Is all Sight Reading Equal?

[JimmyM]

I've tried cello and trombone music as a source for practice material, but sometimes this leads to awkward fingering and lots of jumping around the fretboard.

And that's exactly why they're great for bass players to read! Why should everything be easy for you? Push yourself a little

Also won't hurt to learn treble clef while you're at it so you can read stuff from other instruments as well.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I started a new project which is exclusively sight reading (100+ tunes). Some tunes show up more than others but there's always a few less frequent ones that get called every now and then.

I also have a stack of books on my shelf I've wanted to work through for a while which are much more difficult than the majority of the tunes from the new project.

Can I can kill 2 birds with 1 stone here by working through my own books and hoping my sight reading skills transfer over?

Any advice?

Any practice can’t hurt. I would highly recommend using a metronome trying to keep up. If not, back off the tempo until you can play fluidly, then increase tempo to suggested speed.

Something else, be careful as you work through your old book that you are not playing the songs from memory instead of reading it.

Are you eventually going to be playing these songs from memory? If not, sounds like you need an IPadPro, forScore app, and a AirTurn pedal.

 

[TreySonagras]

This is bang on in general, and all that needs to be said on the subject of "I want to be a better sight reader, what should I do?"

In OP's case, if he has a book he'll have to play out of later, why wouldn't he spend as much time as possible reading out of that book and prepping for those gigs? If sight reading is sight reading, why wouldn't you sight-read the stuff you'll actually get paid to play someday? If you get some free time later, bust out some other books.

I'm a high school band director and one of the things I hate to hear is "how does this song go?" I will ask them, If you understand the meaning of every word in a book do you have to have someone else tell you what the book is about? Or do you just read the book?
I teach music from the same vocabulary-based approach. The more notes and rhythm patterns they know, the more songs they can easily play.

 

[Beff Juckley]

Yep. Once you've read/played something it is no longer sight reading. That's what makes it hard to do. You have to have a lot of material so you are always reading something new.

So would something like the website SightReadingFactory be worth availng of? I find myself internalising most of the sight reading practice I currently do.

 

[Groove Master]

I started a new project which is exclusively sight reading (100+ tunes). Some tunes show up more than others but there's always a few less frequent ones that get called every now and then.

I also have a stack of books on my shelf I've wanted to work through for a while which are much more difficult than the majority of the tunes from the new project.

Can I can kill 2 birds with 1 stone here by working through my own books and hoping my sight reading skills transfer over?

Any advice?

Practice makes perfect. So yes you can work on both at the same time.

Here is my check-list while sight-reading which I did all thru my career on an almost daily basis:

-Check the key signature
-Check the time signature
-Check the tempo and changes of feel (half-time/double-time)
-Check the structure of the chart
-Then do you understand what you're about to play. If so great. Check the tricky parts for fingerings, register or complicated rhythms. Visualize where and how you are going to play the part. Don't hesitate to simplify the part if you feel it is needed or if it helps you get thru..

So if you know some of your weaknesses then work on those as complimentary material.

Good luck

 

[Bijoux]

Hey guys, lately I've been noticing a bunch of YouTube channels with transcription content. Someone playing a cover tune with Tabs+ Notation on screen. I personally hate tabs, but there are a lot of videos with bass clef notation available. Super fun to play along!