How's your reading?

**bassybill** · #1 08-31-2009, 12:34 PM

Not looking to be too scientific here as that would be tricky. Just your own general feeling about your skills as a reader will do.

I thought it best done as a poll so overall results could be seen.

Options are just grades A to G (appropriate, yes?) where A= sight reading pretty much anything playable and G = no reading of standard notation at all.

I can sight read most basic stuff and work through pretty much anything given time (within the limits of my technique, of course

). I'm far from great as a reader but I'm okay - hence "C" as I was feeling generous.

Let's hear your comments, too. Are you satisfied with your reading or would you like to improve? Is reading useful to you personally or not? Any useful tips for learning or improving reading? How did you get started? Et cetera...

BigOldHarry · #2 08-31-2009, 12:36 PM

not nearly as good as it should be...

I'd call it a C- or D+

LSquared · #3 08-31-2009, 12:40 PM

I know how to read music, used to sight read 35 years ago (and before I took up bass). If I spent a little time with it, I could probably get to where I could sight read enough to muddle by.

I probably ought to. All it takes is time.

p4toda · #4 08-31-2009, 12:40 PM

very slow...probably D, I need more practice.

caeman · #5 08-31-2009, 12:42 PM

I've only been able to read the staff for 2 months now. I grew up as a drummer, so I didn't need to know A's, B's and G's. For the now, I still need to write the note letter, but I am slowly getting away from that.

Febs · #6 08-31-2009, 12:45 PM

I answered B. I wouldn't go so far as to say I can sight-read "anything playable." (I wouldn't be able to sight-read Jaco's version of Donna Lee, for example. ) But I can sight-read just about anything that I ever reasonably expect to encounter on a gig.

JTE · #7 08-31-2009, 12:53 PM

E because I haven't practiced it in ages, and my articulation of written rhythm is atrocious. I thought I was OK until I busted my own chops on "Standing In The Shadows of Motown"....

WyrdoBass · #8 08-31-2009, 12:54 PM

I answered "B". I learned to sight read at an early age playing cello. when I started learning bass, I just brought the skill with me.

Jim Campbell · #9 08-31-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassybill

Not looking to be too scientific here as that would be tricky. Just your own general feeling about your skills as a reader will do.

I thought it best done as a poll so overall results could be seen.

Options are just grades A to G (appropriate, yes?) where A= sight reading pretty much anything playable and G = no reading of standard notation at all.

I can sight read most basic stuff and work through pretty much anything given time (within the limits of my technique, of course

). I'm far from great as a reader but I'm okay - hence "C" as I was feeling generous.

Let's hear your comments, too. Are you satisfied with your reading or would you like to improve? Is reading useful to you personally or not? Any useful tips for learning or improving reading? How did you get started? Et cetera...

i find that most of the stuff i get i can work through,and sight down a lot of the more pedestrian stuff.....the triplets within triplets and the oddball kinds of things throw me......i tried an instructor but the last guy looked at the stuff i was working on like it was chinese...

though i know that he is a good player,he probably is more familiar with working from lead sheets,and i bet that a lot of pros fall into that category......i'm considering a piano teacher for help with the sight reading.....

finding a good bass guy beyond the beginner stage is tough......maybe a c on a good day

Darkstrike · #10 08-31-2009, 12:59 PM

Ehh, F, just.

I've looked into it a little, and can figure out a line using it, on my own time, but not easily.

I would like to study it propperly.

standupright · #11 08-31-2009, 01:00 PM

depends on what i'm reading really.

grade 6 classical sight reading. i'm around a B. charts and such i would go with around an A.

one of the best ways to get better at sight reading is to just do it. and keep doing it. put new music in front of your face every day as part of your practice routine.

j.stemmler · #12 08-31-2009, 01:04 PM

i can sight read well enough to cover anything i encounter on gigs (jazz leadsheets, big band charts, etc.). I put myself down for a B

Akshat · #13 08-31-2009, 01:04 PM

Id give my self a D.I try and figure out alot stuff by ear.I can read sheet but i take come time.however i am working on it.

TOOL460002 · #14 08-31-2009, 01:06 PM

you know, when i finally got a real bass teacher (after playing for like three years), he made me start over and learn to sight read. i got pretty good, and i can still pick out middle c, but i forget what all those funny squiggles and little hat symbols are.

i gave myself an f, because if i had to read right now, i couldnt. if i had a week or two to practice, id be at a b. i dont have any desire or need to get an a+. thats just not the kind of gigging id like to do.

kudos to those who can read anything any time though.

onlyclave · #15 08-31-2009, 01:25 PM

I chose 'B'. I'm a pretty competent reader in all clefs and the only things that really hang me up are tied rhythms and some fast cut-time stuff.

TimoMetzemakers · #16 08-31-2009, 01:35 PM

I can read lead sheets, big band charts, usual bass fare, simple orchestra stuff, tango bass, simple tunes in treble clef, etc, but I had to slow down the metronome significantly to read through SITSOM, and if I had to sightread a fast bebop head that I don't know already, it would be clam city. That's worth a C in my opinion.

aikakone · #17 08-31-2009, 01:48 PM

I'm probably a B-/C+ (though I voted B to be kind to the ego). I've been classically trained with voice and percussion, so I'm used to reading both pitch and rhythm. I've never read a jazz chart, though, and I may not be able to play perfectly well as a session musician doing something for the first time. Still... notation is my friend, and I have no fear of reading at all.

MoEllis · #18 08-31-2009, 01:51 PM

I say "B" because I can sightread most anything thrown at me on a gig, and have some pretty intense reading thrown at me in school (Conservatory, not highschool haha)

Rudreax · #19 08-31-2009, 02:51 PM

Probably C. When I started playing bass a year ago, I'd probably be a B+ or something thanks to cello skills, and during the school year I had to read jazz charts and help guitarists read their lead sheets (so I had to know both treble and bass clefs, and be able to translate treble to guitar, quickly). Ever since summer started I've been slacking though. If I sat down for a bit and got back up to par I'd probably be a B-.

Hopfully this will change when school starts again and I startcollege...

Ziltoid · #20 08-31-2009, 03:12 PM

E. for myself, My lack of theory(not so big but still), and lack of ability to read easily is slowing me down alot recently, gotta work on that.