Hi,
I have been playing bass on and off for for >15 years now, as a hobby, never taking things too seriously. I have started to learn to read 2-3 times but never got anywhere with it. 2 years ago I decided to try again and I can now "read".
I figured I'd write this post to talk about the process as a busy adult, what worked for me and what did not and why I think I had more success then my previous attempts.
1) My practice routine:
I set my self a goal of reading every day for at least 5 minutes and at least 15 minutes on weekends. If I managed to put in more time, it was just a bonus but 5 minutes was the minimum. There were weeks, or even months, where I could not keep to the practice schedule due to work etc. and after a week of no reading it felt like I had lost 2-3 weeks of progress. Everybody knows that practicing every day is useful but I would say it is essential when you are learning to read and if I had not set myself that goal I would have failed again.
2) Guidance:
I found a teacher who was not only fluent at reading but who also had experience teaching people to read. Whenever I got stuck on something, I could ask for advice from someone once a week, so I never hit a wall in my progress. Also a teacher can help you choose reading material that is at the right difficulty level for you.
3) Material:
Any book that I bought that wasn't already spiralbound I got rebound at the local library so it would sit flat on a music stand.
Method books:
Hal Leonard Bass Method - this is a general instruction book that uses standard notation. While not strictly focused on teaching someone to read, the material is good exercise for reading music. I had previously tried to learn to read with only this book and failed.
The Bass guitarists guide to reading music - Beginner level - this method book and the follow up of intermediate level are really good if you are trying to learn to read. The physical copies are expensive but if you have a tablet, get the kindle versions.
Sight reading mastery for bass guitar - I don't think this is a very good method book for learning to read, and I probably wouldn't buy this again. But if you just want some extra material to read, then this book offers that and it is cheap.
Modern reading text in 4/4 - Get this or any other rhythm reading book.
Song books:
So, you probably can not get these books in the states, but there might be an alternative that is written in a similar way.
Blåståget 2 and 3 bass score. I did skip 1 as that was too easy.
Blåsbanken 1 - 4 bass score
So, these are basically arrangements written for kids music schools. Simple arrangements of kids songs, folk songs, pop tunes, some standards etc. The point is that there is a lot of material so you can't memorize it and you can find the right difficulty level for you. I'll put some Spotify links here for reference:
First book in the list:
This is really easy stuff to play but this is where you are going to start your reading journey. It is going to be absolutely mind-numbing and boring at the beginning. But you need to have a bunch of songs at this difficulty level, because you are going to memorize them in 1-2 playthroughs and will not be practicing reading anymore.
Sort of half way through the books:
You are going to get to more interesting stuff fairly quickly.
Sort of where the difficulty ends for these books:
Once you can comfortably read at this level you can jump into the Hal Leonard stuff with confidence.
One added bonus of all of these books is that you also get the melody transcribed for bass clef. Reading melody is somehow completely different from reading bass lines.
I don't know what a similar book series would be that is available in the US. Maybe have a look at the "Band, Jazz and Orchestra" section of Hal Leonard website or maybe Alfred publishing.
Books that I wouldn't recommend:
Any songbook that also has tab under the standard notation. This might just be me, but I found my eyes instantly pulled to reading tab instead of the notes. Once you get to a point where you can focus on the standard notation, these books can be really useful though. One of the struggles of reading for bass is that you can find the same note in multiple places on the fretboard. The books with (good)tab give you a chance to try to read something and then look a the tab to see if maybe there is a different way to play the song that is easier or sounds better etc.
4) General tips that really helped me
-Spend some time focusing only on rhythm. You can play a single note, scales etc. but your pitch doesn't matter. This is where the rhythm reading book comes in handy. When I hit a wall with reading different length rests, I spent some time reading the pages focusing on rests, same thing with ties.
-Spend some time focusing only on pitch. Forget the timing completely, don't worry about the tempo. The only goal is to play the right note. Helped me get to grips with accidentals and reading on ledger lines in 1-2 weeks.
-Try to find material that is just above your reading level. Reading should feel difficult. If you are not tired by the end of it you are not pushing yourself. If you can practice reading for more than 15 minutes in a row, find harder material.
-If a song feels hard, slow it down, or if the rhythm is steady, i.e. walking bassline, skip every other note.
-Don't read the same song more then 2 times in a row. You will begin to memorize segments with the first playthrough.
-If you can, find a band that forces you to read. This is the best motivator to keep you going.
5) Where am I after ~2 years?
