Best way to sight read for Jazz

**DonEsteban** · 07-15-2022, 06:24 AM

Check out this incredible jam with Chuck Loeb and Jeff Lorber. Bass player gets lost at the end of his solo (around 3:40) gets saved by the others.....

**rpjazzguitar** · 07-15-2022, 01:13 PM

One important lesson I got was playing in a student situation years ago where a bandmate got lost.

The teacher yelled at me. "Help him!".

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 07-15-2022, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by DonEsteban

I'm confused. Is this about sight reading (playing a musical part from musical notation) or about not getting lost in a solo reading chord symbols?

I think it’s about both. The OP asks how to practice soloing while sight reading a chart you’ve never seen before.

Originally Posted by BostonMike

So I just had a bad experience at a jam the other day where someone gave me an unfamiliar chart and counted off 1234 and I got lost in the chart during my solo. This has happened with a several times at these things and I always feel like crap when it does. I study with a really great Jazz guitarist and he gives me the lessons in notation only so I can read well enough to learn charts and solos properly but I sometimes choke with the pressure of a band. Any tips for practicing with the "pressure"?