Bwah! Help me learn to sight read!

It is if you want any replies....and a search would have yielided many, many answers. A good place to start is in the correct forum as well.

Welcome to talkbass.

 

The only way to learn sightreading is to practice. Over and over. There are no shortcuts or tips.

The method to sightreading I was taught is a few simple steps.

First step, I look for repeating rhythms and phrases. Many songs follow a rhythmic and/or melodic pattern, so look for that first. You can sometimes figure out a song in just one or two phrases.

Next, I look at key signature, and get that into my head.

Then I look for accidentals, dynamics, other little things to keep an eye out for.

Lastly, I run through the piece in my mind, fingering it as I go along to get it under my hands.

When you get proficient at it, this whole process can take under a minute.



To really learn it, you just gotta do it. Over and over and over again.

I recommend you go to a music store and get an etude (study) book for bass trombone or tuba. Pick a random page every day, and sightread it. The next day, pick another page. And the next day, and the next day, and the next day.

At first, start with the beginning level etude book.

I use my tuba etude books for sightreading improvement on bass all the time. It works very well.



Oh yeah, one more thing. GO SLOWLY!!!

 

Thanks, I try.

 

Don't mind me.

Just doin' the rounds.

 

Hi officer!

 

Blackbird, I checked out your video.....very cool....looks like a good gig!

Is that you standing on your head?

 

Yup, that's me. It's a yoga pose. It's a rush!

I love this gig. Good songs, good musicianship, fun, well connected bandmates and free reign over my basslines.

We got a weekful of gigs coming up. Gotta post a gigspam soon.

JMX, wer ist das im deinen avatar?

 

Shouldn't this be in GI BB?

At anyrate. One Sight-reading exercise I used to do.

Take a standard page of Music paper, and fill it in with "notes" just put little dots(that are the same size as a note) all over the page(corresponding to where notes would go that is)

fill the entire page, then proceed to read it fro mtop to bottom. Don't worry about the note values or anything, this exercise is just to familiarize yourself with the notes, and where they are, and how you play them.

Once you have gotten to the bottom of the page, flip the page upside down, and read it again from top to bottom.


I have found that the more reading you to, you invariably get better at sight-reading. The more familiar and used to reading that you are, the more natural it is, the more natural it is, the easier it is to sight-read.