Sight Reading Help?

[ubassman]

Forgot to mention with MuseScore the play button plays the whole piece that you have written. The value is that you first practice getting the dots correct in writing and then listen to the outcome without any effort.

It really sorts out understanding of groups of notes, tied, dotted or rested and that sticks when it comes to sight reading which is the other way around (play the note and hope it sounds like what is written). Works for me anyway ! Good luck with it.

https://www.musescore.com

[Grangur]

+1 for Musescore. It also opens you to a great library of other folks scores that you can download and transpose for playing on bass. You can also load your own up to the library too.

I often download a piece, change the clef, drop it all down an octave or 2 and play it on bass.

[visog]

I've got the De Pres book too. It's not bad but if you do it sequentially, it forces you to master rhythms first to a very deep level which can get wearing. So I'd do the pitches section and rhythms simultaneously. Got an iPad? Get Sight Reading Machine. It will randomly produce a score for you to read in bass clef. You can choose parameters such as time signature, key, tempo, range, ties, etc. Great value for the £5 or so... Endless practise music and, it will play it for you too so you can play along and correct any mistakes.

Finally, I'd also suggest writing some basslines out too which sort of reverses the process in your brain. Keep at it! You'll learn the fretboard too as you centre on 'C' then migrate out to related keys...

Edited March 8, 2014 by visog

[fatback]

I've always thought I've had some kind of musical dyslexia, i found reading that hard, but a miracle appears to be happening.

First thing was I started to actually practice reading ahead. Turns out my biggest problem was failing to do that, but i didn't know you could learn it by conscious practice. Seems you can.

Second thing is I've just spent months and months (I'm that slow) playing the intervalic (is that the word?) scales from Ray Brown's book. That is, all the interval scales in all the keys. Note reading in any key is getting real easy at last.

What's striking about this last bit is the method I had to adopt to survive all those keys. I ended up calling out the note names as I played. What mattered there seemed to be that i wasn't reading eye to finger, but eye to note-name to finger. Much better, and allowing for lots of different fingerings.

Also, I adopted the practice of not looking at the fingerboard at all (except for corrections when i knew I had a problem with positioning). That in turn freed up my eyes.

Just my experience as someone who had found reading almost impossible (it has taken many many months, though).

Edited March 27, 2014 by fatback

[Bilbo]

It does take time. The skill is hard won but hugely valuable.

[fatback]

I'm wondering too if I'm not making progress because for the first time ever I'm comfortable in every key and know the notes in all the keys (thanks to Mr. Brown's book of horror). That never came when I practiced normal scales, but playing intervals for each key seems to make for feeling at home in those keys.

I think I found reading hard because I was too reliant on pattern-based and interval-based playing. I can't believe the length of time it's taken to get the note names in my head and really learn the fingerboard blind (and I'm still only finding my way round the dusty end now).

Have to say, nothing has ever made me feel as stupid as trying to learn to read. I've practiced nothing else, not even played a tune in practice for about 7 months. Crazy. But it does seem to be working.

Edited March 28, 2014 by fatback

[Bilbo]

Tis what it is. But, once you have nailed it, you have nailed it for life. Time massively well spent.

[fatback]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1396033489' post='2409333']
Tis what it is. But, once you have nailed it, you have nailed it for life. Time massively well spent.
[/quote]

Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement. I must say, months of practicing scales and nothing else and I'm losing the will to live.

[Faithless]

Sight Reading Compendium for Electric Bass by Joe Hubbard.

nothing even comes close when it comes to this sort of thing, as reading - and I've seen loads of books, so you can trust me.

L

[Fionn]

[quote name='JuliusGroove' timestamp='1392630131' post='2370703']
Any advice/tips on improving reading?
[/quote]

I struggled for years, trying to sight read whilst playing bass. I got quite disheartened with it and kinda gave up. Then something unexpected happened.

I joined a Gaelic choir. Sight reading became a necessity, although it seemed to be easier to sing whilsy reading, as opposed to playing bass. About 3 years into that, I turned my efforts back to bass and it was there.

I suppose what I'm suggesting is that you try a different approach. Seperate it from the bass somehow, then go back to it. It worked for me.

[StageAhead]

I've been teaching electric bass for over 25 years and with a little pride i can say that every single one of my students has learned to read music in my lessons. Lately i started to write my concept down to make it accessible for more people who want to learn to sightread on bass.

Here you can take a look at the first part:

[url="http://four-strings-basslessons.blogspot.de/2014/04/lessons-to-go-1-sightreading-for.html"]Sightreading for electric bass (part 1)[/url]

Tell me what you think about it.

[wal4string]

It's been so long that I started to read music, I can't honestly remember finding the notes on the bass or reading music particularly difficult. However I do remember seeing the riff to Whole Lotta Love written out and thinking how complicated it looked on the page. Rhythms do get repeated a fair bit in all genres, so it's a question of remembering where the rhythm falls in respect of the beat and play the notes required. Sub divide the time signature can help, i.e. if the piece is in 4/4, count it out as 8/8 to learn which notes fall on the down/up beat. Plus another useful exercise is to try writing any riff you all ready know to see how they appear on paper.