I think it goes way beyond implication - it is central to the definition of "Prima Vista".
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Double Bass Thoughts on sight reading in community orchestras?
- Thread starter Ed S
- Start date
Sorry Ed. I was responding to Francis' post about his situation. Although that topic is relevant to me and Francis (and perhaps to others) you are correct that its direct correlation to your situation is negligible.
Please accept my apology for my role in the distraction.
No worries at all, man. In this and other on-line forums, I know I have posted my personal experiences/opinions, whether or not the directly respond to an OP. Believe me, I'm perfectly capable of glossing over non-pertinent posts. Was just a tad - um - frustrating that I thought I had asked a specific question - about a certain level of orchestra, and the responses were not closely tailored to my question. Perhaps it is better to get numerous responses that are only kinda relevant, than very few that are directly on point.
One thing to consider when comparing the sight reading abilities in the orchestra or any group reading music is how the various instruments are taught. In my experience woodwind and saxophone(don't say it) players are by a fair margin the best. Upper string players can sometimes be pretty good, but not as good as the winds IMO. In my clarinet playing days many years ago, reading was part of the very earliest teaching and so was fairly easy to keep up with as things progressed. We bass players are often self taught and can find ourselves in performance situations early on where we don't necessarily have the opportunity to learn to sight read at a time when it can really do us the most good. Whether or not it's a skill we want to develop later is something each person has to decide. It can be difficult in later life and maybe not worth it to every player. If the kind of music you really enjoy doesn't need much or any reading, is it worth sweating through sight reading sessions in orchestra? Life can be too short.
I think you’re overlooking the sight reading ability of most competent pianists, especially in the legit world. Getting an accompaniment degree, including a PhD in this is common. A major aspect of the job is sight reading.
It’s, indeed a regular part of piano teaching.
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Include m in the largely self-, and non-classical-taught.
I found that I - and most of my section mates - had little difficulty sight-reading when the passages involved quarter and eight notes - often even 16ths, when the passages did not require multiple large shifts, and/or when the bassline did not involve a great deal of really complex rhythm. But when there were stretches of 32d note runs. shifts from 1st to 5th position (and above), and we'd have to come in after a lengthy rest on the and of a beat, all bets were off.
Some of the winds seemed quite adept at sight-reading. I think the transposing horns my have had the most difficulty.
Their parts are pre-transposed - they are not transposing on the spot. FYI.
Thx,
Thx. Maybe our trumpets/horns just tended to suck!
And I admittedly seem to have a mental block against understanding why different instruments play in different keys. (Please don't try to explain it to me here!) But it seemed like at times when our conductor was talking to those sections he was commenting/asking whether they were using one horn or another or what key their part was written in. I generally tuned those discussions out, just being happy he wasn't yelling at the basses.
A trumpet player friend, who happened to be a great player and transposer, once told me that brass parts can be easy to read but hard to play. I guess I understand that. An article in a music magazine mentioned that sight reading can be more stressful for older players. Maybe that's my problem
I can't speak for the classical world, but among jazz players, "reading" means sight-reading, and it's taken for granted. Now, the reading may be easier because the parts are easier. A lot of the harder orchestral material would be beyond my technical abilities at tempo, reading or no. There's a website with all of the audition excerpts, and once in a while I'll give one a try.
The reason may go back to the heyday of the jazz era, when a bandleader could throw a large ensemble together from the local call list, and deliver a passable performance with no rehearsal. In my region, those were called "reader gigs," and there were enough of them that no player wanted to turn them down. They were great for networking because you'd meet 18 other players at once. And there were plenty of legit players who didn't mind the income. A set of skills taken for granted makes it easier to organize those gigs. Nobody has ever asked me if I can read.
Nowadays keeping up your reading chops requires finding a band like that, which I'm lucky to have done. Or practicing classical music.
About transposing, I once played a Dean Martin tribute gig, which used a rhythm section and three horns. Before we started playing, the bandleader told us that he'd like to try all of his material a step down from the chart, to see if it worked better for his voice. The sax, trumpet, and trombone player all just said OK without batting an eye. I gasped. Thankfully I had played that show previously, and was able to "read" by already knowing the parts well enough.
During break, I asked the horn players why they knew how to transpose like that. The sax player, a music prof, said it was fairly common in his world to read parts that pre-dated standardization of keys for instruments. (And I have a hunch these guys were also just really, really good).
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I played a show a while back for a vocalist from the 50s and 60s whose big band charts had all been rewritten a half step lower from the originals to help an aging voice. This put them in some really interesting keys- many sharps and/or flats that made for some unusual fingering and sight reading challenges. The music director was pleased and maybe a little surprised that a "small town" band could do as well as we did. It's definitely a skill that can come in handy.
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