Last Set of Craft Project Notes

For my last practice session, I combined both the private practice guided by the book, and a social interaction with another musician friend. As I’m getting ready to close my project, it seems like I’ve made it back full circle. My first blog post on this project was titled “Gathering Materials Socially,” which recounted my experiences trying to acquire a bass guitar. Once I acquired my bass guitar, however, I resorted to my own private study of this musical craft. Unaware of what I was supposed to do, I went online to look for ideas. I considered playing the song “Money” by Pink Floyd based on an instructional youtube video, but was discouraged when the person in the video stated that it was a really difficult and odd time signature, not following the standard 4/4. Therefore, I decided to use the book that I was given to learn the basics.

I’ve already learned to play notes on the fourth, third and second string, attempting to unite some of these as the instructions in the book prompted. The last lesson involves learning notes on the first string and a review of all four strings. It’s been established that my end product would be to be able to play the C scale, in which I would need to unite all of the notes that I’ve learned thus far. Armed with confidence from a very productive session last week, I attempted to go over the first string notes hurriedly. I’m not sure if it’s because of the spacing between the second and the fourth fret, but going from playing A with my second finger to playing B with my third, was a little challenging. Still, I went ‘by the book’ and was able to get in the rhythm of the pattern specified. Because of the similarity of the patterns that I played in the previously learned notes, my ear was attuned to the times that I was supposed to strike each string and the shifts of notes that were caused by it.

The Four String Review, however, was not as easy as I thought. Because the notes weren’t going from the lowest to the highest as I was beginning to get used to, I found myself looking at the previous lessons to determine where each note is played. This means that I still have not memorized the location of each note on the page. Nonetheless I played the pattern I was supposed to play. Not giving myself enough time to practice the C scale (in order to have the “final” product) I still went to my friend’s house to record myself playing. Once I was there, he “let me do my thing,” which entailed me going over all of the lessons I had done in a chunk of twenty minutes.

As I was getting ready to record my scale, he came up to the attic. He asked me to play the scale several times and then noticed that one of the strings was out of tune! He picked up the bass, tuned the string, played the scale that I was playing and then played it backwards. “So that’s what it’s supposed to sound like!” I realized out loud. He then prompted me to do it on my own. And prompted me to do it again. Then he said: “let’s try it with a drumbeat,” and went to his drumset and started playing. I didn’t know what I was doing, so I just resorted to playing the notes that I was most comfortable with. The ones that I had practiced the most. In this short, ten-minute, interaction I learned more than I had in the last couple of weeks!

This interaction allowed me to consider the question of the conception of a solitary learner vs. the socially situated skill acquisition process. In my paper, then, I aim to explore how learning this craft has provided me with insights into the process of learning a craft, specifically one that involves music.

I See/Hear/Experience a Pattern Here

As I move on to work with the third string, I engage in the same process that I’ve started with the last few times I’ve practiced, but, as always, it makes me aware of other factors that play into learning this craft.

Functional Adornment

First, I make sure that my nails are not too long, otherwise there’s a weird sound every time I strike a string with my right hand. Also, it is kind of uncomfortable to press my left fingers on top of the appropriate fret position. This reminds me of my mom’s functional nails. When I was a kid, my mom worked as a secretary in a company that was in charge of helping people with different disabilities. Although a lot of the other secretaries at her job had long nails, which they paid for every other week, my mom rarely ever got a manicure. I asked her why, and she indicated that it was just so much easier to type with shorter nails. Not that she would have the time to simply go and get a manicure, with her two other jobs, night school, and my brother and I to take care of. Regardless of my working class background, what is important here is that I’ve learned that functionality is more important than adornment… which is a statement that I’m sure John Ruskin would have agreed with.

After making sure I have “good enough” nails, I go on to review what I have already done the last few times. I challenge myself to look at the pattern that I’m playing and do it as quickly as possible. But I also remember Sennett’s discussion on the Suzuki tapes. So I wonder, can I play this without being visually prompted? Sadly no. Not yet. I am certain, though, that with another six months of practice, I probably will. I also noticed the dates that John, the previous owner, wrote in each of the pages. It seems like we both took two months in the same progression. Maybe John was able to repeat the process more often.

Second String Practice

In spite of the number of times that I’ve repeated each lesson, I’ve been able to notice that the pattern of notes that the book provides for each string lesson is similar. Once again, I am reminded of Ruskin, who mentioned how repetition is necessary in order to improve, as I indicated in my post a couple weeks ago. In the book that I’m using, they seem to have come up with a series of formulas that are making it easier for me to learn each string. As I play the set of notes for the third string, I felt as if I had experienced doing that before. Although this was a new set of notes, the number of times I would play each note, and the sequence in which they were placed was the same as with the last two. I was able to notice this because of the review that I did at the beginning of my practice session. The sounds were still fresh in my mind.

At the end of the lesson, I noticed that the notes that I was playing sounded familiar. Once I finished, I quietly celebrated… I was playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb”! This has made me think about the context of this book, how old it is, and who its intended audience is. There are other songs, like “Careless Love” and “Cielito Lindo” that make me think that they are trying to cater to a wide variety of people, but it was still a humbling moment to find out that I was playing something so elementary.

