Wednesday, May 30, 2012
2012.5.28 - monday (Last Music Class)
We did the same as last meeting, the class was split into our different groups and put in different rooms. Before that we had a talk about the MDW, mr john said that he would give it to us tomorrow. We were also told to wrap up all our reflections such as our blog, journal, and also our other separate booklets. I also need to upload the rest of my videos to put it on the blog. For [2012.6.1] we won't have music class because the week after this we already begin our exams, and friday is a study day so we won't be coming to school. But my group and I decided to meet up and practice a couple of times before our music assessment on the 8th.
2012.5.25 - friday
Today we continued practicing our done compositions. They decided to split the class into different music rooms so we can focus better. Then, we practiced together. There were still problems with the synchronization in some parts of the song, but we definitely improved. I think that the guitar part could be improved too. Mr herry said that there needs to be a melody part for the cello so he helped our group do that and there were also changes in the guitar part.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
2012.5.21 - monday
Last time we already completed the songs and our booklets. But today we made a few changes in the first few bars of the song. The accompaniment of the cello is added when there was actually a rest in the first and 3rd bar. Then when we tried it out again, somewhere in the middle of the song the count made for the cello accompaniment was not suitable to the melody and the counting needs to be changed. We practiced many times today as a group and I think we improved our team work today. I think the guitar could be improved but I know that we'll get there soon. I think I could also improve my pitch sometimes my hand slips because the cello I use at school is slightly bigger, so I need to pay attention to that. However in the end of the class I got better and the problem was solved.
2012.5.18 - friday
Since last time, my group and I are now completely finished with out song since we met up two days ago on wednesday after school to continue it together. Our song was also already put into a finale file. In the beginning of the lesson the teachers listened to each of our songs and gave their opinions on "what could have been better". For our song, we didn't realize it at first but we found out that some of the notes that were supposed to be played with a guitar actually can't because it's too low so we're gonna change that.
2012.5.14 - Monday
Actually today we were supposed to be finishing up but my group and I were unable to finish the whole thing. We already know how it will go but the notation in the music book takes time for us to do. However we were not done with the accompaniments though. We did try a bit if it matches. We also made the guitar part not only strumming chords but also with picking single notes and stuff. We plan to meet over the week before the next class to finish it.
2012.5.11 - friday
We did not have music class on monday because it was a field trip and the whole day was used therefore we had no classes. As usual we continued where we left off. My group and I gathered and Verena continued the melody this time. In the mean time, I made the accompaniment of the cello part until the end but then again there might be more changes involved later. We also helped yohanes with making his part that will be played in the guitar.
2012.5.5 - friday
For today's class we continued the music composition. We went straight into practicing each of our compositions and we gathered with our groups. We continued the composition where we have left off the last time we had our music class. We also made a few modifications regarding the melody (piano). I also made the accompaniment for the cello part that I will be playing but I think it will only be finalized later in time. Today i made 4 more bars of the melody then continued the rest at home.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
2012.4.30 - monday
This session we started off by talking about the origins of the G clef and bass clef. Some students like had trouble drawing the G clef and mr john showed them how. The G and bass clef signatures actually came from the letters G, and F, then over time it evolved into what it is now. After that we gathered into groups and continued our composition. Today we were told to submit at least 8 bars to the teachers. We already thought of it and actually made 10 bars, but the last two were still not confirmed and there might be possible changes to them. Our instrument class was combined with theory class because people from different instruments needed to be together.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Video Links
http://youtu.be/wPzTb28-V-E
http://youtu.be/GjXo36H8sfs
http://youtu.be/Kukevrfcvqk
http://youtu.be/JGTOeTWUReY
http://youtu.be/NjUroEWT0Hg
http://youtu.be/i9Mc5bxSucI
2012.4.27 - friday
Today we went straight into the composition that we were doing. Verena and I informed Yohanes, who was absent because of the UN about the chords he had to do for the song. I tried out the part that I made so far but I made two different versions of the accompaniment. My group and I huddled up near the piano to see how it will sound. In the end Verena and I talked about a canon type accompaniment and I pracaticed the different versions. However I think it's most likely that we use the canon one.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
2012.4.23 - monday
Today mr john was absent because of a car problem so mr herry was the one that taught us today. We started by checking our resources then we began talking about our next assessment which is the 32 bar group music composition. It needs to be a collaboration since we have to compose for 4 instruments or so. We started by talking about the group arrangements and how we're gonna do it. I was put in a group with Verena (piano) and Yohanes (guitar). Since Yohanes is taking the UN he will catch up later on. We talked about examples and chords and also the counter melodies today. Mr herry expects a rough draft of at least 4 bars on friday. In the end we only had 10 minutes of instrument class left.
