When Im sight reading now, its a lot easier since I know my chords, standard progressions, and the circle of fourths. So as Im sight reading I can comprehend what Im playing, and anticipate what the next chord is without looking, or with just taking a brief glance at the chord tab above. Usually I dont need to see the whole tab, just the bass'll usually do.
Plus that metronome you were talking about works wonders. I slow it down, on my fantom x I just turn on a rhythm track, and I play it. Then speed it up, and speed it up. I also, when using a metronome, almost always practice it faster than Im supposed to just in case, I get the happy count off and start off too fast in service. That way, even if I do go too fast, atleast I'll be able too play through at that speed.
Another thing I do, and this is with anything especially songs I pick up by ear from a cd or something....
Anything that is worth learning, and can be a good addition to my vocabulary, I make an exercise out of it by looping it, over and over and over, and over again, with a metronome. Then when it comes to live situations, you can just drop it in wherever it fits, and keep it moving. I do this for unusual 2-5s, interesting modulations, turns, tags, tritone movements, and substitutions. Just loop it, and then speed up the metronome. It also helps to do this in all keys. If I dont practice it in all keys, I do it in enough, where I can feel where Im supposed to go, and look at it from different ways; enough to be able to find it at will.
