I am Em, a learner and writer on this blog from Emerge, this month I will be sharing a bit of my story with you all!
'I first joined Emerge Community Arts in November 2022 and am now part of the 'Sound
Express' band contributing my skills and learning new ones by taking part in the sound
recording elements as they crop up.
I play a variety of instruments to different levels of intermediateness including piano/keyboard, which I am the most advanced at, bass guitar, which I am slightly less proficient at, and guitar, which I have the lowest level of ability at and I also sing. I have also written lyrics before, but not whilst I’ve been at Emerge.....yet!
The thing about my instrumental skills and knowledge is that I play each instrument in certain ways. A musical skill I don’t consider myself to have to an extent where it’s readily usable is reading sheet music, so with piano, for instance, I make up for this by playing by ear, using chord charts and going by other elements of music theory I have a reasonable amount of knowledge of. With bass guitar, I seldom play low on the fretboard, often preferring to play higher notes, or drone, but when I do play lower notes on the fretboard, I try to use slides and move around the fretboard somewhat and use consistent rhythms, i.e. straight quavers, to drive
songs.
With guitar, I wouldn’t say I have general methods of playing that are any different, except for when fingerpicking, I finger-pick in the same manner as I do when playing a bass guitar, but it has been noted that some of the chords I play in a peculiar fashion. Also with music theory, whilst there are some elements of it I have decent knowledge of, I’m often the first to admit that there are fairly sizeable gaps in my knowledge. I am filling in these gaps as I spend more time at Emerge.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hope you look forward to my next blog in 2025!'
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