Friday, April 20, 2012
2012.4.20 - friday
Today is the day of the singing assessment. We talked about the assessment and opened the assessment schedule given in the beginning of the term. I did not get that yet so mr John gave me a new copy since i was absent on the first meeting of the term. Today we are doing the singing assessment, so he handed out the assessment booklets to us. I filled half only at first before the assessment and the rest after that. At first we sang the song together as a class and then we were assessed by threes. I think I did fine except sometimes in the rapping part I tend to stumble on words since I can't rap anyway it's natural hey I tried so yeah. The assessment took the whole two sessions so there was no instrument class today.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
2012.4.16 - monday
Today we started off music like usual with the attendance. The first thing we did was we practiced a composition and mr john picked a few students to come up to the board and try to compose an example song, one person 4 bars. The point is that he wanted to show how to create second melodies and chords for accompaniment. I asked if we should compose for our own instruments as the main melody but then he said that since there are four, we should compose for piano first. Lucky for me I could play both piano and cello, in fact I started piano way back when I was really young. After that we just practiced singing price tag for the assessment this friday. Mr John said we were allowed to see the on-screen lyrics so I feel a bit more relieved but I can't rap so that's my problem with the song.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
2012.4.13 - friday
Today is the first music class for term 4 for me because was absent on monday. We started the class by checking attendance and resources. today inot bring my music book and folder because forgot to place it inside my cello case as I usually do. Then after that we talked about the assessments that we will be having this term. The first assessment comes next week which is the singing assessment and we are all supposed to sing price tag. Then the next assessment is to create our own composistion and this time it will be a composition for 4 intruments or so. Then we practiced and did vocal warm ups in the end of the session today.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
2012.3.26 - monday
This is the last music class for the whole term. Last friday was a holiday and we did not have music class. For today, i immediately brought my cello to class so that we could have the final practices for the assessment. I could already play the song well and since I am just the accompaniment, i should just follow the people playing the melody. When they mess up it's also easy for me to adjust to whichever part they are playing since my part is actually easy, but it adds a little something to the sound of the music as a whole. I think today's practice went quite well and we talked about when we will have our assessment, and people will be able to watch it.
Monday, March 19, 2012
2012.3.19 - monday
The first thing I did today was that I asked Mr Sadrakh to help me put on my spare string on for me. It's not as good as my spirocore string because it was an ordinary string that came with the cello so it's kind of hard. But that will do for now since I'm not using this one for the final performance. I could play both songs well already, but I still have that stand book problem. So today I taped the sheet music together in a row so it will be easier later on. I'm planning to ask for two stands to hold up the sheet music next time. I think my synchronization improved but then, I think I will need to use a microphone to make the sound of my cello heard a bit more even though it's just the accompaniment.
2012.3.16 - friday
Today when I came in to class I was told to directly bring in my cello so we could start playing immediately. We practiced well and I played but I think i need to practice the tune of my cello because I keep switching between my two cellos and one of them is slightly smaller and I'm more used to that one. However after a while i gotten a bit more used to it. Then, I think I got the minuet down, but i'm having problems with salut d'amour. Not with the playing but it's just that the stand books are too narrow for 6 pages spread at once, so i have to switch it myself for now. My 4th string also broke today during the practice so i was unable to play salut d'amour much since it requires the 4th string a lot. But i could play the minuet cause it didn't need it.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
2012.3.12 - monday
Today we started with the usual attendance checking. Then, we went straight into practicing the songs we got a few meetings earlier. Mr Sadrakh said that he was unable to print or save the file he created for me which was the Minuet for the cello by boccherini or something if i'm not mistaken. So in the end I just asked for the piano part from mr John and played the left hand part. But I made improvisations to it so that it would be more suitable to be played by a cello. It turns out that there's another part for the song however there is no parts for piano or cello yet. There is only a guitar and violin part available for that part so far, which is unfair. Or maybe they'll just have them play in the end as a solo and the rest of us we just accompany the first theme of the song.
Friday, March 9, 2012
2012.3.9 - friday
I was really sick on monday so I missed school and one session. Today, I came to class almost late because there was this wedding tent extending out until the road in the usual route I took to school. It was especially annoying. It made the whole road very stuck even though I leave the usual time. I almost did not catch a lift because they were already shut down. However I made it just in time. It turns out that they were already learning another song. The teachers did not have a suitable cello part, there were only scores for violin, flute, and piano. So in the end I couldn't join in to play the new song yet and just practiced the old one. Mr Sadrakh was making the cello part for the song using the Finale program so I can play it next time.
2012.3.2 - friday
Today we all came into class and brought out our instruments to practice the song we gotten last time. It is an Edward Elgar song called Salut D'Amour. The sheet music given to us was a piano score. I had to make my own adjustments to the sheet music myself for me because I need to read using the bass clef. Apparently they did not have one ready for the cello so, with the help of my private tutor I made the adjustments accordingly. It's a fuss to have so many pages though, the flipping is hard. I played quite well today, but I haven't been able to play until the fourth page in coordination yet.
Monday, February 27, 2012
2012.2.24 - friday
Heidy, Bryan, and I did our Romantic Music slide presentation today. We finally did it and thankfully it was a success. I hope we get a good enough score for it. In the end of our presentation we had to submit our booklets. In the booklet, i did 10 pages as instructed. I talked about Romantic Music and the powerpoint presentation did help me start off since by then I already know things about it roughly. In the booklet I just need to go a bit more in depth about it. We also filled in reflection booklets about our assessments. In the end, Mr Herry said that we need to update our blogs because it is inconsistent and it will be checked.
