Sight Reading

cwilliamscwilliams
edited July 2014 in Root
After a embarrassing experience with a well trained and schooled jazz pianist I have decided I should devote a little bit of time to working on sight reading.

I played alto sax as a kid so I know the basics but have never tried to relate it to guitar.

Anyone have any tips on how to get started or how sight reading plays into your musical life?

Comments

  • AdamLopezAdamLopez
    I know how to read but I never do, therefore I'm super slow. For practice, I will hand write the name of each note above the staff on pieces from time to time to try and keep the brain sharp. It also keeps the guitar out of my hands so that my mind is visualizing these notes on the guitar while I'm writing them.

    When I do finally pick up the guitar, merging the two seems to get easier as time goes on.

    Hope that's of some help.
  • JimCampilongoJimCampilongo
    edited July 2014
    If you're beginning- I'm a bit old school and possibly out of touch with hipper methods, but good ol' Mel Bay Guitar Method Book One does the job for the basics

    If you're at low intermediate .... Personally I like to play classical stuff cause it's pretty, or melodies in the Real Book- or clarinet pieces. Start with easy as possible, start with 10 minutes *everyday*.

    And this is a pretty good teaching site
    http://www.guitargames.net/
  • AaronWAaronW
    I'm a lot slower than I use to be. I was studying Jazz with an instructor, and during that time my reading was pretty good. I learned from the Berklee Guitar Method books. This thread I think is a reminder that I should get them back out and go through them.
  • ruger9ruger9
    Jim,

    How often do you find sight reading actually being necessary? I can imagine some sessions maybe requiring it, but I've never seen a live guitarist reading charts, with the possible exception of a traditional swing band.

    Of all my guitar heroes, it seems very few can sight read, or even read music beyond a very basic level for that matter, and while I realize how useful it can be (and even necessary) in certain situations, it seems to me most guitarists, when doing a session or a gig... even if it's a sideman gig (like you with Martha Wainright), the guitarist seems to learn everything by ear/going through it a couple times, no?

    I've heard the Tommy Tedesco story- told by Glen Campbell- where they were doing a session out in LA, and whoever put Tommy's chart on his music stand, put it on there upside down. When they started rolling, Tommy started playing what he saw- upside down. It was a such a cacophony, the producer stopped the tape, and asked Tommy "what in the hell are you playing?!?" And Tommy looked at his stand, and looked closer, then turned the charts over.

    Here's where it gets good...

    Glen, sitting right next to him, said "aw, come on- you didn't really play that, did you?" So Tommy turned the charts over upside down again, and again played the chart upside down (meaning totally wrong) LOL!!
  • RogerioFerrazRogerioFerraz
    I am on the same boat as cwilliams and recently decided to give this Iphone a try: iReadMusic. It is probably very basic and I am not sure how it compares to more "traditional methods" but if anything it is sure fun doing some of the exercises while you´re at the dentist's waiting room or on the bus, for example - ha ha.
  • JimCampilongoJimCampilongo
    edited July 2014
    Great posts!

    "....How often do you find sight reading actually being necessary? I can imagine some sessions maybe requiring it, but I've never seen a live guitarist reading charts, with the possible exception of a traditional swing band..."

    Almost everyone I play with can read, and most read very well... and one has the option to jot down difficult parts so homework time is cut down. Think of it as having a phone book instead of having to memorize everyone's phone number.

    The thing I like, I can practice with a directive that transcends my mood or inspiration level.

    Have a good day -Jim

  • ruger9ruger9
    "...The thing I like, I can practice with a directive that transcends my mood or inspiration level. "

    If you feel like it, and have the time, I would love to hear you expand on that.
  • larutelarute
    One book that's pretty intense, but very effective is "Melodic Studies & Compositions for Guitar" by Fred Hamilton from Mel Bay. It's for guitarists that may already play fine, but never learned to read all that well. It'll get you comfy moving all around the board. Then you can keep up on your new mad skills by reading a bit each day.
  • cwilliamscwilliams
    Thanks for the input everyone. I am always pleasantly surprised by the responses here.

    My tactic starting last night was digging out the Bill Leavitt guitar method and starting from scratch with that.

    But I am gonna look into some of the websites and apps suggested. The truefire video de-railed my most of my effort last night.

    Nice to hear how sight reading fits into Jims work.

    Ted Greene described it best that if you learn to read you gain access to mountains of work that was never recorded and would be painful to transcribe. I have a sheet of his that notates Jim Hall's Freddie Green comping on my funny valentine from undercurrents. That's my goal!
  • IgnatzMouseIgnatzMouse
    Another route to go - to supplement other suggestions - is to get a violin score for Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin. Don't get a guitar version, but rather an original violin score. This will challenge you on a number of levels, combining sight reading challenges with pick direction choices to working with different areas of the fretboard for different sonorities.
  • jigonzavjigonzav
    Hi..............
    This is a very interesting topic!
    There a Iphone App call "Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer" tha is very helpfull.
    This app help you to learn how to read rhythm in a very easy way.......100% recomendable....
    Saludos
    JIG
  • mckiepsteinmckiepstein
    The William Leavitt books, while they probably work fine for some, lacked something for me. Namely, they're not very musical.

    Instead, you can learn to read while learning some classical repertoire. Try Bach's BWV 996 Bourree, BWV 1007 prelude. Find a pdf. I got the Lute Suites for guitar in a beautiful edition by Frank Koonz at my teacher's suggestion. $30 on Amazon. A little classical never hurt, and it is a workout. Very good for your fingerpicking/hybrid picking.

    After about a month of working on these two pieces, I can slowly sight-read the others in the book. With mistakes, sure. But I wouldn't have had the persistence to do it if the music to learn by wasn't so great. Good for soul, mind, and fingers.

    Maybe I should say I learned to read music as a kid playing cello, but never transferred it properly to guitar. So YMMV.
  • cwilliamscwilliams
    Thanks for the tip! The Leavitt books are my starting point, I am trying to start from the very bottom but will soon supplement. I will def. check out the Koonz stuff.
  • RolandRoland
    For me, Bach is the way to go. Especially the Inventions are very good suited. Just begin slowly, that is the most important thing. It's the same as with learning to read words. Music is a language and has words, that you can find in some scores every now and then. And Bach imho has written the perfect vocabulary for nearly every occasion ;-)
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2026