full-blown score. It's doable with the right plan.
The most accessible place to start is the open position on the guitar or ukulele.
Reading TAB is NOT reading music.
Learning the Fingerboard Resources
If there in one thing that has the most bang for the buck, and these are FREE,. It's really learning the names of the notes of the ukulele fingerboard in your favorite tuning. This is not reading it's just knowing that fret (5) is C F A D and fret (2) is A D F# B. being able to know the name of any fret on any string like second nature.
- Fingerboard Reference Charts
C, D, and G Tuning
- Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard books
C, D, and G Tuning
Standard Music Notation
Reading Lessons
- Reading Music on Ukulele - A Primer - A series of nine lessons for learning to read music in open position on ukulele. For C tuning.<
- Reading TAB & Chord Grids - TAB or Tablature is a form of musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on a particular instrument rather than which pitches to play.
Generally speaking, TAB or tablature is commonly used by informally trained musicians in folk, popular and rock music.

The Trouble with TAB • Updated: May 14, 2020
TAB, short for tablature is a form of musical notation using numbers and letters on a staff that that corresponds to the number of strings of fretted string instrument. Theses number tell a player which fret to place their fingers on the fingerboard. TAB has a history with lute music from centuries ago and has found wide use in the music publishing industry catering to the guitarist who can?t or doesn't want to learn to read.

Reading Music on `Ukulele Series - Reading in Open Position • Updated: Sep 4, 2013
This series of lessons will allow you finally, to check that Reading item off your music To Do list. Learning to read standard music notation opens a world of music to you. Music notation is the Lingua franca of amateur and professional musicians alike.

Natural, Sharp and Flat Notes of the `Ukulele Fingerboard - D Tuning • Updated: Jan 2, 2005
The D Tuning comes in two versions where string four is either tuned to the "A", a major second below string one or low "A" where string fours is a perfect fifth below string three. The D tuning with a low A is the same as the thin four strings of a standard tuned guitar with a capo at fret (7).

Key Signatures and the Circle of Fifths and Fourths • Updated: Mar 2, 2021
There is a load of information in traditional "Key Signatures." Unlocking the principles in this circle leads to a better understanding of music and how things work. A key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating the notes that are to be consistently played higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes.

Key Signatures - C Major and A Minor • Updated: Sep 21, 2011
Learn the recognize the key signature for C Major and A Minor. Learn their corresponding Major and Natural Minor scales with basic ukulele chords for each scale. Sometimes called the learning key, the key of C Major is one of the easiest keys to memorize and begin using.

Key Signatures - B Major and G Sharp Minor • Updated: Sep 12, 2011
"B Major" (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B, with the pitches C# D# E F# G# A#. Its key signature has five sharps: F# C# G# D# A#. Its Relative Minor scale is G# Minor. Its Parallel Minor is B Minor and, its enharmonic equivalent is Cb minor.

Key Signatures - F Sharp Major and D Sharp Minor • Updated: Sep 12, 2011
"F# Major" (or the key of F#) is a major scale based on F#, with the pitches F# G# A# B C# D# E#. Its key signature has six sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E#. Its Relative Minor scale is G# Minor. Its Parallel Minor is F# Minor and, its enharmonic equivalent is Gb minor.

Key Signatures - C Sharp Major and A Sharp Minor • Updated: Sep 12, 2011
"C# Major" (or the key of C#) is a major scale based on C#, with the pitches, all sharps C# D# ES F# G# A#. Its key signature has seven sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E# B#. Its Relative Minor scale is A# Minor. Its Parallel Minor is C# Minor, and its enharmonic equivalent is Db minor. C# is a somewhat easy key and scale to memorize as all the note are sharp.

Key Signatures - F Major and D Minor • Updated: Sep 14, 2011
"F# Major" (or the key of F#) is a major scale based on F#, with the pitches F# G# A# B C# D# E#. Its key signature has six sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E#. Its Relative Minor scale is G# Minor. Its Parallel Minor is F# Minor and, its enharmonic equivalent is Gb minor.

Key Signatures - Bb Major and G Minor • Updated: Oct 29, 2013
"Bb Major" (or the key of Bb) is a major scale based on Bb, with the pitches Bb C D Eb F G A. Its key signature has two flats: Bb Eb. Its Relative Minor scale is G Minor. Its Parallel Minor is Bb Minor. B-flat major is a suitable key for most wind instruments, especially those for which it is their home key, such as clarinets, trumpets, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flutes in B-flat.

