Real guitarists don’t pick up the tab
Pro challenges Britain’s players to read music

Professional guitarist Marc Ongley is urging the UK’s tab-method guitar players to start reading music as a way of enlivening their playing.

The tablature-versus-notation debate has rocked on for decades. Some of Britain’s most famous guitarists can’t rely on reading music – Sir Paul McCartney needed extra help to score his Liverpool Oratorio.

Ongley issued his challenge at the launch of his second book in the Guitar For Everyone series. A copy has been sent to Number 10 for the attention of the Fender-strumming Prime Minister. A Downing Street spokesman confirmed that Mr Blair can read music.

“The weakness of using tablature alone is that people tend to learn their favourite riffs or pieces, never really understanding why notes fit together,” Ongley said.

“It’s like using a language parrot-fashion without knowing what the words mean. People point to Jimi Hendrix and Wes Montgomery as non-readers but they were uniquely gifted individuals in very specific areas of music.

“I want to give beginners and intermediate students the opportunity to enjoy music in a complete way, to learn to read, not end up in 20 years still playing the same chords they might have learnt as a child or teenager.

“My whole thought process with this series was first of all to make the books enjoyable, but also to think of the person who might one day read professional commercial charts or delve into classical and jazz.”

From the age of thirteen Ongley was a rock player, supporting the Kinks and the Beach Boys in his native Australia. He turned pro at 18 teaching himself to read and became one of the country’s foremost classical and jazz players. In Britain, he made his debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1982.

Ongley lives in London and performs, teaches and writes, as well as running Natural Light Records and Publications.

Note to editors:
Guitar For Everyone Book 'First Steps' (32pp - paperback) ISBN:0954280245 RRP £6.95
Guitar For Everyone Book 1 (40pp - paperback)
ISBN:0954280202 RRP £9.95
Guitar For Everyone Book 2 (48pp - paperback)
ISBN:0954280210 RRP £10.95
Rock 'n' Blues Guitar For Everyone Book (48pp - paperback) ISBN:0954280237 RRP £9.95
Available from: Most UK retail outlets and online at: www.guitarteachingbooks.co.uk (see Purchasing Enquiries page)

Tablature shows guitarists where to place their fingers on the fretboard and strings but it does not indicate how long the note should ring – in other words it cannot convey rhythm. So unless you have heard the music beforehand, you will have no idea how it should actually sound. Musical notation gives all the information necessary for accurate playing.

Guitars are the UK’s most popular instrument and the latest review of the country’s spending patterns by the Office for National Statistics included acoustic guitars in the shopping basket index for measuring inflation.

Issued by: Pace PR, Tel: +44(0)20 8892 3877, email: friend@pace-pr.co.uk.
Website: www.pace-pr.co.uk Contact Tim Friend.

Some recent reviews...

" ...This book is also perfect book for those interested in learning how to read notation..." (Total Guitar Magazine UK)

" ...if you don't want to still be playing House Of The Rising Sun in 20 years, try these books." (Janey Hulme - The National Teachers Magazine UK)