Do Singers Need To Know How To Read Sheet Music?

I can’t count the number of times I have heard a musician or singer say that they cannot read music and that they do everything “by ear.” This is often said admiringly of great, famous musicians as well. And it IS impressive. But the implication is that understanding basic music theory and being able to use sheet music is a crutch or perhaps even a weakness. As a voice teacher and working musician, I have some thoughts on this.

Singers’ Ears Are Amazing

Voice is perhaps the easiest instrument to “play” without any understanding of reading music. Most children sing long before they can read or even understand words. Experienced singers must have highly developed ears and can do quite amazing things even if they have little technical understanding of what it is they are singing. It is a truly wonderful and seemingly magical thing to be celebrated and enjoyed. But why not combine that powerful ear training with some practical music theory knowledge?

Like any skill, learning more about all aspects of singing will only help you improve and will create more opportunities and options. Quite honestly, not being able to read music is a handicap and may sometimes limit gig or audition possibilities. For example, when I was the music director of a church in Queens, we had only a very limited amount of time available for rehearsal each week. I determined that I could only hire musicians who were able to read music, as this made rehearsal much more efficient and allowed all of us to better prepare in advance. This is just one example of many where opportunities would be limited due to a lack of this knowledge. Having a basic ability to read music will also allow you to speak the “language” of music notation with your band or accompanist, and will make you feel and appear more professional and confident. 

I once heard a yoga teacher use this analogy in relation to using props in class, and I think it works well here too: think of having an understanding of sheet music like having proper cooking tools in the kitchen. You can prepare food without it, but it sure is a lot easier when you have the right utensils and appliances!

Now, should you wait until you can sight read a Mozart aria before you start voice lessons or consider planning a performance? Absolutely not! If you wish to sing, nothing should stop you or slow you down on your path. What I mean to say here is that as you continue your study of voice, consider adding learning basic music theory to your list along with whatever else you hope to improve upon in your voice lessons. It will only deepen your understanding of music and make you a better, more hirable musician overall. 

Where to Start

You can begin by asking your voice teacher to incorporate some music theory into your lesson each week. Simply going through the sheet music for whatever song you’re working on and mapping out how to use it (without even getting into specific details) is a great place to start, and you will learn a lot! Music theory is a vast and fascinating study, but starting with what you need to use regularly will be the most helpful, and will also help it stick. If you want to keep your music theory study separate from your voice lessons, there are many beginner courses that can be taken online, including a fantastic one taught at NYVC by Andy King.

Remember, not being able to read sheet music should never stop you from singing. But the more you know, the more you will be able to learn!