For those who read: How important is instantaneous sight reading of music never seen/played before? Like I said in a previous post--I can read, but not quickly enough to keep up in real time. I'd have to say, " Let me take this home, work it out, and come back with it later". I'm always amazed at piano players who can sightread two staffs simultaneously. Can't be all that hard to sightread relatively simple bass parts. i just need the motivation and discipline .
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Is knowing how to read music that important?
- Thread starter RandomBox
- Start date
I tried to teach myself, or rather my gf tried to help me teach myself (it's kinda shameful she barely can play anything but can read music while i can play a few instruments but can't read) and the main thing keeping me is that i just can't be bothered.... I practiced for a few hours and then moved on to other things. Btw i find the main difficulty is not knowing what the notes were on the sheet, it's knowing where they are on the neck. It's like yeah ok that is an f...now where the hell is an F on my neck...
There isn't really an immediate use for me i have to say which is why its hard for me to get motivated enough to do it, i never play covers and only seldom learn songs and when i do its for fun more than anything and i can generally pick them up by ear (except if it's fairly elaborate piano or really elaborate guitar but elaborate is rarely applicable to the stuff i listen to and play). The main reason why my gf wanted me to learn was that I could help her learn tunes so she could practice guitar and keyboard and get better but i don't see much of a point when i could teach her most of what she wants to practice playing by ear. Like i'll be spending 15 minutes figuring out some sheet music when in one third of the time i could just put the song on and pick up the notes... Of course if i became fast at reading it would be different but when you start its like i'm wasting so much time right now, it's hard to see a reason why i'm doing this.
There isn't really an immediate use for me i have to say which is why its hard for me to get motivated enough to do it, i never play covers and only seldom learn songs and when i do its for fun more than anything and i can generally pick them up by ear (except if it's fairly elaborate piano or really elaborate guitar but elaborate is rarely applicable to the stuff i listen to and play). The main reason why my gf wanted me to learn was that I could help her learn tunes so she could practice guitar and keyboard and get better but i don't see much of a point when i could teach her most of what she wants to practice playing by ear. Like i'll be spending 15 minutes figuring out some sheet music when in one third of the time i could just put the song on and pick up the notes... Of course if i became fast at reading it would be different but when you start its like i'm wasting so much time right now, it's hard to see a reason why i'm doing this.
"Is knowing how to read music that important?"
To me it is and has been.
I'd also be hard pressed if asked to come up with an excuse not to learn it.
Instantaneous sight reading of complex lines has not been called upon all too often.
When it has, I was happy to have invested the time to learn it.
Still working on it though.
I find that working with the Belson reading texts has been most beneficial as I find that knowing where the notes are is easy complex rhythmic things not so much.
Other than that I'd read anything I get my fingers on, including treble clef.
To me it is and has been.
I'd also be hard pressed if asked to come up with an excuse not to learn it.
Instantaneous sight reading of complex lines has not been called upon all too often.
When it has, I was happy to have invested the time to learn it.
Still working on it though.
I find that working with the Belson reading texts has been most beneficial as I find that knowing where the notes are is easy complex rhythmic things not so much.
Other than that I'd read anything I get my fingers on, including treble clef.
If you can read, you should have written that, instead of "and I can't read any music that's not tab".
Btw i think the comparison between being able to read/write vs being able to read music is a bit disingenuous. It's not EXACTLY the same thing.
Not knowing to read is a HUGE handicap. Not knowing to read music is just a fair one. Especially since there are alternatives like tabs OR using your ears. If you cant read and write...well there's talking...but unless the phone or being in the immediate presence of the person is an option...there's nothing else. And that's just to communicate, then there's what's being communicated to you through pretty much everything (signs, newpspapers, TV, products packaging, the whole of the internet, etc) that is not accessible to you. In life not being able to read is a limitation you are consistently confronted to. In your life as a musician unless i suppose you're a session player, you are not constantly in situations where reading music is essential.
The % of people who are successful at life and don't know to read and write vs the % of musicians who are successful as musicians and don't know how to read music is i'm sure VASTLY different and favoring the musicians.
Not knowing to read is a HUGE handicap. Not knowing to read music is just a fair one. Especially since there are alternatives like tabs OR using your ears. If you cant read and write...well there's talking...but unless the phone or being in the immediate presence of the person is an option...there's nothing else. And that's just to communicate, then there's what's being communicated to you through pretty much everything (signs, newpspapers, TV, products packaging, the whole of the internet, etc) that is not accessible to you. In life not being able to read is a limitation you are consistently confronted to. In your life as a musician unless i suppose you're a session player, you are not constantly in situations where reading music is essential.
The % of people who are successful at life and don't know to read and write vs the % of musicians who are successful as musicians and don't know how to read music is i'm sure VASTLY different and favoring the musicians.
Reading music and music theory would speed up Learning song. instead of having someone show you the part, just give you a sheet music and follow ... instead of give wrong name to rythm or whatever you use the same name as eveyone else.
