Am I making a big mistake playing bass from stave?

[Fassa Albrecht]

I've been given several pieces of advice on this one. I was told by one bassist I know that stave-playing, where I play from a stave transcription or the keyboards bassline, is absolutely necessary for 'proper' playing.
Yet I have now read and heard from other places that satve playing is unnecessary and can be very misleading.


What is the right way??

PS I must edit that for my worship playing I do need stave playing. I refer here though to general playing.

[dlloyd]

You answered your own question in your postscript.

Reading standard notation will only improve your playing. It is not necessary for all applications, and it's a good idea to not have to rely on it, even if you're playing a reading gig (music stands have a tendency to self-destruct from time to time... okay, topple maybe).

[headonastick]

Not needing music in front of you is of course preferable in many circumstances, and not just as a bass player, but if you want any sort of work outside of "jam bands" or your standard rock/blues stuff then it is absolutely essential that you can read at least bass clef notation. I'm sure many people can get by without being able to read music, but it is a very valuable skill.

The bottom line is, if you can read staff notation then you can at any time choose not to, but just the process of learning it is beneficial to your musical knowledge, and it will then be a skill you can use if needed.

[slejhamer]

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

PS I must edit that for my worship playing I do need stave playing. I refer here though to general playing.

I'm curious; why do you feel you "need" it for worship playing? Do you have a keyboardist in your band? I'm also in a P&W band, and I find that replicating what the keys are doing is not always the best for a song ... though you can certainly get good ideas from the piano music. You can also get ideas from the melody line in the vocalists' lead sheets.

[Liko]

As many have said, there is no disadvantage and every advantage to learning how to sightread for bass, and reading music in general. However, in most playing situations you will not have sheet music in front of you. You may have a lead sheet showing the chords, a jazz chord chart (similar, but with the chords listed over the rhythm of the changes), or no music at all. Therefore, only being able to play when you've got sheet music in front of you (or have memorized the sheet music) is a liability.

In those cases, you will need to be able to construct a bass line. It could be as simple as pumping the root of a I-IV-V-type progression or as complex as a walking line with skips and ghosts weaving through jazz chords. That requires a solid grounding in chord theory, and a good ear for chords. Being able to read music will help in learning these skills, but it requires far more than seeing a note on the staff and playing it, and can be learned with very little sightreading skills (you've heard of "playing by ear" on just about any instrument; it really can be done well and the ability is a strength, not a weakness).

[BassChuck]

The more musical skills you have the more marketable you are. And you'll have more ways to communicate with other musicians.... and you'll have more ways and points of view to construct bass lines. Why would serious musician say 'no' to aquiring a musical skill?