Reading Intervals Not Notes

[loungesurfer]

I'd like the forum members to weigh in on the following statement taken from Michael Longo's Book - "How to Sight Read Jazz & Other Syncopated Type Rhythms"

Page 59 - "If you also have problems in reading pitches, it is probably due to trying to read "by notes" instead of by intervals."

I definitely fall into the category of reading by notes and not intervals which slows me down as my mind translates a note position on paper to a note on the fretboard. So, if I can speed up by reading intervals, then great!

How is that practiced? Any tips?

Or maybe I've misinterpreted Michael's statement and he means something else.

I have learned to hear major and some minor intervals but never considered trying to read them as a way of playing a written song. Maybe I'm just too new to reading that it'll come naturally with practice!

Thanks in advance,
Loungesurfer

 

[mambo4]

Of course you need to memorize the intervals on your finger board as well as on the staff first off.

Find your key, place your left hand in position to efficiently play that scale, then look at every note on the staff in terms of how far it is form the root of the key:

"I'm in C major, so it's this space/line is the root.
I'll keep my hand where I can play a C major scale.
The next note is a 5th above the root, so I'll play the 5th of the scale. I don't need to know it's G, just that its a 5th away form my root."

The beauty of it is that you only need to memorize the intervals of a major scale -if any are "outside" the key they are clearly marked by accidentals.

hope that helps...

 

[Hookus]

The dots on the bass clef denote the F line. Each line or space is one letter apart. So, find your root, then just look at how many spaces or lines there are between the next note. Then take note of the key signature, and if it is sharp or flat.

 

[JTE]

It's not even that hard. Find the first note. What's the interval from that note to the next note? If it's from one line to the next line (or one space to the next), it's a third- either major or minor. Look at the interval from the note before to get to the next note. You'll have to keep track of accidentals, but once I groked this, my reading became a lot more fluid and musical. It's all mental...

Instead of thinking "D D C D A Ab G C D F D" it's thinking "start at D, repeat (unision), a half step lower, then back to the start, then up a fifth, down a half step, down another half step, down a fifth to the starting note, up a whole step, up a minor third, back to the start. It's a lot longer to write out in text, but it helps you hear what the next note should sound like (which is all music is) and it guides you no matter the key.

Try that riff I used in the example, and after you play it four times, move the whole thing up a fourth. You'll play most of one of the finest riff-based songs ever, and you'll be thinking intervals instead of notes.

John

 

[thomashawk]

The concept is similar to reading any language; your brain does not wholly register and acknowledge every single letter of every word that you read. It takes shortcuts by finding patterns. My sight-reading (music) became dramatically better when I stopped reading Every-Single-Note, and just followed the familiar interval patterns relative to the key signature. For example, a major third or minor seventh will look the same (relative to the key sig of course) every single time. Once I recognized this applied everywhere, I could stop thinking "E" to "D," and just let my fingers fall into a minor seventh. Again, always relative to the key.

I hope this helps.

- Tommy