The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    When I started playing guitar at 12 I was taught to read notes and play them in the open strings and first few frets of the guitar. I learned to do so. The problem is I haven't done it as much (truth be told, hardly at all) since I left my first teacher in 2004 and I never really took it out of that first position. I have been (still am) lazy with reading and play mostly by ear and tab. It is almost always faster for me to pick something out by ear than to read it from notes, I'm terribly slow at it.

    What is the best way to get faster at reading music? I know the simple answer is "read more and stop being lazy", but I was wondering if you guys had any insight on how to make the most of my practice time. My other question is what is the best/your way to decide on which position you're going to play the notes in?

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  3. #2

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    Reading is one of those things that requires doing it daily, like speaking a second language you don't do it regularly you get rusty and start forgetting words.

  4. #3

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    You might want to check here for tips.

    How to Sight Read on Guitar Easily - JamieHolroydGuitar.com

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by docbop
    Reading is one of those things that requires doing it daily, like speaking a second language you don't do it regularly you get rusty and start forgetting words.
    That is indeed what I plan to do! Do you have any suggestions on material to read? I was thinking melody lines of standards in real books, then again I might cheat by doing it by ear if it's a standard I've listened to

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by ColinO
    Thanks man! I've visited Jamie's site before, great stuff! I'll certainly read this

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by a22
    That is indeed what I plan to do! Do you have any suggestions on material to read? I was thinking melody lines of standards in real books, then again I might cheat by doing it by ear if it's a standard I've listened to
    I don't know if its cheating learning to read Real Book, reading is a lot about training the eyes to see the dots on the page and recognize them like words. Learn to recognize scale fragment, arpeggios, chord stacks, etc. Also learning to see some music and associate it with a sound.

  8. #7

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    perennial forum favorite William Leavit has a series of books on reading for guitar. Look them up on Amazon.

    link!

    A few other options come up in the related items in the page.

    Some guys I've read about suggest going through anything, like bach or mozart. Violin pieces seem to be a popular choice. The point is to read through and play once, and never go back on the material, thereby avoiding the mental crutch of learning the piece.

    I have the W. Leavit books but have yet to go through them as I have other aspects of my musicianship I want to focus on before developing my sight reading.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by nosoyninja
    The point is to read through and play once, and never go back on the material, thereby avoiding the mental crutch of learning the piece.
    Terrible advice, it's not only about the sight reading process, it's also about learning actual music and being able to play it from memory. There are so many ways learning and memorizing a piece of music will help your musicianship, strengthen your memory, concentration, and reading skills. Reading through a piece of music more than once will continue to strengthen your reading skills. Don't take advice from a person who at the end of his post, admits he doesn't know how to sight read, and hasn't started working on it yet....Take some advice from someone who is very accomplished at reading music. Nosoy's "mental crutch" is not learning the piece.

  10. #9

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    Short answer is, read the phrase first before playing it, visualize it and take into account the general range of the phrase which will let you know the best position on the fretboard. Then play it while reading ahead to the next phrase.

    I would also say, it's probably better to just practice with a Real Book or simple (actual) melodies, as apposed those sight reading books which are usually just random scale patterns or somthing designed to teach the fretboard.

    Also, do this. Every week, pick one note. e.g. this week it's C. Learn this note in all octaves, every string while learning it's associated staff position. Because reading is really about knowing the fretboard really well.
    Last edited by RyanM; 07-26-2012 at 05:53 PM.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by nosoyninja
    perennial forum favorite William Leavit has a series of books on reading for guitar. Look them up on Amazon.

    link!

    A few other options come up in the related items in the page.

    Some guys I've read about suggest going through anything, like bach or mozart. Violin pieces seem to be a popular choice. The point is to read through and play once, and never go back on the material, thereby avoiding the mental crutch of learning the piece.

    I have the W. Leavit books but have yet to go through them as I have other aspects of my musicianship I want to focus on before developing my sight reading.
    Terrible advice, it's not only about the sight reading process, it's also about learning actual music and being able to play it from memory. There are so many ways learning and memorizing a piece of music will help your musicianship, strengthen your memory, concentration, and reading skills. Reading through a piece of music more than once will continue to strengthen your reading skills. Don't take advice from a person who at the end of his post, admits he doesn't know how to sight read, and hasn't started working on it yet....Take some advice from someone who is very accomplished at reading music. Nosoy's "mental crutch" is not learning the piece.
    Hmm I just watched the Mike Stern lesson tape where he says he reads a lot of Bach pieces, but doesn't know how to really play classical.

