Can you read music? Do you think it important?

[ACalbass]

Give me 24hrs and I can pretty much nail a song by ear. In hindsight, I wish I'd spent some time learning more theory and learning to sight read, but then I've never needed to. If I was touting myself as a hired gun, then of course the ability to read would be invaluable, but then bass playing isn't my source of income.

I have huge admiration for those that can read music.

In 24 hours,I think I can learn 10 (if no more) songs by ear.But......
The concept is :
If you know how to read,you would not need to "learn" it in the same way,you can just go and play them the same day.

Try to set your goals higher : you never know when you would need to read music,maybe comes an opportunity of a lifetime and you lose it.
For an adult,reading music might take at best 3 months to do it decently.

 

[azureblue]

Tips for beginning readers -


First, get your reading fundamentals down- what the notes look like on the bass clef, and basic syncopation. Then play a simple bass riff, nothing more complex than quarter notes, and write it down. Then write it in another key. Then look at it, and play it in that key. This is just a starting point, to expand towards writing down longer and more complex bass parts

for a lot of us who could play before reading, we have a block between seeing and hearing. That is, the notes don't make sense to us because we don't hear them in our heads, so that is the purpose of this little exercise- to create a two way street between playing and hearing. Once, for instance, you get it stuck in your head how the rhythm pattern 1/16, 1/8, 1/16 sounds, then, the next time you see it on paper, you won't have to read it, you just know how it happens, so you "read" it not as a series of notes, but as a musical "word". This is a key to good reading chops- learning to see passages not as a series of notes but as phrases. What is important here is this is a way to "feel" what you are seeing, because different styles of music are written differently, so you will see these patterns, and quickly "get" what the "groove" is supposed to be.

Here is an example for reading beginners: Since you know Badge, you probably know Cross roads. Play the first 4 notes of the riff. Notice how this pattern happens over and over again? It's nothing more than 4 eight notes. Root, up an octave and down a whole step, then back up a whole step. Since the tune is in A, the first note will be the bottom space of the bass clef, the next note, the top line, the next the space right under it, then the last note, the top line again. Write it as eighth notes, then write it as quarter notes. Now imagine a shuffle drum part in your head, and play thew notes one beat at a time. Same riff, played half as fast. Then play it up a whole step, to B and write that on paper. Then Write it in D , then E and you have practically written out the meat of the bass part to crossroads. Go back, and finish writing the rest of the riff on your own, then look at what you have done, and play it out. In my experience, I could learn to hear parts on paper a lot quicker if I used this "play it, write it, look it it, mess with it" exercise.

I feel for you about trying to play bass from a piano part. What a PITA, but it happens to me a lot.

 

[azureblue]

You couldn't? So let me get this straight... You can't play by ear and also know how to read?

Obviously, you have never tried to read a bass part off a piano chart. Clue- it's rarely the right part, rarely in the right octave, often complicated by left hand chords and inversions. Nothing like doing a talent jam and having some singer drop a piano chart on the piano player, then expects me to read it over his shoulder, when the bass part is nothing more than the left hand of a the piano part, and is not anywhere near recording. Try doing piano rehearsals for stage plays and you will have a grasp on the reality of what you say.

 

[Aussie Player]

I feel like I just asked if the internet was a good communication tool and found out.

 

[Tituscrow]

In 24 hours,I think I can learn 10 (if no more) songs by ear.But......
The concept is :
If you know how to read,you would not need to "learn" it in the same way,you can just go and play them the same day.

Try to set your goals higher : you never know when you would need to read music,maybe comes an opportunity of a lifetime and you lose it.
For an adult,reading music might take at best 3 months to do it decently.

I play bass for fun, not for money or to boost my CV. Every band I've ever been in has been a cover band with the odd original thrown in, and I've loved learning my craft by nothing more than intuition. And you know what? I'm pretty good too

In the last 30 years, that fun has never been compromised by my lack of ability to play a piece of sheet music dropped in front of me. Maybe I'll throw myself into theory and learning to read when I retire. It's that or the allotments.

 

[Rebop]

Obviously, you have never tried to read a bass part off a piano chart.

Obviously?
I started playing professionally in exactly that context. Playing mostly for theater, dinner shows, cruise ships, etc. Most of it walking into the gig and sightreading for the show as I was a sub for many players in the area when I was getting started. Coupled with the fact I was mostly playing upright and would also get handed "fender bass" charts with near impossible lines meant for electric bassists.
My point was, why can't he have played those lines by ear. This isn't Coltrane or Phillip Glass; I thought we were talking about rock and pop.
And yes, when having the piano chart plopped in front of me, it does stink but I always used it as a chord chart of sorts and got by. It's good practice to actually use the piano chart as an outline to a song. Done it on a sightreading gig on a cruise ship. No problem there either.

