BassMan94 Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Hi I've started to read music and I cannot get my head around the rests and value of notes. Recognising them on the stave I can do its just rythms. For Example When Im reading if I find out that in the next bar theres a quaver rest, I kind of over think the rest and it just becomes a crotchet rest and the peices timing is totally out If it makes sense, i know all the values of each rest note length etc Its just when you put it together is where i fall apart any tips/advice ? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Try sub-dividing your beat, so instead of counting ' 1 2 3 4' count '1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &' instead. Then before you even try playing anything on the bass, get comfortable clapping thru the rhythm. It can help to write (in pencil) '1 & 2 &...' above each bar so that you can see where each note lines up against what you're counting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 I agree that counting subdivisions is the way to go.I don't know how you read rhythms currently but try going from crotchets (1,2,3,4) to quavers (1&,2&,3&,4&) to semi quavers (1e&a,2e&a,3e&a,4e&a). That way you can play or rest on any of the subdivisions..so for example,if there was a quaver rest on beat 2 and the '&' of 3,you can simple count it as 1&,(2)&,3(&),4&, with the bracketed notes being rests...you can do the same with semi quavers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Keep practising. It will come. What you are describing is something everyone goes through in the early days, Some get over it quickly, others take longer but all it requires is practice. No quick routes, only increased familiarity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilievans Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 [quote name='BassMan94' timestamp='1333404943' post='1601385'] Hi I've started to read music and I cannot get my head around the rests and value of notes. Recognising them on the stave I can do its just rythms. For Example When Im reading if I find out that in the next bar theres a quaver rest, I kind of over think the rest and it just becomes a crotchet rest and the peices timing is totally out If it makes sense, i know all the values of each rest note length etc Its just when you put it together is where i fall apart any tips/advice ? cheers [/quote] I share your pain brother as I have the exact same problem. Its the dotted notes that throw me off. Practice is the way forward I suppose. Annoying though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisthebass Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1333432367' post='1601490'] Keep practising. It will come. What you are describing is something everyone goes through in the early days, Some get over it quickly, others take longer but all it requires is practice. No quick routes, only increased familiarity. [/quote] Truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 As said, always subdivide. Look at the piece and see what the shortest note/rest is, then count the whole thing in your head in those divisions. Usually in 4/4 its 16ths (semiquavers) - this is not just for sight reading though, even if you're playing without sheet music its a good way to tighten up your playing IMO Dotted notes are just 1 and a 1/2 times the length, so a dotted crochet is 3 quavers, a dotted quaver is 3 semiquavers - if you're counting in semiquavers all through it will click pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilievans Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 BTW I've got a book called "simplified sight reading for bass". Its really helped me so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgie Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I suffer from the opposite - Rhythms I find pretty straightforward, but it's reading the notes that lets me down. Sorry to hijack your thread, but any advice from you readers out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeBrownBass Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 [quote name='Higgie' timestamp='1333455906' post='1601896'] I suffer from the opposite - Rhythms I find pretty straightforward, but it's reading the notes that lets me down. Sorry to hijack your thread, but any advice from you readers out there? [/quote] Practice, practice, practice. Knowing where every note is on your fretboard is the first step. Most people think they know this but you need to have it without any thought or hesitation. Next step is knowing the notes on the stave to the same degree. The 'difficult' part is then deciding where to play that note on the bass, generally speaking you want to look for your lowest & highest notes on the page and choose the most comfortable/convenient position. When i started, i'd open sibelius with a keyboard connected and just punch in loads of random notes from the keyboard as crotchets then set a slow metronome, pick up my bass and begin. You'll begin noticing intervals at sight, patterns, and start seeing a bar as a word as appose to separate letters. But this really only comes from practicing, as Bilbo has already said, there's no shortcuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassMan94 Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 Thanks for all the replies I guess it's really practicing isnt it It's just that sometimes when i do practice i doubt myself about having the correct rhythm if you get me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valhalalf Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 [quote name='chilievans' timestamp='1333447756' post='1601714'] BTW I've got a book called "simplified sight reading for bass". Its really helped me so far. [/quote] Another one for my growing collection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 [quote name='BassMan94' timestamp='1333465549' post='1602092'] It's just that sometimes when i do practice i doubt myself about having the correct rhythm if you get me [/quote] In that case,find a teacher who will tell you if you are playing it right or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassMan94 Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 [quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1333466530' post='1602111'] In that case,find a teacher who will tell you if you are playing it right or not. [/quote] Oh yeah I do ask my teacher but when I do want to practice in my own time kinda gets hard not having them around if you get what I mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbird13 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Your certainly not alone - I've just come back to reading ( not sight reading ) after a break and I'm having to relearn everything. The thing which gives me the most problem is 16th note rest. I found that counting numbers confuses me more so now I use ta for 8ths te for 16ths and ra and re for the respectve rests, not a huge difference but I find it useful to get away form numbers.The other thing I do is use guitar pro and program a short exercise using one pitch but a combination of 8ths and 16ths notes and rests . TBH its not the most exciting way to learn but doing that for 5 mins a day might help you over the hump Good Luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I am not sure how to articulate this but, when reading 16th notes, I find that thinking about the bar as two bars of 8th notes helps. For me, doing this means stuff that is hard to read becomes much easier. It kind of means that the learning you have done to allow you to cope with 8th notes is transferrable almost instantly. Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgie Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1333536734' post='1603002'] I am not sure how to articulate this but, when reading 16th notes, I find that thinking about the bar as two bars of 8th notes helps. For me, doing this means stuff that is hard to read becomes much easier. It kind of means that the learning you have done to allow you to cope with 8th notes is transferrable almost instantly. Does that make sense? [/quote] That's a great way of looking at it. And I think you explained it rather eloquently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassMan94 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Just an update, don't know if I've mentioned before There's an app on the iTunes store called 'Reading Rhythm' it has actually helped quite a bit from when I first posted this topic. You can practice the exercise and then take the test on it. If there are notes that you have missed or rests, it shows you where you went wrong. Also there's over 1000 exercises ranging from reading whole notes, quarter notes etc etc. Also has rests, ties etc etc. Really great for the money. Also looks great on the iPad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Sounds great. Will look that one up later!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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