Best and fastest way to learn how to read music(?)

[drumpal]

Hey guys,

I've been playing drums for years, but don't know how to read music. What are your recommendations for learning to read music? I'd like to be able to read charts to do beat-oriented gigs (rock, country, gospel, etc.). Nothing too technical yet. Just to be able to play through songs (vocal music) I don't know or have never heard. I think it would help my employability. Are there any good videos or courses by drummers or for drummers that teach how to read for that kind of thing?

Thanks very much for any help.

[Paul Marangoni]

Ted Reed - "Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer"
Louis Bellson - "Odd Time Reading Text: For All Instruments : Rhythmic Studies Designed to Develop Accuracy and Speed in Sight Reading As Applied to Odd Time Signatures"
Louis Bellson - "Modern Reading Text in 4/4 For All Instruments"

[Gaddabout]

Hey guys,

I've been playing drums for years, but don't know how to read music. What are your recommendations for learning to read music? I'd like to be able to read charts to do beat-oriented gigs (rock, country, gospel, etc.). Nothing too technical yet. Just to be able to play through songs (vocal music) I don't know or have never heard. I think it would help my employability. Are there any good videos or courses by drummers or for drummers that teach how to read for that kind of thing?

Thanks very much for any help.

That's a big question, because there's all kinds of forms of music to read:

- Drum notation, which is almost totally isolated to drummers and the late Frank Zappa.

- Traditional treble/bass clef which is widely used by keyboardists and composers

- Nashville Notation, which, in its various forms, is what you'll often see in a studio. It's basically just applied basic music theory, no rhythmic components (but helpful for a drummer to understand).

I'm guessing you're asking about the second form, which would be the most useful when discussing with other musicians. My suggestion is to go get a primer piano book, sit down in front of a keyboard and work it out. The more you do, the more you'll understand what's going on.

[littlegrooves]

I don't know about anyone else, but even after doing a year+ of theory, I can't have a sheet of harmonic stuff thrown down in front of me and have it made sense enough for me to have it be useful on first glance (I'm also a pure drummer, meaning I have no proficiency at any other instrument besides mandatory piano dinking around for theory classes). That being said, if I had a couple hours, a pencil, and a copy of the tunes I could listen to, then I could mark it up and have it make sense. In general, I would pay more attention to the rhythmic stuff than anything else, perhaps cue in on some chords that indicate changes (by circling them, etc.), and basically mark it up with any other useful stuff.

I am nowhere near as good of a reader of drum music as others on here, but I have done it quite a bit; the one thing that I can say is that one of the perhaps hardest things that you would come up against if you are new to reading anything is simply keeping track of where you are in the music, which is why I still mark the heck out of my music whenever I have to read-- it is like a nice little safety net. Sometimes I'll have to take my eyes off of the sheet for a number of reasons and lo and behold, I have a moment of "crap, where am I?" hit me, so making the music 'your own' by writing in notes really helped me, especially when I was picking it up and trying it on live gigs-- I had road maps, marked up sheets, all over... just in case!

In general, I would think that a command of reading rhythms would be important, especially since you are a drummer and if you should know anything, I would say start with that. As far as I am concerned, hitting the wrong thing at the right time is better than hitting the right thing at the wrong time-- i.e. get the rhythms right and work on perfectly orchestrating the actual notes on the drums later.

A book that I would start out with is the Encyclopedia of Reading Rhythms by Gary Hess. It has all the basics and is simply written on one line (i.e. snare). Pick it up and set your metronome to 40 bpm and plug away nice and slow. Furthermore, I would second the books that everyone else has mentioned. I am kind of a instructional drum book whore, and I have way more books that I could ever get through; however, I like just picking up ones that are focused on playing certain styles and working through those-- i.e. not ones that are focused on independence, speed, etc., but have musical pieces of drum music written out. This way, you are see the notes, play them, and hear an actual musical phrase come out of them-- this helps connect the dots.

I would even suggest picking up some big band instructional books-- not that there is a thriving big band scene that you need to capitalize on, but big band drumming charts have two things that I find to be very helpful: 1.) you are forced to essentially interpret figures that are or have been derived from other instruments, and you then have to figure out how to orchestrate those figures on the drums, how to set them up, etc. It's an art knowing when to do what where and it makes you think of figures and orchestration ; and 2.) reading big band charts really helps you keep track of where you are in a piece of music, because you might have quite a few measures of "playing time" which means you have to keep yourself focused and on the page so you are in the right place when it is time to jump back into kicks, etc. One book that I don't have, but looks interesting is Big Band Drumming at First Sight by Steve Fidyk. Steve Houghton has some good books to check out too, if you want to get into charts, etc.

