Reading Music

[Lisa]

Hi there,

I'm having some lessons but getting frustrated because my progress seems so slow! I'm new to reading music and when I search for information on the web to help me understand it I just get suffocated with techy terms!

Can anyone help? Is there a programme or book out there entitled something along the lines of "Reading Music For Dummies"??!



I need something that's really simple so I don't lose my motivation!

 

[jadoube]

Lisa,

There are some books, I bought a couple - you're welcome to them. However I think practicing lots is the real solution. Books, or the web, help if you come across a symbol you've not seen before. They can't help the link between your eyes and your fingers bypass the brain.

To encourage you :

I started nearly a year ago with no musical experience at all. After a year of regular lessons (and daily practice) my sight reading still lets me down. But its much better than it was. In the early days I'd get it wrong many places in every short piece. Now I can (sometimes) get it right all the way through - and I'm playing much faster on more complex pieces than when I started.

So I believe my teacher when he says it will all come good in time. He means my time - it may take me longer than the average but it will happen.

Of course along the way there have been times when I've despaired of ever learning to play. :cry: My advice is to find the fun bits and include them in every practice session.

And remember - even the more experienced players posting here probably had some problems when they started. 😉

 

[spike]

Hello Lisa, Welcome to the lounge, nice looking sax, I play black and gold ones, I've always wanted one in black and silver but never found the right one.

Book recomendation: The Musicians guide to reading and writing music - by Dave Stewart (the keyboarder not the guitarist) - very easy to understand, funny, written in a chatty style, you'll go from no idea to stockhausen in five minutes, just kiddin'. Good book, I still refer to it often for reference. Have fun. regards - spike

 

[Lisa]

Thanks, that's really encouraging - I'll look up that book as I think any help will be good for me right now!

Thanks for the compliment on my sax, I adore it too, it's so sexy! It's a Jupiter 769BL.

L

I long to be Abi Harding one day... I will make it!

 

[Greywolf]

Hi Lisa

I am a good reader.......of books. I started playing sax seriously about 3 years ago at the age of 51 and my reading (music lets me down all the time.

What bugs me is that I've been a teacher all my life. I know about reading. Why do I find it so difficult.

So I started to break down what I was doing. I was reading and playing the same bar like a child spelling out and reading a word at a time.

What I tried doing was reading and playing very very simple music, maybe even something I know, and forcing my eyes to read the next bar along from what I was playing. You cannot play fluently when you are reading the bar or note you are playing. Ideally you will be reading tow or more bars ahead. That's how you read words.

And don't forget it takes the maleable brain of a child years to learn to read words really fluently. I don't know how old you are but if you are over twenty your brain isn't as maleable and at my advanced age it's positively sluggish, but it can be done, don't give up, and at the end of every week look back over the week and see how you have improved, because you will have!!

 

[Rogerb]

I am in much the same boat, Lisa, and have recently been introduced to a good, really elementary, book, Learn as You Play Saxophone by Peter Wastall.

It teaches you to identify and play just a few notes at a time, and then combines them into simple tunes, so that you can soon actually play something by sight-reading 🙂

 

[Lisa]

Hi,

I've now invested in Boosey Woodwind Method, which my teacher recommended. It comes with 2 CDs. One provides backing tracks for the music in the book and the other has the actual sax tunes - so I can hear what it's supposed to sound like!

I also got Peter Wastall, which seems like a good one and has excellent reviews - Thanks Roger.

I'll see how I get along and might pick up that Dave Stewart book later-on if I'm still struggling (thanks Spike.)

It's comforting to hear that I'm far from along in my music reading plight and there is hope! In answer to your question, I'm 24 so my rain is hopefully still in pretty good shape Greywolf!

Thanks for the advice peeps!

L

😉

 

[spike]

Hi Lisa, glad you found the right books, just thought I'd better expand on the dave stewart book, it's not full of exercises, like play this ten times then go on to this. It's more theoretical, explaining all the musical terms and symbols, key signatures, chords and rhythms and so on. Don't want to recommend something then find it's not what you needed. regards - spike

 

[Pete Thomas]

I always rtecommend splitting the learning into two parts, pitch nad rhythm. Doing it all at once the two things seem to overwhelm you. Most important is rhythm, learn to clap rhythms from music (simple drum tutors can be a good source), and also try writing down rhythms that you make up. Of course you may need to get this checked by someone who can alreday do it quite proficiently or yoyu won't know if you are right or wrong sometimes.

The pitch side of things is much easier, just learning the spaces and lines and then connecting with the note names.

Do the two things separartely, it's less frustrating then put them together.

 

[Lisa]

Ok then - any thoughts on memorising music?

Should I be actually learning the tunes in my book until I'm able to play them from memory without reading the music?

I've been working through and playing each tune a few times, playing along with the CD until I can complete without squeeks and a fairly nice sound, then moving onto the next bit of the book.

Would memorising tunes do me any good? (I think I might be rushing a bit - I'm very impatient!)

L



8|

 

[Saxlicker]

Hi Lisa,

memorising tunes is OK!!..but don't rush the reading (easier said than done)

Eventually you will lean toward one or the other...memorise and play by ear or read.
Probably based on your practise time or needs or maybe even what is the most enjoyable challenge.

Which ever one you choose, you'll wish at times you spent a little more time on the other! 🙁 .. can't win!
I started off reading but joining a band I had to work on memorising and learning by ear.

I think though, If only I could read better and had more theory in my head, playing by ear would have been a natural improvement anyway!!!

 

[rudge]

hi lisa, i dont know how far you have got with your reading and i may be trying to teach my nan to suck eggs but as a very new convert to the world of music i got a book from my local music shop called learn to play saxophone, its by Peter Gelling, it has a dvd and cd with it and starts at the VERY! beggining, i have only been plying for a couple of months and it has taken me from 'dummy' to oh, thats what those little black blobs mean the dvd is great and shows the music along with a real player and as a bonus, the fingering too, hope this helps.

 

[Lisa]

Hi there,

Rudge - sounds like a good idea. I'm currently working with Boosey Woodwind method 1, which has CDs that I'm finding very helpful as I'm pretty poor at beats and wot-not too! A DVD so I can watch someone who actually knows what they're doing would probably be useful.

Saxlicker, I'm just working through and trying to read the music and throw in a new note now and then (just learnt low F tonight!) The tunes are so basic that I've not over-played them and can't remember them from one evening's practice to the next (until I try playing them again, obviously!) I think I'll follow your helpful advice and just concentrate on reading the music for now.

Thanks for your advice!

Lisa

 

[oliver_bentley]

don't worry too much about memorising, you'll find that with your favourite tunes you'll memorise them without realising. After playing a tune for a while, try to play without looking - you'll be suprised. this is how I learnt my first few standards. Eventually you'll need to commit to learning lots by memory, but don't worry. Course if you wanna start trying to lean stuff now, why not it cant hurt.

 

[rico]

i started playing sax in jan and 1 of the books that help me was saxophone Basics by Andy Hampton and i then got a book called Easy Studies in Jazz and Rock saxophone by James Rae and thoses helped me learn and get more cumfertable with sight reading.