For me it's both.
The one thing I keep away from though is tab. To me there is no value in it whatsoever.
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Chord Charts or Sight Reading
- Thread starter Bassin4God
- Start date
The one thing I keep away from though is tab. To me there is no value in it whatsoever.
Just wanted to point out that this is only true for musicians who never had formal instruction. When I took up the clarinet in elementary school and the organ in high school, it was taught 100% by notation and sight reading. Every member of school bands is sight reading. A few years after high school, I taught myself bass by reading out of method books. There were no tab books back then.
My sight reading atrophied quickly after that because I didn't need to sight read on a gig for over 40 years (once and only once!) and I didn't keep up my sight reading skills by steady practicing.
In my experience most of it has been charted myself. If anything is provided it’s chord charts at the nicest, I’ve only been handed a full notation binder about 5 times outside of college
I've mostly played in original rock bands, and the process was often like this, except the chord charts usually weren't sent in advance. They'd be waiting for me on the music stand at rehearsal. Sometimes, the songwriters wouldn't even provide chord charts. We'd show up at rehearsal, he'd play the progressions telling us the chords, and we'd arrange from there. Also, like nostatic's experience, in my last band, some of the lines I created early on, even during my audition, stuck around for ten years!
In some cases, when the songwriter introduced a track to the band, I'd record him playing the main progressions over and over so I could compose parts at home, or even in the car. I'd create my part singing along with the track, and then figure it out on the fretboard at home. Sometimes I created better parts when I didn't know the chords, because I was less psychologically tethered to the root.
For one band, I was given a recording of their tracks to learn parts for my audition, and our sets were largely drawn from that batch of songs. The chords weren't written out, apart from one track for which I requested a chart. It was mostly learning by ear.
I've also played a few musical theater shows. The first two involved chord charts, and were relatively simple. The other was an amateur production of RENT, which required me to dust off, and then dramatically improve, my standard notation reading. I learned it through a mixture of reading and playing along with the original Broadway cast recording.
I'll use chord charts when learning songs, but I mostly learn by ear. Of course, when working from guitar charts, if the song is capo'd, the chart will be annotated with chord shapes, rather than chord pitch.
Both my bands just play cover tunes. I try to learn them well enough so I don't need charts during gigs. I used to read music many years ago; I could probably work my way through notation, but it would take me a while.
I don't like tab. I find a lot of the tab available for bass is wrong or incomplete anyway. I trust my ears most of all.
Both my bands just play cover tunes. I try to learn them well enough so I don't need charts during gigs. I used to read music many years ago; I could probably work my way through notation, but it would take me a while.
I don't like tab. I find a lot of the tab available for bass is wrong or incomplete anyway. I trust my ears most of all.
Smooth_bass88
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- Oct 31, 2006
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I'm with you on this one. I've gotten tons of extra work because I can read and make my own charts. Tab is the worst if you're trying to learn.
Reading music notation -- the real kind -- is key to understanding music theory. Being able to SIGHT read it well is a skill for which there is limited demand at any but the highest professional levels of performance. Lots of amateur groups use standard notation -- churches, etc --but it's rare to get a well-paid gig that's all about reading charts (especially after what's happened to the cruise ship industry recently!). I used to think that working on my sight reading had to be part of my practice routine, once I'd learned how to read standard notation, but I've since decided otherwise. I'm not playing any musicals; around here they pay less than half what any other gig pays. It's almost a volunteer position. So I work on other skills instead.
if your tryin to learn to read, a few tips...
1. if at all possible, get a teacher. One who knows how to teach, not just a musician willing to take your money.
2. don't look for justification for not needing to read notes - ie finding out how hard it seems, going "well hey, how many TBers read chord charts instead of notes?? oh, a lot...okay, i don't need this after all"
3. GO SLOW. if you can memorize 3-4 notes per week, and only play quarter notes, that would be a fast pace after the first two weeks.
to answer your question, I constantly read chord charts. Most of them will have notation in some spots, if its a particular riff or something. I read notated music very often, but not particularly playing straight rock. For fusion gigs I tend to have to read a dense combination of both notated stuff and the chords.
Reading standard notation will generally (but not always) get you the better gigs with better musicians. There is nothing like hanging with and playing with pros. As for myself I have about 65%-70% the skills I need to read fluently. Enough to get me there, but I usually need to pre read it. Notation and chord charts like the Real Books are the most fun and I am very comfortable with those. I have been practicing reading new stuff daily with metronome, since I am restricted because of corona virus threat. Progress is either hard to sense or slow at best. Still it is a BIG advantage to be musically literate. Not interested in TAB. Try to read notation. Yes you can teach yourself if you focus with a good method book. Hal Leonard "bass method" Complete edition is an excellent start.
