reading frustration

[gapiro]

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 ?

[Grangur]

Me too. So yes, this is normal. I usually find I get back to speed fairly quickly. So I guess it gets better.

[scalpy]

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!

[philparker]

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!