I am Theo Whittle. I am a bass player studying Popular music. I have decided to use Gib’s Learning Cycle model to reflect on this. During this journal I would like to write about the development of my fretting (left) hand technique. I noticed especially my ring finger does not perform to the full capability and speed my brain and right hand works at. My main goal was to include improving the overall speed in my hand and also building strength and dexterity in my ring finger. I play in a lot of bands with a lot of people as a session bass player and more recently venturing into different wider genres of music in which involve parts that are difficult to play cleanly without the use of my ring finger. These parts are also much faster than what I have played most my career. I worked on this with my 1.1 tutor Dave. We discussed it was something that I wanted work on therefore we spent an hours long lesson focusing on exercise.  

For my creative activity I attend my weekly 1.1 lesson. In these lessons we focus on scales, modes, upcoming shows/songs I need to prepare for and any tehcniques I want to work on. Joining University I had never had any bass lessons before, I was fully self taught. Because of this, there are some small habits I have created within my playing which without realising and being aware of, create a barrier for myself and my progress. One of these being what I am talking about. My left hand technique. The main issue I have is my ring finger likes to collapse. This is a bad habit I have neurologically engraved into my technique and playing that I needed to get out of. When playing more technically arranged songs with intricate parts, not having this strength and confidence within my hand made me more stiff in these songs/sections. This then had an impact on my posture and tense feeling, my physical performance and the distribution in which I display. Before doing each of these about to be explained, I took before and after videos for each exercise. We began by going through some basic finger per fret exercises. From A on my E string, going up in semitones a finger per fret up to E on my G string. Doing this up, and back down to get used to different feels. Playing extremely slowly and allowing my brain to focus on what it is my fingers are actually doing. After doing this exercise for a couple minutes, I most certainly felt a difference however only when performing this exact movement, therefore we tried some more exercises to teach my hand and brain different movements and positions. The next exercise we did was the spider crawl (so Dave calls it). Starting 12^th fret on my E string. Going up in raised major 4ths which is Bb on my A string. Then E on D string, to Bb on G string. All of this one finger per fret. Repeating this same pattern from E-G string and G-E string to get used to different feels. This was the main exercise that instantly got me feeling something and had my brain working. I did this for about 20 minutes, starting slow, increasing note value and bpm as we I progressed. After 5 minutes or so. The cramp from the uncomfortable positions began to wear off and I felt it becoming easier. After 10 minutes myself and Dave both noticed a significant difference. Dave suggested doing the last 10 minutes beginning in crotchets, quavers, triplets then semi quavers. The main thing that I think had me struggling with this area of my playing was that I was self-taught and had only been playing bass for around 2 years. Within this time I played genres with straighter less challenging bass parts merely due to it being all that was around me. The final technique we tried after this I found unbelievably beneficial. Another finger per fret exercise. This one seriously felt uncomfortable however, not completely unnatural due to what I had just been doing. Starting on the A of my D string while staying in the same position with my pinky finger to the flat major six then using my middle finger and ring finger playing a major raised 4th. Then playing a minor a third and finally to a major 2nd interval shape. Repeating this on the A and G string, E and G string and back down again. This is an extremely intricate exercise, however very beneficial and I felt strength coming into my hand almost instantly. Proceeding with this for about 20 minutes the difference I felt was very obvious. 

Whilst thinking and evaluating about what happened in this lesson. I think positively about the exercises I thoroughly went through. I think they catered perfectly to what it was I was trying to work on and improve. since that one hour lesson, I have had many rehearsals and many gigs and played a lot of bass. I have noticed uncontrollably a difference in the dexterity of my left hand overall but especially in my ring finger which is exactly what I wanted to improve. This has helped me play parts more impressively, comfortably and confidently which were three elements of my playing I was lacking. Because of this I have gotten gigs with people and playing more intricate parts that I wouldn’t have been able to comfortably play without focusing on this fault within my playing. I think I could’ve performed and practice everything a bit slower and for a longer period of time, maybe daily to really improve and instill into my brain what I wanted it to do. I think it would’ve been good if I maybe film myself displaying a part of a song that I had been struggling with at the beginning of the lesson, then again after going through all the exercises filming myself playing it again and analysing that video to see and assess my practice. It would have helped me see what was really working and what was not which I feel is very important when trying to plan your practice and reflect on it. My feelings towards this changed throughout the process. I initially felt annoyed at myself and frustrated that I couldn’t do it straight away and have all these exercises done first try perfectly but that’s just the way my brain is wired. I beat myself up if I can’t do things straight away perfectly. Having a neuro diverse brain is difficult when things like this occur as having to practice something over and over does not come naturally or seem beneficial or worth it to you. Therefore, having to trick your brain into believing what you’re doing is fun and you want to do it because of what will come out in the end is important and crucial to this process. I did this by telling myself how much I love playing bass because obviously I do. So that was step one. As well as this,  thinking of all the bands and people that I would like to pay for on projects I’d like to be a part of and how much more I’ve noticeably stand out if my playing was smoother and more comfortable. The more throughout the lesson, I began to feel more and more rewarded and as if what I was doing was worth it as I felt a difference. This was a great feeling and most certainly help me push through the hour of what my brain saw as hell. 

When looking back and analysing the situation, I am now aware and can clearly see that I pick up what Dave wants me to do quickly and pretty much first try it it’s just trying to stick on the task and not getting distracted. I think Dave is very good at helping me and understanding me and how I work which makes this process so much easier for myself. I’m open to what Dave suggests and aware different things he can say and give me that will improve my playing. As well as this I now have more faith in myself and my abilities and it has opened my eyes to the fact that practice something and pick it up quite quickly and within an hour notice vast differences. With this in mind, I have and I’m trying to incorporate these exercises into my everyday practice. Another thing I have noticed whilst analysing this situation is that slowing everything down and really focusing on what it is I am doing creates a crazy difference.  

In conclusion, I think I have learnt that going into this 1.1 space having an open mind is very important. I want to be ready to take in information and ready to play. I think not getting overwhelmed with the thought of not being able to do something straight away or struggling with something is also something I need to work on. Getting hung up on the emotions I am feeling and thoughts I am having is also something that did not help or fuel the situation. The situation has also made me realise how good of a teacher Dave is and how lucky I am to have him working with me too better, my bass playing. The final thing I have kind of realised whilst concluding this is that this small amount of practice and focus had me noticing differences am I playing in technique, this had me thinking imagine the difference I would noticed with having this in my everyday practice. 

My action plan for if this situation were to come up again would probably look something like this. I would ensure I had a good sleep the night before and a good breakfast in the morning off to make sure I am ready to learn and focus for this hour. I would also not be so harsh on myself as it is okay for me to not be able to focus for an hour and just do 30 minutes, this is also very very beneficial to me and my playing. I would also see if Dave could monitor me over two lessons. So have a lesson of doing the exercise exercises and monitoring my playing. Then doing the exercises throughout the week in my own time every day for 20 minutes. Then having Dave assess by playing again the next lesson seeing if he can notice a difference better or worse. I think this would really help trade my brain into seeing whether what I’m doing is helping and worth it and if the exercises are working for me. They may work for awhile and then become useless so would have to then find new exercises that focus on different things that I would need to work on.