Tips on learning how to read music

[Ralph124C41]

You know I've been playing guitar and electric bass for more than 50 years. I've played in local bands, at jams, in several churches and for non-profit events. I know chord theory pretty OK and scales and basic stuff.

But I've never really learned how to read music. Recently I had a chance to play electric bass in a local community band but the band leader needed somebody who could spot-read music ... which I admitted I couldn't.

Now as a retiree I have the time and the drive. So any tips on how to learn how to properly read music, both treble and bass clefs? Do local instructors offer that? Can you recommend any video programs or other aids? I see lots of things online ... some free, some apparently aimed at children with little animated animals and the like. That's OK as long as I learn something.

Thanks for any help you can give this guy.

[stanron]

For reading treble clef I recommend a book, or several books, of folk tunes. They are nearly all in simple keys, mostly sharp keys, G, D and the relative minors, Em and Bm and also Am. Funnily enough the relative major to Am, C, is not used all that much in traditional folk tunes.

The reason for having lots of tunes to read is that if you only have one or two tunes you will quickly start to play from memory and not actually exercise your reading skills.

The trick is to read through a tune once only and move on to the next.

There is a book called O'Neils or something similar that has 1000 or more tunes.

You can find tunes online if you prefer to work from a screen.

Here's one to start with.

https://archive.org/details/session-tunes/mode/2up

[tbirdman]

I've been reading music (treble clef) for about a year for classical guitar. I just started to read bass clef also for my piano lessons. I can read but slow. I'm of the opinion the ability to learn music is through repetition and experience just like a language.

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

I just started to read bass clef also for my piano lessons. I can read but slow.

I've played keyboards for 60+ years -- not academically and only briefly professionally. I had some lessons, and I can sight-read chords, but sight-reading notes (especially four at a time) -- forget it. I do think the trick to sight-reading is not so much identifying "that's a B," but rather noticing the interval from one note to the next as you go through the score. And as mentioned, as with everything, practice leads to proficiency. Best of luck!

[Brent Hahn]

You could also ask the bandleader if you could borrow and photocopy their "book." Get a feel for what those kind of charts look like, and what's expected of you. For the bass player, probably a mix of notation and chord symbols. Bass charts will often notate a bar or two at the start to show you the rhythmic pattern they want, and then just give you the chord symbols and let you wing it. With Standards and Great American Songbook stuff, the chord symbols are often transcribed from the notated piano part and can look pretty intimidating. But hey, you just supply the note on the bottom.

The charts will also have stuff like repeats, first and second endings, signs and codas, odd-meter bars... that's part of the drill, too.

As a way to dip a toe into intentionally-easy notation and rhythm reading, Protestant hymnals* are pretty good. No suggestions on how you should acquire one. But once you have, it'd be a good idea to eventually put it back where you found it, lest you be struck by lightning.

* Late edit: Speaking of Protestant hymnals, did you know that "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" has a different chord change for almost every syllable? And they're cowboy chords, too. It'd make a great up-tempo bluegrass tune, but that'd bring down the lightning bolts for sure.

[rllink]

I learned to read music in fourth grade when we all learned to play the tonette, so have no fear, if a fourth grader can learn it anyone can. The lines are Every Good Boy Does Fine and the spaces are FACE. Just extrapolate up and down from there. Start with kids songs in the key of C, no flats or sharps. locate the the frets and strings on your guitar that correspond to the notes printed on you music and start playing. Don't get overwhelmed, it gets easier as you go. Shouldn't take long.

[rmp]

I dabbled in reading until I started getting serious on piano, that helped me a lot to understand how to get what was on the paper in my head.

Then I joined the music ministry for our church. Roman Catholic parish so it's all OCP music transcribed in the traditional way.

I've learned more on how to read thru this participation than I would have without doing this.

I can't "spot" read persay yet, but,, I'm able to get my way around pretty good now. Something that I could have never said 7 years ago before I started doing this.
the lines that leave the ledger will take a bit of memorizing to get em right.

it's something that for old goats like me, takes time... it really is like learning a different language.

My advice is..... patience.

[Coler]

I taught myself to sight read proficieny when teaching myself to play piano/keys which I had taken up purely playing by ear.

So, basically my method was to get a piece of sheet music I wanted to play and write the notes in on it, then play it over and over and over, and that worked for me over time. I used a basic keyboard tutor book to identify the notes in the first place. I would work on multiple pieces at a time, and play a lot, like minimum 1 hour a day.

