Sight reading anyone?

ectoflanger

ectoflanger

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Never liked tabs, so I'm beginning to annotate music in standard notation. For me the tricky part is the time signatures and properly annotating the rhythm. Does anyone have suggestions on developing the sense of capturing the rhythm on paper? Is there software to aid in this?
 
hi ectoflanger! if you have a music program like cakewalk/sonar you can actually punch in the rhythmic patterns you want to hear on a staff and play them back with any sort of midi instrument you want. There would prob be a dedicated program online somewhere maybe sibelius? but if you want to be ol' school like myself there are plenty of rhythm books out there ie 'The Rhythm Bible' and my favorite one 'Encyclopedia of Reading Rhythms' by MI.
Learning to recognize patterns is definitely the hardest part to sight reading so really it just comes down to a lot practice. Hope this helped mate!
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

Darryn,

Neuratron, a company from the UK, has software called Audioscore which will track and score monophonic input. I tried their sample patch and it works well with direct analog instrument or midi input, but it is tricky via mic unless you have a very quiet room. Nonetheless you still have to preselect the time signature.
 
I'd look for some online lessons on time signatures counting and notation. Its one of those things that's a little confusing at first, and need to learn from someone who has a good grasp of it.

Then its just a case of counting along when you play and adding the relative notations.

Sadly i'm no where near proficient enough with sight reading to give you a good guide to it.
 
It's much easier than it seems :-)
You have a 4/4 song, most of them are 4/4.
These are the quarter notes:
1/2/3/4 :-)
Easy eh? You play with the metronome. click, click click click/ 1/2/3/4
Now you start to subdivide.
You probably know how to read and write eights.
These are the sixteenth:

So you see... you have 4 beats, and 4 bricks :-)
The "brick" is the group of notes that form a quarter note together.
This is another "brick"

Don't know how to read it?
Easy, you just link the last two sixteenth of the first brick :-)

There are not that many rhithm "bricks" you know... Just the same patterns over and over again.
If you mark the downbits like Lobster said, and think each group as a brick, and think any brick as the "sixteenth" brick with some links inside, then everything is easy ...
I know, my explanation sucks, but I hope it does make any sense :-) Anyway, it is much more easy than it seems.
Come on, music knowledgeable guys, let's give a help here :-)
 
If you can find it, I highly recommend a book called:

Sight Reading - The Rhythm Book

By Alex Pertout.

ISBN: 1 876174 00 5

It's a really great way to learn to read rhythm!

;)
 
Thanks for the support guys! I'll look that book up Luke.

From past music instruction, I understand the basic concepts regarding note values and how they interact with rests and time signatures in previous published sheet music. The big issue for me at this time is designating the key signature for songs I've written and those of other artists that I wish to transcribe into standard notation.
 
RockLobster said:
The only problem with that is many jazz players from the good ol' days couldn't read :twisted:. Most can now, though they seem to play from chord charts if anything at all.
Click to expand...

That aside, learning to sight read jazz is a great way of bettering your reading and overall muscianship.8:
 
Totally agree guys..but the thread is about getting better at reading rhythms and sight reading. If it were about whether or not you have to read to play jazz the answer would be no, you can play any style of music without reading. But jazz tunes written in notation is a good way to get some rhythmic patterns under the hands with differing time signatures and key signatures too.
 
dazzla said:
Totally agree guys..but the thread is about getting better at reading rhythms and sight reading. If it were about whether or not you have to read to play jazz the answer would be no, you can play any style of music without reading. But jazz tunes written in notation is a good way to get some rhythmic patterns under the hands with differing time signatures and key signatures too.
Click to expand...

We ARE off-topic, true. On-topic, Jeff Berlin suggests getting some trombone music as well as it's not the same ol' same ol' as we usually play and the notes themselves are pretty much exactly how they would be for a bassist (ironic for me considering I played trombone once).
 
Aye jaco did the same but with trumpets, he transposed it i think, or just played it really high.

Not only does it help sight reading but it also helps with understanding melodies which is something bass players tend not to do so well.

Ectoflanger let us know how it goes with the book. I think it might be something i'll need to invest in.
 
Callum said:
Aye jaco did the same but with trumpets, he transposed it i think, or just played it really high.

Not only does it help sight reading but it also helps with understanding melodies which is something bass players tend not to do so well.

Ectoflanger let us know how it goes with the book. I think it might be something i'll need to invest in.
Click to expand...

Understanding melodies is just that. I'm not pinpointing you in particular, but a lot of people think it will help you learn songs better. It helps for soloing, though, but not playing the bass' usual supporting role.
 
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