How music is "learned"?

Two possible ways by which new music is learned:

A)Are musicians expected to be able to play a given song (on music sheet) by just looking at the sheet music for the very first time

In other words, is sheet music normally played "instantly", or....

B) Do musicians play a given song fluidly ONLY after Practicing the UNIQUE set of notes that make up that given song?

I want to by which of the two ways is new music (on music sheet) learned, normally,

Thank you very much for sharing your ideas

Waylen A.

How music is "learned"?

-(Myspace music www.myspace.com)

That's a good question, Waylen, the answer depends on how difficult the music is, and how skilled the musician.

If a piece of music is easy enough to play for a particular player, it possible to do so the first time he sees it. This is called "Sight-reading." The more music experience you have, the easier this becomes in general, but beginning musicians may not be able to sight read at all. It is difficult to describe the process of reading music to someone who is not experienced in it, but reading music and playing it is a dynamic skill, like riding a bicycle.

Of course, being able to practice and rehearse a piece ahead of time makes it MUCH easier to play since you are much more familiar with it. But the process of reading and playing remains the same, whether you are playing it for the first time, or you have had time to practice it.

So I guess the answer is, "both." You have to sightread every piece of music once, but some music is easy enough that you don't have to practice it.

It is also possible to commit a piece of music to memory so that you don't need the music in order to play it. This is the same as memorizing a poem or a chapter in a book.

Well I hope that answers your question.

~Donkey Hotei

How music is "learned"?

-(Myspace.com graphics myspace.com)

Personally, I'm very good at sight reading, which is learning the music by looking at it for the very first time. But, I've been involved in music for 20 years. If someone isn't as experienced, they may need to practice the music. If they are experienced, though, a lot of times a musician can look at a piece without practicing and already know by looking at the notes what the song is going to basicly sound like.
The act of playing music as you read it for the first time is called sightreading. Each musician who can read music will sightread at their own skill level. Their skill level coupled with the difficulty of the music will determine the result.

It's the same as reading words. Some people will stumble over words if given a paragraph to read aloud on first sight. However, you could give the same paragraph to a radio DJ or a television announcer and get something that probably qualifies for broadcast.