| Best thing is reading, but use materials that just work on rhythm. The old Louis Bellison book, Modern Reading Text in 4/4 by Louie Bellson & Gil Breines. Is all rhythms that start easy and progress nicely. Get your metronome and clap the rhythms, then play them on one note.
Another is Simplified Sight-Reading for Bass by Josquin des Pres. It has a CD with the first example of each page you can play along with.
The key to learning to read rhythms is learning how to look at the music. To be able to look at any measure simple or complex and instantly see where beats 1, 2, 3, 4 are in a 4/4 measure. Then to see the groups of note as a rhythmic word like your read these words I'm typing. You learn to see and rhythm and just know what it is from having practiced it. That is why books on rhythmic reading are good you aren't worrying about pitch. Then as you progress you learn to read first half of measure, second half of measure. You get to where you look and memorize the two-beats and while playing them you are already looking at the next two beats. Over time if you focus on sightreading you get to where you will reading a measure or more at a time. Good studio player typically read two measure at a time.
So get a book like the ones I mentioned, a metronome, and start clapping rhythms, your training your eyes and memorizing rhythmic patterns more than playing. Once you work up to clapping a page at a decent tempo, then pickup the bass and play the rhythm on one note. Energetic write pitches out for the rhythms and read it. That is the process in a nutshell.
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Steve Barnette
The Dojo of Cool :ninja:
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Practice is the best of all instructors - Publilius Syrus
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