Once you can read music and understand basic music theory you can learn more complex stuff that would be impossible by ear.
I also think that rock and pretty much all mainstream music would be more interesting if they had more knowledge instead of alsways using the same progression with all the same tired old cliché ... it is like always eating at McDonalds instead of meal with all nutrients to stay healthy
It depends on the situation. I do a lot of work with jazz big bands and a lot of theater work. For the theater gigs, I would say that I get the book in advance maybe 2/3 of the time. For the rest, it's handed to me at the first rehearsal and I'll sight-read it (assuming I haven't played the show before). For jazz big band gigs, it's not at all unusual for me to get a call to sub with a band and to be expected to sight-read 4 hours of music on the bandstand.
With that said, the ability to read at less than real-time speed is still a big advantage, and the more you do it, the better you get.
...The hard part with Jazz Band is everything is written so the brass instruments are playing in easy keys. You'll be playing a whole step down from them. So, when they are reading music in the key of C, you'll be reading music in the key of Bb. But this is where your skills of playing by ear come in handy. Once you know what key you're playing in, you just stick to the patterns for that scale and you're good to go. (For the most part!!)
I'm teaching my 13 yr old to play bass so he can play in his middle school jazz band. All the sheet music we were given are in the keys of F, Bb, Eb, etc...
Whoa there!
Bass, piano, and trombones play in "concert key" (i.e. the actual key). For the concert key of C, bass, piano, and trombones are in C. Trumpets and tenor saxes are in Bb, and alto and bari saxes are in Eb.
Okay, let me clarify some things.
I wasn't saying its pointless, I was simply asking HOW important it is. I still plan on learning it and theory (was my plan from the beginning, but time constraints have been really annoying)
I've been playing for well over a year and a half, so I'm not completely clueless with playing bass. I just wanted to know how important it was so I can find a decent pace to learn it.
I wasn't saying its pointless, I was simply asking HOW important it is. I still plan on learning it and theory (was my plan from the beginning, but time constraints have been really annoying)
I've been playing for well over a year and a half, so I'm not completely clueless with playing bass. I just wanted to know how important it was so I can find a decent pace to learn it.
You and TxPirate are both partially right about the transposing instruments, but I think you might be a bit confused about how this affects the keys they are playing in.
A trumpet is a Bb transposing instrument (most of them are, anyway). Write a C on a piece of trumpet music, and the note they will play will be Bb concert (a Bb on say, a piano). This means if you want the trumpet to play C concert, you have to write it a tone higher - D on the trumpet notated music.
So, for a piece of music in C concert, the bass, guitar, piano and trombones (and some other instruments) are written in C, trumpets and tenor saxes are playing in D, alto and baritone saxes (Eb transposing instruments) are playing in A.
For a piece in D concert, alto and baritone saxes would be playing in B - 5 sharps! A bit tricky for them. So this is why arrangements for this sort of ensemble are often in "flat" keys (concert). For example, a piece in Bb concert would have trumpets and tenor saxes playing in C and alto and baritone saxes playing in G.
By the way, guitar and bass are also transposing instruments, but the notes they make are transposed by a full octave (compared to their written music) so this doesn't mean they need to be written in a different key signature to the piano.
With a little bit of woodshed time on your part and maybe with the help of a private teacher, the school jazz band would be a great place to learn to read. You'll probably be doing a lot of swing and that's basically 4 quarter notes to a bar. All that's left to decipher is the note. Get a copy of the charts and write in the notes if that's what it takes.
Yeah, I never quite wrapped my head around it. "They" could have made things so much simpler if they just dropped the whole transposing thing.
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
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Yes it is. It's kinda like being able to talk but not actually read words on paper.
It's generally done for good practical reasons - check this out.Yeah, I never quite wrapped my head around it. "They" could have made things so much simpler if they just dropped the whole transposing thing.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f30/why-certain-instruments-key-690531/#post9650011
/derail
And still getting sarcastic responses. I know it was a dumb question, but come on. I already established that I'm planning to learn reading music. I just wanted to know if it was absolutely necessary to learn it quickly/immediately.
If you want to play in the school band, it's pretty damn important. However, if you know where the notes are on your fingerboard, you can write in the notes on the music and "fake it".
It is an important skill to have if you are serious about music and obligatory if you want to play professionally. By professional, I don't mean being part of a specific band, but playing in many different situations and with many different players.
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
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- 16,796
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- have been on nationally released albums, charting on the Billboard 200
I'd say don't be in a hurry to learn how to read. It is a lot to take in, but it can be very rewarding in the end. Bass is actually one of the easier forms of sheet music simply because we're mostly dealing with single-note lines on one staff, as opposed to chords in guitar music. You ever look at piano sheet music? That stuff will make your head spin.
One good thing to do is find transcriptions of popular rock songs and read along while listening to the recording.
