Sheet music vs chord sheets?

[WrapRough]

I've been investing time lately in improving my reading, and I have been mixing it up between sheet music and chord sheets. It's slow going but i'm improving, which is the main thing. Last night i got to thinking about which one gives me more bang for my buck in musical situations. I know the advice here will be "learn both", which I am doing.. But, in my head, it would seem that a more common scenario would be that I would be handed a chord sheet rather than a piece of sheet music that I need to play note for note. I dont plan on being a pro, or a session player, but I do plan on finding other musicians to play and jam with, and maybe some open mic jazz nights in the future. I am finding much more enjoyment and value from playing to chord sheets as it's really helping with my (lack of) improvisation skills.

So, which is the more common scenario you find yourself in? Being handed a sheet that you have to play note for note, or being handed a chord sheet and you deciding what to play? Would you rather be "ok" at sight-reading sheet and a demon with a chord sheet, or vice versa? And yes, i know, demon at both would be the ideal situation

 

[Bodeeni]

It is great to be able to read and an asset. In 50 years I don't think I have ever been handed a sheet with much more than chords maybe a few key lines noted but I am a rock player. Reading sheet music should really be a big plus if you are into jazz. If you are all ready doing some I would definitely keep it up. Practicing regularly even just a little helps

 

[WrapRough]

Yeah, this is my thinking... much more likely to be handed a chord sheet. I'm doing about 20mins sight-reading sheet and maybe 40mins against a chord sheet. I'm using ireal pro, which I am really enjoying, and just jamming along... it's not easy at all

 

[mambo4]

I have typically been handed a lead sheet with chords when I worked in situations with written parts. Maybe 5% of the time a written bass clef part. But: I am not a fluent reader, which influenced the type of gigs I was called upon to do. If I were a fluent reader, my experience would probably be different. I never got calls for a musical theater pit gig.

Our experience of how much literacy is "needed" depends on how much literacy we have.

 

[bwildt]

This is kind of apples and oranges. Emphasising one over the other really depends on what genre and situation you find yourself in.

Chord sheets: You will be expected to come up with your own bassline or you will need to learn a specific bass part from another source (a recording? tabs. This is more informal and often done in smalller groups where what you play doesn't tend to conflict with other instruments.

Sheet music: You are expected to play what is written. This becomes very important as the size of the musical group becomes larger. Lots of instruments making up their own parts can quickly turn into unorganized noise. A good example of needing to read is playing in an 18 piece big band. Everyone reads because a group that size needs arranged music to sound good together. That includes the bass player. This makes the song a coheasive whole.

Sometimes, as a bassist in a big band, you may be directed by the arranger to make up your own part based on a chord structure. That usually happens behind a soloist and there are few instruments playing and less chance of "interference" between instruments.

Once the whole band kicks in, a fixed arrangement becomes a requirement so that no one is stepping on anyone else. The bass needs to follow what is happening in the horn sections, as it sometimes becomes the low end of that section. The bass often doubles riffs or accents with another instrument like a bari sax or a bass trombone. There may be strange chord alterations or rhythmic hits that need to be played. The same thing happens with the drummer. He also reads because he needs to support the riffs played by the horns.

 

[dreamadream99]

A chord sheet has the chord progression in order.

Sheet music has the chord progression, the melody, the rhythm, the time signature, the dynamics, the tempo markings, the articulations, the phrase markings, etc.

I would rather have more information at my disposal than less.

 

[Malcolm1935]

I was handed fake chord sheet music 99% of the time as the director handed the same fake chord sheet to every member of the band and we followed the chords and "facked" our part.

For example with........

Rock and Pop a root five normally did what was needed.
Country root on one and the 5 on the third beat with chromatic walks.
Praise was pound roots and if you must walk, walk between verses. I normally transposed all my PRAISE to Nashville numbers as NN and Praise just went well with each other.
Jazz (the jazz I play) is a full four count, I.e. R-3-5-7 of the chords' chord tones with the beat swung to 2 and 4.

The above explains the "facking" this old bassists did with that sheet of fake chord sheet music. I relied on the lyrics and sung them under my breath to keep up with the rest of the guys.

 

[WrapRough]

A chord sheet has the chord progression in order.

Sheet music has the chord progression, the melody, the rhythm, the time signature, the dynamics, the tempo markings, the articulations, the phrase markings, etc.

I would rather have more information at my disposal than less.

Of course. But if the only situations I'm likely ever to find myself in are with chord sheets, that skill will be largely wasted. As something that takes considerable time to get good at, I'm really trying to guage the weighting of these two forms in terms of my time investment

 

[Bob_Ross]

Our experience of how much literacy is "needed" depends on how much literacy we have.

^^^That's pretty deep!

To OP: Based on your description of what sort of situations you're likely to find yourself in, I agree that you're more likely to be handed a chord chart than a fully notated bass line

...but I think it's a bit misguided to view them as two different skills that you need to choose between in terms of your study. The more you know about music the better you'll be able to handle any situation you find yourself in; music-reading skills will definitely assist your ability to handle chord charts and vice-versa. They're not "apples & oranges" they're all part of the same fruit basket.

