gapiro Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I've been playing bass for 6-7 years and have played a couple of shows (Last Five years, Hairspray, The wedding singer) , all of them by the skin of my teeth pretty much (well, thats how it felt to me, I got compliments on the playing still) I generally find that when i'm asked to do a run of shows, I spent a lot of time with the score and my reading ability feels better, although I know i'm not perfect, I know i'm playing something that loosely correlates between the written score and the feel of the music. Anyway, the last month or so I've been dedicating 3 x 30 minute slots a week to practising reading The last week i've been away for xmas and without instruments of any sort, come back to it tonight , tried to start and just falling to pieces. It seems to be that I have nights (not just the first time) where this happens. In particular I find I am reading barely one note ahead and cannot count properly ( eg a dotted crotched followed by a quaver getting me completely and utterly out) , whereas on other nights I find i'm reading 2 bars ahead. Is this normal? Will this get better over time ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Me too. So yes, this is normal. I usually find I get back to speed fairly quickly. So I guess it gets better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalpy Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Hairspray is meant to be pretty tough, well done for getting through it! There's something about reading for a guitar based instrument that's particularly tough. It's been advocated before on here but before you play a note just read it through and just try and get an idea for what the tempo is, any rhythmic characteristics that may be a feature and of course any crazy leaps or time signature changes or such corners. We warm up physically, sometimes it's a good idea to do so mentally as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philparker Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 You can practise reading music i.e. Retain your current reading ability, without an instrument by either 'reading' through scores, in time mentally or tapping out with a metronome, quite successfully if the requirement exists! It often does for me because despite reading music from a young age, I still have difficulty reading at tempo, under pressure, when needed most. It is no different from any discipline or physical condition. You have to keep at it! On a positive front, it comes back quickly - 30 mins, 3 X a week is good...I try and do 10 - 15 mins a day (5 X a week), but never manage it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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