Also es gibt schon einige berühmte Musiker, die öffentlich gesagt haben, dass sie keine/kaum Noten können oder benutzen und nach Gehör spielen. Hier eine kleine Auswahl:
Adrian Smith: "Most rock musicians play by ear - if it sounds good we do it." (Guitar Legends magazine, 2008)
Stevie Ray Vaughan: "I can't read or write music...I visualize things." (Guitar Legends magazine, 2008)
Jimi Hendrix: "Because he was unable to read or write music..." (memorial project webite)
Eddie Van Halen: Q: "Did the piano training transfer itself to the guitar?" - A: "Oh, definitely, but in a very subliminal way. Because I never learned how to read, really; I used to fool the teacher. I did it all by ear." (Guitar
World magazine, 7/85)
Eric Clapton: "I felt so nervous, because I couldn't read music, and they were all playing from music sheets on stands." (Autobiografie "Slowhand")
Jimmy Page: "...I'm searching for new chords and shapes and things. I don't just sit down and play scales...I can't play a scale. You think I'm kidding but I'm not. I can't. Well I can, I can play the notes but it's true though."
(Modern Guitars magazine, 1986)
George Lynch: "The foundation of (my teaching approach) is the way I view the fretboard -- which is the way a lot of people view it -- and that's in shapes. You end up learning the same stuff you'd learn from notation or
tablature,but t's a much easier way to understand it." (Guitar Player magazine, 10/07)
David Gilmour: Q: "Do you think in terms of scales and conventional harmony, or are you playing more intuitively?"- A: "I have no idea about scales.... I'm not trying to sound like an idiot savant -- I know my stuff -- but I don't know all the
names of the different scales." (Guitar Player magazine, 1/09)
Paul McCartney: "I try to keep it simple, because I'm not the world's fastest or anything, and I've never practiced scales in my life." (Guitar Player magazine, 7/90)
"Dimebag" Darrel: "I'm not heavy on theory or reading music books... (and) I only know two or three scales." (Buch: "Riffer Madness")
Angus Young: Q: "Do you know what you're doing in musical terms?" - A: "I haven't a clue." (Guitar Player magazine, 2/84)
Tommy Emmanuel: "And 'Gollywogs Cake Walk' I learnt for this album off a tape of Robyn playing it on the piano, 'cause it's a traditional Debussy piece right, and 'cause I don't read music and I can't go out and buy the sheet music"
(
http://www.pertout.com/Emmanuel2.htm)
Tomi Paladinus: "I wish that I would never started to play from tabs because past couple years I have only developed my listening skills and I have learned more songs in 1 year than past 20 years before that. That is only because I never use tabs anymore and I ever won't again.(
www.http://www.allears.co/index.php/about-allears/faqs/31-whatisallearsmethod/242-why-you-should-say-no-to-tabs)
Sungha Jung: "I don´t have any tabs. I play by ear." (Information auf einigen seiner youtube-Videos und sinngemäßes Zitat aus einen Live-Chat über allears.co.)