paul_c2 Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 [quote name='AdamWoodBass' timestamp='1476716876' post='3156587'] I guess good enough so that I could go on a gig and not break into a cold sweat when I have a pad put in-front of me. I'm not looking to be able to read a John Patitucci line off the bat but would be nice to be able to not freak out when I have some Stevie Wonder put in front of me. Not saying that James Jamerson or Nathan Watts bass lines are simple but I guess that's the level or reading I'm looking to get to. [/quote] I'm not familiar with those (well, I know who Stevie Wonder is but he did a lot of different songs.....) do you have examples? I have a bunch of concert band stuff ranging from blindingly simple to about grade 6/7 stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 That's a reasonably high level of reading there. In fact, that's pretty advanced - certainly (from memory) beyond Grade 8 standard sight reading tests. I've just checked these out (DB, but it's fair enough) and these are pretty simple pieces at Grade 8 that wouldn't frighten most players - before the nerves kick in mind you! http://www.abrsm.org/fileadmin/user_upload/examples/doubleBassSightReading.pdf you obviously know your stuff, so I won't patronise you, but the majority of the sorts of pop 'standards' we may want to get transcriptions for were actually improvised themselves around a key theme. The Jamerson stuff was all improvised around a rhythm pattern and a set of chords, which they then practised until the producer was happy. (May not even have been Jamerson if you believe Carol Kaye - I interviewed her once as I work as a writer, and she's still claiming she did an awful lot of it...) I guess the only reason you may need to read with that level of accuracy is if you got a last minute call for a show gig where no improvisation is necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamWoodBass Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 [quote name='Burns-bass' timestamp='1476718309' post='3156610'] That's a reasonably high level of reading there. In fact, that's pretty advanced - certainly (from memory) beyond Grade 8 standard sight reading tests. [/quote] It is yeah and I have been put in embarrassing situations before where I've taken a gig last minute and not been able to read the charts. Sometimes you can get away with it because the band may be almost entirely made up of deps so you can pretty much busk it as long as you already know the tune. Other times you're playing with the band leader and they're listening to every note you play because they're deciding whether to book you again. They know you're not reading the chart so you don't get called back. Like I said before it's a bit of a source of embarrassment for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c2 Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 "They say" (as in, the guideline for ABRSM and I think Trinity too) is to be able to sightread two grades below the stuff you're playing. I'd advise caution though, since none of the bass guitar grades ask for sightreading so all you can compare it to is double bass (bass guitar is a bit easier due to physical aspects etc). So with that in mind, at least you have an idea of the kind of stuff to seek out for sightreading practice. I know they also like to throw in the tenor and treble clef but I've never seen it on actual music (for bass) I've had put in front of me, mainly because the bass never solos so is never required to go high enough to justify switching clefs. Its different for cello though, it has a bigger range so is likely to encounter tenor clef in real life situations. In fact, if you can't find double bass examples, cello examples make good reading since the parts are often more melodic. I don't think there's much more to it than mainly lots of practice, but also a good knowledge of the likely things you'll encounter such as runs down scales (so....know your scales), apreggios of various kinds and riff style/repeated patterns. This website is useful for music: https://www.sightreadingfactory.com/app?instrument=Bass%20Guitar%20-%20Low%20E%20String although I think its computer-generated, so the tunes can be unmelodic which can prove a bit of a distraction. It also allows customisation of the features encountered, so you can focus on eg rhythm while not worrying about eg distant key signatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 (edited) [quote name='AdamWoodBass' timestamp='1476719449' post='3156632'] It is yeah and I have been put in embarrassing situations before where I've taken a gig last minute and not been able to read the charts. Sometimes you can get away with it because the band may be almost entirely made up of deps so you can pretty much busk it as long as you already know the tune. Other times you're playing with the band leader and they're listening to every note you play because they're deciding whether to book you again. They know you're not reading the chart so you don't get called back. Like I said before it's a bit of a source of embarrassment for me! [/quote] Fellow Basschatter, 'sixist', has a whole bunch of real world charts for a tenner donation (Great value). A great selection of various styles that will keep you busy for a while [url="http://www.sixist.co.uk/transcriptions.html"]http://www.sixist.co...scriptions.html[/url] These would be very helpful for practise from what you have been saying. They are all well known tunes and would give you good practise workouts with plenty of varying rhythms, keys and chord sequences. Edited October 17, 2016 by lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Simplified Sight Reading for Bass by Josquin des Pres is pretty good, and starts off with lots of exercises devoted to reading rhythms. For further rhythm reading practice take a look at something like this http://www.instituteofbass.com/subscribe/sample.pdf which has pages and pages of rhythm variations, set your metronome to a slow speed and pick a page at random Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorsetBlue Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I use TuxGuitar. Put it in as Tab and it populates the score for you (I can read music as well). Should be available for any OS (its a Java application I think) and it is Free. If I want to print out a tab or score from it, I export to Lilypond and edit/convert to PDF in Frescobaldi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 [quote name='DorsetBlue' timestamp='1476779516' post='3157081'] I use TuxGuitar. Put it in as Tab and it populates the score for you (I can read music as well). Should be available for any OS (its a Java application I think) and it is Free. If I want to print out a tab or score from it, I export to Lilypond and edit/convert to PDF in Frescobaldi. [/quote] Nice to find another Lilypond/Frescobaldi user! (Although I've recently defected to Notion as it runs on iOS.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 [quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1476778987' post='3157074'] [url="http://www.instituteofbass.com/subscribe/sample.pdf"]http://www.institute...ribe/sample.pdf[/url] which has pages and pages of rhythm variations, set your metronome to a slow speed and pick a page at random [/quote] Similar to the Louis Bellson 'Modern Reading Text in 4/4'. The LB book has triplet and tied note variations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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