Most humiliating practice session (attempt) ever.

ATrumpetBrony

I tried to practice today- I really did. I wasn't going for range, and I do SO much technique that i thought it might be good to "work on some sight-reading".

Unfortunately I cannot sightread, nor read, Bb to save the entire world or the things in it. It was seriously so disheartening that I just gave up for the day.
I just can't understand nor visualize how it could be possible to be THIS bad. Even taking the metronome down, tapping my foot, I can barely play simple stuff. It's unbelievable. On top of that, my sound is awful when sight-reading, note-relationship accuracy is absolutely horrendous, and for the moment I just CANNOT sight read at all.

PLEASE, guys, I really need some tips to get my note-reading up to at least a respectable level. A LOT of time is wasted in my lesson because I struggle and make mistakes when reading through tunes. I can sightread quite well in bass clef on trombone, but I struggle to play rhythms correctly and am VERY bad with note-recognition in Bb for some reason.

Hope there's help out there! It's really bothersome that this *core* ability isn't there when I've made SO much progress in ALL other areas.
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snichols · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:53 am Post subject:

You may not like this answer, but slow it down more than you are. Not, 20 or 30 bpm slower, but like, 1/4 time or slower. Don't rush it and go as slowly as you need to to sound good and feel comfortable with note accuracy. Is it boring? Yes. But that's what we all do. Even as an advanced player, when I'm learning technical licks for pieces where the tempo marking is 150 or 160 bpm, I'm slowing it down to 50 or 60 bpm. Yes, it's more fun to play things at tempo, but you need to give your brain a chance to learn it correctly. Even if it means slowing it down so much that your metronome is beating the 8th note instead of the quarter note.

oxleyk · Heavyweight Member Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 4180

chuck in ny · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:04 am Post subject:

some people are great speakers and on some very high level- that doesn't mean the rest of us should shut up because we all need to speak.
you start with the horn with what you can do. you should have some simple warm up where you can make the lower registers sound good. that's a start. if you are having trouble with simple things, take simple melodies, yankee doodle and such, and play and sightread them. when you've memorized them play them on a keyboard or keyboard app and then play them on trumpet with sheet music. learn both the keyboard position, the keyboard transposition, that is, the key of C starts on Bb for trumpet, and the sheet music. if you stay simple you will be able to build on that.
take some heart. you have to be able to do something on the instrument. and don't cry about lacks as we all have them. work on patching up your holes.

Richard III · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:11 am Post subject:

razeontherock · Last edited by razeontherock on Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

Larry Smithee · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Nov 2001 Posts: 4399

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New.Vintage · Regular Member Joined: 11 Mar 2017 Posts: 35

If you don't have a good internal sense of time, get a metronome....

Then just read. Anything and everything you can get your hands on. There are tons of free downloads of etude books, jazz etude books, and method books.

You just have to do it more and more. There is no trick. There ARE however only so many patterns, and note variations, and the more popular combinations are used over and over and over, and the more you get them under your belt the easier reading will be.

Start easier, and work your way up. When I read a new tune, I read from edge to edge with out stopping the first time. The go back and make corrections or go over hard parts. But I try and go non stop the first run through, good bad or ugly.

dstdenis · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:39 pm Post subject:

I don't know whether you've read that book, Inner Tennis... if not, you should. Right now, you're letting your inner voice, what the book called "Self 2", the inner nag who criticizes your every little fault, dominate your thinking.

The author of the book explains how he discovered that tennis students who let Self 2, the nag, take over their thinking didn't do very well in learning to play tennis. We learn much better when we get Self 2 to calm down and be quiet while we let Self 1, the learner, go about his business. Let Self 1 observe and visualize what you're trying to do, make an attempt, calmly observe the faults and shortcomings, and then try again with corrections. Stay calm, observe, and learn.

This is how children learn to crawl, walk, talk, play games and everything else. They usually don't nag themselves while learning. They observe, try, fall down maybe, but then get back up and try again. It works much better this way.