So now I can sight read quite proficiently playing keys. I guess seeing, hearing and reading the notes over and over again was effective over time

That was maybe 30 years ago when I was 13.

It's been a great help with guitar. I'm now trying to get the fretboard memorised. Slow going but I feel it will be worth it.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

You could also ask the bandleader if you could borrow and photocopy their "book." Get a feel for what those kind of charts look like, and what's expected of you. For the bass player, probably a mix of notation and chord symbols. Bass charts will often notate a bar or two at the start to show you the rhythmic pattern they want, and then just give you the chord symbols and let you wing it. With Standards and Great American Songbook stuff, the chord symbols are often transcribed from the notated piano part and can look pretty intimidating. But hey, you just supply the note on the bottom.

The charts will also have stuff like repeats, first and second endings, signs and codas, odd-meter bars... that's part of the drill, too.

As a way to dip a toe into intentionally-easy notation and rhythm reading, Protestant hymnals* are pretty good. No suggestions on how you should acquire one. But once you have, it'd be a good idea to eventually put it back where you found it, lest you be struck by lightning.

* Late edit: Speaking of Protestant hymnals, did you know that "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" has a different chord change for almost every syllable? And they're cowboy chords, too. It'd make a great up-tempo bluegrass tune, but that'd bring down the lightning bolts for sure.

I agree ... but it depends upon the band leader. I played once in a contemporary worship group and everything was written for the piano/organ, generally in B flat. So I did that and got copies of the sheet music before our weekly rehearsal and I was able to transcribe or write in the bass notes and everything was fine.

However ... currently I was shut down by the band leader of that community group. I told him my limitations in that I couldn't read on the spot ... and he just said he wasn't interested. I understand his concern but I thought he could have been more accommodating or at least have given me time to improve my sight reading. But that was his decision and I can only assume he expected all of his musicians to be proficient sight readers.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Ralph124C41

... I was shut down by the band leader of that community group. I told him my limitations in that I couldn't read on the spot ... and he just said he wasn't interested. I understand his concern but I thought he could have been more accommodating or at least have given me time to improve my sight reading. But that was his decision and I can only assume he expected all of his musicians to be proficient sight readers.

Your original question was a great one, and something a lot of people here have or will come up against. So my response was directed at them as well.

And your band leader's outright rejection of you is a shame. But please bear in mind that a lot of people won't be so rigid about it. A recording mentor of mine used to record weekly combination arranging/rehearsal sessions for Duke Ellington. Apparently at least a few players in his band weren't good readers, to the point where they'd learn their parts by having their section-mates play or sing their parts to them.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by rllink

I learned to read music in fourth grade when we all learned to play the tonette, so have no fear, if a fourth grader can learn it anyone can. The lines are Every Good Boy Does Fine and the spaces are FACE. Just extrapolate up and down from there. Start with kids songs in the key of C, no flats or sharps. locate the the frets and strings on your guitar that correspond to the notes printed on you music and start playing. Don't get overwhelmed, it gets easier as you go. Shouldn't take long.

Same here. When you are in 4th grade, you don't know this is something adults have decided is hard, so you just do it. Like someone else suggested earlier, start with simple folk songs. I'd stick with the keys of C/Am at first, then go to G/Em (1 sharp), then D/Bm (2 sharps), and so on. Forget about bass clef for now. Guitars don't need it.

[Norsepicker]

I started with classical guitar lessons 15 years ago. One of the things I resisted was learning the Segovia scales, which teach all the diatonic notes in major and minor keys up and down the neck. It makes me more confident in playing in real time rather than just playing and hoping the fingers land where they are supposed to. I find that knowing the notes is the hardest part, all the other stuff (time and key signatures, duration, etc) fall into place. Of course I wish I had learned them earlier but I was sometimes seduced by people who said you didn't have to pay attention to that stuff.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

I've been reading music (treble clef) for about a year for classical guitar. I just started to read bass clef also for my piano lessons. I can read but slow. I'm of the opinion the ability to learn music is through repetition and experience just like a language.

I am not a good sight reader, but any kind of reading improves with practice. In my experience, limited though it is with reading music, is that you just have to do it and then you will get better at it.

Best of luck!

- Glenn