Help with learning to sight-read.

[Muddslide]

I've been playing a long time. Decades. I can come up with some cool lines and can figure out most bass parts I set my mind to if I need to work out a cover, etc.

But I'd like to learn to sight read. I used to be able to sight read for a couple of treble-clef instruments and some vocals, but that was ages ago in grade school.

Can anyone recommend a good book or other materials to help me become a better and more well-rounded player?

[nostatic]

Find a big band to join. Nothing like jumping into the deep end...you'll learn to read fast or die trying

[Wadge]

^ that is what I did actually. I had studied violin for 9 years and classical upright bass for 2 years but I had completely forgotten how to read (I still cannot read treble cleff any more).

I joined a big band and I was forced to learn scores (the brass section could just have a sheet put in front of them and they would play it whilst I had to take a few days of leave off work and figure them out). Surely enough I became better and I'm a decent reader today.

By the way, this is in the wrong forum.

[odin70]

Bach. Start with the two handed Inventions. Dont forget to work on the treble clef. Most music is in that clef.

[Marton]

Don't start with Bach. Get a method and learn the notes. When you'll be confident with basic reading, goes with Bach, and then start learning for real.

[Marton]

Bottesini Double Bass Method is really fun to play IMO. You should get it.

[Duplo42]

Streicher DB method is IMHO one of best, for sight-reading and technique. The method is so simple, one wants to skip easiest exercises, but don't!

Otherwise, solfeggio (singing the notes) and parlato (saying notes rhythmically correct) are your best friends.

1. Start with parlato - grab some easy music sheet and just go for it. Do it daily, as much as you can. And I mean it, as much as you can.

2. Then, once you get going and you can read notes like reading newspaper, start with solfeggio.

3. Then, and only then, grab your instrument. You'll be able to sight-read just about anything in 2 months easily.

If you need explanation of parlato or solfeggio, lemme know, I'll explain.

[johnboy65]

Practical Theory Complete: A Self-Instruction Music Theory Course by Sandy Feldstein
is a book that I really thought was a good start.
You can find it on Amazon.

[Big_Daddy]

I started out writing the letters of the notes below the notes using All Cows Eat Grass and Grizzly Bears Don't Fly Airplanes for the bass. Eventually, I got somewhat comfortable. However, when I joined a jazz band, my teacher told me to erase everything I did, and just try and learn it...So I put my mind to it and learned it. It was hard, but I did.

For treble clef, I believe it was something along the lines of All Good Boys Deserve Fudge, though I can't remember the other one.

Long story short...My advice? Just sit down and try.

[m_bisson]

FACE for the spaces in the treble clef. The lines are EGBDF. EVERY good boy deserves fudge :P

[Scatterblak]

Buy this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Evolving-Bassi.../dp/0967601509

If you don't agree it's the best book ever for learning reading for the working bassist, pm me and I'll buy it off of you myself, and I'll cover shipping.

[251]

Originally Posted by Muddslide

I've been playing a long time. Decades. I can come up with some cool lines and can figure out most bass parts I set my mind to if I need to work out a cover, etc.

But I'd like to learn to sight read. I used to be able to sight read for a couple of treble-clef instruments and some vocals, but that was ages ago in grade school.

Can anyone recommend a good book or other materials to help me become a better and more well-rounded player?

Well, if you just want charts to practice reading, there is an endless supply of public domain material here;

http://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page

[Jpeachbass]

Originally Posted by Muddslide

I've been playing a long time. Decades. I can come up with some cool lines and can figure out most bass parts I set my mind to if I need to work out a cover, etc.

But I'd like to learn to sight read. I used to be able to sight read for a couple of treble-clef instruments and some vocals, but that was ages ago in grade school.

Can anyone recommend a good book or other materials to help me become a better and more well-rounded player?

I cant tell from your post weather you can read at all. Reading and sight reading are two different things. If you can read but not sight read i have have some tricks from working the cruise line bands where you only sight read and there was usually nothing but a sound check or maybe a quick run-through. But if you need to start from the ground up. Find the essential elements for strings: Double bass 1 and 2. This will give you basic reading and a little theory. Also wikipedia is actualy not a bad place to find out what signs and terms mean. If it is sight reading rhythms thats the problem get the rhythm bible and clap through it with a met. and last but not least, find some trombone etude books. Like O.Blume 36 studies for trombone. Or Rubank advanced etudes for trombone. These will teach you, by force, to play out of positions and help you sight read melodic lines which in turn will make bass lines that much easier. If you practice of corse. Hit me back if i completely missed the nail.

