Can you read music?

[AaronVonRock]

Simple "Yes" or "No" question. I cannot.

 

[Art Araya]

Yes. Its not as hard as it seems.

 

[cnltb]

Yes.

 

[Oddly]

Tabs, yes but not 'proper' music.

 

[Nashrakh]

Both Bass and treble clef. Can read treble clef more fluidly though since I just do it more often.

 

[GKon]

Yes

 

[Dellers]

Yes and no. Sax, yes. Bass and guitar, no.

 

[punkjazzben]

Yes. Learnt when I was learning bass. It's given me some really cool gigs over the years.

 

[Kmonk]

No

 

[bass_case]

Yes, but I'm not much of a sight reader

 

[markjsmithbass]

Yes. And Art's right. It's not as hard most non-reading bass player seem to think. More than that, it opens up a whole world to you both musically and literally. Musically, it does much more for you than simple reading of notes. Your general understanding of music and the instrument improves and you also gain access to hundreds of gigs (many of them very easy but well paid) where reading is a main prerequisite. Without trying to sound too smug, the ability to sight read has pretty much allowed me to travel to every corner of the globe and places I never dreamed I'd visit. Yes, all the other areas of playing are important in getting a gig but sight reading is a skill that's pretty easy to work on and sets you apart from so many other players.

 

[punkjazzben]

...Without trying to sound too smug, the ability to sight read has pretty much allowed me to travel to every corner of the globe and places I never dreamed I'd visit.

I can relate. The ability to read music took me from Australia to Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Russia, and Germany in one year. As a 19-year-old barely one year out of high school, that was pretty cool. And as you say, it can also score you some really easy, but well-paying gigs (e.g. musicals and stage shows).

 

[halfjackson]

Yes.

 

[PoorePlaysBass]

Yes, but not as well as I'd like to. Can't quite sight read bass clef, really have to think about treble.

 

[beobass]

Yes

 

[Ewo]

Learned to read treble clef in the school band program, playing clarinet and tenor sax. Taught myself to read bass clef, when I taught myself to play electric bass.

+1 to others' comments. It's well worth the effort.

And I'll add another benefit: learning to read syncopated rhythms sharpens your sense of time and phrasing.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Yes I think it is important to at least be able to read Treble clef.

I have learned to Tenor clef too but I'm very slow on it

 

[Bassist4Eris]

Yes. I am self-taught, but early on learned to count and read the rhythms, although I used the tab crutch for the pitches for many years. About 5 years ago, I decided to learn to walk a bass line through jazz changes, and went to the store to find a book. There were two books on the subject, one with tabs, and one (Ed Friedland's) without. I decided to get the one without and challenge myself. After that I bought Rich Appleman's "Reading Contemporary Electric Bass", which has some good exercises.

I play exclusively in DIY originals bands, and for the most part, I can't say the ability to read has had much payoff in that world. It's nice to be able to write charts for my keyboard player, but I'm way better at bass clef than treble, so it's still slow going when I do.

But in the final analysis, I've always been of the philosophy that it's better to know something than to not know it.

 

[Jefff]

Yes, but rather slowly.

I don't practice it enough.

 

[MrTaff]

Yes, I sight read bass clef, my treble clef reading needs a lot more work but I can't even remember the last time I was asked to read treble clef.