In this short practice session, I was forced to go back to memories of my childhood in several occasions. This was not something that I had anticipated, but it was definitely welcomed. It was a sort of emotional embodiment of skill. I wonder where playing the C scale will take me.

My fingers hurt… How Risky is This?

This time I spent a lot more time using my left hand than I have previously. Attempting to play both the fourth and the third string in the progression suggested by the book was both challenging and rewarding. It took me a long time to figure out which note was which, as they were laid out differently than the first set of exercises. To speed through a review of the last week’s exercises, I wasn’t paying attention to time counts… 1, 2, 3, 4… It also felt like I was playing punk music. Fast, yet simple. So, even though I’m speeding up because of time constraints (midterms!) I enjoyed doing so.

 

I decided to place the book on top of the amp this time, as opposed to the floor. If I had the time, and the money, I would buy a stand to place the “music sheets,” but I won’t. One reason for this is style, and another one economic. I am also reminded of Sennett’s discussions of the workshop. In this case, my workshop is a tiny corner in my room. I’m sitting on my desk chair, which might not be as comfortable as possible, due to the armrests. My other option is to sit on my bed. I remember that back in high school, I would resort to the latter. The reason why I resorted to the desk space might be because this is work. That is, although the process of learning the bass guitar is a fun endeavor for me, it still counts as research, and being close to the computer makes it easy for me to type down notes once I’m done.

Perhaps I’m just trying to get everything done as quickly as possible. This may also be the case as I did not attempt the left page pictured above. Now I wonder how many craftsmen would cut corners, or do a bad job. Pye would probably refer to my workmanship as that of risk, in which I am not following the design and aiming for certain perfection. Still, I have been able to see some progress, and have also noticed that in improvising (playing really fast), I was able to get a different product (punk), which is good. It also seems like I will be able to get to a finished product soon. That is, after I’m done trying the exercises for the second and first string, there is an explanation of the C scale. That will be my product.

Hand, Eye, Ear, Brain, Bass

There are a number of statements that Sennett makes in his chapter 5 of The Craftsman that I keep thinking about every time I make a mistake while practicing. Some of these are:

“In music, the ear works in concert with the fingertip to probe.”

“Practicing that attends to momentary error at the fingertips actually increases confidence: once the musician can do something correctly more than once, he or she is no longer terrorized by that error.”

“The full scenario of practice sessions that improve skills is thus: prepare, dwell in mistakes, recover form.”

It was convenient for me to read these before starting my practice sessions, as they kept me motivated to keep going. Besides the joy that I was feeling as I was able to follow the written notes on the pages that I focused on in my last session, every slip, every mistake made me smile at the though that Sennett was right!

In my first practice session, I was consciously paying attention to one of the suggestions that the book makes, that is, to alternate the index and middle finger of the right hand to strike the strings. Though I was paying attention to the rhythm by clicking my tongue in a standard 4/4 time signature (a human metronome) I also was looking at the notes that I was prompted to play, but also looked at the little dots on top of the notes that indicated the finger that I was to use. This has been the hardest skill to master.

My two months of piano playing when I was 6 years old have allowed me to have a familiarity with the staff and the different notes that can be placed on it, as well as the count for each kind of note. Still, I am not familiar with the positions that indicate different notes and how to make the sound based on string, or left hand position. This book has been helpful with that, and here I refer back to memorization. The more I practice the more I know what I am doing. I repeat each note several times (E, F, G).  By now I know that the open strings are E, A, D, G because I wrote it down when I was first tuning it and had to practice this sequence over and over again. This also speaks to my reliance on learning things by writing them down. I write down my lesson plan, I write my conference papers, and so on.

To close, I would like to point out that I am having so much fun! I look forward to writing about my experience with all of the other strings and potentially record some sessions.

Positionality in Bass Guitar

As I sat down to finally start playing some bass guitar, I decided to go back to the book. Although it might be easier to watch some videos and follow along, this project really calls for an experimentation in which I can discover techniques that help ME the most. Also, I’ve been to plenty of shows and have seen how different musicians play the bass, so I’ve just decided to go for it. Learn by doing, very constructivist of me.

The Position of The Hand

After following the instructions on the position of the hands according to Mel Bay’s Electric Bass Method, and playing for about half an hour, my left wrist starts hurting. In his chapter about machines, Sennett refers to the papermaking process, pointing to how mechanical tools are supposed to eliminate “the most ‘bestial’ labors,” asserting: “The general principle for machine use here is that, if the human body is frail, the machine should aid it or supplant it.” The electric bass guitar was invented with the purpose of substituting the heavy and bulky stand-up bass. But even this electric bass guitar can be somewhat difficult to play. That is, if your hands are not used to the positions necessary to hold the instrument with the left hand, your wrist is going to feel a bit sore.

