Illiteracy

I have a good singing voice. I sing heartily in church and often sing simply because I like to. I played drums in the marching band in high school. Sang in the choir. The thing is, I can't read music.

Well, I can sort of read it. One note at a time by counting lines and mumbling to myself "every good boy does fine." Forget chords. Or harmonies. And for the life of me, I can't count out beats and sing at the same time. I've tried. Many times.

I have a very good memory for melodies and many times can hum a song back just after hearing it. But forget lyrics. When I listen to a song I don't usually pay any attention to the words. I have a few lyrics memorized but only by rote. So when I do sing songs, it's entirely by heart musically (I can read lyrics while I sing).

I understand that Roy Rogers never learned to read music. I've also heard of some other famous musicians who never have either. I wonder if there is something different about certain people's brains that makes it very difficult to read music. Or to do anything, for that matter.

Some people have a very hard time reading maps. Smart, educated people. Others have a hard time spelling correctly. When people are naturally good at something we say that they have a talent for it. But what do we say when people find something terribly difficult to do no matter how hard they try?