Read music?

It is not necessary to know how to read music to play the guitar. I don’t bother teaching actual music notation unless someone really wants to learn it. When it comes to the guitar there are many alternatives that don’t take years of study to master such as tablature. Tablature is a system of number on lines and is usually fully understood after 15 minutes of training.  Once a student has mastered the basic techniques of the guitar learning to read music is a much easier and useful feat.