How do you guys practise sight reading, (or reading music notation in general) fluently? Do you go to any specific websites or any good bass book? I'd like to see your suggestions.
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Practise sight reading
- Thread starter Julius
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I downloaded this package. It was pretty good for practicing reading. This package is for beginners, he has other packages for more experienced readers.
Jeff Berlin Bass Mastery: A Complete Reading Course (Package 1)
for Beginner Level Bass Players
https://www.jeffberlinmusicgroup.com/
Jeff Berlin Bass Mastery: A Complete Reading Course (Package 1)
for Beginner Level Bass Players
https://www.jeffberlinmusicgroup.com/
Hey man,
Kudos to you for being eager to get better at sight reading. As you point out, sight reading is not the same as reading. But as someone who has, and continues to struggle with reading, I have a few suggestions. There is an app called Sight Reading Factory which you can program according to your level and what kinds do things you want to work on (16ths, rests, triplets, odd meters etc.). What’s good about this app is that it generates totally unmusical pieces of music on the spot. That’s good because if something is too catchy, you run the risk of memorizing it before you are legitimately decoding the notes with strictly your sight reading faculty.
Also, I’ve spent a lot of time with method books such as Simandl and George Vance, which are upright-bass intended but can work for electric. One book for electric that I like is Ed Friedland’s combined 1,2, and 3 books. He paces things very well. Another series that is strictly focused on rhythm and sight reading are Rory Stuart’s ‘The Rhythm Book’. Part of his approach is that if you can write it, you can more easily read it, so there are a lot of written exercises. Also, he has an unparalleled ability to explain the material. A more primitive version of this might be Louis Bellson’s book which was a standard for decades, but is limited to 4/4 time. I still use it. Lastly, get the real book and learn jazz and American songbook standards. You’ll learn how to read better as well as learn really good harmony. “All the things you are”, “Autumn Leaves”, and “Stella By Starlight” are good starters.
Consider transcribing. Write to read, read to write. The same way many people learn a language.
A second volume for 'Odd Time' is also available:
This ^^ Works every time!
I have some sightreading videos on my YouTube channel:
Here are some things that I've found useful:
• Do a little bit every day (10 minutes or so)
• Practise rhythm and pitch reading separately when you're starting out. Rhythm is harder as there are more combinations, and most bass parts only contain a handful of pitches but lots of rhythmic variation.
• Try to read a wide variety of music
• You can pick up anything that's bass clef, it doesn't have to be bass guitar-specific; there's a few hundred years' worth of cello and double bass music that will provide a good workout
Older method books such as Chuck Rainey’s series, Rufus Reid’s “The Evolving Bassist” (for upright but full of great material for electric, too) and lots of older Mel Bay books were only ever printed in standard notation, making them great for reading.
The Belson and/or Starer rhythm books are great for reading pure rhythm.
Transposing is super helpful but it’s especially useful when you work with a teacher so you can be sure your transcriptions are correct.
I also agree with above posts that Simandl and Ed Friedland are great resources.
The Belson and/or Starer rhythm books are great for reading pure rhythm.
Transposing is super helpful but it’s especially useful when you work with a teacher so you can be sure your transcriptions are correct.
I also agree with above posts that Simandl and Ed Friedland are great resources.
Sightreadingfactory.com is helpful since it randomly generates 24 bars at a time, so you can't memorize the pieces (like you would with any printed sheet music).
I think it's like $30 bucks a year, or something like that.
The patterns get a bit same-y and predictable after a while, and you can't swing the 8th notes on playback (for jazz rhythms), but it's still a nice tool since you can play along in real time, which thwarts your desire to stop every time you make a mistake.
I think it's like $30 bucks a year, or something like that.
The patterns get a bit same-y and predictable after a while, and you can't swing the 8th notes on playback (for jazz rhythms), but it's still a nice tool since you can play along in real time, which thwarts your desire to stop every time you make a mistake.
Sight reading for me has always been bad. Even when I was in high school band. We had a state-wide individual competition. Best I ever got was 2nd because I always failed sight reading. Knew all the scales, Arpeggios, solo work, but missed a lot of notes on sight reading.
One note about us non-pros sight reading...
I grew up playing classical and using only sheet music. I can still use sheet music, but it's slow and requires a lot of rehearsal.
Don't assume that non-pros (or pros) play it right the first time, or the 20th time. To me, sight reading is how you find the notes and the tempo, but it can take many, many repetitions to play the part correctly.
When my daughter was learning guitar, I used to tell her "It's hard the first 100 times you play it. After that it gets easier."
I should listen to my own advice and practice more.
I grew up playing classical and using only sheet music. I can still use sheet music, but it's slow and requires a lot of rehearsal.
Don't assume that non-pros (or pros) play it right the first time, or the 20th time. To me, sight reading is how you find the notes and the tempo, but it can take many, many repetitions to play the part correctly.
When my daughter was learning guitar, I used to tell her "It's hard the first 100 times you play it. After that it gets easier."
I should listen to my own advice and practice more.
This. There's a huge difference in ability between being a great sight reader (i.e. being able to read anything that's placed in front of you without any prep time) and being a decent reader who can get there after a few minutes' fumbling around and cursing at accidentals that you didn't notice.
I made a bunch of videos for people who want to work on their rhythm reading - I find that all of my students struggle with some aspect of 16th-note rhythms, so I worked out all the possibilities of eighth and 16th notes that can happen within one beat and wrote some exercises to help get to grips with them:
