Reading Question

[bassistpatrick]

suppose your playing a piece that you know from heart. Do you still follow the sheet music note for note? i ask this because my teacher is getting me into sight-reading. The songs are simple because im still a beginner, and i can remember how to play the song without reading after a few times. should i force myself to read note for note?

im not exactly new to reading music either. i used to play electric, and i still play keys, though i never was good at sight-reading.

[ClassicalBass]

When I'm playing something I know note for note, I generally play it from memory. I have tried to force myself to read the music as I play, but I find that a few measures into it, I'm not really focusing on the music, but drawing it from memory. I always find when I play solos that memorizing it tends to bring out more musicality than looking at the page....maybe it has something to do with my own focus level, or the possibility that reading the music slows me down a bit in some ways.

As far as sight reading goes, I don't think sight reading something you already know is very effective at all. Once you become familiarized with the piece, it is no longer sight-readable; you must be pulling some part of it out of your memory - whether that is the rhythm or the intonation. Sight reading is a one-time thing, and once you sight read a piece, it cannot be done with that particular piece (or that section, in any case) again. My best suggestion, if you're looking to improve on sight reading, is to get some simple solo books, or maybe a book of etudes or orchestral literature. Work your way through the books, and focus on perfecting your rhythm and intonation sight-wise. Work with your teacher.

In any case, those books will still be helpful even after you're done sight-reading them; you can still use them for solos, etudes, or orchestral practice.

[jfv]

This seems like an odd question, so you memorize some
little beginner song, do you really expect to play a whole
concert for memory?

It seems like some excuse to not read, sight reading is
hard, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. And
as you know a piece more and more thoroughly your
consciousness just 'flits' over the line as you play, spending
more time watching the conductor and listening to your
section, and other sections, playing as a whole in other
words.

In most symphonic works you spend quite a bit of time NOT
playing also, and you need to count thru that, the music
helps me keep my place while that happens.

[BassZen]

I would say that if you want to learn to sight read you can't be playing pieces/tunes you already know. I came from the jazz and rock backround with a lot of learning by ear so my reading was a good year behind my technique, and often had the same problem (in high school I actually played most of my orchestra concerts almost entirely from memory/ear, because otherwise I couldn't keep up). In doing this I ended up falling even further behind in my reading skills, so I would say don't do it, as I'm still trying to catch up.
That said if you are playing a piece that you know, there's no problem with using your ears along with the page. But if your looking for sight reading practice, find pieces you dont know at all. As classicalbass says, you can only really sight read once, though as long as you can't play it from memory you'll be practicing your reading somwhat. I don't really think you can force yourself to read from the page anyway.

[TomGale]

As classicalbass says, you can only really sight read once....

So play it only once. Buy a few basic books and play 1 or 2 pages every day. Don't go back and try to perfect them. Also, try to sing the part and count out loud. Make sure the books sections are covering different rhythms and meters. Sight reading really separates the bassists!
Tom Gale
ASODB.com