Grade 5 Book

Myrockschool book for grade 5 arrived today. There's some quite advanced technique within and I think this will really bring my playing upto a standard where I can really start to improve my consistency, timing and importantly, sight reading.

Grade books ordered

I have now ordered rockschool grade 3, 4 & 5 books. I hope to update this onto my timeline so that I can bring my skills to grade 5 by the end of February. I have also worked through music theory grade 2 on Mymusictheory.com.

I hope to provide a small text regarding the need to learn to read music, as I have learned an awful lot in the past few weeks and I am finding this knowledge of basic music theory profoundly enlightening.

Theory knowledge update

I have begun to practice music reading. Using mymusictheory.com I have managed to get to Grade 1 music theory. I am currently studying grade two and at the same time reading the music and playing to a metronome where possible.


This is certainly the most difficult challenge that I have come across since learning to play the instrument. The written notation feels like a straight-jacket, which is exactly what I need if I am to become a professional. I'm hoping that it won't take me long to make serious strides, especially if I am too learn a piece of music from manuscript to perform in an exam.

I am also using a book called "The Bass Player Book: Equipment, Technique, Styles, and Artists" (Karl Coryat, Freeman Miller Books, 1999), which has the beginner music theory basics. I have studied this book for a few years since I became serious about being a bass player, although I had completely skipped past any hint of musical theory in favour of jamming along with the recommended albums.

To my SWOT I would like to add to the 'Threats' section "Other instruments" because I have found myself distracted by my guitar (mostly in relation to my Songwriting module) and my drum sticks (as I am learning to play drums at the same time). As of this Xmas, I can add Banjo to this list of distractions, aswell as Morgan's spiced rum and late mornings.

I am, however, determined to prove my tutor wrong that this production project will become a simple research project as he does not believe it possible from my starting point.

By the end of the Xmas holidays, I want to get passed grade 2 on mymusic theory (I will include a screenshot of the 'certificate' screen). This will lead me to my target of attaining Bass Guitar Grade 5, which I still feel is within my capabilities with continued study.

Update, post-november

November Objectives:

• Improve ability to read music.
• Keep up bass practice.
• Begin work on Showreel.
• Conduct interviews with session musicians, industry professionals etc.
• Research other session musicians’ webpages.

I have improved on my ability to read music. I have done this by retrieving sheet music books (such as Blood Sugar Sex Magic by the Red Hot Chili Peppers).  I have retrieved my "Bass Method" music theory book aswell, which is giving some insight, however it doesn't have anything to do with Rockschool grades.

In January I will purchase the relevant book to bring me upto speed.

Regarding bass practice, I have been practicing moderately often but not as often as I would like, due to other work and projects. I have however started playing sessions for my housemate Dave Bilsborough on tracks for the band "Hit and Run".

I was given 2 hours to learn 2 songs and perform them, having only heard the rhythm sections. I was able to perform these to a satisfactory standard however he has since asked me to re-perform the songs as guitar had been laid down, as well as another song onto which I was to improvise. I was also asked to read from a chord chart and transpose the chords to fit the key of the song. I was quite comfortable with this, however the computer ran out of space and so recording will take place in the near future.

These will contribute to my showreel.

I have also started to build tracks to show my writing skills using Ableton. I am hoping to create some music for my website this way, which I will personally mix and master.

I have been unable to start interviewing industry professionals, although I still have plans to interview Derrick Johnson.

I started to research the websites of session musicians before the proposal. These have included:

http://www.andytill.com and http://www.seandaveybass.com/;  the latter I was rather impressed by. This will be closer to the website that I hope to build.