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If you want to get better at sight reading, one way is to transcribe/write the music our yourself. Sight reading is a hard discipline for many (myself included). Some are better than others naturally, but it's an invaluable skill for a serious musician.
Now, re charts vs sight reading. I'd guess charts are more common (depending on the gig setting of course). But...the catch is how good is the chart? A good chart will clearly define the chord spelling. For example, instead of a simple F7, a good chart might show F7b9... that give more specifics and options for bass lines. That b9 will tell you there is a fully diminished 7th chord inside of that F7b9 AND that there is an A# involved...therefore, the B- mode now requires a harmonic minor mode... Long answer just to say it depends on the quality of the chord chart. Sight reading the melody is an avenue to recognize these nuances.
Now, re charts vs sight reading. I'd guess charts are more common (depending on the gig setting of course). But...the catch is how good is the chart? A good chart will clearly define the chord spelling. For example, instead of a simple F7, a good chart might show F7b9... that give more specifics and options for bass lines. That b9 will tell you there is a fully diminished 7th chord inside of that F7b9 AND that there is an A# involved...therefore, the B- mode now requires a harmonic minor mode... Long answer just to say it depends on the quality of the chord chart. Sight reading the melody is an avenue to recognize these nuances.
I'd think that most bassists would find themselves with no documentation most often.
For the variety of gigs I do, I most often chart or document the majority by ear with my number system. Because I came up with my own shorthand i can get even complicated tunes down in a minimal amount of times. Playing in a church where the music runs the gamut from traditional to fusion and gets transposed on a whim, this has been my biggest musical advancement in decades.
I email my notes to myself for future reference.
I get chord charts on the rare occassion. Actual notation seems to vary greatly in quality. I guess the trick is to be flexible. And prepared, no matter what.
For the variety of gigs I do, I most often chart or document the majority by ear with my number system. Because I came up with my own shorthand i can get even complicated tunes down in a minimal amount of times. Playing in a church where the music runs the gamut from traditional to fusion and gets transposed on a whim, this has been my biggest musical advancement in decades.
I email my notes to myself for future reference.
I get chord charts on the rare occassion. Actual notation seems to vary greatly in quality. I guess the trick is to be flexible. And prepared, no matter what.
Couldn't agree more. I can sight-read pretty much any other type of chart including standard notation, but TAB just throws me a loop. I think it's because it lacks the linear time/pitch relationship of SN. Even in one position, going up a line in TAB could be anything from a minor 2nd to a major 6th. To my eyes, 'up a line' is always a 3rd of some type. And in it's simplest form, where the only indication of rhythm is the number of '-' between numbers, it totally fries my swede.
In terms of gigs, I never have anything on stage, which means I have to learn/memorise the music. To this end I learn parts by writing my own charts then memorise by reading back. Most of my charts (100+) are standard notation, but some older ones are chord chart or lead-sheet style. None are TAB. I've never been handed TAB, but I have tabbed a few simple things out for other folks here when there is no other way.
I usually use Nashville Numbers at church some charts I make myself. I keep getting told learning to sight read will make me a all around better play.
Most of what I play - with other people - is either chord charts (jazz) with the very occasional melody or bass lick in notation, or just by ear (Americana/bluegrass). I find notation most helpful in my practice sessions - learning licks, Simandl to anchor my positions/intonation, other stuff. For example, right now one of the things on my music stand is John Goldsby's Jazz bowing Techniques. All exercises in notation. Same with the Ray Brown Bass Method book that I use for intervals, 10ths, etc. All of it is written out. So the short answer for me is both. I could get by with chord charts only in my gigs, but not my learning.
Fake chord and Nashville numbers are what was handed out in my neck of the woods -- with the people I played with.
Amen! There is no substitute for reading standard notation. I was taught to read music at a very early age, so I really have no concept of what it takes to learn. I'm positive it is worth the effort, however, for those willing to travel down that road. I've never heard anyone state the wish they had never wasted all that time learning to read music well.
This is correct. I played trombone and upright bass through college. On the spot sight reading wasn't just useful, it was a requirement at anything above beginner.
It does go away, but comes back very quickly. I picked up the trombone after 30 year of not reading music and it came right back. My brain knew what to tell my lips and right hand to do, and my right hand responded pretty quickly. My lips, on the other hand, gave me the big middle finger for a long time.
