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Hi guys, this is my first post in the new forums. I'm seeking advice to learn to sight read the best I possibly can. So, what were/still are your methods on this subject? Books? Charts? I'm applying this year to a college where I really need those kind of skills, and I was wondering if you can help!

Thanks in advance!

Reading and transcribing as much as you can, there's just no shortcut. Some things that did help me, though:
- Piano playing
- Always read at least one bar in advance of what you're playing
- "Singing" and counting everything you ever study on drums

There are some nice books that might be helpful with strengthening your skills at first, like Phil Maturano's Inner Clock or Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials (the books).

BrOliveira wrote:Hi guys, this is my first post in the new forums. I'm seeking advice to learn to sight read the best I possibly can. So, what were/still are your methods on this subject? Books? Charts? I'm applying this year to a college where I really need those kind of skills, and I was wondering if you can help!

Thanks in advance!

Hook up with a community college instructor and work on drum chart interpretation. Buy every book you can afford, stack them up, and do a page from each and go down he pile.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VzPDWt0V52kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Louis+Bellson%22&hl=en&ei=3fgYTdelCMqahQeanpi3Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Clap through the exercises away from your instrument. Practice 'straight', with a swing-feel and in cut common as well as 4/4.

Immediately recognising a rhythm means one less thing to think about (frees you up to concentrate on what parts of the kit you're supposed to be hitting). An amazing tool for learning to sight read - when I studied (many years ago) everyone, regardless of what instrument they played, had to work from this text book.

BrOliveira wrote:Hi guys, this is my first post in the new forums. I'm seeking advice to learn to sight read the best I possibly can. So, what were/still are your methods on this subject? Books? Charts? I'm applying this year to a college where I really need those kind of skills, and I was wondering if you can help!

Thanks in advance!

There are 2 kinds of sight reading for a drummer: (1) reading drum etudes literally, verbatim, and (2) interpreting drum charts. You have to be able to sight read rhythm in order to do either, but, one doesn't really train you to do the other.

If you can't read rhythm at all, get a teacher to go through "Modern Reading Text in 4/4" by Bellson and Breines. The money you pay for half a dozen lessons is well worth it, rather than taking the amount of time it will take, and risking misunderstanding what you're looking at, by doing on your own.

As for sight reading etudes, etude books generally come in ratings of difficulty. The best practice is to just play a book of etudes that is just beyond your current ability, and ALWAYS WITH A METRONOME. The metronome makes a huge difference.

As for drum chart reading, the best, easiest and most efficient method book I've ever seen is: "Chart Reading Workbook for Drummers," by Bobby Gabriele. At first glance it looks elementary. It's not. If you go through the book from the beginning, read and undersand the drummer's role I setting up section figures and ensemble figures, memorize the "set-ups,"given in the book, and continue going through all of the charts over and over until you start to get creative with your chart interpretations and set-ups, within a few months of daily practice, you'll be a better chart reader than 99% of the working drummers out there. JMHO, of course. It comes with about 15 charts (including some in 3/4), and a play along CD. DO IT!

Step 1: Grab a chart -- horn, piano, guitar, whatever
Step 2: Sing the parts
Step 3: Play time while singing the parts

Rinse. Repeat.

For standards, it wouldn't hurt it at all to play along and learn how the greats interpreted them.

I learned to read rhythm with these books and still use them for my students. Step by step and comprehensive:
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Logical-Approach-to-Rhythmic-Notation-Vol-1/415845

For bulk drum chart reading there's the Joel Rothman book with ~400 pages of all kinds of charts:
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/The-Compleat-Show-Drummer/8259467

I also like this one. All the common 1-bar and 2-bar figures are there. Played straight or swug:
http://www.amazon.com/Bays-Stage-Band-Drummers-Guide/dp/B0039X25J4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293496369&sr=1-1-fkmr0

The Steve Houghton Reading Anthology is great and has playalongs:
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Drumset-Reading-Anthology-Book/dp/0739016121/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293496525&sr=1-1

All good stuff!

Only thing I would ad, that helped me when learning to sight read is have someone use a piece of paper or what not and cover up a bar, or 2 bars, up to an entire line at a time. This forces you to read ahead, once you get used to that you're pretty gold.

LOTS of swing charts... lots of em...

I'm guessing that since you're asking about sight reading you already have some basic reading skills.

That being said, sight reading comes with practice, just like anything else. Put yourself in a situation where you're going to be forced to sight read WHILE playing with people. Community College big bands/ community theater would be a good place to start.

For chart reading in general, I agree with getting some lead sheets of standards and playing along to the recordings, and I'd also suggest Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials book, which makes for great practice.

Gaddabout wrote:Step 1: Grab a chart -- horn, piano, guitar, whatever
Step 2: Sing the parts
Step 3: Play time while singing the parts

Rinse. Repeat.

For standards, it wouldn't hurt it at all to play along and learn how the greats interpreted them.

for playing jazz stuff this is a great idea. just a get a fake book. youll notice after a while there are only a couple key rhythmic figures you need to look out for.