    I don't know, it usually takes me countless hours of practice on to get like a dozen bars down. For example I've been playing the Bach violin piece in G minor that's on the lesson section of this website for years on and off and I still don't have it down. If I only had 48 hours a day to practice, sure I'd learn everything by heart...

  12. #11

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    Advanced Rhythms by Joe Allard is a book he wrote to torture...I mean teach...his saxophone students how to read. It's a marvelous book for reading, although every exercise is largely non-musical. It really sounds like something demons would listen to.

    Quote Originally Posted by jazzadellic
    Terrible advice, it's not only about the sight reading process, it's also about learning actual music and being able to play it from memory. There are so many ways learning and memorizing a piece of music will help your musicianship, strengthen your memory, concentration, and reading skills. Reading through a piece of music more than once will continue to strengthen your reading skills.
    If you have keen ears, it won't take more than a couple times of playing something before you know how it goes. Once you're able to play it by ear from memory, there is no reading being reinforced, which I'm assuming was the OP's goal from the tone of his post.

    I'm not saying don't memorize, as that should always be the ultimate goal, but if you want to purely practice reading, you should play through music that you don't know yet so your ear isn't leading you around on something familiar to you.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by chrisnewlin
    Advanced Rhythms by Joe Allard is a book he wrote to torture...I mean teach...his saxophone students how to read.
    If it's not in C notation, it's going to be torture to transpose everything for sure!

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by jazzadellic
    Terrible advice, it's not only about the sight reading process, it's also about learning actual music and being able to play it from memory. There are so many ways learning and memorizing a piece of music will help your musicianship, strengthen your memory, concentration, and reading skills. Reading through a piece of music more than once will continue to strengthen your reading skills. Don't take advice from a person who at the end of his post, admits he doesn't know how to sight read, and hasn't started working on it yet....Take some advice from someone who is very accomplished at reading music. Nosoy's "mental crutch" is not learning the piece.
    I'm not interested in proving I'm right. We all share this forum to exchange our viewpoints and opinions, so if we don't agree with each other, that's cool, you know. But As I mentioned in the post, it's not what I recommend, but what I heard others do and what worked for them.

    In
    video, Jimmy Raney explains exactly what I talk about: Sight reading through music and avoiding playing it from memory... Again, it's what's worked for him.

    I hope you find a way that works for you a22 . Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do and how it works out.

    K

  15. #14

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    These's a big difference from being able to sight read music and reading music. BIG DIFFERENCE. Sight reading is a skill. Not really about the notes but the time. The real truth is you have to read to get better reading. PERIOD. Start easy and build up. Over time you'll be able to read better. Also read anything. You don't need to read stuff in your key. You're just trying to become a better reader. Memorizing songs is something else entirely. What good is it to know how to play a song if you haven't gone deep into the tune so you can improvise over it or play it as a solo piece? If you are really learning tunes then you'll memorize it anyway, just buy tearing it down for playing. Some of the advice you got on this thread isn't for where you are at. It's very advanced for what I think you asked. Dude....What are some of these guys thinking? Memorize tunes? Really? Not what he asked. And even if you memorize a tune where do you play the melody? Where on the neck? How many ways and places can you play it? Way to advanced. Want to be a better reader? READ.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by a22
    If it's not in C notation, it's going to be torture to transpose everything for sure!
    Oh it is. I believe there are editions in Bb and Eb as well.

    I recommend it based on the fact that it's worked for my teachers, and it has worked for me. After a few weeks of playing through the first 20 pages or so, my single note reading ability had noticeably improved. As I mentioned before, the great thing about the exercises is that they're not something that you're likely to remember from repeated playing, so you'll be forced to read it again when you come back to it later.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by a22
    When I started playing guitar at 12 I was taught to read notes and play them in the open strings and first few frets of the guitar. I learned to do so. The problem is I haven't done it as much (truth be told, hardly at all) since I left my first teacher in 2004 and I never really took it out of that first position. I have been (still am) lazy with reading and play mostly by ear and tab. It is almost always faster for me to pick something out by ear than to read it from notes, I'm terribly slow at it.

