Yes I did do that course and it helped me tremendously. But being somewhat technically challenged wasn’t sure how to find it.
I’ll need to get back in there, thanks Kristen!
2 Likes
Oh, it’s super easy! Just follow these steps:
-
Click on Lessons in the the upper right corner
-
Click on Lessons once again to pull down menu, and select My Lessons
-
Click on Course Extras
-
On the Course Extras screen you’ll need to scroll down some
-
Click on the link to get to all the songs
Good Luck, Phol5587! 
6 Likes
Really great illustration of how and where to find the 50 songs, @kristine!
@JoshFossgreen, can you please pin this post somewhere prominently so everyone can easily access it?
4 Likes
Wow, this is pretty Sweet!! Kind of like Christmas in July!!! Thanks again!!
Phil
3 Likes
There’s not an easy way to pin posts on the forum without creating clutter, so for now I’m just helping people out directly when they can’t find it. A better fix would be a better user interface someday. 
5 Likes
Cool.
1 Like
I am sure that it has some quirks (like the one you point out here) but… I quite like the interface/feeling of this forum!
So if you go ahead and improve in it, please don’t change everything!!
4 Likes
I’m almost done with the course, how long should I expect to practice reading sheet music to be able to see a bar of sheet music only and then play it full speed within seconds? Because right now that would take me like 1-3 minutes to slowly work through all the steps of everything.
Welcome, @hollisjamison.
As with anything you’re learning, sight reading will take time and practice to be fast. You will speed up after a while, but everyone is different. Some will just get quick; others won’t. You just have to keep at it and you’ll get there.
3 Likes
Aside from that, whether or not it is practical is another question. Depending on genre, it can be extremely difficult to find sheet music for bass. Mostly this depends on what you play.
I’ve read music for over 40 years, have been able to sight read at full speed on multiple instruments, and yet I nearly never use this skill on bass. I prefer it when it exists, but the fact is that the amount of available sheet music for bass falls off very rapidly outside of very mainstream genres, and even for the mainstream ones, it is dwarfed by tablature.
For most non-professional bass players I would not regard it as a practical or critical skill in itself.
However - if you cannot read sheet music prior to the bass - I really strongly recommend learning it now. It is an extremely useful skill that will pay dividends in general over time; just not necessarily in a practical day-to-day way with bass.
4 Likes
It depends on the piece, not that long for playing through slower stuff with one or two flats/sharps and considerably longer for fast stuff and many sharps/flats.
Some stuff is always difficult to me…key changes, lots of accidentals, repeating sections, less predictable runs of notes that you might see in something like jazz. Not only do you have to know what to play but where. I find it significantly easier on other instruments where you have fewer/no options.
On bass I might be able to sight read something fairly well but I’ll have to spend more time to optimize fingerings and where on the fretboard I want to play it.
Coming from a guitar background as a kid, I hated it. Lessons were all notation. No tabs back in the day. Sheet music for sale on the shelves of every Music Shop or figure it out by listening.
However, now, I am glad I learned it. Makes it all the easier to understand. Still, doesnt make it easier to play the darn song with loosey goosey fingers and such.
I am going thru Marks Sight Reading courses as a refresher. The knowledge in lessons I breeze thru, the actual playing is what slows me down, lol
My kids have mandatory keyboard at school. All notation. No tab whatsoever. They read all my Bass printouts and apply it the keyboard.
1 Like
The only problem with sheet music for guitar is that chords look kind of silly compared with lead sheets + strumming patterns. And also sometimes you want the desired fingerings for guitar.
1 Like
I use Sight Reading Factory as part of my daily practice. I am classically trained at an advanced level on a different instrument and know the immense, long-term value of daily sight reading practice.
Sight Reading Factory uses AI to generate an endless source of sight-reading material. Surprisingly musical pieces for computer generated music. You can customize the reading material to accommodate your current abilities, so you are never presented with a challenge that is beyond what you can handle, and you can always set up the parameters to stretch yourself. Subscription is ~$35 USD per year ($3 USD per month), quite reasonable.
5 Likes
Thanks for that nickeled! I’ll never be an advanced musician such as yourself, but it’s just something about the challenge. I’m not very good at it, does that course take people who are at a entry level?
Yes, it’s for all levels. It’s not a course, per se, but a web application for generating and practicing sight-reading material. You can use the preset grades to set the level. The custom button customize exactly what parameters the AI uses to create the sight-reading pieces such as key, meter, types of notes and rests, and note range (perfect for absolute beginners who know just a few notes at first).
Thanks for the link to Sight Reading Factory. Looks very interesting.
1 Like
Very good, that gives this B2B graduate a fighting chance! Thanks again!!!
And this makes learning an instrument doubly challenging if you’re being told to learn how to sight read music. Imagine learning how to play a new sport and being told you need to also learn a new language at the same time. It ups both the workload and frustration factors.
1 Like