Perhaps it hurts because I am not standing up with my arms comfortably reaching the instrument, which should be hanging by a strap. Instead I am sitting, slouching even. But I am following the book’s suggestions! The next item in my agenda will be to locate a strap. But is it really necessary? There are plenty of artists who play acoustic sessions while sitting down.

Nirvana Unplugged

Either way, it is possible for me to continue this project because, as Sennett suggests in his chapter on the hand, “grips develop in individuals just as they have developed in our species.” Here he is referring to the myth that only those with the necessary body characteristics; i.e. long enough fingers, can play particular instruments. The picture to the left illustrates Kurt Cobain playing his guitar like other left-handed musicians, such as Paul McCartney, although he was a right-handed writer.

Although I actually do have long, skinny fingers (perfect for piano playing, as suggested by my aunt when I was about six years-old), I still seem to struggle when I try to grip the bass with my left wrist and do the necessary movement to switch my fingers from fret to fret. This might be due to a self-diagnosed arthritis, but Sennett says I can do it, so I will keep on practicing! In my next post I will elaborate on my first practice session, reading musical notes and counting the time between each, even attempting a progression of notes by playing the fourth string of the bass.

Just a Tune-Up: Beginning a Craft

Thinking about the ways in which Aristotle describes shame and shamelessness allows me to understand why I’ve been avoiding playing the bass guitar whenever my roommate is home. He explains that we only feel shame when the person that we are dealing with is someone that we care about, or respect, fearing that she could potentially provide a critique. In this instance, I respect my roommate as she is my colleague, and I value her opinion. Even if she is not an expert in music, she can still discern when I am not playing a note right—whether it is because the placement of my left finger is not placing enough pressure to produce the correct sound when I strike the string with my right hand, or simply because I play a progression of notes that don’t make sense, or don’t produce a melody at all. While she understands that I am just starting to play this instrument, I still feel ashamed about demonstrating this sort of inexperienced performance. Therefore, I have decided to wait for the moment when she is not home, those moments when I’m home, alone.

Sennett describes how the Renaissance ideal of originality was a “trait of single, lone individuals,” although he is talking about the goldsmiths and the relationships between master, journeyman and apprentice. Art is later referred to as an individual pursuit, such as the work of Cellini. I do not mean to indicate how I will be coming up with an original work of art, a genius musical piece. I am no virtuoso like Mozart, or at least I wasn’t practicing since I was a young child, like him. On the contrary, I need some guidance. As I started looking at the book that I was given, one that would teach me to play, I didn’t know how to start, or where to start. So I just started striking the first string and the second one, and I noticed that it was out of tune. Although I have some tacit knowledge of how to tune the guitar using the fifth fret of the first string to produce the sound of the open string that follows, I couldn’t remember what the first string sounds like, or how it’s supposed to sound, so I went online.

There is definitely a reliance on machines, a concept that Sennett explores in his book. He explores the evaluation that several figures from different historical periods have had in terms of how machines will replace or efface humans. While I first tried to download an app that imitated a tuner, it wasn’t giving me correct signals, and I felt like it was a waste of time. Going to youtube.com to search for videos on how to tune my bass guitar opened up the possibilities for me to learn my craft in a more guided procedure. The machine that I’m using, new media, is not simply supplanting the physical presence of a teacher, because there was a person who recorded, edited, and uploaded the video that I was then using to tune my bass guitar. As soon as I had the first note, though, I was able to tune the rest all by myself! But not really.

Gathering Materials Socially

In order to prepare for our Rhetorics of Craft midterm project, we were encouraged to start gathering our materials last week. It’s been decided that my craft will be playing the bass guitar. Therefore, I started researching online for the variety of prices of used bass guitars. But as it usually happens, I was able to “score” a nice deal by talking to people about my project, and sharing my love of music with others.

As I was showing off my recent tattoo to a friend at Recess Coffee House, the person that was sitting with her asked if I played bass, as my tattoo is a small bass clef. I explained that I used to try playing, back in high school, but had stopped after a year and never got back to it. He said that he had a used bass guitar that he could sell, if I was interested. This happened about a month ago.

Conveniently enough, this person works in the Writing Program, which provided me with the opportunity to run into him and ask about the bass. We exchanged emails and arranged for me to go by his place to pick up an Epiphone bass guitar for $60 and a Peavey Amp for $40. Double the established budget of $50, but well worth it!

The reason for this narrative is to explain how social interactions has provided me with unexpected instruments that are supposed to help in my craft development. For example, when I went to get the musical instruments, we started talking about the project that I was to take on, and he then included a booklet that he thought would be useful.

After opening the booklet I now get the sense that this could turn into a sort of archival research. A kind of ‘I’ll pick up where you left off.’ However, the purpose of this assignment is for me to do some self-reflective analysis of learning this craft, so I’ll focus on that, although I cannot help but recognize how social components play into how this project comes about.

The strings feel much different than those of my old bass guitar. This is because, as John indicated, he had changed the strings to be able to do the “slide” move. And so my research begins with studying the different kinds of strings.

For next week, I expect to have a specific end-goal or product, and will explore how the decision affects the kind of practices I take on.