Thoughts On Sight Reading

    Today, while practicing sight reading on guitar from songs from The Real Book, I had a moment of realization. The realization was based on trying approach the melody for Gershwin's "Summertime" in different playing positions. Playing positions are where we put our hands in relation to the frets up and down the guitar neck. For example: first position is where our first finger easily plays the lowest notes on the first fret, fifth is where the finger plays in relation to the fifth fret; 12th position is where the first finger plays its lowest note on the 12th fret, etc. There are also instances where the positions can be hybridized via stretches or slides, so deviations and different combinations or subsets may occur. 

    Regardless, sometimes I like to take melody from a jazz standard and try to play it in open or first position. Then I see how it would be played in successive positions up the neck. I did just this today with the aforementioned Gershwin tune. It is a really helpful practice to help advance sight reading acumen, but also to help open up the varied patterns of the fretboard/neck. It's a pretty standard way to approach sight reading practice. I believe I first head of it from a GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles) book that I have. Or perhaps from a book that I acquired from Carol Kaye via mail order. Beautifully old school right? 

    Anyway, in doing this today, the insight dawned upon me that each different position provided subtly unique technique and timbrel options. The way that the patterns of the notes of melody lined up made me approach things differently, and the strings that they were on, while often the same register of note, had slightly different tone colors. A wound string note versus a plain string note were subtly but noticeably different, or likewise for an open string note versus a fretted note.  

    Essentially, this reinforced my belief that sight reading should be practiced this way not just to develop a proficiency in the neck and the varying patterns but because it will offer different "moods" and inferences because of the relationship of how the position and the technique can be executed. Some notes in one position might be played cleanly with little to no bending, sliding or legato; others might be the opposite.

    Moreover there often seems to be some positions, depending on the melody, that work best.  It is only through exploring the positions this way that it can really be obvious. 

    Guitarists who are trying to sharpen their sight-reading or improvisation chops will gain a lot by exploring this concept. 

        


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