[jamersonfan1214]

I'm just starting to learn how to read music, but another TB thread pointed me to this site:

http://www.teoria.com/exercises/read.htm

I've found it to be a helpful exercise for memorizing which notes are where. It's especially great because I can work on it at the office when I don't have my bass handy (hey you've gotta take breaks sometimes, right?).

[Jpeachbass]

Originally Posted by jamersonfan1214

I'm just starting to learn how to read music, but another TB thread pointed me to this site:

http://www.teoria.com/exercises/read.htm

I've found it to be a helpful exercise for memorizing which notes are where. It's especially great because I can work on it at the office when I don't have my bass handy (hey you've gotta take breaks sometimes, right?).

Seams to be a great tool. You should also use staff paper and test yourself. And another great practice to get into is to write scales in two octaves and move into modes later. What this does is one, teaches you the scales in a deeper fashion than just playing them and another, it will teach your eye to recognize scales in a staff. For instance if you are sight reading a part and if you are reading ahead 2 bars like you should, and you see a measure of 1/8th notes that may be a unison line. Your eye will have already recognized its just a, well lets say a Db dorian, giving you a better chance of playing it, as compared to completely folding on it and losing you place trying to figure out what it is. Ya dig?

[Stumbo]

Here are some links to check out:
~Sight Reading
{www.studybass.com/lessons/reading-music/bass-clef-fretboard-notes/bass-clef-notes-fretboard.pdf}
Note: Past the web address in your search bar to download a very helpful learning document for sight reading.
1 Learning
2
Improving
Practicing
Sight reading source material
Transcribe/read transcriptions free online

[fdeck]

When I wanted to improve my treble clef sight reading, I worked my way through the melodies in a jazz fake book. You could do the same with a bass clef version.

[Calamity_John]

teoria.com as people have mentioned is a great theory drilling site. for learning to read .. as suggested ... method books .. just read a bunch ... I love the Evolving Bassist book somebody recommended as well.

on site reading .. think about how your music reading relates to your reading of language .. when you read these words .. if you read them aloud .. you know what it is supposed to sound like before you speak ... you are passed the Sesame Street Phase of C .. A ... T .. C- A - T ... cat ...

When we learn our instruments we often learn them in a very tactile way .. we think about "C" not as a sound but a place to put our fingers ..

I think to really sight read well you have to learn to read music as sound .. so that you can know what something is supposed to sound like before it comes out ... that you can look at the bass part and hear it in your head .. I think the reason sight reading is such a problem for people it that they have no idea what that was supposed to be until after they do it ..

start small .. do some solfege .. with just part of the scale .. give yourself a couple weeks on just "do re mi" (C D E). I will often get a set of index cards .. write "Do" on four cards .. "Re" on four ... "Mi" on four etc.. lay out a Do .. Re .. Mi to start and then draw the rest by chance .. sing after you draw each card .. building up the melody note by note ..

then once you can put those together singing and hearing in your head in any possible combination .
add "fa" (F) etc ... once you have got it up to the whole C scale ... start transposing it to do different keys . in the US right now we typically are using "movable do" solfege ("do" is the first note of whatever scale you are in). There are lots of sight singing books out there .. my favorite is the Robert Ottman Music for Sight Singing .. both for its handy small size and the way he gradually builds in notes and patterns based on triads and common chord progressions ..

a baptism of fire approach can be used a bit but carefully balanced .. the first step in learning mountain climbing is not a plane ticket to Nepal.

[mambo4]

My experience has been that that identifying pitches as a line/space on the staff is the easy part. Accurately perceiving notated Rhythm -sepecially when you get to syncopated eight and sixteenth note patterns - is the harder part, to me.

The one thing that really opened up reading for me was working my way through Latin rhythms, like in the Latin Bass Book. they are great for post-beginner reading exercises because 1.) the rhythms are syncopated, but rarely more granular than an eight noted and 2.) the pitches are generally roots, 5ths, and 8ves.

[rmkesler]

Here’s some advice I received awhile back. The style of music is important too. Don’t get so caught up in the rhythms and pitches that you forget to play stylistically correct.