Thomas, that's the best answer I've heard, and believe it or not, it does make sense to me.

When you say, "I don't see any particular connection between literacy in music notation, and musical excellence," I definitely agree there. Hanging around music schools some, I've met more than a couple of people who knew all there was to know about notes, but didn't seem to know a damned thing about music!

Music notation is, at best, a tool, a way to literally "take a look" at a piece of music and examine the way it's put together. It is a visual representation of the music, but it's certainly not the music itself. The true test is "how does it sound?" The ears, not the eyes. If you can achieve what you want to achieve without using that tool, then more power to you.

But I think this works only with individuals and small groups, e.g., bluegrass, or jazz combos. It's easy enough for a couple of guys to work out a decent arrangement without written music. Bob (Deckman) and I didn't write our "arrangements" out or try to work them out on paper, we just did them by ear, by guess, and "by gosh, it works!" However, I can't imagine trying to work out anything much larger, consisting of, say, six, seven, eight, or more people on up, without written music. A bunch of performers in a multi-performer concert or hootenanny all getting together at the end and singing This Land is Your Land as a "grand finale" is okay, but sometimes not everybody's all playing the same chords or singing the same verses (I've been there. I know!). Pretty messy.

Again, this doesn't mean that it can't be done. Example (since you mentioned The Beatles), Paul McCartney doesn't read music, but he did compose his Liverpool Oratorio. It was recorded by some pretty pricy talent: Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley, and Willard White, along with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. The composition of the work consisted of McCartney standing by Paul Davis (who could read and write music), sitting at the piano with a pencil and a stack of manuscript paper within easy reach. McCartney would explain what he wanted, Davis would try it on the piano, McCartney would say, "No, that's not quite it. Try—" and Davis would try it again. When McCartney said "That's it!" Davis would write it down. Long and laborious. But in the end, out came the Liverpool Oratorio. I've heard it, and although I can't quite say that it's up there with the Verdi Requiem, it is an interesting and ambitious piece of music.

As far as music notation being of benefit to the oral tradition, it does help disseminate the songs. I've learned a lot of songs from song books. But if you're not already acquainted with the oral tradition, the notation doesn't really tell you how the song should be sung. If you are, though, song books are an invaluable resource. Another example where music notation falls short: trying to learn flamenco guitar. You just can't learn it from written music. You have to have someone show you. But—once someone shows you how to play an allegrias, a soleares, or a granadinas, you can learn new variations and falsetas from written music. You have to have the rhythms and the basic sounds in you ear before the written music makes any kind of sense.

I guess it depends a lot on what you want to do. And like I say, it's a handy tool.

Hunker down, stay warm, rest easy, and get well soon.

Regards,

Don Firth