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.