Book Recommendation #2

Ok, the second book I’ve been delving into during lockdown is Louis Bellson’s Modern Reading Text In 4/4.
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This is a book that has sat on my shelf for years, and to my shame, never been opened! I’ve always thought of myself as a half-decent sight-reader, and never bothered to see what this book had to offer. But sight reading is a skill you seem to quickly lose when you aren’t doing it regularly, so at the start of lockdown, I began to dedicate 10 mins a morning to pushing my reading chops.
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In the 10 minutes, I’ll randomly pick a page and just start reading whatever is infront of me, at a tempo that is slightly faster than feels comfortable. I rarely go back over any mistakes, and try to treat it like I was reading on a gig. So this way, I’m more bothered about keeping my place in the chart and not falling behind, than figuring out where I messed up. I’ve really noticed a difference and it definitely helps switch my brain on first thing in the morning.
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Some of the rhythms in the book are written in a way that is purposely designed to catch you out, and these are ideal practice for those inevitable rehearsals where someone who can’t write coherent rhythms and prefers to just smash buttons on Sibelius, hands you a chart and expects you to make sense of it!!
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I’ll post some clips on my social media through the week, so head over to my facebook or instagram to check out some examples.
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Worth noting, this book isn’t just for drummers…