Senior Project Proposal Approval: Learning to Play the Bass Guitar

Carlie Gilbert

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

John Entwistle - The Who

Les Claypool - Primus

Geddy Lee - Rush

Paul McCartn

ey - The Beatle

s

Tony Levin - King Crimson

Larry Graham - Sly and the Family Stone