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Steve Bailey On Reading
- Thread starter brianrost
- Start date
I think he is under selling the rhythmic and interval awareness benefits of it. I came to reading late in my playing, and the rhythmic benefits for me have been outstanding.
Pursuit of reading is a forcing function for knowing precisely what you are playing
His point that literacy unlocks every single piece of written music ever as a source of learning is so true
Pursuit of reading is a forcing function for knowing precisely what you are playing
His point that literacy unlocks every single piece of written music ever as a source of learning is so true
reading is a must in the pursuit of music skills. you don't have to be a sight reader --- but you have to know how to 'break the code'! 
if you can break the code = you can learn any music you want! 
if you can break the code = you can learn any music you want! 
So true. I came to reading after 30 years playing and now i'm able to start studying the book "Concepts for bass soloing" from Chuck Sher and Mark Johnson, cause i understand the code !
I am not an amazing reader by any stretch, but being able to read has allowed me to prepare a lot of music in a short period of time and gotten me through musical situations I would have otherwise not been able to get through without reading.
Been playing bass for over 50 years. Been doing fine so far. At this point I don't foresee learning to read any time in the future.
Music is a language. Literacy is vital to utilizing language. Sometimes I might be somewhere without a bass and a musical idea strikes me... I can write it down if I know how to read and write music.
Smooth_bass88
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- Oct 31, 2006
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the ability to read opens up more possibilities for work, definitely. For example- I got a call a few weeks ago on a Sunday morning for a Tuesday night cabaret/lounge gig. Good paying job. Rehearsal was on the Monday. I had a gig that Sunday, and I was busy that Monday during the day, so there was absolutely no time for me to even review the material beforehand. No problem tough... the bandleader had charts and/or written out parts printed out for me to have at the rehearsal. So I basically sight-read the rehearsal, and played the gig the following night. Worked out great. Admittedly I knew maybe 3 of the 21 songs, and I had heard a couple more, although I'd never played them. Grateful for my music teachers!!
I wish I'd put more time into reading notation over the decades. I know theory, I write chord charts for artists and bands I work for, play keys for some acts, all that stuff, but I never put myself into a situation requiring sight reading. Technically I've never "needed" it in the musical worlds I work in, but it's one of my regrets not getting good at it early on. Now I force myself to study some exercises a couple times a week, and I'll write out in notation little reminders for bass riffs or whatever on some of my charts for myself (even though I end up just memorizing them, I think it's a good exercise). Maybe when I'm 90 I'll get good enough to take a big band gig!
Nice, concise way of saying that one is missing a lot without learning to read. I play in a big band and we periodically have people come to audition. We have auditioned multiple guitarists, but none could read well.
It's not a popular statement, but a true one none the less. I'm not the best reader, but I can and strive to know more theory every day.
To know more is to know more, period. You're just cutting yourself short by not learning.
To know more is to know more, period. You're just cutting yourself short by not learning.
I also think this point gets lost on those wondering if they should try to learn to read.
It's not a rewardless multi year slog to a distant summit where *presto* , now, after all the suffering, you can sight read.
The real and practical musical benefits accrue at a constant , steady rate as you practice and learn notation.
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Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
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I heard the same thing from the people who ran our local community big band for forty years, guitar and keys were always to toughest chairs to fill. I had to up my reading game a lot when I took the bass seat, but I at least had a lot of working experience playing jazz off lead sheets, and could nail the walk over chords parts from day 1.
I learned to read treble clef fairly well in my saxophone period many years ago. Learned guitar and bass mostly by ear and playing in bands without formal music or charts. I understand the advantage of reading, but I still struggle with bass clef in part because I always seem to be translating from treble to bass clef... really slows the process. I am in awe of pianists.
I also play cello, which was my first instrument. Cellists have to read bass clef, tenor clef and treble clef, sometimes all three in the same piece.
The two above posts (after some minor omissions) describe my situation perfectly.
Even my poor level of reading has helped me a lot many times and has opened some doors to me that would have remained closed if I didn’t have those meager, rudimentary reading skills. I should really practice reading a lot more often.
I started bass'ing in a New Wave band. Never read or wrote a note. But I was already a reading monster from my classical education. (Accompany a choir from a 6 voice score with no piano part? Sure.) So then I was asked to play bass in a nightclub big band. Two hours of music, no rehearsal, and I'd better play exactly what's written because the stupid piano part had the bass as its left hand. Also no problem.
Right now I find that when Scott's Bass Lessons publishes their worksheet, the tab version give me no insight in the music, only where to place my fingers. Well, I can figure that out myself. The notation version on the other hand tell me what the *idea* behind the notes is.
It's probably because I don't "read" properly but I didn't have that problem. I go direct from dots to fingers without using note names as an intermediate step. I don't see a C on the score and look for a C on the fretboard - I associate that dot with the third fret on the A string. Could you try that approach?
It might also have helped me where I played sax in folk bands where the music wasn't transposed so I had to read folk tunes in C but other stuff in Eb!
That is interesting to me, as I am not there yet. I typically locate the tonic of the notated key and then translate the lines / spaces into intervals. I wonder how long it would take me to get to dot = string/fret.
Do you see the a C as the E string , 8th fret with equal ease?
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