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blah blah – I’m at Waverley school.

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Day 34 of100 hour challenge

Not sure if I should still call this my 100 hour challenge. Being set a challenge to do something for 1 hour every day for 100 days and then do naff all for 2 months! Over the last 2 months I have had some really good highs and some pretty shitty lows, so the bass guitar is going to help me cheer the f**k up and get on with it.

I’ve moved the bass and amp up into my bedroom. It has gathered a rather wonderful layer of dust/felt. This morning I have spent an hour aimlessly plucking away at it, not particularly trying to play anything, just enjoying the sound of it.

One thing I have done over the past 2 month is always listen to and appreciate the bass in all the music I have listened to.

Laters

Rachel xxx

Day 31 to 33 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

I’ve hit a wall – the wall is plastered with excuses for not actually playing the bass. I have however been listening to lots of music and listening in particular to the bass line. I usually find dub music fairly tedious after a while, but great for easy bass lines!

Tomorrow – mañana!

Laters

Rachel xxx

Day 23 to 30 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

Well then- I have been SHAMED in front of many of my fellow Creative Agents from the West Midlands – I have neglected my duty to report on my 100 hour challenge – this is partly to do with the fact that I have neglected actually doing the 100 hour challenge for the last week. I have also been working like a b*****d and playing like one too, spending far too much time enjoying myself with lovely friends.

I have been at a great conference today with lots of likeminded people, and since my return from this conference – I have picked up the guitar for the first time in 6 days and played away to my hearts content – it didn’t sound particularly good to me, but I put my heart and soul into being dramatic when playing – my air bass guitar practice is paying off. I reckon the bottle of Magners I had after the conference has helped!

I plan to do at least 2 hours a day over the next 3 days to catch up now.

Laters

Rachel xxx

Day 22 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

I’m a tad late with this one. I have many many excuses for not ‘blogging’ yesterday, the main one being that Selly Park was again a hotspot for crime. Arson at mine on Friday (now confirmed as arson, rather than accidental!) and yesterday morning a drugs raid. Unbeknownst to me, my neughbours to my left have/had a cannabis farm in their house.

On opening the door at around 9am to my lovely friend Liz M and her gorgeous younger son, Felix, approx 20 police people armed with battering rams etc ran past and battered down the back gate and front door of said neighbour’s house. Neighbours tried to escape round the back….. all very exciting. I saw ‘some’ plants come out about 3 hours later when I left to go to a meeting in town (all the forensic police were in white body suits and the road was taped off!), some being about 5 massive ones, but they were still coming – the whole house must have been full of them.

So – no practice in the morning – oh and my boiler also bust, so had to wait around for the serviceman….. then after work I went to visit the most gorgeous Neil S in Shropshire. We went to a pub in ludlow to watch a band – I studied the bass player who was called Bill – he played a fretless bass, he quite good.

So Day 22 consisted of raids and bust boilers, work, train rides and me studying a player and his style, rather than playing – valid I reckon!

Laters

Rachel xxx

Day 21 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

I’m cooking! Having such fun with this now that I don’t feel dumber than dumb and I am starting to be able to make noises that sound OK.

Whenever I listen to music now, I’m hearing the bassline – previously, I would always listen and hear the melody (actually – more the harmonies). Last night I played air bass to a song called Last Days of Rome- an extremely dirty bassline- it made my wrist hurt! This was followed by air bass to Seal’s Human Being – f**king gorgeous tune and delightful bassline. I’ve been playing around with this bassline today – haven’t mastered it yet, but have got the gist of it. Have also found a website that has bass tabs for stacks of songs – it’s like a treasure trove of basslines.

Only did 30 minutes playing today as have been pottering and stalling too much today and have a friend coming round for tea, but I reckon I’ve done my time and some with listening to basslines and researching them on the tinterweb. I love making up my own rules!

Laters

Rachel xxx

Day 20 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

YAY YAY YAY! After day 19 and my total lack of commitment to this challenge, I was very very very pleased to pick up the bass and play along to a couple of albums, and compared to what I could do 20 days ago………….. rather chuffed indeed.

