AdamWoodBass Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I'm totally gutted to say the least. A pro drummer really wants to work with me after seeing a vid of me on youtube. I was offered an amazing gig yesterday, a 3 month cruise in the mediteranian. I've had to turn it down because low and behold I'm a good enough player but not a good enough reader!!! Don't get me wrong I can read music but I'm just not quick enough yet, the gig required someone who could have the dots for show tunes put infront of them and and just do it. If it had been bog standard pop stuff I probably wouldnt have struggled but because it was show tunes with alsorts of time sig and key sig change madness I knew I wasn't up to it. Obviously I'm kicking myself but I know what I need to do now, forget any sort of social life and practice sight reading til my nose bleeds! The only saving grace from this situation is that this drummer runs 3 different bands and still wants to give me work, just won't be nice and sunny lol! I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar situation? If so how did you overcome the reading? Was it just plain old skool grafting or do you have some other tips to get better at reading faster? Much appreciated guys. Ad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) I think its all graft. I'm on my second bout of developing sight reading skills (too many years without doing any) and I've never seen any tips/cheats which really work. Get graded sight reading (so over the sessions the rhythms get more complicated etc.) and crack on with them every single day. Edit: and while you're at work (or whatever) in front of a PC - [url="http://www.practicesightreading.com/"]http://www.practicesightreading.com/[/url] Edited March 5, 2009 by Eight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamWoodBass Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 Thanks for the website dude I'll take a look at that later today. I've been using the Louis Belson "Reading in 4/4" book and it's really helped me understand the concept of chopping the bar up into smaller chunks rather than trying to tackle the whole bar in one go. It's an amazing book and for anyone who doesn't know it I can't recommend it enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 That books sound interesting mate. I might get that myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamWoodBass Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 Deffinately worth it mate. There's 3 of them I think, one in 4/4, one in 3/4 and one in odd time sigs. They're designed for drummers but everythings in bass clef so it's really easy to relate as a bass player as it's all just one note stuff just in progressively more complicated rhythms. I got mine from amazon used and new for about a fiver plus p&p and I wouldn't have felt ripped off if I'd paid over £30 for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 [quote name='AdamWoodBass' post='425912' date='Mar 5 2009, 10:57 AM']They're designed for drummers[/quote] Ah that explains this gem of a review I just found on Amazon. [quote]This is, just as som of the other reveiws say, that ther is not much eksplaining in the book, so if you have not bin reding that much before, don't start with this book. Don't get me wrong, it's a great book (though with small mistakes now and then, so if you keep makeing the same mistake, tjek if the bare length is right) and it will get you from the point of "needing a minute, to be able to read the page" and to the point of "just count it of" all and all, its a good book that evry serius drummer shouldt have in ther collection.... injoy[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I've had to turn down reading gigs that were well beyond my reading level. I'm working on that right now. Also, I've been refused gigs because I was; "too old", "too tall", "not pretty enough", "wrong hair" (!) and I got fired for refusing to cancel a family holiday to Italy when a gig came in and clashed. Ho hum. If you can fix it, fix it, if not.... there's always another, probably better, gig around the corner. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 See, I told you to learn to read.... In my experience. reading ability is a braod church. A lot of jazz bassists can read chord charts and then odd bits of notation but are not 100% on a full written chart. I have had gigs, including shows, where its dots all the way and I have always managed without too many problems ('Who Will Buy' from Oliver is one killer I remember) but I would probably struggle with anything too demanding today as I haven't seen a full chart for years (except the ones I have written). It is a bit like riding a bike and you do get back into it quite quickly even after a gap but its down to the gig and how complex the charts are. Reading at a session where they are paying £400 an hour for studio time is a different thing to playing in a local big band for free. Personally, I think its a skill every professional should nurture for the reasons Adam highlights. PS I know its easier to say that do but isn't everything. No easy route to it, just repetition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamWoodBass Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 Wise words Bilbo. Like I said, I can read but just not quick enough yet. That is a really big yet as well cos I'm really knuckling down on it now. At the end of the day I can be positive or negative about this: I can either think "Balls, just lost a dream gig" or I can think "Right, lesson learned. I know I'm capable of playing the stuff I just need to learn how to read the stuff!" It's also been good to hear a pro say "yeah, you know what I do want to work with you". I've been wanting to call myself a "pro" for a few years now and it feels like I'm slowly creeping into the realms of one day being able to do this for a living. I've learned a lot of tough lessons the hard way (in my opinion the best way to learn) and I'm just gonna put this down as another one: You can't be a "pro" if you can't read fly sh*t on the spot. Thats what I need to aspire to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 [quote name='Eight' post='425849' date='Mar 5 2009, 10:07 AM']Edit: and while you're at work (or whatever) in front of a PC - [url="http://www.practicesightreading.com/"]http://www.practicesightreading.com/[/url][/quote] Cheers for that link. Cracking idea. [quote name='bilbo230763' post='426092' date='Mar 5 2009, 12:54 PM']See, I told you to learn to read.... In my experience. reading ability is a [b]braod[/b] church.[/quote] Ooops. But yeah, absolutely smack on. I used to play violin when I was a child and was the leader of the South Manchester Youth Orchestra. But when I took to the bass instead, I stopped reading music. I'm in my early 40s now and am putting in a concerted effort to read, and you're right, the basics are coming back to me much quicker than I thought. I currently play in a band with a trained jazz drummer and a classically trained keyboard player, and they have really spurred me on. So in a nutshell, it really is about me putting in the graft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthewalrus Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 There's a slightly similar related thread on Talkbass: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=521631"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=521631[/url] If I got called to do a dot reading gig, I'd have to turn it down from the viewpoint that I know I wouldn't be able to do it. Being able to read opens a lot of doors & I keep kicking myself for not doing it years ago. It sounds like you're not far off the mark in terms of doing those kind of gigs though, so it's only a matter of time now. Good luck Cheers, iamthewalrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 When I was learning to sight read, I was taught 2 things - Practise - get music out of a library, any music. Play it once. Move on. Read intervals. Not absolute notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamWoodBass Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 Just had a pep talk from my future dad in law (the guitarist in my youtube post in the recordings forum). He basically sat me down and said I was mad to not take the gig, he said 'you CAN read, you're just telling yourself you can't because this is the first time you've been offered a gig like this'. To cut a long story short I've just phoned the fixer for the band and taken the gig! It's not confirmed yet as they still need a guitarist who can sing, read and of course play (HINT!!! Does anyone know someone who might be up to the gig in the North West area?!?!?!?) If it's all going ahead we sail for a month on the 27th of this month (it's now just a month instead of three months). Honestly guys if you know of any guitarists who can play most styles of music but more importantly can sing, read and would be available for a month as of the 27th March pleeeeeeeeease PM me with details! Cheers Ad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouMa Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I used guitar pro to learn to read the dots are above the tab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Good on you Ad. And bon voyage (assuming you find a guitard). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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