is it possable to teach myself to read?

[maskedman72]

i would love to be able to read but i know nothing. i would love to teach myself to read. is it possable to learn without formal instruction or private lessons or college classes? any books or dvd's that could help?

[SLaPiNFuNK]

The Complete Electric Bass Player by Chuck Rainey...

Great Book, Very good explanation and examples and everything you need to learn how to read.

[AcidFripp]

Like with anything, it wouldn't hurt you to get a teacher to help you, but you can do it yourself. It's not too hard.

[maskedman72]

i wonder if there is a "read music for dummies" book.

[SLaPiNFuNK]

Its a little more complicated than that, but once you understand the basics it just takes more practice.

The good thing about the Rainey book, is it explains the basic fundamentals and gives you different examples for nearly every note and rhythm possibility you will encounter.

Once you know how a certain rhythm looks on paper, you know how to play it, and with enough practice putting the notes and rhythm together will become second nature.

Its learning to read a new language, just takes practice.

[Art Araya]

yes, you can do this. in college, i went from being a poor sight-reader to the best one of all my teacher's students (he had dozens across multiple schools).

15-30 minutes every day consistently will get you where you want to go.

[bassybill]

Yes, it definitely is possible to teach yourself to read music.

Here you go - you could be reading quite well in a couple of weeks or so if you stick at it for about half an hour a day. Have fun, it's well worth the effort and opens many, many doors for you in your musical development. Every musician should learn to read, in my opinion.

Bass Lessons : Reading Music

[T. B. Player]

With God, all things are possible.

(won't even mention that spelling error....)

[SteveC]

Get the Hal Leonard bass book edited by Ed Friedland. All you need to know to get started...

Amazon.com: Hal Leonard Bass Method - Complete Edition: Books 1, 2 and 3 Bound Together in One Easy-to-Use Volume! (9780793563838): Ed Friedland: Books

[maskedman72]

awesome! this is encouraging. if i can read bass will i be able to read all music?

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by maskedman72

awesome! this is encouraging. if i can read bass will i be able to read all music?

If you work through the lesson on the site I linked, you will soon understand how written music works. Most of the time with your bass, you'll be reading music written with the bass clef (a clef is a sign that tells you which line or space in the written music stands for each note). But once you have your bass clef reading down, learning treble clef or other clefs isn't hard. Just take everything one step at a time.

Remeber the old saying - success by the yard is hard, but by the inch it's a cinch.

[maskedman72]

thanks! im gonna dive into this and figure it out.

[mambo4]

Good luck!

I'll just add this: it can be quite useful to seperate learning rhythm from learning pitch, focusing on one or the other. Rhythm especially is beneficial to isolate, it's a little trickier than pitch.

Also, once you get a basic grasp of rhythm, latin music is execllent reading material to bone up on useful rhythm reading.

[fmoore200]

I don't remember how I learned to read music. It seemed almost impossible at first, and then I came through a haze and found I was able to read music.

It was just like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

[BigOldHarry]

yes.

What it REALLY takes is focus, discipline and patience. And don't expect it to come fast.

[maskedman72]

i have no expectations at all.

[JoeBassGuy17]

Teoria.com

Tutorials -> Reading Music

Great Source for Music Theory