Sight reading (Full Version)

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John O. -> Sight reading (Apr. 23 2007 18:05:48)

Can anybody recommend a good learning reference with exercises for learning to sight-read?



guitarbuddha -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 23 2007 18:26:33)

Arron Shearers Learning The Classic Guitar is a great method for learning to and improving reading ( volume two green cover pub. Mel Bay ). It's a great bass then there is The Brazilian guitar book by Nelson Faria a great book for getting to know about syncopation and familiarising oneself with recognising written syncopation.


I really haven't seen a systematic approach which deals with the evolution of rhythm in Flamenco solo and accompaniment which is written correctly but these two should give you the tools you need to read and digest flamenco transcriptions.


Hope thats a help.

David.



srshea -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 23 2007 19:32:49)

John,

My step-father was a classical guitar teacher and the two main texts he always started his students out on were Aaron Shearer’s “Classic Guitar Technique Volume I” (Not the same Shearer book mentioned above, the one with the red and black cover) and Christopher Parkening’s “The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method Vol 1”. I worked through both of these last year to brush up on my long-dormant sight reading skills. They’re both excellent introductions to the basics of first position reading, easy to work through, introducing notes a few at a time. If I had to pick one over the other I’d go with the Parkening. The Shearer book has kind of a dry, ball-busting, school-marmish tone and there are a lot of exercises late in the book that, even though most all the first position notes have been introduced by that point, are really kind of tuneless and un-musical. The Parkening has a warmer tone, and the exercises are more pleasing to the ear, which I think helps things along. But they’re both good. Neither have anything to do with Flamenco, of course, but they're a good place to start.

Also, Shearer has a Guitar Note Speller workbook thing that’s a nice supplement to learning the names of the notes and their positions on the staff.



Mark2 -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 23 2007 20:16:46)

Tommy Tedesco's "For guitar players only" contains the best guitar specific sight reading tips I've ever seen. He was a top studio guitarist in LA. Probably the most recorded guitarist in history. He played "the Deer Hunter" session with John Williams as well as thousands of other movie and TV dates. Among other things, he has sections devoted to reading high notes on the guitar(a problem area for many guitarists) reading parts written for Bb and Eb instruments, reading chords, etc. Just a great book from the master.

Another book I have from my college days is called "Rhythmic Training", a great book to focus on reading just the rhythms.

Also Oliver Nelson's "Patterns for improvisation"
Lennie Niehaus has a series of short books with the material getting harder as you go along called "Patterns for jazz improvisation" And Bach "Sonatas and Partitas for Solo violin" These were some of the books a jazz guitar teacher had me reading out of when I was studying with him. He could read anything at sight.

And the "Real Book" a giant book of jazz standards, is a great way to practice reading while learning jazz tunes.



guitarbuddha -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 23 2007 21:21:52)

The Shearer is incredubly dry and the pieces are on the whole totally forgetable. I think this is one of it's strengths. It forces you to read ( not to use your ear ) and it focuses on what I think is the most important aspects of sight reading and that which is most overlooked, read in time not to use the music as a learning aid to pieces but to play through pieces from start to finish first time and move onto the next pronto. The book is really wonderfully structured to get you doing this. It's really not about the pieces.

Great advice about the real book, and the Tedesco. It is good not to limit oneself to guitar keys and classical material. I found Jazz pattern books really dissapointing as I got the Jerry Coker/Casals/Campbell/Greene version for sight reading practice and they are really only technical manuals with short excercises only presented in one key ( which is really lazy of them ). I had hoped to get a good all key reading workout and was really dissapointed . I would like to know a little more about the Nelson and Niehaus to see if they are more thorough.

In the same vein there is the Excellent Easy Jazz Conception by Jim Snidero which comes with a recording and playalong as well as the Effective Studies for Jazz. At this level also the Oscar Hererro books are good for sight reading practice.

This all aside for a book which is ONLY about sight reading and breaks down the task in a guitar specific way. I say to everyone get the Shearer and yes you are going to school so expect a dry tone. The old Shearer ( red and blue ) is like the Fred Noad book, the Parkening and every other method I have ever seen USELESS. Nice simplified pieces you have heard before ( and will play by ear if your can ) information on where the notes are but no actual METHOD to get the actual reading of them integrated. and will lead to the habit of reading out of time in 99 percent of pupils and self studients.

Buy the Shearer all the rest are good in their own way but this builds a firm foundation in basic music reading on guitar . If you spend an hour with it then you should be reading pretty much the WHOLE BOOK. Not reviewing a few charming miniatures.

David (Shearer Junior)[8|]



Mark2 -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 23 2007 22:45:04)

My memory tells me the Nelson book presents the different keys but the Niehaus does not. The nice thing about the Niehaus is that there are a lot of short exercises in different keys. Of course I agree about the nature of the study, which is to read through a ton of material and move on before memorizing and playing by ear. The Niehaus stuff contains some fairly outside type of lines which makes predicting by ear fruitless. It also makes you question if you hit the right notes, which is what you want to learn to read well.

