Stickist.com :: View topic - Reading in "real time" on the Stick

piratebruce wrote:

Arrghhh, you guys!

I feel like a complete luddite, but I can really see the value in it, if I could just get the time.
Though there was a time I could read simple classical guitar pieces, which I really enjoyed as a skill and ability.
I'll add this to my growing list of STICK stuff to do. :shock:

The_Afro_Circus wrote:

I spent a looot of time reading out of this book for my first few years of Stick playing.

Brett Bottomley wrote:

I read music on the stick everyday. One staff at a time only, but both sides. For my job it's a necessity. With that said 40 years of active intensive reading every day (on various instruments), I am still a poor music reader.

I look forward to never reading music again

Ahhh retirement

Brett

Jayesskerr wrote:

lol I often wonder if a teacher's role is not so much to guide the student towards new material, and constant evolution, but rather to hold the person in question back, restrain them thereby FORCING them to really, really learn the basics. lol I mean basic basics

OK, back to practice. Gonna go through a chart I made of Nirvana's "Come As You Are" Inspired by Mr Stephen Sink...

paigan0 wrote:

Jayesskerr wrote:

OK, back to practice. Gonna go through a chart I made of Nirvana's "Come As You Are" Inspired by Mr Stephen Sink...

I saw my favorite new Russian Stickist playing that Nirvana song, and I thought "This is something Scott would love!" but I couldn't tag you on Facebook at work. But you saw it anyway! (and I just used my cellphone to post it on your page.) That's awesome.

I think he's got his Stick tuned in straight fourths all the way across, as well, by the way. There's no "melody side" or "bass side" and his fat strings are at the bottom like my bass 4ths-tuned NS/Stick.
I think I might want to tune one of my Sticks like that. What would that be called?

Gusset wrote:

Hey Scott,

I don't ever practice reading both sides simultaneously, so color me mucho impressed!!! For the past year I haven't done it very much at all, but I put in a fair amount of work on it for a while before 2016. I'm definitely not good at it, I can only read "real time" on the really simple stuff, and reading chords is still a "plink it out" affair- haven't applied any focus on that. But I've reached the point that tablature seems a bit "non-musical" to me now. I vastly prefer notes on a staff.

I agree- it's a great skill to work on. It's a huge benefit for the reasons you state and more. When I need to learn a written piece, I've reached the point where I can spend time figuring out _how_ I should play a passage (string/finger, managing transitions, etc.) rather than trying to locate notes on the board.

As for what my "workouts" are, I use sightreadingfactory.com for my practice material. You define what you want: instrument, key signature, time signature, clef(s), note range, difficulty, length, etc. Then it runs an algorithm to generate an original composition. The musical content is not bad- sounds musical enough, and occasionally it's even a bit catchy, but the big benefit is that it's always something I've never seen before. $35/year, which is a steal IMO. (Educators can pay more and get discounted linked "student accounts".) I usually use the iPad app, but you can also use it in a browser. They have a demo of some number of days that I don't recall, if anyone wants to give it a whirl.

Great topic!

Author:	Jayesskerr [ Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:51 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
piratebruce wrote: Arrghhh, you guys! I feel like a complete luddite, but I can really see the value in it, if I could just get the time. Though there was a time I could read simple classical guitar pieces, which I really enjoyed as a skill and ability. I'll add this to my growing list of STICK stuff to do. It's interesting because at this point my technical ability on the Stick is only just slightly ahead of my reading ability. In one practice session I can kill many birds with one stone and see progress each time, so it is really exciting to dig in each day. Cool.

Author:	Brett Bottomley [ Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:17 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
I read music on the stick everyday. One staff at a time only, but both sides. For my job it's a necessity. With that said 40 years of active intensive reading every day (on various instruments), I am still a poor music reader. I look forward to never reading music again Ahhh retirement Brett

Author:	Jayesskerr [ Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:29 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
The_Afro_Circus wrote: I spent a looot of time reading out of this book for my first few years of Stick playing. Looks like a good one, I'll get that on order! Thanks, Josh! Brett Bottomley wrote: I read music on the stick everyday. One staff at a time only, but both sides. For my job it's a necessity. With that said 40 years of active intensive reading every day (on various instruments), I am still a poor music reader. I look forward to never reading music again Ahhh retirement Brett I have been reading for quite some time as a guitarist, I'd say I'm pretty proficient on "one clef at a time" stuff! I never read both clefs at the same time, that's a new thing (to me) I have only been doing it for the last few months. It has made me regret that I never really got any good at keyboard/piano. It is paying off already, however. I am very happy with the direction my playing is taking. I think that being a good reader is a worthwhile pursuit (for me) as it really forces me to focus on two (or more) things at once while playing/practicing, and that focused diversion of attention is exactly what I need. Plus, the language of standard notation opens up music from every instrument and a ton of arrangement styles. And, the more I do it, the better I get at it, which means much, much faster assimilation of music. Tangible opportunities for improvement. But that's just me...

Author:	Brett Bottomley [ Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:56 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
Being a good reader is an excellent pursuit!!!