TL;DR I don't understand what's so hard about all this.

 

[DazzyPig]

I have good feel and I'm learning to read. I think it's a useful tool to have, and invaluable for learning things you can't listen to.

 

[Danno1985]

My point is that I am me because I can't read. I feel my bass lines. They are me and I always get compliments so I know I am ok.
What are your thoughts?

No, you aren't. You can be you and read. I knew how to play long before I learned how to read, but it became a necessity for me because I wanted to play jazz in college, and I didn't want to limit my potential money-making opportunities. It's never too late to learn, and it certainly won't change your identity as a player.

 

[countrybassist]

At one time I could read music very well. Not so much anymore. Mostly because I haven't had to in over 20 years.

 

[Winemule]

When I was 18 I could read. And then I didn't read, and lost it. 20 years later, it was--and still is--a struggle to get it back, and I'm still not a sight-reader, but give me enough time with a chart and I'll get it.

It's probably best to learn when you're young, but there is a certain satisfaction at doing it after playing for a long time. It is as though you've learned a language phonetically, and one day someone comes along and teaches you the alphabet.

The best part is that you can learn a lot of new stuff without having to log all those hours learning it by ear. By learning to read, I found out I could do a lot more on the instrument than I thought possible.

 

[ma4rk]

Hey AussiePlayer - I have not read music since finishing high school 15 years ago.
I'm getting around to re-learning now & I actually contacted my grade 12 music teacher on Facebook. He suggested I start with the AMEB (Australian Music Education Board?) & go through their exam process.
I have not yet had the chance to start but seems like a good idea to me. It will help with a refresh on theory too

 

[FretlessMainly]

My point is that I am me because I can't read.

This is your opinion. My opinion is that you are you and you can't read. This smacks of just another thread seeking justification for not learning to read music because it somehow hinders one's ability to "feel." Do whatever you want in your musical journey, but my opinion is that not only is it a waste of time and energy to attempt to justify not continuing to educate oneself, it is a detriment to one's approach to life.

 

[fdeck]

I'm a part timer with a day job. I have no interest in becoming a full time pro, and if my phone started ringing off the hook with gigs, I'd have to turn them down.

Chances are, I could play in gigging bands for the rest of my life, without ever learning how to read. I've always been able to pick up tunes quickly by ear.

But...

I happen to be a fluent sight-reader because I got my start on cello. My musical "career" has been a vicious cycle of getting into playing situations because I could read, and then becoming proficient in genres where reading is important, such as jazz. This, in turn, has made me less dependent on the trials and tribulations of rock bands, such as the seemingly immense time commitment for rehearsals, the travel, and the mountains of expensive gear. I love rock music, don't get me wrong, but jeepers it seems like a lot of work.

Not all of my gigs require reading, but the bands that hire me don't know that. Most people outside of the realm of guitar oriented music assume that everybody can read, so they don't bother to ask. They will spontaneously pull out a chart in the middle of a gig and expect you to read it.

 

[joe vegas]

not everything can be grabbed by ear, and reading doesn't rein in one's inner rawker or one's "it's all about the feel" vibe.
if the music you play can be all be learned by ear, and you're honestly happy with that, and you really feel you'll never stray too much beyond that fence, that's great.

if you want to participate in an approximately 800-year ongoing musical conversation (i'm using the 1400s as an arbitrary starting point for western composition)...
if you want to be called as part of any number of amazing ensemble situations that require it...
if you want the bigger picture, history and possibilities of music open and available to you..
there's no way around the necessity and benefits of reading music.

 

[Rebop]

Indeed.
Reading is amazing. I wouldn't be able to play any classical guitar without it and I sure as heck wouldn't be able to play Charlie Parker and Bach on bass without it.
I've had a lot of lessons in my time with a lot of the bassists that frequently come up on this website. Not every lesson necessarily revolved around reading something, but I wouldn't have gleaned as much without it and getting from point A to point B with certain concepts would have taken decades without it.

 

[Jhengsman]

Yes I can read, although for my band all I ever get is a lyric/chord sheet. However I often write in the rhythmic phrase in standard notation so if the time comes maybe months later and that song is called up I am not going from memory entirely. It also opens up a lot of instruction material which is not tabbed.