Try sight reading some really easy tunes, maybe something out of a beginner book. Sing it a few times. Try to play it really slow. Observe your mistakes, then try again, with corrections. Don't talk to yourself or nag yourself, at all. Just think about what the music will sound like when you play it well. Stay calm and enjoy the music.
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bach_again · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:45 pm Post subject:

What is your teacher's advice?

Don't get in a fuss. Set a goal - in 6 months aim to be noticeably better. Now work on it. Play and read well known melodies as well as things you don't know. The Franz book is pretty easy and may be a good start.

Clap, sing, play, repeat. Go slowly. Use a metronome. Do this every time you practice, do this a lot and you will get better. Oh, and ask your teacher.

Mike
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Lionel · Heavyweight Member Joined: 25 Jul 2016 Posts: 783

I've almost never practiced sight reading. Instead just threw myself in with bands which practiced 5 days/week.

The pressure of a live rehearsal and esp a live audience will always tighten you up the faster. When you trumpet playing goes pro you'd be surprised at how rapidly you improve. Improvement is weakness leaving the body.
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Billy B · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:01 pm Post subject:

http://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28030
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cheiden · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:15 pm Post subject:

First I'd establish a foundation by playing something like the Clarke Technical Studies. When you do, don't get complacent when you figure out the pattern. Instead, make yourself glare at the notes and play them at a tempo that allows you to follow with your eyes as you play.

I'm also a big fan of working on sightreading off the horn. You can't sightread for hours on a brass instrument so instead do it on a piano.
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ATrumpetBrony · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:48 pm Post subject:

WOW - lots of replies here in a short time! Seems like there's a good number of unanimous tips that I can take away from this. Wish I could address each individual comment… I will for those that I wanna reply to

[quote="snichols”]
You may not like this answer, but slow it down more than you are. [/quote]

In honesty, I think this is where I’ve been going wrong! Gotta take it slower.

Brad361 · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 2:09 pm Post subject:

Students I work with who have a difficult time with getting a correct pitch (for example, hitting a fourth line D when trying for fifth line F) are often the same ones who simply don't put in the time on their horns, ie, they don't yet "know" their instrument. Sounds like you're not in that category, but maybe more ear training might help? If reading rhythms is not especially problematic until you try to combine rhythm and pitch, would more ear training (singing, learning what intervals sound like, using a keyboard, etc.) be beneficial? If we're going for a pitch, our odds of hitting it correctly are increased if we can "hear" the note BEFORE going for it, and for most of us knowing intervals can do that.

Brad
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ErikE · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:03 pm Post subject:

I would suggest transcribing a song you're familiar with into the treble clef. As you are writing it out by hand, you'll be singing the pitch (at least internally) and building an association with the note you are making on the page.

This has helped me as I'm working to add some proficiency with alto and tenor clefs. Pick a key and write out Ode to Joy or some such. Have fun!
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MusicByThePound · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:11 pm Post subject:

Hey Brony,

Two things that worked for me- maybe they will work for you.

When sight reading, getting the rhythms correct is more important than playing the right notes. If you can recognize and play the rhythms the first time, you can get the notes and fingerings you missed easy on the second time through.

Get yourself a beginning level drum book like they use for 4th graders. Practice with your hands and learn how drummers use syllables to sub-divide beats. 1+2+3+4+. 1-e-an-da, 2-e-an-da. The first 2-3 pages will give you most the tools to read and decipher almost any rhythm. Mastering a few of the simpler concepts will give big results.

#2 is to find a duet buddy. Someone who plays any Bb instrument and sight reads better than you like a really good trumpet player, clarinet or soprano sax player who is used to playing lots of notes. Duets are everywhere, Arbans, St. Jacomb, Amsdens (my personal favorite), Jazz for Juniors, even MusicMinusOne if you can't find anyone. The secret to this is finding someone who can kick your butt and to have fun.