Sight Reading

>Hi Andrew,
>
>I'm an electric bassist wanting to improve my sight reading skills. I'm
>currently using a trombone book that was transcribed from vocal
>exercises. I can't remember the name of the book but the author is
>Johannes Rochet (in case you know the book).
>
>Can you recommend any other sight reading material in bass clef?
>
>Also, I'm beginning to teach my 15-year old son to play bass. Is your
>book Mode Shapes for Bass a book for beginners or will that be too
>advanced to start?
>
>Thanks for any info you can provide.
>
>D.

Hi D.,
I am not familiar with the Rochet, but another book transcribed from vocal
exercises is called _Rhythmical Articulation_ by Pasquale Bona. You can get a
bass clef edition. It really gets into some complex territory!
For more material in bass clef, I would recommend _String Bass Etudes_ by
Simandl. This will be a lot simpler than the Bona; probably better for actual
sight reading. The harder Bona selections require practice but improve your
reading through practicing the unusual rhythms.
I know quite a few people who have taken a book by Louis Bellson and Gil Breines
called _Modern Reading in 4/4_ and used it for their chosen instrument. It was
written as a drum book, but you could apply scales, apeggios or whatever you
wanted to the written rhythms.
Cello literature might be a good source for reading, too. Just make sure it's
bass clef literature. Some cello music is written in tenor clef.
And of course string bass music in general will always work.
As to your question about my book, I don't consider it a beginning book. My
book assumes at least partial knowledge of the fingerboard and an already
somewhat developed technique. I think most of the beginning bass books I've
seen are equally good. The information is the same in all of them; the
presentation varies some but in most cases not in a huge way.
Hope this helps,
Andy

andrewpfaff.com