Health and safety risks of playing bass guitar.

Health and safety risks of playing bass guitar.


Repetitive strain injury

Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a general term used to describe the pain felt in muscles, nerves and tendons caused by repetitive movement and overuse. It's also known as work-related upper limb disorder, or non-specific upper limb pain.

Repetitive strain injury is a risk as playing bass guitar, and any other form of guitar, involves repetitively stretching the players hands, fingers and wrists. The risk of repetitive strain injury is a more potent in bass guitar in comparison to usual guitar as the frets and on a bass are wider and the neck is longer which means the player is required to stretch their fingers over a larger distance. 

The risk of experiencing RSI can be significantly reduced if the player correctly stretches their hands and arms before practices and performance. This is best done though warm ups and exercises. 


Sore fingers

Bass guitar is a stringed instrument, amd it is played by plucking and strumming thease strings

317 Presentation

Unit 317

Assessment criteria	Research	Milestone Assessment
1.1 Critically compare the profiles of two chosen musical styles analyzing contrasts in: a) cultural and historical influences b) audience expectations and perceptions c) technological developments d) media representations	Choose two contrasting music styles that interest you. Investigate the era in terms of fashion, politics, art, social and economic factors, technology (in music production particularly) etc.	Presentation
1.2 Explain the main musical elements of each style identified in 1.1, illustrating the importance of the following, where appropriate: a) instrumentation (texture/timbre) b) structure c) rhythm d) melody e) lyrical content f) use of technology g) production You will make reference to at least four recorded examples	Elements of Music in Context blog or vlog with entries for a) to g) giving examples across a variety of styles Identify the common musical elements that give the styles their characteristic features making reference to at least four examples from each genre	Report
1.3 Evaluate personal response to each style identified in 1.1 in terms of, where applicable: a) relationship to own musical output b) relationship to own image/lifestyle c) relationship to personal music taste	What is my musical taste? What kind of music do I like to perform? How does the music I like reflect or inform my image/lifestyle? What links are there between this and the styles studied?	Teacher interview in which you will discuss your findings

FUSE NIGHT evaluation.

Me, Tom, Fran and Jacob planned to play 'Awful things' by Lil Peep.


Choices of repertoire

Jacob, the day before the concert, asked me and Tom to play guitar and bass to back up his singing for a performance of 'Awful things' by the late Lil Peep.

Rehearsal process

I rehearsed alone over night, as I had only known I was performing that song the day before the concert. On the morning of the performance, Tom, Jacob, Fran (who was now doing drums) and I got together in the theater to practice the song. We only had time to go over the track a few times, but we were able to get the timings for the song right and work out how we wanted to start and finish the song. We were ready.

Evaluation of performance

The actual performance ended up being very challenging. Without any warning, our singer didn't turn up for the performance. Pulling the plug on the song was heavily considered at this point. However, the show must go on, and with the help of my friends Rhiana and Lucy, who volunteered to sing, we were able to play the song to the best of our ability.
I feel my performance was overall very consistent, something that reflects the simplistic nature of the song which only requires the same three notes to be played at any time, with their being only two different note patterns to play. However, I stopped playing bass a little bit to early at the end of the song.

Relate it to your target tracker and the progress it demonstrates

I  have shown progress in my live performance skill as, as a musician, I have had very little experience with performing on stage in front of an audience. I feel that this showcase certainly helped me build my confidence. The piece was not very complicated, so acts as a good starting point for my goal to learn more complected, higher grade songs on bass.

Chords and roman numerals.

General chords and chords on bass guitar.


In music, an augmented triad is a triad, or chord, consisting of two major thirds (an augmented fifth). The term augmented triad arises from anaugmented triad being considered a major chordwhose top note (fifth) is raised, or augmented. It can be represented by the integer notation {0, 4, 8}.


In music, a diminished triad ( Play (help. · info)), also known as the minor flatted fifth (m^♭5), is a triadconsisting of two minor thirds above the root — if built on C, a diminished triad would have a C, an E♭ and a G♭. It resembles a minor triad with a lowered (flattened) fifth.

In music theory, a major chord ( Play (help. · info)) is achord that has a root note, a major third above this root, and a perfect fifth above this root note. When a chord has these three notes alone, it is called a major triad.

In music theory, a minor chord ( play D minor chord(help. · info)) is a chord having a root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord has these three notes alone, it is called a minor triad. Some minortriads with additional notes, such as the minorseventh chord, may also be called minor chords.

The I–V–vi–IV progression is a common chord progression popular across several genres of music. It involves the I, V, vi, and IV chords; for example, in the key of C major, this would be: C–G–Am–F. Uses based on a different starting point but with the same order of chords, include: I–V–vi–IV, C-G-Am-F (optimistic)

Evaluation of first class solo performance

I was given the task of preparing a solo performance to prepare and perform in front of my class. I was given the time over half term to prepare. 

The song I chose to perform was 'Snow (Hey Ho)' by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

The baselines for the song primarily focused on fingering techniques which Is something I feel I am comfortable with in my own bass playing. 

I would not regard the song as a particularly high level song as it did not use more advanced techniques such as slap. 

Performing as a soloist was something I found very uncomfortable. I have perform in groups on stage, but never as a soloist so the aspect was very new to me. Having the pressure of being the entire focus of everybody's attention defiantly had a negative affect on my playing and as a result I made a few mistakes during my performance, 

Overall, I feel I could massively improve my solo performance skills through more practice and by getting more confident with the idea of being the focus of attention on stage. 

Evaluation of Performance 17/10/2017

 Me and my classmates, Leah, Tom and Manon performed the song  'Vultures' by John Mayer.
We performed this song in the Worthing college Slight Theatre.

We were able to play the piece in time, and perform with confidence. Communication was good in the group during the performance, for example we all looked at each other to signify when we were going to finish.

The lighting set we chose, for whatever technical reason, was not used during the performance, but that didn't hinder us in any way.
The amps we used were weak, next time we would use better amps.

Personally, I feel I performed well, if we had had more time to practise I would have elaborated the bass I played for the song however what I did play for the performance, although it was simple, did work well for the performance.

My performance preparation could have been better if I had practised more.
Overall I was happy with the performance, however to further develop myself as a performer I will in future practice more before a show.