I’ve worked out that a lot ‘funky’ bass that sounds really tricky – is really just jumping up fifth and octaves, which is p**s easy on the bass. Reckon I may be better at playing the air bass after today too!

Can’t wait for tomorrow.

If anyone does read this AND can give me some ideas of songs with great bass lines – please comment – am raring to go and may even practice more!

Laters

Rachel xxx

Day 19 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

Too knackered from not getting enough sleep to pick up the guitar (or lazy!). Not enough sleep last night due to excessive worrying about every sound outside my house – or is this just an excuse.

I have however spent at least 1 hour, flat out on my sofa listening to CD’s and trying to pick out the bassline. Only have little ipod speakers unfortunately though! Amp is bust.

Tomorrow I plan to actually play along to music! Oooooooooooh, how interesting is this!

Laters

Rachel xxx

Day 18 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

I’m getting little but better at playing the bass – have rattled through the book again, playing along to the CD, and even did a sneaky bit of improvisation.

I’m hoping Sophie W is going to join mine and Lorna’s band – she reckons no one wants to hear her sing, but I reckon it’s a goer – but only if she dyes her hair blond – then we are going to be the Timotei girls! The name is no doubt copyrighted, but I reckon it’s a good name for us – Cheers Soph!

I did 50 minutes straight playing and again, fingers don’t hurt. I need to set up a few lessons now- as I am in danger of just playing the same thing (from the book) over and over again.

Laters

Rachel xxx

PS – Fire was probably started deliberately – apparently there were a couple more that night – so I must have missed the f**kers by 5 to 10 minutes – B******Ds

Day 17 of 100 hour challenge

Howdy

Well well well – I did it! I did 50 minutes playing – this after no sleep last night AS I COULD HAVE DIED! MY NEIGHBOUR SAVED MY LIFE. This is a teensy bit of an exaggeration, but what the heck! I got home last night at 2.15 (TOTALLY sober I hasten to add) – went straight to bed. At around 2.30am I heard a funny noise outside that continued, so I thought I had left my front door slightly open (which I am wont to do – so any burglars reading this – always worth a try at my house!). By the time I’d got downstairs, I heard a massive bang on my front door – I opened it to find my neighbour and his son trying to put out a fire that had started (Started in the last 10 minutes!) They had just happened to have been driving up and saw the blaze. I took a while to put it out. I was next to useless with getting jugs of water, while they banged the recycling boxes on the road/porch – trying to put the buggers out

NOTE TO SELF – recycling boxes when alight are like those everlasting candles – never go out!

OTHER NOTE TO SELF – Don’t leave recycling boxes and piles of cardboard out the front!

Reckon some little f***er has flicked a cigarette butt into the cardboard anytime that night and it smouldered away until hot enough to blaze up!

So my front bay window is broken, – but not broken enough for the flames to have come into the front room – praise be! My drainpipe and guttering look very very sad indeed, and a lot of the delightful UPVC is melted.

It’s all insured, but I have had to pay my £100 excess and lost 18 years of no claims bonus – Ah well – at least I am alive! AND I get a new clean window and drainpipe and guttering that were close to dead anyway.

So back to business – on no sleep, (as I was too terrified that the everlasting candles that are the recycling boxes would catch light again, or a chancer would see the broken window and break in) contacting my insurance, waiting for their glazier company to come round , a trip to Kings Heath with lovely Lorna – raking the lawn, watering the garden and lawn, cooking yummy liver and onions and watching a but of crap TV- I did it – 50 minutes solid playing (again to the CD) and my fingers are not that sore.

Getting there.

Laters

Rachel

PS – The fire engine arrived about 10 minutes after I had got back into bed – so didn’t get to make some lovely firemen any tea

PPS – lovely friend Lorna is getting some drums from her drummer dad’s flat in Spain in August (he sadly passed away 3 years ago) – we are going to set up a band! lead singer and name needed!