    What is the best way to get faster at reading music? I know the simple answer is "read more and stop being lazy", but I was wondering if you guys had any insight on how to make the most of my practice time. My other question is what is the best/your way to decide on which position you're going to play the notes in?
    I'd advice working through the Berklee Press, A Modern Method For Guitar book. It's a lot of work and will take time, don't go too fast. You'll slowly learn to read various scales, pieces, exercises, chords in new positions.

    You didn't ask about sight-reading but since that is a topic that has been brought up, the Modern Method for Guitar book does touch on it in that it has a little bit of what it calls "Reading Studies", they start about half way through the 1st book. The instructions on the 'Reading Studies'; Leavitt writes:

    Do not practice these pages. Just read them, but not more than twice through during any single practice session. Do not play them on two consecutive days. Do not go back over any particular section because of a wrong note. Do keep an even tempo and play the proper time values.

    By obeying these rules, you will never memorize the reading studies, so they will always be good reading practice. A little later on, it is recommended that you use this procedure with a variety of material, as this is the only way for a guitarist to achieve and maintain any proficiency in reading.

  18. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by nosoyninja
    I'm not interested in proving I'm right. We all share this forum to exchange our viewpoints and opinions, so if we don't agree with each other, that's cool, you know. But As I mentioned in the post, it's not what I recommend, but what I heard others do and what worked for them.

    In
    video, Jimmy Raney explains exactly what I talk about: Sight reading through music and avoiding playing it from memory... Again, it's what's worked for him.

    I hope you find a way that works for you a22 . Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do and how it works out.

    K
    Wow, I've seen the video before and I absolutely love Raney's stuff and agree with what he's saying there. We played this duet some years ago with my guitar teacher; A tune by Raney he named 'Invention'. It's on the chords of 'There Will Never Be Another you'. It was amazing and one of the tunes that really helped my playing.

    And thanks Fep for suggesting the Modern Method book, I believe I have checked it out before at some point.

  19. #18

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    Hi a22. I hope your reading skills are progressing well. Some comments have been made about reading music originally written for other instruments. I’ve found this to be very helpful, and can recommend practicing your reading with music written for the clarinet. You can usually find pieces graded from easy to difficult, and because it’s not written with the guitar in mind, it can take you out of your reading comfort zone and prepare you for the unexpected.

    It was also important for me to start reading very simply pieces to begin with, and increasing the difficulty level very slowly. Doing it that way, I had a genuine sense of achievement with reading, even if the piece was ultra-basic. So pacing yourself is important.

  20. #19
    haha, i just realized every tip the guy wrote on that link that ColinO posted is exactly what I've been doing for the past 3 years

  21. #20

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    I forgot to mention that I'm teaching a friend of mine some guitar and decided to start with the same book that I started with. It's the Hal Leonard Guitar Method which teaches reading right from the get go and every excercise in it is in notation. I'm not sure what his guitar playing goals are (I don't think he knows himself yet), and I'm not sure if it was the best idea to start him off with a book that's all notation, but he seems to enjoy it and it's good practice for me too

    I think I actually still have the notes on the open strings and first frets down somewhere in the back of my grey matter, because reading and playing them there seems to happen. I'm always thinking "Did I do that right??" But almost always I had it correct.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by a22
    I forgot to mention that I'm teaching a friend of mine some guitar and decided to start with the same book that I started with. It's the Hal Leonard Guitar Method which teaches reading right from the get go and every excercise in it is in notation. I'm not sure what his guitar playing goals are (I don't think he knows himself yet), and I'm not sure if it was the best idea to start him off with a book that's all notation, but he seems to enjoy it and it's good practice for me too
    Just to add that, as a teacher, I start kids off (age 8) with notation, no tab, and they have no problem with it.
    I also started with notation myself - learned it in school before I picked up a guitar - and never found it difficult. And naturally it means one can learn to play music from any printed source, whatever it's written for, so is great for teaching oneself.

    Of course, sight-reading - as mentioned above - is a whole other skill; or rather a highly advanced level above basic reading skills. You just have to keep looking at new music you've not seen before.

