Why can bands play for hours often utilizing different instruments without ever looking at sheet music, but orchestra musicians always read from sheet music?

Question

I saw a clip where a pianist was playing and someone was turning her pages for her, but they fumbled and dropped the sheet music. The pianist kept on playing, but it got me wondering why have the sheet music if she knows the song anyway. Do they really need it? Why can’t they just learn the songs like all bands do?

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Answer 1

I’ve never done symphony orchestra, but I’ve spent a lot of time playing musicals. When you’re reading a big score like that during a show, you’re not *reading* the notes per se as much as you are watching the score as it goes by and looking for landmarks.

In a big, complicated score with a lot of players, you sometimes have to sit out for a minute or two while other instruments play. And during that time the music may change quite a bit (tempo and timing changes) and you have to keep track of it. Sometimes you have to jump in, play a few notes, and then jump back out again. You can’t always depend on the conductor to hold your hand so you have to stay alert.

There are hundreds of little details like that, too many to memorize, and it’s usually a two-hour show. Better to keep the road map in front of you.

I’ve also spent ten gazillion hours playing various rock, blues, country, jazz, pop, bluegrass, etc., gigs. When you play a basic rock song, you have, like, five things to remember. And they are very big and logical things. Not a lot of tricks to worry about. It’s actually easier to just trust your memory than to try and read it.

(I should note that I’m over-simplifying the rock and pop world. The truth is, the songs are simple, but there’s an ***incredible*** amount of nuance in timing and feel. It’s the X-factor that separates the great artists from the wannabees. The difference is that part isn’t something you write down. You hear it and feel it.)