Term one complete but...

 The first term drew to a close with exam week. It proved to be highly stressful despite all the work I had put in.

For starters, I failed my bass exam. Having been self-taught with only 5 lessons at Ara and playing for only a few months I was still expected to do the following: play all two-octave major scales, all major and minor triads, all minor two-octave pentatonic scales, know every note possible and locate it on my fretboard, compose a groove with fill to a given chord progression on the spot. Big ask, and I knew I was not ready to do all that with confidence. It doesn't help when the tutor makes a video using a 5-string bass whereas I only know a 4-string one, and the instructions were too fast. I find at Ara there is a fair bit of telling and very little teaching.  I know I am capable of doing what tutors want but I must learn at their pace and not mine. I can understand they have various standards but I need time and regularity. The old grey matter isn't as sticky as it used to be, therefore, the only way to survive is to work my butt off.

I sent out a cry for help to the only other bassist on my course. He's a professional with 30 years experience and kindly took the time to explain and repeat and draw patterns I could actually understand. In fact - teaching. Then it was up to me to go away and practise even harder over the next day for my resit. Failing my bass exam had been taumatising as you can get thrown out of the course. I asked if I could switch to singing? No.

Thursday morning was our theory exam. I ended up with an A+ which might offset reduced marks when I eventually passed my bass resit, which followed the theory exam. These two exams were followed by the group performance exam. I had no reason to be confident since Ara had never given me a functioning band to work with. With only the lead guitarist and two vocalists left we had to have loan players on the day. Never an opportunity to practise with them, unused to how they sounded, it was nerve-wracking. Under the changing light patterns in the concert room I mistook which fret I was starting on. I started Dreams on E instead of D so the band had to stop and start again. I felt crushed but made a reasonable fist of the five songs. They must be performed standing up and with no music ie memorised.

The next day we had to do oral and visual presentations on ourselves as musicians. We had been told to use certain sites or software to complete the assignment but as with any kind of digital platform we were told to do it but there is little teaching involved. We are expected to teach ourselves in our own time. Not a naturally gifted computer guru, I get very stressed by this. The less able students are certainly struggling because self-discipline and work is required and they are falling by the wayside, despite a lot of hand-holding in certain cases. Even when some areas are less difficult for me I always push myself to the limit to squeeze every possible mark out because I want to find out just what I am capable of and I might need a few extra marks further down the track.

On the whole, with two 'unknowns' in the mix, I am doing all right. Some superhuman cramming finally got me a pass in bass so to reward myself I have bought a better instrument. I started teaching myself bass with a cheap little precision bass made in China. It has reasonable tone but the action is difficult to play and noone will take me seriously as a dedicated musician if I continue to appear with my cheapie. My cheapie broke down recently. It was easily fixed by the sound tutor but I realised I needed a second instrument.

Having auditioned numerous basses over the course of two weeks and not finding anything decent on internet second-hand sites, I decided to invest in a new professional instrument. It's lovely but weighs a tonne. Its only downside is the weight but that's the sort of instrument professionals use and the weight is probably pretty standard. My shoulders are not happy about this but I'm hoping with time the pain will diminish and I'll develop more stamina. Don't they say what doesn't kill you makes your stronger?

Let me present to you my new best friend: a Fender American Pro II Jazz bass. Glorious neck finish for smoothe slides, perfect action, tapered neck for those of us with smaller hands, warm tone with more tone controls. Not as 'punchy' as my P-bass but should suit any situation. It's beautifully made from California. My mission is now to justify such a purchase by progressing as fast and far as I can before the end of this year.

Becoming a term one music student

 It's one thing to succeed at the audition and have certain expectations but, of course, reality may be somewhat different. Each student brings their own motivations and values and it is also necessary to fit into the campus 'culture'. I'm still trying to work out what that is.

The music department (former Jazz School) building is set well apart from others though the corner of Madras and St Asaph shares Hairdressing as well as Beauty Therapy 'schools'. It is therefore rather isolated  and music students are less likely to mix with others or take advantage of services provided by Ara. Never mind, I stick to my music building and don't wander off. I generally arrive at 7.40am in order to get a paying park that is less expensive than a parking building, and I use the opportunity to plug my phone into an ensemble room PA system to practice with YouTube videos and do my bass homework. I'm a morning person.

There are 5 parts to my studies: Music theory and aural skills, music history, bass lessons, performing in a band, songwriting and music technology. Most of these courses are challenging for me. Anything involving past career skills is comfy.

One of the main reasons I decided to study at Ara was to play in a band. So far that has been a stressful and disappointing experience as far too many 'younger students' seem to lack commitment, self-discipline, ambition or teamwork, especially the latter. 

Students are put into bands to teach themselves 'cover' versions. You are assessed for competence, stage presence and band interaction etc. Students are not taught how to attack a new piece so most of us scramble for  YouTube versions, download backing tracks and guitar/bass tablature, in fact anything to give us an idea of how it goes. I do a bit of everything, including listening for basslines, which are not always easy to hear, and are performed by professionals often outside my level of competency. I'm probably the least experienced musician in the building as I have only been playing a few months, not years, and have never been part of a band. 

As part of my bass competence development I have to learn all the places on my fretboard (still a work in progress); memorise how to play major scales, minor pentatonics, triads; then work out how to put all that together. My bass lessons end up being only 20 minutes a week if you take out unpacking and packing up. I have discovered my brain just doesn't memorise as well as it once did. Things won't stick and I put in a huge amount of practice for little gain. I average 19-20 hours of private practice per week on top of lectures, ensemble work, assignments and significant commuting. My lifestyle is music, music, music. There is no time for anything else.

I don't mind this too much as I want to maximise  this opportunity which will only last a few months. Time later for gardening and conscientious house-cleaning. I like being part of something with others, doing study that is stimulating and maybe could be fun down the track, if I am ever put in a band where the other band members actually turn up instead of leaving me standing forlornly on a stage with two vocalists wondering how to perform with only a bassist to accompany them. Not cool! Meeting others is good for me socially though I don't get to mix outside of class times, alas.

The most challenging learning tasks are those involving technology assignments for songwriting. What would I know about songwriting? Zip! On top of that I have no knowledge of drumkits and drumming. 

Everything must be composed on a dreadfully complicated software called Logic Pro X. It is only suitable for Mac computers so unlike many of the young folks, I have no access to that at home so that I can familiarise myself with it. Bugger! I passed my first assignment on songwriting but it will only get more difficult as we progress. Well, I was open to an adventure. They don't often come gift-wrapped.

This week is exam week so prep is my priority. I have no idea what will happen when it comes time for my non-existent band to perform with me. That's out of my control but I certainly feel disadvantaged compared to other groups, because if we get ring-ins I will have no experience of working with them and their versions will be different. It's all rather fraught but watch this space. Will report on what does or doesn't go down for that performance, next post.