Music reading book recommendations?

[xposaune]

Just wanted to say this thread is great. I was a pro bass trombone player touring with big bands in my pre-bass (guitar) days. Reading all this from the bass POV is super interesting. I really took for granted what the bass players were doing on the bands I was in - we were playing 4 hour dance gigs with charts and it's a lot of notes lol. Sometimes those gigs started with small groups playing real book standards before the larger band got going. I look back on those guys with great respect now. All I had to do was read my bass bone chart lol (oh and play in the pocket and articulate in the section and sound like George Roberts lol). The lesson for me now is that if people kinda take the bass for granted, that's actually a good thing.

A chart I remember that had lots of bass bone -> bass doubling was Bob Curnow's arrangement of Pat Metheny's Minuano. I played it (on bass trombone) in Nashville with Craig Nelson playing bass and remember him just reading it down in rehearsal. I bought the bass chart after learning bass a bit and was quickly humbled.

 

[matthewbrown]

Dance Band Reading and Interpretation by Alan Raph.

 

[Greenman72]

I think if you learned to read music as a kid, you don't need a beginner book or a special course.
Start with any sheet music - simple at first, of course - and it will come back.

Agreed. As long as you know that all cows eat grass, you’ve got enough to start with.

 

[oren]

If you’re just looking to work on reading written notation, this app might be helpful.

 

[MrLenny1]

Real Book in bass clef.

 

[Bob_Ross]

As I've written elsewhere on TB:

I got some good mileage out of David Chesky's Advanced Jazz/Rock Rhythms for Bass Clef. It's a compendium of syncopations that'll give your sight-reading a decent workout, while opening your ears to every possible 16th-note partial within a measure.

The good thing about Chesky's book is that even though most of the etudes are based on limited melodic cells, they are never predictable, and so it's impossible to "cheat" by memorizing the piece.

 

[matthewbrown]

As I've written elsewhere on TB:


The good thing about Chesky's book is that even though most of the etudes are based on limited melodic cells, they are never predictable, and so it's impossible to "cheat" by memorizing the piece.

+1 on Chesky's books.

 

[SteveCS]

and so it's impossible to "cheat" by memorizing the piece.

Which is what distinguishes a sight-reading exercise from everything else There is a unique art in composing something for this purpose that isn't devoid of music.

 

[Ancientangler]

You might check out a free trial at SBL. Reading courses, genre studies, plenty of material to read at all levels. Most of it you can get rid of the tabs.

I put the music up on a large monitor, and cue up the track.

Mark at Talkingbass.com has reading courses as well.

Are the bands using paper music or tablets?

Good question about paper versus tablets. I'm not sure if all members of one particular band were using one or the other, but at least a few members wished they at least brought clothespins due to the wind.

 

[FenderP]

Good question about paper versus tablets. I'm not sure if all members of one particular band were using one or the other, but at least a few members wished they at least brought clothespins due to the wind.

In all the bands I have played or subbed in, everything is paper. For shows where I am not a sub, I have used a tablet and a BT page turner. Digitizing music is up to the individual.

 

[Groove Master]

There are three or four "big bands" in my area that often have a need for an electric bassist, but it requires music reading skills. I haven't done this since high school a thousand years ago. Can anyone recommend a book or two that you've used yourself, or suggested to students? I need to get up to speed in two weeks. Or maybe a few months. I'm motivated and my eye doctor is on board with eyeglass recommendations. Seriously! That last part is true.

Big band charts include some be-bop lines. So I suggest the Omnibook of Charlie Parker in Bass clef. The written range is perfect for the Bass. Good luck

 

[dreamadream99]

Yes, there are bass specific sight-reading books, and yes, there are lots of written out jazz lead sheets, but neither have very much to do with big band music.

Do you need to learn to read music again? Or are you just looking to improve your sight-reading?

 

[Leo Smith]

to the OP - assuming you have some reading experience but no knowledge of big band charts, check out “Big Band Bass: A Guide to the Essentials“ by John Clayton. I’m not sure it’s still in print, but there is a preview of it on Google Books, so you can get an idea of what it’s about. The first few pages deals with chord construction, the next few pages put those chords into walking bass lines. The rest of the book has actually examples of bass parts from jazz big band charts, showing how to navigate them and deciphering the odd markings.