 

[WrapRough]

^^^That's pretty deep!

To OP: Based on your description of what sort of situations you're likely to find yourself in, I agree that you're more likely to be handed a chord chart than a fully notated bass line

...but I think it's a bit misguided to view them as two different skills that you need to choose between in terms of your study. The more you know about music the better you'll be able to handle any situation you find yourself in; music-reading skills will definitely assist your ability to handle chord charts and vice-versa. They're not "apples & oranges" they're all part of the same fruit basket.

Yeah that's fair. I'm not really thinking in terms of one or the other, but there's only so much time in the day

I feel like sheet will cover chord charts but won't help at all with being creative and improvisation. Is that fair to say?

 

[Bob_Ross]

I feel like sheet will cover chord charts but won't help at all with being creative and improvisation. Is that fair to say?

Every musical experience informs creativity and improvisation; it just requires some brain work to figure out what the takeaways should be, and when to (re-)apply them.

 

[AGCurry]

Reading from a chord sheet demands that you are familiar with the piece. Even a lead sheet with chords will provide the melody, from which you can infer a lot - plus, it will help if you get lost.

 

[mattj1stc]

I would guess that unless you are a studio musician or someone who gets hired to play in musical theater situations, you will mostly be handed chord sheets most of the time, if you're handed anything at all. I've also been handed (or told to look up) tabs that show the main riff. Sheet music seems to be more for very formal, specific situations.

 

[dangevans]

I can do both, but 99% I either am asked to learn by ear or by reading a chord sheet. Having the ability to look at a chord sheet and transpose to another key is handy too.

 

[Killing Floor]

I am ok either way but if I want to learn a song I’m more likely to start with tabs because I know that is what guitarists are seeing. It’s not easier or more difficult for me. But it is convenient to know what he’s going to play. If it’s a complicated piece I’d go sheet. But I’d also try to compare the sheet to the tabs because y’all know the “too many chefs” challenge.

 

[MVE]

Reading sheet music is absolutely critical if you want to grow as a player.
Specifically because so many articles, concepts and other new things to learn and try out are written out in sheet music.
I guess youtube is making this less so than in the past, but its still basically the truth.
Every time I hear someone complaining about plateauing as a player, it is clear they can’t read music.
If you can read music, you can never plateau, as there is an absolutely limitless amount of new songs or concepts to try to learn on your instrument.

 

[mrcbass]

I agree with the "depends" camp. Yes, it's good to be able to manage both. I don't read anything in your post that indicates that you'll be targeting big band, orchestra or sessions, so it'd be unusual that your music reading skills will come into handy for band situations.

For every project I've been in, chord/lyric charts are the norm. As far a being "handed" something - it hasn't happened to me yet. IME, bands don't tend to share what they use (I'll never understand this) so I create all my own chord/lyric charts. I do poach stuff off the internet when available and then vet and correct them for my use. I have a shorthand - that doesn't keep my nose buried in it - that I can use on a tablet for notes when subbing or learning the song. As was mentioned, you'll need to be good at copping other's lines as well as building your own lines when using this method.

As much as I hate the idea of them (learn how to read and notate music people!), tabs can be useful as well. About once a year, I'll struggle with a line from a song and will try to find a tab that shows how the originator played it (or at least how it was interpreted by someone else). I can't read them at speed, but well enough to get the gist.

I have a solid musical background including being able to read all clefs from my horn days. I'm not a great reader on bass. I did work on it for a while when I was working with a jazz project and struggled too much with my eyes needing to watch the fretboard (not really an issue with horns), so I'd probably never be able to do session work or tale sight reading gigs on bass. I don't see this as being a problem for me.

 

[MichelD]

My jam buddies play out of the Real book and other jazz standards. They come to sessions with printed out sheets with the melodies, words and chords written out. I make up my own bass parts from the chords.
bye bye blackbird chord chart - Bing


In another jam group I played with pre-Covid, we play a lot of covers of old Dylan, Neil Young, JJ Cale and other similar tunes. Most of the time it is with no chord charts an sometimes a clearly printed out chart indicating how many bars pe rchord.

One guy wanted to sing "Sugar pie honey bunch" so I looked up the exact JJ bass line for that.

 

[Dbassmon]

Sheet Music isn't that helpful as it is lyrics and a piano score 99% of the time. It's not really a rhythm section chart and many times, they are not very well transcribed.

Chord charts don't contain rhythms most of the time, nor do they address how chords are voiced...most of the time which informs us, as bass players, what to play. With so much contemporary music containing signature bass lines, this is not a great solution.

I have a reputation for being able to sub on anybody's gig because I am a good reader. Many times opportunities come my way to play for people I have never met. First, I get a song list with keys. I am able to do their gigs because I will write a bass chart for anything I don't know, note for note.

What good reading skills do is, it allows you to sound like you have rehearsed with this band and played with them for years by accurately reading transcriptions. Also, transcribing will greatly improve your reading.

"You guys sound great, how long have you been together?" We never met before and we have been together as long as it took me to set up my gear. That is the value of learning to legitimately read music.

 

[juancaminos]

Chord sheets