2. Step by Step
• For my project I will be learning how to play the bass guitar.
• After completion of the research paper, I will begin my
lessons with my facilitator, who in this instance is my music
teacher. Ideally, I will visit my facilitator two or three times a
week for an hour and receive a lesson in playing the
instrument.
• I will strive to practice the lessons my facilitator teaches me
every day. By the end of my lessons I hope to have the
skills to thoroughly entertain any audience especially my
Senior Board judges with a medley of different
recognizable songs.
3. Previous Knowledge
• I have little to no experience in the musical arts. In my youth my
mother attempted to teach me how to play the piano, but was
discouraged when she realized my aversion to practicing and my
tendency to memorize the simple music that I played as opposed to
reading the notes.
• As for the bass guitar, I had always wanted to play the guitar, and,
like many other teens, my friends and I wanted to start a band. That
is the reasoning for the slightly odd birthday gift I received last year.
• So far I have learned to play “Smoke on the Water.” Not that they
are remotely comparable, but I think it is worthy to mention that I
am also quite successful in the video game Guitar Hero, in which
you simulate playing a guitar while pushing buttons and strumming
a plastic cord.
4. Learning Stretch
• Given my limited musical background, learning
to read musical notes and bars has the potential
of causing great difficulty for me. I will have to
push myself to remain focused on my task and
to motivate myself to consistently practice.
• To be at the level I wish to be at for presenting
in front of the Senior Boards, I estimate that I
will need roughly two months of lessons and
determined practice.
5. Completing the Project
The lessons will likely take place at my
facilitator’s home down the street of my own. I
plan to receive a lesson from my facilitator two
times a week and then continue to practice the
lessons everyday at my own house.
Because I already have the guitar and I am
borrowing an amp from my facilitator, I do not
foresee any cost in the production of my final
product.
6. Project Facilitator
My Project Facilitator will be Mrs. Gina
Bennett, whom I have known for roughly
six or seven years.
Mrs. Bennett is a self-taught artist and has
been playing the guitar for roughly 30 years.
She has experience teaching lessons as well,
for she has also taught her own daughter to
play.
7. Pre and Post Project
Before I begin working on my project, I will have to study how to
read the different notes for the bass guitar. Since my personal
guitar has not been used in over a year, I will also have to tune
each cord back to its original state.
Upon completion of this project, I hope to have the skills to play
the bass guitar as well as the ability to read music. I think this will
help me expand my limited knowledge of music and to become a
well-rounded person.
For senior boards, I plan to demonstrate my skills by playing a
medley of recognizable rock songs. I will then explain to them
how my facilitator taught me the various difficulties that I needed
to overcome to play the guitar.
8. John Entwistle - The Who
Tony Levin - King Crimson
Geddy Lee - Rush
Les Claypool - Primus
Larry Graham - Sly and the Family Stone