Key Signatures - Eb Major and C Minor • Updated: Sep 12, 2011
"Eb Major" (or the key of Eb) is a major scale based on Eb, with the pitches Eb F G Ab Bb C D. Its key signature has three flats: Bb Eb Ab. Its Relative Minor scale is C Minor. Its Parallel Minor is Eb Minor. E flat major is often associated with bold, heroic music, in part because of Beethoven's usage.

Key Signatures - G Flat Major and E Flat Minor • Updated: Sep 12, 2011
"Gb Major" (or the key of Gb) is a major scale based on Gb, with the pitches Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Ab F. Its key signature has six flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cc. Its Relative Minor scale is Eb Minor. Its Parallel Minor is Gb Minor, usually replaced by F-sharp minor, since G flat minor, which would have nine flats, is theoretically possible but is not typically used.

Key Signatures - C Flat Major and A Flat Minor • Updated: Sep 20, 2011
"Cb Major" (or the key of Cb) is a major scale based on Cb, with the pitches, Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb. Its key signature has seven flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb. Its Relative Minor scale is Ab Minor. Its Parallel Minor is Cb Minor. Cb is a some what easy key and scale to memorize as all the note are flat.

Which Way Is Up? - Up, Down, Ascending, Descending, etc... • Updated: Oct 17, 2011
What is up, down, higher, lower, top, bottom, ascending, descending on a guitar? Up, down, higher, lower, top, bottom, ascending, descending should refer to musical pitch and not to direction as we know it. Up and higher refers to the raising of musical pitch. Down and lower refer to the lowering of musical pitch. Top refers to the upper note of a chord voicing or musical phrase and bottom refers to the lowest note.

Reading Ukulele TAB - Alternate Notation • Updated: Feb 12, 2020
"TAB" or "Tablature", is an alternate form of musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on a particular instrument rather than which pitches to play. TAB is sort of a secret language between guitar players and ukulele players. Although a shortcut to getting started it actually serves to alienate one from the rest of the music world.

QuickStart Chord Progressions Play-along Tracks, Introduction and Tuning Notes • Updated: May 6, 2012
The QUICKSTART Rhythm Section CD contains 24 unique styles designed for contemporary lead guitar. Each track is devoted to a scale covered in the QUICKSTART Scale Fingerings for Lead Guitar. There are four background tracks for each scale featuring the chords of the scale. These tracks give you the opportunity to explore the sound of each scale in a lead guitar setting.

QuickStart Chord Progressions, Pentatonic Play-along Tracks • Updated: May 6, 2012
Four premium practice play-along tracks for mastering and exploring the Pentatonic scale. Suitable for any instrument.
The Pentatonic scale is also referred to as the Country or Nashville scale. Eric Clapton has been very successful in weaving the bright pentatonic sound with the dark blues sound creating an unmistakable sound.

Modular Phonetic Rhythm • Updated: Aug 1, 2018
"Modular Phonetic Rhythm" by Chuck Anderson represents a significant advance in the teaching and application of rhythm. Eliminating many inefficient aspects of rhythm education, Modular Phonetic Rhythm streamlines the traditional educational approach, resulting in a reflexive reaction to rhythm. This approach is applicable to all ages and to all styles of music.

Reading Music on `Ukulele Series - Reading in Open Position, Introduction • Updated: Sep 4, 2013
There are a few things in music that students and players avoid. These are things like learning to read and knowing the notes of their own instrument. It is hard on guitar - but not so hard on ukulele. With the right guidance and plan of attack. IT IS EASY. It is really quite easy on a uke. Starting with natural notes in in the open position you can finally check off the Reading Music to do item. Learning to read standard music notation is really, really easy.

Reading Music on Ukulele Series - Reading in Open Position, Alternate Note Locations • Updated: Jan 2, 2006
One of the reasons it is hard to read music on the guitar and the ukulele is, alternate note locations. In the open position there is one alternate note location. The open E, string two can also be played on string three, fret (3). If there is no overwhelming musical reason to play one location vs. the other. Then play the one that is easier to play. Use your ear as the final judge as to which one you prefer.

Reading Music on Ukulele Series - Reading in Open Position, What About String Four? • Updated: Jan 2, 2006
"C Tuning, Low G", extends the melodic range to G below middle C. This expanded range allows for a wider selection when selecting songs to play. The G, A and B are the same names as a high string four but sounding one octave lower.

Reading Music on Ukulele Series - Reading in Open Position, Songs • Updated: Jan 2, 2006
The following songs can be played in open position using the natural notes covered in the previous lessons of this primer. These songs do not use any signatures, no time signature or key signature is shown. All songs are played with a quarter note taking one beat.

