Chords for Sight Read On Bass in 5 Minutes?!

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_ _ Hi again, Mark here from talkingbass.net. Today, I'm going to show you how easy it
can be to start reading music.
Now, reading tends to be one of those things
that people just shy away from because it always seems so tough.
The road to learning
always looks really, really long and there's never really any simple structured method
for getting from A to B, no pun intended.
It's always just a case of, well, I don't
know, I mean, you just practice reading.
And I've heard that before and that advice sucks.
So I'm just going to give you a super quick primer just to show you how fast you can start
reading music and just how easy it should be.
Now, a lot of you are probably aware that
I already have a dedicated reading program over at the TalkingBass website.
And this
lesson is pretty much a brief example of how I teach that course.
So if this works
out for you, just check out the simple steps to sight reading course over at TalkingBass.
And you can find that by clicking in the info below or in the little card, the little I
up there.
Okay, let's go for it.
So first of all, we
need something for showing us the notes.
So here's a stave.
It's just five lines and spaces
that all correspond to different notes.
Next, we need something called a clef.
And this
tells us which notes go on which lines.
We're playing bass, so we're going to be using the
bass clef.
And that looks like this big comma.
When we use bass clef, the notes work up from
the bottom line alphabetically from G.
So we have G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A.
We can
also add notes above and below the clef using temporary lines that we call ledger lines.
So we're getting there.
Now, we just need a time signature.
So let's go with 4-4.
And
that tells us that we have four beats to a bar.
And you probably already know all about
bars which are also called measures.
If we count 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, each set of
four is a bar.
And we divide these bars upon the music using bar lines.
Now, finally, we just want a single rhythm.
We'll go with a whole note which is also called
a semibreve in Europe.
This is just an empty round symbol that lasts for four beats.
So
if we place a whole note on the bottom line, we know that it's a G lasting four beats,
which in 4-4 is a full bar.
So if I play that line to a metronome, we'll have the following.
And I'll just have a count of four in.
So 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4.
And that's it.
Okay?
So if we were going to have four bars of that G note, we'd have the following,
2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, _ 3, [E] 4.
So that's the basics.
That's all you
need to know to get started.
We've got a stave, a time signature, a clef, and some notes.
So now let's see how this is applied to the bass.
So all we're going to do first is look
at two notes, the open E string and the F at the first fret of the E string.
Just two notes, two lowest notes on the bass.
We're not looking to play a Bilishian licks
all over the neck to begin with.
We're just going to start childishly simple and then
just gradually add more notes and rhythms and symbols simply at every step.
So for that low open E string, we have the ledger line below the stave.
So if I played an open E for a bar, it would look like this, 1, 2, 3, 4, okay?
Then the F at the first fret is obviously the next space up.
So that looks like this.
And for a full bar, it would sound like this, 1, 2, 3, 4.
And that's all we're going
to play to begin with.
We have an E and an F.
So you've got a 50-50 chance of getting
it right anyway.
So let's look at eight bars of music.
We're going to play to a
click and you're just going to have to keep looking at the music and you're just
going to be deciding whether it's an E or an F, open string or first fret.
And because we're using an open string and just that F, we're only going to be
using one finger all the way through just for that F, okay?
Now, one key thing I would mention is you need to look ahead.
So as soon as you play the first note, you know, you play it, keep count,
1, 2, 3, 4.
But as soon as you've played that first note, look ahead to the next bar
and prepare for it.
So as soon as you've played it, look at the next note,
decide what it is, and then you're going to be better prepared for playing it, okay?
So looking ahead is always key.
So here are those eight bars of music.
I'm going to play through them to a click and I'm going to say the notes out loud
as I go.
So I want you to play along with me and try saying those notes aloud as
you go, okay?
So here's the click at 70 beats per [Gm] minute.
1, 2, 3, [E] 4.
E, [N] 2, 3, 4. _ _
3, 4.
E, 2, 3, 4.
E, 2, _ _ _ _ _ 3.
E, _ _ _ _ _ _ 3, _ _ 2.
_ _ So there you go.
You just sight-read your first piece of music.
Now, I know what you're thinking, that's not proper reading.
I'm not learning riffs and moving around like I do when I play normally.
But that's not the point.
When people try learning to read for the first time,
they tend to try reading stuff that's way too advanced for them.
You have to put yourself back in beginner mode again.
Start simple and build up gradually.
You add another note, another note,
another rhythm, another rhythm, simple steps.
In terms of the process, there's no difference between reading what we just
played and reading a Rachmaninoff piano concerto.
It's the same thing, just with more notes, rhythms, and symbols.
You start simple and just gradually build up.
So as I mentioned earlier, I have the Simple Steps to Sight Reading
Program over at talkingbass.net.
That takes the same process of learning and just expands on it massively.
If you really want to learn how to read but have no idea where to start and want
a really simple, systemized path to follow, just go check it out and see if
this is the right kind of thing that you're looking for.