P@RT1C!P@T!0N 1N OCCUP@T!0N TWO - ERGONOMICS

Account of my participation in this activity on 22.09.2011

Today I picked a song to learn to play, and after scouring the internet for a good guitar tab for "Hey there Delilah" by the Plain white T's, I found one that was more appropriate to my style of playing. Ergonomics comes into this because I adapted my search for guitar tabs to my own abilities so that I can still participate in my activity. For example, had I chosen a guitar tab that was far beyond my abilities (Bar chords and palm muting for example), then my participation would be slack, whereas I made adjustments to the activity, by finding a finger picking guitar tab to play the chosen song in order to ensure that I can play it. In choosing my guitar tab, I went through the chords in all the verses first, and once I had those nailed, I worked on the chorus. It took me just over two hours to learn to play song, as it is quite a basic song for those who aren't mega pros just yet...

Again from playing the guitar today, I can see the relevance of ergonomics in this activity, as while I went through all of the notes and where my fingers had to be in the frets etc, I found myself making adjustments all the time to make it easier for me to play. For example, in verse two, the guitar tab told me to have my pinky in fret 4 in prep for the next chord, but since my hands are relatively small, this is difficult, so instead I moved my hand over a fret to play the same chords, but allowed me to use my ring finger instead of my pinky finger.

Reference #2

"Whether we play an instrument on a regular basis, or just occasionally, or even when performing on it for the first time, we form a relationship with it. People talk to machines such as computers, washing machines, bikes toys (especially when they don't seem to be cooperating), this includes instruments. It can be helpful to allow an instrument to to take on a kind of separate 'identity', or even 'personality'", (Gibson, 2001).

I thought this quote was a good reference to have in terms of ergonomics, simply because it is taking an instrument and literally giving it a life of its own in order for it to work better for you. Gibson is speaking of forming that relationship with an object in order to feel more connected with it, creating a better relationship which not only creates a better participative style but for me, creates btter music, because it's not just a guitar to me, and because of that, My guitar playing is better for me, and suits me better.

Here is an example of the "Hey there Delilah" Guitar Tab from 'Ultimate Guitar', Verse Two

Verse 2:
  D               F#m             D               F#m
e---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B---3---3---3---3---2---2---2---2---3---3---3---3---2---2---2-------|
G---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2-------|
D-0---0---0---0---4---4---4---4---0---0---0---0---4---4---4---4----|
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------|


  Bm             G        A       Bm              A
e---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B---3---3---3-------3---3---2---2---3---3---3---3---2---2---5---5---|
G---4---4---4-------4---4---2---2---4---4---4---4---2---2---2---2---|
D--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A-2---2---2---0-----------0---0---2---2---2---2---0---0---0---0-----|
E-----------------3---3----------------------------------------------------|


  D               F#m             D               F#m
e---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B---3---3---3---3---2---2---2---2---3---3---3---3---2---2---2-------|
G---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2-------|
D-0---0---0---0---4---4---4---4---0---0---0---0---4---4---4---4----|
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------|


  Bm              G       A       Bm              A
e---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B---3---3---3-------3---3---2---2---3---3---3---3---2---2---5---5---|
G---4---4---4-------4---4---2---2---4---4---4---4---2---2---2---2---|
D--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A-2---2---2---0-----------0---0---2---2---2---2---0---0---0---0-----|
E-----------------3---3----------------------------------------------------|

The whole guitar tab can be found at: http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/p/plain_white_ts/hey_there_delilah_ver2_tab.htm

References:

Gibson, B. (2001). Performing matters. Great Britain: England. Athenaeum Press.

Ultimate Guitar. (2011). Recieved 22.09.2011 from http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/p/plain_white_ts/hey_there_delilah_ver2_tab.htm