In general, I'd just pick up as music/drum music as possible, whether it be free online or having to buy actual books-- books with actual parts that are grooves are better, IMO, as you have to read those parts and make them feel good as opposed to just playing some independence exercise. That being said, no one ever sat me down and taught me how to read-- I just picked it up by asking people questions who knew how to read, questions about it figures, note values, chords, etc. I later went and did some schooling to fill in the gaps. That being said, I used to read tons of drumming exercise books and it eventually all soaked in, I guess. I also did little Jazz Combos where they used to hand out lead sheets, and I would have to fake my way through them until I knew the tunes well enough to get off-book. However, I music admit that even when I am reading a drum part that is written out, I fudge it. If I am playing in a setting where what is written is absolutely necessary and needs to be played, I keep it note-for-note. However, If I am doing a show (i.e. a musical), then usually the person who wrote the drum part is not a drummer and has generally written out what I would say is an idea of a part, but doesn't have the drummer-mind to really make it sweet. In those situations, I try to understand what they are getting at and blend it so that I am reading/playing the groove, but not every single note. What I am trying to say is that even when you get great at reading, in many situations it may be more about interpreting the ideas that are on the page, as opposed to mechanically plugging through it, trying for 100% accuracy-- we're not robots, and frankly, I think a person's time could be better spent on something else if they are doing that!

Therefore, I say in summary, it's a long process that involves just starting picking up stuff, doing and doing it and doing it. Starting with easy stuff and working your way up (duh), but just getting used to looking at it. It will sink in through osmosis

That being said, no one is perfect and it is a skill that takes constant improvement and work-- it also is one that gets rusty (Steve Gadd talks about that a lot)-- I say that it is not like riding a bike, as it is more like riding a unicycle-- you never really forget, but you need time to get back up to speed. If I haven't read for a while, my reading chops get horrid and I end up having to tap some embarrassingly simple stuff out to get my head back in the game when I pick up a page for the first time in a while.

Last but not least, here is Branford talking about how he considers playing 90% of the notes, a good night playing from the sheet, skip to 1:00:

[janne jansson]

Call a drumteacher and just focus on reading.
I have been teaching 30 years and had no one that don`t get it..
It´s not that hard..
2-4 lessons and you are on your way...
Best of luck!

[Odd-Arne Oseberg]

Do you read rhythms?

All you need is a progressive rhythm reading book. There are a bunch of exercises that can be done do learn things properly and deeply. Most musicians seem to skip on the basics of reading and go forward too fast without truly understanding. This is a problem when doing New Breed/Syncopation stuff as well. To be truly useful one needs the right mindset, focus and musical understanding.

The Petrillo DVD is good, but is just sort of an introduction to reading. To really work on stuff, you need a longer piece with variation.

For chart reading there are a bunch of books out for drummers. There's also a bunch of big band play-a-longs out there. Just pick one on the styles you'd like to work on. The Gordon Goodwin one is a lot of fun. I also enjoy one called "Sittin' in with the Big band". Drum charts are usually minimalistic and like any other situation, as long as you understand the basic style, there are many ways to do things. Counting and keeping track while keeping a good feel is the real challenge, but won't be if worked on properly.

[bstocky]

Get a teacher. It doesn't even have to be a drummer but taking lessons from your local drum god is always a smart move. It won't take you long to figure out the fundamentals which is what you would see on 90% of gigs/books.

[Jim Richman]

Teacher +1 Also, when you get thru whatever snare book stuff, chart interpretation is next. Work on big band charts to get your skills on set up fills, accents.

[Tombo 7/4]

With a teacher I would start with a basic reading text like Phil Perkins "Logical approach to rythmic notation" and a metronome. This book has all the note values, ties, syncopations.
There are not many rhymitic figures used in popular music. With one teacher I worked on a sheet which had all the comon rhytmic cells.
With another teacher we worked through John Pickering's Stage band drummers' guide. It's also based on common figures. For each figure It shows you where it could be placed within a bar and setup example. You can play it straight or swung. Next is to have a book with pop/jazz charts like Steve Houghton's Reading Anthology and Weckl's Ultimate play-alongs Level 1; to get familiar with 4-8-16-32 bar phrases, repeat signs, DS, Coda,...
After that, you'll be able to read whatever is thrown at you: lead sheet, drums chart, lead trumpet part, crappy hand written pseudo maps,...

[Riddim]

Along with all of the above, start transcribing. I'd pick a tune you might play on a gig, something simple. First lay out the form, then pencil in the main groove(s), and key events.

Writing is a good way to improve your reading, because as you write a given word or figure, it becomes part of your vocabulary and thus more easily recognized. You'll also gain more appreciation for clarity and conciseness.