"Key" advice on learning to read music?

[ELITE55]

Ok so I bought the book "Developing Reading Skills for the Contemporary Bass Guitarist" a few weeks ago on the likes of becoming good at reading music. I use to play in the band in middle school so it only took a couple days to get real comfortable with the rhythmic notation and I know where all the notes on the fretboard are(more so in the 1st,2nd, and 3rd position). The problem I'm facing is when a song at the beginning tells you the key and what the sharps/flats are, I'm having trouble remembering throughout what should be sharp or flat. I can play through the whole song(more so in 1st,2nd,3rd) when the notes are indicated for me but when a song in the key of B major has five sharps it is really hard to remember what to sharp when I'm halfway through the song.

So my question is- Is it okay to label the notes sharp or flat before I start playing and keep moving on through the book at a faster pace with the idea that sooner or later it will be easier to remember? Or should I not label the notes and keep trying to memorize what should be sharp or flat? I am thinking longterm also btw so I don't want to label them if it would hurt me in the longterm but I also would like to cover more ground. Thanks for the help

[BassChuck]

Labeling anything can be a help to learning to read. Understand though that your eye will go to what you need to play music, so....

Mark in pencil and erase as much as you can after you get a grip in the information. After a while begin to limit yourself to how much you label. In other words, 5 marks per measure, then later 4 and later 3 etc, etc.

Don't go through the whole book and label everything before you start to learn. One page or study at a time.

Marking is good as long as you don't overdo it. Remember you're learning to read a very established system. Don't create a new one of your own on top of it.

[Fergie Fulton]

Leap of faith time, any key key sig, will be come easier to remember through constructive practice, you will learn to associate the correct accidentals to the key.....in time. So patience and keep working your way through it.

Good constructive practice will see you work on keys that share similar qualities, remember there are only a limited number to work on, so rather than memorise them learn to construct them.

i.e. CMajor/Aminor has no sharps but they are different keys, triads, arps, 7s etc but they have no sharps, so practicing to read C major should entail all things that relate to no sharps.

Learn the positions of how to map out fingerings so you do not have to "search" to far for the correct notes to any key.

As for 5 sharps it is B Major/G#minor and associated constructs, but untill you can handle 1 sharp you have jumped to far a head by trying 5 sharps. So back to 1 sharp learn it, then 2 sharps, learn it etc ( also do the same with flats) but remember that in working on keys you do not need to run scales as a rule, working on what defines the scale key is easier, faster and more constructive to playing....chord tones if you will. Work on 3 keys a day (G-D-A) and only those three, then next day add the last four keys ( E-B-F#-C#). Then repeat the process and the two sets of practice will become one in time....thats the leap of faith, by doing the right thing it will become natural in time.
I cannot remember the last time i was asked to play in F# or C# that was not a drop tuning, but that does not mean you do not learn them because you may never use them, it means you learn them to reinforce your understanding of keys.

[Warrior_Bass]

Originally Posted by Fergie Fulton

i.e. CMajor/Aminor has no sharps...

I think he meant this.

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by Warrior_Bass

I think he meant this.

LOL, thanks beat me to it.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by Fergie Fulton

Learn the positions of how to map out fingerings so you do not have to "search" to far for the correct notes to any key.

This.

Originally Posted by ELITE55

when the notes are indicated for me but when a song in the key of B major has five sharps it is really hard to remember what to sharp when I'm halfway through the song.

This is where fretboard position and universal patterns can help. When you are playing in a scalar universal pattern, you don't have to think quite so hard about every sharp and flat. Get your position and fingering for each key down. Be able to quickly spell and play the key signature noted.

So my question is- Is it okay to label the notes sharp or flat before I start playing and keep moving on through the book at a faster pace with the idea that sooner or later it will be easier to remember? Or should I not label the notes and keep trying to memorize what should be sharp or flat?

I strongly suggest you avoid marking up your music. It may make things easier in the short run, but it's not the long-term solution. I consider it a crutch, and it inhibits learning. I forbid my students to mark up their music with cues, accidentals, letters, etc.

[groooooove]

learning to read music sucks.

theres really no easy way to do it- learn what notes are where on the staff, from your low E up to (written) middle C or so (one ledger line above the staff.) make flashcards, read any music you can, just drill it untill you know it. learn how rhythm works. then get yourself some very easy music, and start reading away. practice as much as you possibly can.

jaco said it the best, "it sounds corny but, good, hard, practice." (when asked how he got to become a great reader.)

i still practice reading. on a much higher level, (full orchestral scores, with several different clefs, some transposing instruments, a real nightmare) but nonetheless i think its worth pointing out that becoming a truly sufficient reader takes nearly a lifetime.

[MalcolmAmos]

Number 2 pencil with a good eraser always helps. Of course IMO.

[ELITE55]

Thanks guys for the advice. But ya I would like to one day in the near future work at least once on a cruise line just to see what it's like and bank a little money in the process.

[Stumbo]

I suggest you learn the keys by memory w/o your bass. Maybe with flash cards or software.

Here's a program that may work for you(not free-$35). I read the feature list and I probably will pick it up for myself.

SightReader Master Options » Pro Level Guitar

[ELITE55]

cool thanks!