Tony Williams question

[BlueMonk]

I've noticed Tony appears on a few of the "great musicians who couldn't read music" lists and I'm wondering if anyone can confirm if it's true he didn't read.

I'm a bit skeptical. Not because Tony was such a great player; the list of great musicians who don't read is long. It has more to do with Tony's education. Tony studied with Alan Dawson at an early age and and then went on to study composition and theory extensively later in his life. If Alan didn't teach Tony to read (our own Ron Thorne could speak to Alan's curriculum, of course!), I would have expected it to be an element of the composition course.

Just wondering if anyone knows the truth?

[Ron Thorne]

Great question BlueMonk! That's exactly the kind of content which made me happy to create this board. I can't confirm the truth with respect to Tony William's music reading abilities, but I'll share some observations and let members draw their own conclusions.

The first time I saw Tony was at Berklee in 1962, and he was warming up in our Rhythm Workshop room which had a 4-piece drum set and grand piano. Tony had squeezed the kit into the corner and was doing some amazing things.

This is a later (25 years) video and totally mind-blowing!



As with me, Tony took lessons with Alan Dawson. Alan had some required books, including Stick Control by George Stone. Alan also wrote individual studies on music manuscript paper for us. I think Tony had at least a general understanding of written music ... at least drum parts. Alan was quite technical in some ways, so reliance on this curriculum was important.

Later, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock added to Tony's understanding and use of written music by my observations.

[BlueMonk]

Thanks, Ron! I knew you would have some insight.

I recently came across this interview with Tony. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-11-06/ ... y-williams

I had read it before, but this time I paid close attention to his comments about learning composition. I think this convincingly supports the idea that Tony could read and write music. Here's an excerpt for example:

As a result of his studies, Williams has acquired the facility he lacked a decade ago. "I'm able to put notes on paper quickly, analyze and manipulate the material better," said the man who has composed all of the modern, mainstream songs for his four latest Blue Note albums, including the most recent, "Native Heart." "I can get an idea and then develop it into something more, expand it. I can look at other's people's material and understand why it sounds the way it sounds, which helps me learn."

[harmony5219]

Whether Mr. Williams could read music or not is immaterial. He was a world-class musician.