    The point about learning to play a piece - as also mentioned - is a quite different issue. For that, you do need to put the notation away as soon as possible, and do it by ear (and muscle memory). But the purpose of sight-reading skill - reading a new piece at or near performance speed - is different. It's for people like session musicians, or any time you might get presented with a piece to play that you've never seen before, and need to deliver it at very short notice.
    For just learning to play something - to add to your own repertoire, eventually to play it without sheet music - only accurate reading is required, not fast reading (although obviously the faster you can do it, the less time it ought to take).

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by JonR
    Just to add that, as a teacher, I start kids off (age 8) with notation, no tab, and they have no problem with it.
    I also started with notation myself - learned it in school before I picked up a guitar - and never found it difficult. And naturally it means one can learn to play music from any printed source, whatever it's written for, so is great for teaching oneself.

    Of course, sight-reading - as mentioned above - is a whole other skill; or rather a highly advanced level above basic reading skills. You just have to keep looking at new music you've not seen before.

    The point about learning to play a piece - as also mentioned - is a quite different issue. For that, you do need to put the notation away as soon as possible, and do it by ear (and muscle memory). But the purpose of sight-reading skill - reading a new piece at or near performance speed - is different. It's for people like session musicians, or any time you might get presented with a piece to play that you've never seen before, and need to deliver it at very short notice.
    For just learning to play something - to add to your own repertoire, eventually to play it without sheet music - only accurate reading is required, not fast reading (although obviously the faster you can do it, the less time it ought to take).
    I agree! Sight reading is different, but essentially, just reading so fast that you can play at the same time.

    I would of course like to hone my musical abilities to the point where I no longer have to spend as much time with new material and can instantly recognize a lot of what's going on. Sometimes my brain just freezes and something obvious takes a while to manifest.

    I've only been playing jazz for six years and there were periods, like my military service, when I hardly played at all so I believe that with my newfound passion for practicing I'll be able to reach new levels as a musician. I have seen improvement in my playing for the first time in years, and boy it's inspiring!

    I tend to be the kind of person that starts a lot new things, but doesn't quite finish anything and my interests are all over the place. I find way too many things fascinating and worth participating in to have enough time to dedicate myself entirely to something. I've been playing guitar for ten years (longer than I've done anything else really, I'm 22) and I only feel more and more passionate about it so that's a positive thing.

  24. #23

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    I would like to add to the great responses that have been given,that i always believed that half the battle with sight reading was to learn to recognize rhythms,just as there are common chord progressions that crop up a lot there are also lots of common rhythms that keep cropping up.If you are finding it difficult to sight read all the info at once,try just sight reading the rhythm alone before adding notes.I was taught this many years ago by a player who is now a very well Known player,i would love to name drop here but he does not wish to be known as a teacher so i will sadly have to leave his name out of this post.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by ECHOPLEX
    I would like to add to the great responses that have been given,that i always believed that half the battle with sight reading was to learn to recognize rhythms,just as there are common chord progressions that crop up a lot there are also lots of common rhythms that keep cropping up.If you are finding it difficult to sight read all the info at once,try just sight reading the rhythm alone before adding notes.I was taught this many years ago by a player who is now a very well Known player,i would love to name drop here but he does not wish to be known as a teacher so i will sadly have to leave his name out of this post.
    Melodic Rhythms for Guitar is an excellent book. It breaks down all the different permutations of rhythms you will find in a bar and pairs them with cute little jazzy melodies. It's a Berklee book and I would strongly suggest this to anyone wanting to hone their reading skills. Play them in the octave written and also up the octave.
    I played a gig last night with a band I hadn't worked with before. Tenor and Trumpet and me on guitar playing what would usually be the alto or bari part (transposed for guitar of course.) At the end of the night everyone was saying how amazed they were that I could read all that and swing the lines like a horn player. The interesting thing is that if I was a horn player they wouldn't have said anything. People have such low expectations of our collective reading skills that if you do have decent reading chops you can make a great impression on your peers. (And you get to play some more interesting and challenging books.)

  26. #25

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    I could not agree more with setemup,when i started out many years ago as a session musician there was so much demand that anyone with half decent chops could find work.Those days are sadly long gone for many different reasons not least of course being that computers can now do a lot of the work that only a skilled player could do years ago.So if you do want to work as a hired musician you really do have to be at the top of your game.Smash the machines.