I did it. I did it. I did it...

[Rockin John]

I did it. I did it. I did it . . . . .

Last night I put my cello music book on the stand, strapped on the bass and played one of the simple little melodies straight from the written music.

OK. It wasn't very fast. There were loads of mistakes (that I realised and went back to do again).

But I actually played some written music.

I think this reading music business could be the start of something really fantastic.

John

[sedgdog]

Cool -
Just keep at it. It's like riding a bike. Pretty soon it will be second nature. You just have to keep grinding at it. It is a skill that will serve you well and put you in the top % for being versitile.

All the best
Tim

[Squidfinger]

Cool.

[Joe P]

One more bassist who can sight read... Well that sets me back one more notch in the world of bass. I don't have to get worse as long as others are advancing faster than me.

Scurvy dog...

Joe

[Shoka42]

Originally Posted by Rockin John

I did it. I did it. I did it . . . .

Sweet stuff dude! I was wondering how you are learning to read, as i'm trying to start learning myself... looked on the net, but no joy, but will probably get a book or something.

Anyway, congrats!

[Osama_Spears]

I can site read note names (writing the name under the music) but I cant seem to get 100% non-"cheating" sight reading down...I also found that I can read treble better than bass clef,but I've been playing the F clef for like 3 times as long:-/
we just need to keep at it.

[Rockin John]

Thanks everyone.

For Shoka42, here's how I've managed thus far. I already had a idea of the lengths of notes as they are written on the staff, and their relationships to one another: I really don't know how I got that, but there we are. To gain the idea of pitch, I drew a bass staff, named the notes including one small ledger line above and below the normal five lines. This equates to open E going up to C ' G string, 5th fret. OK, I know I'll need more lines above the C, but one step at a time!!

Using the Hendrix book I went through a song (Hey Joey, actually) and gave each note it's name, written in pencil. I took careful note to correctly identify the Key Signature in another music tuition book, then made sure all the sharps (and naturals as appropriate) were correctly named as required by the music.

At that stage I simply read the note names outloud to myself whilst noting where the dots were drawn: I ignored the note's duration at that stage.

I went over that lot again and again I don't know how many times! When I felt fairly confident only then did I strap on the bass. Putting Hendrix aside, I attempted some of the tunes in the cello book. I deliberately DID NOT pencil-in the note names. I then played, err - tried to play - the tunes.

It actually worked in a very slow and stilted kind of way. But, it actually worked.

The biggest difficulty, I found, was that I clearly looked at the fretboard more than I though, when I was playing. You can't look at the fretboard and the music at the same time!! So I am now clearly learning to read music and play the instrument without checking on my left hand.

It does work. Yes. It does work. But I find it very difficult and can't play like this for more than about 10 minutes. After that my concentration goes and I start getting ratty! I'm sure the time I can spend doing it will increase.

I've been doing this for about a week. The playing is definitely smoother and I seem to be hitting the correct notes more often without even thinking about it.

That's it.

John

[Shoka42]

Good stuff dude!

[JohnBarr]

I'm jealous Rock. Workin' to catch up to you.

I was wondering what led you to pick up the cello music?

I have a book of Bach for electic bass with one or two simple things in it that I haven't really touched but was thinking about it as a tool for sight reading. Partly because there's no tab so no temptation to use the crutch and partly because it's an unfamilar string of notes so I don't anticipate.

--and if you play both cello and electric bass, well then, congradulations in double.

John

[cassanova]

Originally Posted by JohnBarr

I was wondering what led you to pick up the cello music?

I have a book of Bach for electic bass with one or two simple things in it that I haven't really touched but was thinking about it as a tool for sight reading. Partly because there's no tab so no temptation to use the crutch and partly because it's an unfamilar string of notes so I don't anticipate.

Cello music is written in F cleff just as bass guitar is. So all the music written for Cello can be read by bassists as well.

Many a good teacher will recomend that you get a copy of the Bach Cello Suites and start to learn sight reading from that.

[Mon Rominee]

"That's good. You've taken your first step into a larger world..."

Ben Kenobi.

[Norwegianwood]

Cool.
I played in a bigband last summer, and that's when I learned to read. At first, I couldn't do anything. But when the summer was over, I was pretty good at it. I read pretty well now, but I'm terrible at creating walkin bass lines - so that's my next goal. Anyway, just read a little bit every day. It should come pretty easy.

[Rockin John]

It's like Cassanova said. I bought the book because it's written in the bass staff. It was an accident that I picked up the book, though. But it's been super for me.

People have said try trombone music: is that in the bass clef, too?

John

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by Rockin John

It's like Cassanova said. I bought the book because it's written in the bass staff. It was an accident that I picked up the book, though. But it's been super for me.

People have said try trombone music: is that in the bass clef, too?

John

Yep. It's good for reading high on the staff, since most trombone sheets don't go below an open A.

[floydbass]

I recenly learned to read/ sightread F Clef, keep at it, it is very rewardng.