Sight reading unknown material - What I mean here is material that I have no idea how it is supposed to sound at all. I can read really simple stuff at best and if somebody gives me an unfamiliar key signature I'm completely useless.
Sight reading material that I know - What I mean here is I don't know the bass line exactly, but I have a rough idea of what it is going to be. Like a walking bass line in a familiar key, or a 12-bar blues. A specific song that I have heard before that has a memorable bass line etc. If I know the key and the tempo is slow to moderate I can at least fake my way through it.
Reading - Somebody gives me sheet music and asks me to learn a song. So, I might need some work if the key is unknown or if I see an unfamiliar rhythm or maybe the tempo is faster than I am used to, but in 2-5 playthroughs I can usually get to a point where I can read everything at my playing level. What I mean is I will hit a wall both with my reading skills and my actual playing skills, where I would need to play through the song a couple of times or maybe figure out some sections on how to actually play them, before I can play the song in tempo.
I would say I am somewhere between a beginner and intermediate with my reading skills, still a lot of work to do, but I have come a long way from where I started and I am not stopping.
6) Side effects
A couple of things happened that I was not expecting:
-I thought I had a decent grasp of the notes on the fretboard when I started, but I started seeing the fretboard in a whole new light.
-I find it much easier to pick out basslines by ear now.
-I picked up a fretless for the first time in my life about a year ago, and to my surprise I can hear if I am out of tune and can correct myself. I can't read on the fretless very well though, position changes without looking at the neck are hard, but working on it.
-I started looking at the audience and other bandmembers.
-I can write down ideas.
Conclusion:
What is the main reason why I didn't fail this time?
I joined a beginner big band. It was a sink or swim situation. A teacher was also useful here as he pointed me to the books that I've mentioned above, and I am not sure I would have found them myself.
Would I do something different?
I think I got stuck in the "horn" keys for a bit too long, so maybe branch out a bit more or maybe throw some treble clef in the mix.
Should everyone learn to read music?
No. Only learn to read if you need to read. This is a significant time investment and if I would have spent the same time on practicing something else I would have more chops etc. I think for most people it is much more important to learn to read chord charts/lead sheets, as fully written out bass lines are not that common.
TLDR: If I can do it, so can you.
I have been playing bass on and off for for >15 years now, as a hobby, never taking things too seriously. I have started to learn to read 2-3 times but never got anywhere with it. 2 years ago I decided to try again and I can now "read".
I figured I'd write this post to talk about the process as a busy adult, what worked for me and what did not and why I think I had more success then my previous attempts.
1) My practice routine:
I set my self a goal of reading every day for at least 5 minutes and at least 15 minutes on weekends. If I managed to put in more time, it was just a bonus but 5 minutes was the minimum. There were weeks, or even months, where I could not keep to the practice schedule due to work etc. and after a week of no reading it felt like I had lost 2-3 weeks of progress. Everybody knows that practicing every day is useful but I would say it is essential when you are learning to read and if I had not set myself that goal I would have failed again.
2) Guidance:
I found a teacher who was not only fluent at reading but who also had experience teaching people to read. Whenever I got stuck on something, I could ask for advice from someone once a week, so I never hit a wall in my progress. Also a teacher can help you choose reading material that is at the right difficulty level for you.
3) Material:
Any book that I bought that wasn't already spiralbound I got rebound at the local library so it would sit flat on a music stand.
Method books:
Hal Leonard Bass Method - this is a general instruction book that uses standard notation. While not strictly focused on teaching someone to read, the material is good exercise for reading music. I had previously tried to learn to read with only this book and failed.
The Bass guitarists guide to reading music - Beginner level - this method book and the follow up of intermediate level are really good if you are trying to learn to read. The physical copies are expensive but if you have a tablet, get the kindle versions.
Sight reading mastery for bass guitar - I don't think this is a very good method book for learning to read, and I probably wouldn't buy this again. But if you just want some extra material to read, then this book offers that and it is cheap.
Modern reading text in 4/4 - Get this or any other rhythm reading book.
Song books:
So, you probably can not get these books in the states, but there might be an alternative that is written in a similar way.
Blåståget 2 and 3 bass score. I did skip 1 as that was too easy.