I'm not real familiar with the level at which classical guitarists read, but can say that very few guitarists of other styles read well. When I was in college I auditioned for the jazz big band. All the other instruments had to sight read as part of the audition, but the guitarists were given a tune and told to come back the next day. The tune was joy spring by Clifford Brown, a mother of a tune. Luck was with me as I knew the tune already. I spent all night woodshedding the tune anyway, and I got by maybe fifty players, most better than me at jazz, to get the gig. Then I spent the next semester sweating over these big band charts which required a lot of tough reading, resting, soloing, and stressing!



guitarbuddha -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 23 2007 23:51:43)

I fell flat on my a### playing (very briefly) with the big band at college since the charts had only crazy impractical chord suggestions and very little in the way of written lines ( which I could have handled ).

I would love another shot at it now. Generally classical guitarists are good at single line reading and reading parts ( in the right keys ) which are very guitaristic though we are seldom a patch on genuine orchestral players. I have worked hard to learn how to bluff through a chart and to play latin and a little Freddy Green style as well as comping for my friend who is a trombonist and avoiding the jazz police on lounge gigs.

I'll look into the Nelson thanks for the heads up.

What are you playing now Mark?

PS Everybody buy the Shearer.



John O. -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 24 2007 9:47:52)

Thanks guys! Got the 2 from Shearer. Couldn't find "For guitar players only", at least not on Amazon. "Patterns for jazz improvisation" I'll check out later. Baby steps [:)]

I just recently got the sudden inspiration to close my big knowledge gap of not being able to read notes. I mean for me personally it's a gap. Something I'd like to do for myself, broaden my musical horizons.

Also at times people will show me sheets of notes asking me questions and it's not nice to have no clue what I'm looking at. I'm sure a bit of experience wouldn't hurt...



edgar884 -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 24 2007 11:57:43)

Try the Aaoron shearer books they are perfect for learning to sight read.



John O. -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 24 2007 13:20:37)

Guess I made the right choice then! [:)]



guitarbuddha -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 24 2007 14:29:55)

I'll invoice Arron for the commission ( I hope it is the green book, Mel Bay you got ).

Happy studying, David,



Mark2 -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 24 2007 16:24:18)

I'm working on the fingering for Charlie Parker's Donna Lee. I haven't played the tune for more than twenty years and I fingered it back then from notation. I managed it but it was cumbersome. It's funny how you remember the way you fingered something that long ago. Anyway, there is one little part in there that I'm trying out three different ways to play and it's still not comfortable. Bird's stuff is tough on the guitar. I'm also cleaning up a few Tomatito falsetas from his instructional vid, working on an old Sabicas Rondena, and always playing around with bulerias compas. All just for fun.


quote:

ORIGINAL: guitarbuddha

I fell flat on my a### playing (very briefly) with the big band at college since the charts had only crazy impractical chord suggestions and very little in the way of written lines ( which I could have handled ).

I would love another shot at it now. Generally classical guitarists are good at single line reading and reading parts ( in the right keys ) which are very guitaristic though we are seldom a patch on genuine orchestral players. I have worked hard to learn how to bluff through a chart and to play latin and a little Freddy Green style as well as comping for my friend who is a trombonist and avoiding the jazz police on lounge gigs.

I'll look into the Nelson thanks for the heads up.

What are you playing now Mark?

PS Everybody buy the Shearer.



guitarbuddha -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 24 2007 17:21:52)

Victor Wooten, has done an arrangement of this for four string bass with a slap and pop style approach. I've got a book called 50 bebop heads arranged for guitar which might have some suggestions for you.

For bebop ( not a subject I know much about ) I occasionally try and read through and play along with the Jimmy Raney Aebersold book which is really good for after I get through it for the next twenty minutes i actually believe I can play like him, mind you the spell soon breaks.

There is a good transcription series now available by Wolf Masrhall ( he of the eighties big hair, rock lessons and transcriptions ) with some Tal Farlowe stuff. The transcriptions seem accurate ( although his performances dont match the rhythm's that he has written.

I am trying to compose an Alegrias and finish a few bulerias that I have been working on. |I really think that I should learn some new classical material soon though as it has been long neglected.

Good luck with the Donna Lee and let me know if you want me to dig out that book.

David.



Mark2 -> RE: Sight reading (Apr. 24 2007 18:00:40)

Thanks David. Jaco Pastorias also recorded Donna Lee on fretless bass on his first record-amazing performance. I actually am working from a Jamey Aebersold book with nothing but Bird tunes. It just has the heads and the changes. I have the accompanying LP with the backing tracks played by some top jazz guys, so once I get the head down, it's going to be fun playing along.



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