...only with a 'clickbait' title. Tips, advice, and free PDFs for those interested.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass Reading Jazz Charts...
- Thread starter pdbass
- Start date
Slept on it. This title feels a lot more appropriate..."clickbait"? Who ever said "clickbait"? 
I was searching for a good method book to gain better sight reading skills. I've found really a great one. David Motto's "Essential Sightreading Studies for Electric Bass" in 3 volumes is worth the money you'll spent. You don't even have to wait until the book & CD comes to your mail box, if you order it as a pdf & MP3 download.
- Dec 13, 1999
- 11,736
- 8,941
- 70
- Disclosures
- Chuck Sher publishes my book, WALKING BASSICS:The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing.
Just to add, being able to read music allows you to play music you have never heard before.
This is my go to resource for students who want to improve their reading skills -
It is best approached Away From The Instrument (AFTI) - i.e., clapping or singing the rhythms, before adding notes/pitches/hands/fingers/etc.
Internalization of, and recognition of, the written text, and then being able to sing or tap that rhythm, is the first tool in the toolbox of reading (any kind of) music.
IMFO, of course, as always.
It is best approached Away From The Instrument (AFTI) - i.e., clapping or singing the rhythms, before adding notes/pitches/hands/fingers/etc.
Internalization of, and recognition of, the written text, and then being able to sing or tap that rhythm, is the first tool in the toolbox of reading (any kind of) music.
IMFO, of course, as always.
Wow! I have to get this. The Rich Appleman book is similar, but not as thorough.
Yeah, that was where I started. Howard Post had me play scales or arpeggios to that book.
Dear Bass Community,
Does anyone know where one can find mp3 online for David Motto's Essential Sightreading Studies books 1,2,3.
I bought this a while back and have misplaced the accompanying CDs. Would be nice to hear what the exercises are supposed to sound like
TIA
Does anyone know where one can find mp3 online for David Motto's Essential Sightreading Studies books 1,2,3.
I bought this a while back and have misplaced the accompanying CDs. Would be nice to hear what the exercises are supposed to sound like
TIA
Just came across this, two years and change after you originally shared it. Thank you @pdbass - very well made instruction. I am looking forward to checking out the rest of your videos!
I also had the Bellson book... That and the Berklee Reading Studies for Bass were how I started...
Reading…
I have a few thoughts here, Some are a little personal.
I’ve always struggled with reading. It’s something I’ve alternately worked on and avoided over the years (I attended North Texas in the mid/late 90’s and made the 4 O’ Clock, if that means anything, and have been a working bassist for over 30 years). It wasn’t until my daughter was diagnosed with ADHD that I realized that that’s what I’ve been dealing with all along. The struggle is real. There are moments when I look at a chart and it makes no sense. Later it’s completely legible. I’ve developed coping mechanisms over the years, ways to sneak through. Understanding where the harmony is going, how the the time is supposed to feel etc… and I’ve always felt that I just need to work harder. Anyway, for all y’all who feel like you’re banging your head against a wall with this, maybe there’s something else going on. Personally, I wish I could have figured this out a little earlier.
On a less personal note, there is another angle. Transcribing and, more importantly for me right now, writing down your own ideas so that someone else could read them, ie trying to communicate musical information to others, has helped my reading tremendously. It’s like reverse engineering. The other stuff is obviously super important too, but it’s another angle and it’s helped me a lot.
Cheers.
I have a few thoughts here, Some are a little personal.
I’ve always struggled with reading. It’s something I’ve alternately worked on and avoided over the years (I attended North Texas in the mid/late 90’s and made the 4 O’ Clock, if that means anything, and have been a working bassist for over 30 years). It wasn’t until my daughter was diagnosed with ADHD that I realized that that’s what I’ve been dealing with all along. The struggle is real. There are moments when I look at a chart and it makes no sense. Later it’s completely legible. I’ve developed coping mechanisms over the years, ways to sneak through. Understanding where the harmony is going, how the the time is supposed to feel etc… and I’ve always felt that I just need to work harder. Anyway, for all y’all who feel like you’re banging your head against a wall with this, maybe there’s something else going on. Personally, I wish I could have figured this out a little earlier.
On a less personal note, there is another angle. Transcribing and, more importantly for me right now, writing down your own ideas so that someone else could read them, ie trying to communicate musical information to others, has helped my reading tremendously. It’s like reverse engineering. The other stuff is obviously super important too, but it’s another angle and it’s helped me a lot.
Cheers.
I know this is veering slightly off topic, but I just want to commiserate a moment. I am going through this exact process myself right now, and yes - the struggle is definitely real. You've probably developed a lot of coping strategies, as I have, to work around your brain wiring, but those don't always work.
My wife refers to this as being "Neuro-Spicy" which I like a lot. Doesn't have the negative connotation that a lot of language around neurodivergence has.
I hope that having a better understanding of the way your brain works is helpful going forward, even if it doesn't change anything at least it's a frame to understand why you think/experience things in a certain way.
Anyway. Just wanted to say I hear you and you are certainly not alone - apparently it's very common for adults to go through life Neuro-Spicy and not realize it until your kid gets diagnosed, then start looking over the list of common traits for ADHD and realizing that that one applies to you, and so does that one, and that one, and... oh boy, this whole list describes me to a T.
Yes. This is not mentioned often enough - there are too many "BOOKS/APPS" of transcriptions/leadsheets available which short-circuit this process.
You need to be able to Pitch and Catch.
Thanks for your insightful analysis.
