Stompbox Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 Good evening - I was wondering if anyone has any particular views on reading. I used to read (a little) when I played with a dance band in the 70's, but I'm afraid it has been a question of use it or lose it - and I've lost it. I do have an old Mel Bay "Electric Bass Position Studies" book that I drag out from time to time when I feel fired up about learning to read again, then I get part way through and get fed up - back in the box it goes & then (like onight) I think "Hey - I'll give it another go. I just feel frustrated that I can't read the stuff - I mean, it's like not being able to read books - If you could read, then you would be able to pick up any new song, play it & then put it away till you next wanted to play it. Similarly if you couldn't read books, then you wouldn't try to learn a book by rote - why should you learn bass lines? I'm not expressing myself very well here, but does anyone know of a good bass reading exercise book or method - & would it be better to just use standard notation or include "Tab"? Stompbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbn4001 Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 The Major, an experienced professional musician, has written some excellent lessons for sight reading for bass right here on Basschat. Start from lesson one if you are up for mixing some reading with some clear grounding in theory.. or if you'd sooner just go for the notes and skip the theory go from lesson 20. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74284"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74284[/url] Can't recommend highly enough. Brilliantly written, and well paced interesting exercises (better than much material I have bought) that I've still not finished work on! [quote name='Stompbox' post='1202242' date='Apr 16 2011, 11:28 PM']Good evening - I was wondering if anyone has any particular views on reading. I used to read (a little) when I played with a dance band in the 70's, but I'm afraid it has been a question of use it or lose it - and I've lost it. I do have an old Mel Bay "Electric Bass Position Studies" book that I drag out from time to time when I feel fired up about learning to read again, then I get part way through and get fed up - back in the box it goes & then (like onight) I think "Hey - I'll give it another go. I just feel frustrated that I can't read the stuff - I mean, it's like not being able to read books - If you could read, then you would be able to pick up any new song, play it & then put it away till you next wanted to play it. Similarly if you couldn't read books, then you wouldn't try to learn a book by rote - why should you learn bass lines? I'm not expressing myself very well here, but does anyone know of a good bass reading exercise book or method - & would it be better to just use standard notation or include "Tab"? Stompbox. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soliloquy Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 Don't use TAB, it is (IMO) a waste of time. I like the 'Standing in the shadows of Motown' book. Lot's of songs that you'll possibly know. Some easy, others with complex rhythms. You get a CD with the book so you can hear how it should sound. I recommend getting a good teacher too. Someone else will no doubt tell you otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 Building and Expanding Walking Basslines are good for note reading as they are mostly just crotchets,so you can focus on just the pitches. Modern Reading Text in 4/4 is great for rhythms,but it has no pitches written. Simplified Sight Reading for Bass is good as is the equivalent MI book. The Motown book is great,but is probably best saved until you can read a bit. Don't bother with tablature-it is an unnecessary shortcut that ultimately leads to nowhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Tab is like dancing with the devil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 + 1 to Doddy's books with the addition of; John Patitucci's 60 Melodic Etudes (Here - [url="http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/60-Melodic-Etudes/5841170"]http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/60-Mel...-Etudes/5841170[/url] and you get a sneak at the first page) and Paul Westwood's 'Bass Bible' as that has A LOT of good small snippets of lines to read and means you can mix it up and change what you're playing before you get the chance to remember any of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 [quote name='Stompbox' post='1202242' date='Apr 16 2011, 11:28 PM']I was wondering if anyone has any particular views on reading.[/quote] Understatement of the year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 We did start this thread a while ago as an ongoing yet light hearted challenge with no set deadlines and most importantly an encouraging place to drop in but it appears to have gone very quiet recently except from me who is updating it here and there as I go. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=111038&hl=yts"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=111038&hl=yts[/url] Your more than welcome to get involved and spur us all on a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 (edited) [quote name='skej21' post='1202354' date='Apr 17 2011, 07:58 AM']Paul Westwood's 'Bass Bible' as that has A LOT of good small snippets of lines to read and means you can mix it up and change what you're playing before you get the chance to remember any of it![/quote] The Bass Bible is a great book,but I wouldn't recommend it for the early stages of reading because of the inclusion of tablature. I'd try to find books that are purely notation instead,so it removes any temptation to look at the tab. You should still buy it though because it's full of cool stuff. Edited April 17, 2011 by Doddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Learn the basics, get some notation of a line (start out with something which isn't too rythmically challenging though) Use the "good bassists deserve fine ass" method to slowly work through and you'll get better, it'll just kind of click after a while. Time signatures and key sigs are easy to do, accidentals are simple. Biggest challenge I found was the rythm of the pieces, I found the best way was to just play it in flat notes then "visualise" it in my head how I thought the notes should sound, how long they should go for etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 [quote name='skej21' post='1202354' date='Apr 17 2011, 07:58 AM']Paul Westwood's 'Bass Bible' as that has A LOT of good small snippets of lines to read and means you can mix it up and change what you're playing before you get the chance to remember any of it![/quote] I believe that's the book that features my ex band-mate John Trotter on drums, great "groove" player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I heartily recommend Chuck Rainey's Electric Bass Method Volume 1. I learnt to read with this book - lots of great repetitive examples. A great, no nonsense, very logical and non-confusing introduction to reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soliloquy Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 The Hanon book is quite good too. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hanon-Virtuoso-Exercises-Schirmers-Classics/dp/0793551218/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303039084&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hanon-Virtuoso-Exe...9084&sr=8-1[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Doddy' post='1202480' date='Apr 17 2011, 11:25 AM']The Bass Bible is a great book,but I wouldn't recommend it for the early stages of reading because of the inclusion of tablature. I'd try to find books that are purely notation instead,so it removes any temptation to look at the tab. You should still buy it though because it's full of cool stuff. [/quote] I agree with you Doddy, that the tab is annoying and not how I would choose to do it, but the OP might want tab alongside notation to get started. It's just a good resource either way and the OP can make his mind up as to when he feels it would be best to start working on it P.s. I've found that my students find it pretty useful as practice stuff outside of lessons as I give them the tab bits mixed up on one sheet and the dots mixed up on another. That way they can play through the notes on their own without looking at the second sheet of tab, and then try and figure out which 'tab' one matches it, so they can see it in a format that makes a bit more sense to them Edited April 17, 2011 by skej21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stompbox Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Well thanks for all of the information - I've had a look at The Major's notes & lessons - looks really detailed - I'll have to try to work my way through some of it! I appreciate all the replies - also the comment about Tablature - I think that Tablature would make it relatively easy to start with, but I suspect I would become too reliant on it, and then if presented with a sheet of just standard notation, then I would be lost.. Stompbox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 15 posts and no one's mentioned the Carl Kaye books? I think they're probably out of print, but not only are they really good reading practice in every key (sans tab) ,but they're superb lines to play and [s]steal[/s] use in other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Andrew McKinney's [url="http://www.andrewmckinney.co.uk/ahm/Articles.html"]website[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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