Author:	paigan0 [ Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:12 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
I am absolutely convinced of the utility of learning to sightread or getting better at it. As a self-taught pianist starting out, I resisted learning to read music. Then music school pretty much made that a requirement, but also offered me instruction in getting better at it. I hate to sight read, frankly. It slows me down sooooo much and makes me feel like I'm a child. And that becomes self-reinforcing. I suck at it, so I don't do it, so I suck at it. When I played songflute for a Renaissance orchestra, we sightread stuff all the time, but it was monophonic--one note at a time, much less one clef or even staff at a time, like the 3 clefs staffs I see some people using for Stick. Monophonic lines I can sightread all day long--but I suck at pitch control so singing is not just as easy as reading the notes! But I can read vocal lines easily and all that solfeggio stuff. I like chord charts a lot and I don't mind melodies written out. But I also really struggle with trying to read treble and bass clef both at the same time. And doing more of it would make me better at it, and make me a better player, and make me a better writer. I know all of that intellectually. Yet, it just pains me to crawl sooooo slowly through sheet music. "Know Thy Limitations and Plan Ye Around Them" (Sink's Law #4) would tell me to take some sightreading classes and work on my weak points, because the payoff would help in almost everything I do. Yet I am also lazy at times. I will let the Stickist world know that I have been practicing my scales like a m'f'er, which most people here know that I hate scales and hate practicing them. But I'm seeing so much payoff with the new NS/Stick and I am surprised by how much I don't hate scales when the pattern is the same anywhere on the fretboard and at any strings (with bass 4ths tuning). So far, just blues scales, and major/minor scales, nothing modal and fancy-schmancy yet (which major and minor are modes and once you got them, you got most of the other modes, but you know what I mean. ) Sigh...I want to get better at sightreading. I suspect I'll have to take lessons and make some teacher make me to learn some songs--I just won't do it on my own. I'll do ridiculous things to not disappoint a teacher that I won't do for myself! Another sigh...I seem to have just talked myself into finally taking those lessons that I know I need!

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Reading in "real time" on the Stick https://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=11956	Page 2 of 3

Author:	Jayesskerr [ Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:18 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
lol I often wonder if a teacher's role is not so much to guide the student towards new material, and constant evolution, but rather to hold the person in question back, restrain them thereby FORCING them to really, really learn the basics. lol I mean basic basics OK, back to practice. Gonna go through a chart I made of Nirvana's "Come As You Are" Inspired by Mr Stephen Sink...

Author:	paigan0 [ Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
Jayesskerr wrote: lol I often wonder if a teacher's role is not so much to guide the student towards new material, and constant evolution, but rather to hold the person in question back, restrain them thereby FORCING them to really, really learn the basics. lol I mean basic basics OK, back to practice. Gonna go through a chart I made of Nirvana's "Come As You Are" Inspired by Mr Stephen Sink... I saw my favorite new Russian Stickist playing that Nirvana song, and I thought "This is something Scott would love!" but I couldn't tag you on Facebook at work. But you saw it anyway! (and I just used my cellphone to post it on your page.) That's awesome. I think he's got his Stick tuned in straight fourths all the way across, as well, by the way. There's no "melody side" or "bass side" and his fat strings are at the bottom like my bass 4ths-tuned NS/Stick. I think I might want to tune one of my Sticks like that. What would that be called?

Author:	Jayesskerr [ Fri Feb 17, 2017 11:20 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
paigan0 wrote: Jayesskerr wrote: lol I often wonder if a teacher's role is not so much to guide the student towards new material, and constant evolution, but rather to hold the person in question back, restrain them thereby FORCING them to really, really learn the basics. lol I mean basic basics OK, back to practice. Gonna go through a chart I made of Nirvana's "Come As You Are" Inspired by Mr Stephen Sink... I saw my favorite new Russian Stickist playing that Nirvana song, and I thought "This is something Scott would love!" but I couldn't tag you on Facebook at work. But you saw it anyway! (and I just used my cellphone to post it on your page.) That's awesome. I think he's got his Stick tuned in straight fourths all the way across, as well, by the way. There's no "melody side" or "bass side" and his fat strings are at the bottom like my bass 4ths-tuned NS/Stick. I think I might want to tune one of my Sticks like that. What would that be called? Yes, I did like his version of "Come As You Are" It was cool. Fun to listen to! Not sure what that tuning would be called...? "Giant Bass guitar" tuning perhaps? I really really didn't like my 9 string guitar which I essentially had tuned in 4ths with the pesky maj3... I think that for guitars, 8 string is as low as I care to go...

Author:	mad_monk [ Sat Feb 18, 2017 11:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
Some info on reading: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6020&start=0 Mad Monk.

Author:	Jayesskerr [ Sat Feb 18, 2017 2:30 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Reading in "real time" on the Stick
Gusset wrote: Hey Scott, I don't ever practice reading both sides simultaneously, so color me mucho impressed!!! For the past year I haven't done it very much at all, but I put in a fair amount of work on it for a while before 2016. I'm definitely not good at it, I can only read "real time" on the really simple stuff, and reading chords is still a "plink it out" affair- haven't applied any focus on that. But I've reached the point that tablature seems a bit "non-musical" to me now. I vastly prefer notes on a staff. I agree- it's a great skill to work on. It's a huge benefit for the reasons you state and more. When I need to learn a written piece, I've reached the point where I can spend time figuring out _how_ I should play a passage (string/finger, managing transitions, etc.) rather than trying to locate notes on the board. As for what my "workouts" are, I use sightreadingfactory.com for my practice material. You define what you want: instrument, key signature, time signature, clef(s), note range, difficulty, length, etc. Then it runs an algorithm to generate an original composition. The musical content is not bad- sounds musical enough, and occasionally it's even a bit catchy, but the big benefit is that it's always something I've never seen before. $35/year, which is a steal IMO. (Educators can pay more and get discounted linked "student accounts".) I usually use the iPad app, but you can also use it in a browser. They have a demo of some number of days that I don't recall, if anyone wants to give it a whirl. Great topic! Hey dude, I checked out sightreadingfactory.com, and it's pretty cool! Another resource! The more I do it, the more I want t o get this reading thing leveled up! It's funny, when I first go through a piece, it's brutally slow... but in my mind, perhaps a really accurate representation of my "actual" ability... Fun stuff! And Mad Monk - Thanks for posting that link! Very interesting read. I took the liberty of resurrecting that thread, there's some handy info in there...

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