Blåsbanken 1 - 4 bass score
So, these are basically arrangements written for kids music schools. Simple arrangements of kids songs, folk songs, pop tunes, some standards etc. The point is that there is a lot of material so you can't memorize it and you can find the right difficulty level for you. I'll put some Spotify links here for reference:
First book in the list:
This is really easy stuff to play but this is where you are going to start your reading journey. It is going to be absolutely mind-numbing and boring at the beginning. But you need to have a bunch of songs at this difficulty level, because you are going to memorize them in 1-2 playthroughs and will not be practicing reading anymore.
Sort of half way through the books:
You are going to get to more interesting stuff fairly quickly.
Sort of where the difficulty ends for these books:
Once you can comfortably read at this level you can jump into the Hal Leonard stuff with confidence.
One added bonus of all of these books is that you also get the melody transcribed for bass clef. Reading melody is somehow completely different from reading bass lines.
I don't know what a similar book series would be that is available in the US. Maybe have a look at the "Band, Jazz and Orchestra" section of Hal Leonard website or maybe Alfred publishing.
Books that I wouldn't recommend:
Any songbook that also has tab under the standard notation. This might just be me, but I found my eyes instantly pulled to reading tab instead of the notes. Once you get to a point where you can focus on the standard notation, these books can be really useful though. One of the struggles of reading for bass is that you can find the same note in multiple places on the fretboard. The books with (good)tab give you a chance to try to read something and then look a the tab to see if maybe there is a different way to play the song that is easier or sounds better etc.
4) General tips that really helped me
-Spend some time focusing only on rhythm. You can play a single note, scales etc. but your pitch doesn't matter. This is where the rhythm reading book comes in handy. When I hit a wall with reading different length rests, I spent some time reading the pages focusing on rests, same thing with ties.
-Spend some time focusing only on pitch. Forget the timing completely, don't worry about the tempo. The only goal is to play the right note. Helped me get to grips with accidentals and reading on ledger lines in 1-2 weeks.
-Try to find material that is just above your reading level. Reading should feel difficult. If you are not tired by the end of it you are not pushing yourself. If you can practice reading for more than 15 minutes in a row, find harder material.
-If a song feels hard, slow it down, or if the rhythm is steady, i.e. walking bassline, skip every other note.
-Don't read the same song more then 2 times in a row. You will begin to memorize segments with the first playthrough.
-If you can, find a band that forces you to read. This is the best motivator to keep you going.
5) Where am I after ~2 years?
Sight reading unknown material - What I mean here is material that I have no idea how it is supposed to sound at all. I can read really simple stuff at best and if somebody gives me an unfamiliar key signature I'm completely useless.
Sight reading material that I know - What I mean here is I don't know the bass line exactly, but I have a rough idea of what it is going to be. Like a walking bass line in a familiar key, or a 12-bar blues. A specific song that I have heard before that has a memorable bass line etc. If I know the key and the tempo is slow to moderate I can at least fake my way through it.
Reading - Somebody gives me sheet music and asks me to learn a song. So, I might need some work if the key is unknown or if I see an unfamiliar rhythm or maybe the tempo is faster than I am used to, but in 2-5 playthroughs I can usually get to a point where I can read everything at my playing level. What I mean is I will hit a wall both with my reading skills and my actual playing skills, where I would need to play through the song a couple of times or maybe figure out some sections on how to actually play them, before I can play the song in tempo.
I would say I am somewhere between a beginner and intermediate with my reading skills, still a lot of work to do, but I have come a long way from where I started and I am not stopping.
6) Side effects
A couple of things happened that I was not expecting:
-I thought I had a decent grasp of the notes on the fretboard when I started, but I started seeing the fretboard in a whole new light.
-I find it much easier to pick out basslines by ear now.
-I picked up a fretless for the first time in my life about a year ago, and to my surprise I can hear if I am out of tune and can correct myself. I can't read on the fretless very well though, position changes without looking at the neck are hard, but working on it.
-I started looking at the audience and other bandmembers.
-I can write down ideas.
Conclusion:
What is the main reason why I didn't fail this time?
I joined a beginner big band. It was a sink or swim situation. A teacher was also useful here as he pointed me to the books that I've mentioned above, and I am not sure I would have found them myself.
Would I do something different?
I think I got stuck in the "horn" keys for a bit too long, so maybe branch out a bit more or maybe throw some treble clef in the mix.
Should everyone learn to read music?
No. Only learn to read if you need to read. This is a significant time investment and if I would have spent the same time on practicing something else I would have more chops etc. I think for most people it is much more important to learn to read chord charts/lead sheets, as fully written out bass lines are not that common.
TLDR: If I can do it, so can you.
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