Reading for `Ukulele Series - C Tuning • Updated: Dec 26, 2014
This is a series of lessons for reading music for ukulele at a pro level.
Reading Music can be thought of on many different levels. 1) the ability to slowly and painfully _work out_ the written music. 2) the ability to _hear_ the music by looking at the notation. 3) the ability to _notate_ your ideas in standard music notation. 4) the ability to _read_ music as you read a book or an article. 5) the ability to communicate with other musicians in the written language of music. 6) the ability to learn songs that you've never heard.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson One, Introduction • Updated: Feb 17, 2014
This is a series of lessons for reading music for ukulele at a pro level. Reading can be thought of on many different levels. 1) the ability to slowly and painfully “work out” the written music. 2) the ability to “hear” the music by looking at the notation. 3) the ability to “notate” your ideas in standard music notation. 4) the ability to “read” music as you read a book or an article. 5) the ability to communicate with other musicians in the written language of music. 6) the ability to learn songs that you’ve never heard.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson Two, Note Recognition • Updated: Feb 18, 2014
Once you understand the basic concept of reading, it’s time to get down to the development of the skills. We know our goal is to read music as well as we read words. Now, how do we get there? Note Recognition - If you can’t recognize the notes on the staff, you certainly can’t read them. For anyone who is past this step, great! But in many cases, the recognition of notes on the staff is not as good as it should be. If you can’t read music, this skill doesn’t exist at all.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson Three, Open Position • Updated: Feb 18, 2014
Now that you can recognize the notes on the staff in the Treble clef, it’s time to start connecting that knowledge to the ukulele. One of the most significant problems in reading for the ukulele, is that many of the same notes can be found in multiple locations on the neck. For example, the same A note is an open string one, string two - fret (5) and string three, fret (9) and if using a high G tuning - string four fret (2). The only way to cut down this complexity is to organize the ukulele into positions where this duplication is either eliminated or at least, minimized.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson Four, Key Signatures, Sharps • Updated: Feb 18, 2014
This lessons covers the natural symbol and the sharp key signatures keys. In musical notation, a key signature is a collection of sharp or flat symbols placed together on the staff. Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of musical notation, although they can appear in other parts of a score, notably after a double barline. A key signature is use to indicate the “auto sharping or flatting of specified notes. Key signatures are also used to identify the key of a composition.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lessons Five, Key Signatures, Flats • Updated: Feb 18, 2014
This lessons covers the natural symbol and the flat key signatures keys. In musical notation, a key signature is a collection of sharp or flat symbols placed together on the staff. Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of musical notation, although they can appear in other parts of a score, notably after a double barline. A key signature is use to indicate the “auto sharping or flatting of specified notes. Key signatures are also used to identify the key of a composition.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson Six, Ties • Updated: Feb 18, 2014
This lessons's work will advance rhythm by introducing Ties. Many ukulele players can find the notes on their instrument but can't read rhythm with enough accuracy and speed to be considered "sight readers". Remember that sight reading is just a level of reading. It's not some special and mysterious skill. When you read a book or magazine, you don't have to "work out" the words before you "read" them. You just read them.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson Seven, Rests & Position II • Updated: Feb 19, 2014
Lesson seven covers reading in position II. After spending time on open and first position, we're ready to move into the second position. The second position is defined as the notes on frets 2, 3, 4 and 5 on all four strings.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson Eight, Position III • Updated: Feb 23, 2014
After spending time on open, first and second position, we’re ready to move into the third position. The third position is defined as the notes on frets 3, 4, 5 and 6 on all four strings. The first finger will play notes in fret 3. The second finger will play notes in fret 4. The third finger will play notes in fret 5 and the fourth finger will play notes in fret 6. The third position is a natural position for the key of Db major and Ab major as well as their two relative minor keys, Bb minor and F minor.

Reading for `Ukulele - Lesson Nine, Position IV • Updated: Feb 19, 2014
Lesson nine covers reading in position IV. The fourth position is defined as the notes on frets 4, 5, 6 and 7 on all four strings. The first finger will play notes in fret 4. The second finger will play notes in fret 5. The third finger will play notes in fret 6 and the fourth finger will play notes in fret 7.

Reading Music on `Ukulele Series - Primer • Updated: Jun 19, 2014
There are a few things in music that students and players avoid. These are things like learning to read and knowing the notes of their own instrument. It is hard on guitar - but not so hard on ukulele. With the right guidance and plan of attack. IT IS EASY.
It is really quite easy on a uke. Starting with natural notes in in the open position you can finally check off the Reading Music to do item.
Learning to read standard music notation is really, really easy.
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