 

[SactoBass]

I learned, which really just means I went to lessions for the first few years but my lessons always began with my teacher asking me to warm up while he got a coffee.
One day I played Badge from Cream. He asked me how I did it and wanted me to play it again for him.
I never had another lesson.
A few years later I was recording a single in EMI and the drummer and I were offered studio work because we were so tight. We both declined because we couldn't read.
My point is that I am me because I can't read. I feel my bass lines. They are me and I always get compliments so I know I am ok.
What are your thoughts?

What are my thoughts?? Well, since you asked, here are my thoughts:

I think each person should do whatever they want to do. If playing by ear is what a person prefers to do, then that's what they should do. If a person prefers reading music, then that's what that person should do. And if someone likes to do both, then do both.

Do whatever makes you happy. Don't let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't do. What's right for them is right for them, but that doesn't mean it's right for you.

We each get to choose what we prefer. Whenever someone tells me what I should or shouldn't do, or how I should be spending my time in my life, I just chuckle inside and then politely direct them to the nearest beach where they are welcome to pound sand all day long.

Note that I didn't indicate whether I read or play by ear. To be brutally honest, other TB'ers don't care whether I read or play by ear, nor should they! IMHO, what matters is that we all play bass and have fun doing it!

 

[Dr_Funkdamental]

I think ppl get by with whatever they choose, whether reading, ear, both, etc. I just decided at one point since bass was going to be what I do, that I needed to buckle down and get to reading. I want to minimize any reason to say "No" to a gig on my part.

 

[phillybass101]

@Aussie Player: You should have probably jumped at the opportunity for Studio Work. Many early Studio Musicians (Joe Osborne, for example) learned to read Electric Bass "on the job" and since it was a new instrument you could edit, change and generally inject a lot of your personal approach, which is what the Producer at EMI heard.
Personally, for me it's a mix. I learned and developed a style from listening to and emulating Bassists I liked, but Jack Bruce talked about Bach so I started looking at Bach's Cello Suites, Stanley Clarke talked about John Coltrane so I started looking at Coltrane transcriptions and Jaco played Donna Lee so I studied a lot of Charlie Parker's melodies and solos. I certainly couldn't have learned all of that by ear-I'm not that good!
I wouldn't have had the career I have had without being able to read, simply stated.

Roy I've heard you play and you are the bomb man. Appreciate the humility but you can play your arse off. LOL!!!

 

[Marial]

Tips for beginning readers -


First, get your reading fundamentals down- what the notes look like on the bass clef, and basic syncopation. Then play a simple bass riff, nothing more complex than quarter notes, and write it down. Then write it in another key. Then look at it, and play it in that key. This is just a starting point, to expand towards writing down longer and more complex bass parts

for a lot of us who could play before reading, we have a block between seeing and hearing. That is, the notes don't make sense to us because we don't hear them in our heads, so that is the purpose of this little exercise- to create a two way street between playing and hearing. Once, for instance, you get it stuck in your head how the rhythm pattern 1/16, 1/8, 1/16 sounds, then, the next time you see it on paper, you won't have to read it, you just know how it happens, so you "read" it not as a series of notes, but as a musical "word". This is a key to good reading chops- learning to see passages not as a series of notes but as phrases. What is important here is this is a way to "feel" what you are seeing, because different styles of music are written differently, so you will see these patterns, and quickly "get" what the "groove" is supposed to be.

Here is an example for reading beginners: Since you know Badge, you probably know Cross roads. Play the first 4 notes of the riff. Notice how this pattern happens over and over again? It's nothing more than 4 eight notes. Root, up an octave and down a whole step, then back up a whole step. Since the tune is in A, the first note will be the bottom space of the bass clef, the next note, the top line, the next the space right under it, then the last note, the top line again. Write it as eighth notes, then write it as quarter notes. Now imagine a shuffle drum part in your head, and play thew notes one beat at a time. Same riff, played half as fast. Then play it up a whole step, to B and write that on paper. Then Write it in D , then E and you have practically written out the meat of the bass part to crossroads. Go back, and finish writing the rest of the riff on your own, then look at what you have done, and play it out. In my experience, I could learn to hear parts on paper a lot quicker if I used this "play it, write it, look it it, mess with it" exercise.

I feel for you about trying to play bass from a piano part. What a PITA, but it happens to me a lot.

Thank you, this is a great post.

Play it, write it, look at it, mess with it. Perfect!