2012.2.20 - monday
Today is the day that we are supposed to be doing our presentation. My group and I are ready as ever and we have already worked on it together in my place. We were done with the presentation really really early actually. Right after Ronaldo, Verena, Yohanes, and Hashfi are done with their presentation, it was supposed to be our turn. However, we experienced a major technical difficulty which was that the powerpoint presentation program at school is the old version, while the one in my mac desktop is the newest one. We tried converting it with a Ronaldo's laptop but his powerpoint was an older version than mine. So in the end we had to do it on friday, together with the submissions of our romantic music booklets.
2012.2.17 - friday
Today, we were given back our results for the quiz we did before. I am satisfied with my results, however, i was really annoyed by one careless mistake I did in the definitions. I knew by heart that accelerando was gradually getting faster, however, I made a careless mistake and wrote that as gradually getting louder and I'm really annoyed by that one mistake. everything else was good. After giving back the paper, mr John gave us photocopies of a song that we are needed to perform for the class chamber orchestra. However I think the numbers are odd since there is only one violin, one cello (me), one flute, two pianos, and the rest are guitar players. I really wonder how it will sound in the end. It's odd.
2012.2.13 - monday
We had our music assessment (quiz) about the natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales today, and in the quiz we were also told to answer some terms. I think that I did really well because I answered all the questions and I was sure about them. I hope I did not make any careless mistakes. Luckily I knew all the definitions of the words that were given. I even knew the word that the teacher just talked about and I luckily listened to what mr John was saying because most of the other students didn't know what it meant. I submitted my paper in the end when the time was almost up because I kept checking the scales to see if I accidentally wrote something wrong.
2012.2.10 - friday
Today's class was focused more on revising what we learned the other time. I have also somewhat forgotten some things we learned. But after a few minutes it all came back to me and I remembered what we were learning about. Having class discussions are an enjoyable way to learn for me because everyone in our class are interacting and we also have laughs at the same time so it's not so boring. Since everyone is involved I understand better. Then, mr John tested some people to write on the board who doesn't quite understand it yet. He asked me a few questions in class as well, and that was also quite a good thing because I managed to answer which means I understood well.
2012.2.6 - monday
Today, we started class by talking about study trips abroad since the grade 9 drama class are having an excursion to singapore to watch the world-famous play, 'Wicked'. I've watched a few broadway shows and I heard that Wicked is a good one although I haven't watched it myself. We planned about having our own trip ourselves but related to music. We thought about going to Austria or Germany since they have many relations to music. I've been to Germany and I did visit a lot of Music Museums, they had a lot of strange instruments from a long time ago. However this is just a thought and not final at all.
2012.2.3 - friday
In class, we discussed a lot of music theory today. We talked about chords and scales. Like the usual, but it was more in depth and we talked about some more. I had some time where I was slightly confused and unsure however I caught up quickly so that was good. I think that sometimes I over think things so I get myself confused and I try not to over think now. We received a sheet of paper containing all the things that might be needed to be studied by us since we were told that a quiz will be coming up soon. In the sheet, dynamics, and other indications we can find in repertoires are written, and so are their meanings so it could help us in the future too.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
2012.1.30 - monday
Today we were told about our next upcoming assessment. We are told to do another powerpoint slide presentation like we did last time. This time, the presentation will be about romantic music and how it is different from the other musical eras over time. They told us that we are going to need about 3 to 4 people in each groups. I think it will probably be 3 people because of the number of people in class. Then, like last time, we are told that we will be required to make a booklet regarding the same topic, which is Romantic Music. After that we were divided into our groups. I got the same group like i did last time which was with Heidy and Bryan. I work well with them and we work while laughing and having fun, but we get it done well. In the end of the session we had a short discussion with our group mates and we talked about what needs to be included in our presentation.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
2012.1.27 - friday
We didn't have class on monday because it was chinese new year. Today is the day of the singing assessment and I have got it fully memorized. We started off with vocal exercises. Then, since they decided to do it alphabetically, I was the one who went first. Thankfully it went really well and I didn't miss out any words nor did i get them mixed up. In the feedback the gave me, all I needed to improve was the expressiveness of my singing. Maybe my back was too straight or I didn't pull out a grin enough. So I learned that that's what I need to do next time.
2012.1.20 - friday
Today we started off with vocal exercises and also practiced breathing with our tummies. We did the usual vocal scales and humming that we did for the past few sessions in order to relax our vocal cords. Today we had to sing individually to look for the pitch of the song that is most suitable for our singing voices. I got -2 just like heidy. That was the most comfortable pitch. We were called on one by one. The assessment is going to be on next friday because monday is chinese new year.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
2012.1.16 - monday
I thought we were going to have our assessment today so i was quite nervous, but then they decided that the assessment is going to be this friday instead. This class we talked about chords and learned one new type. Mr John explained it with a guitar so I couldn't understand it since I don't play a guitar. So me and a couple of other students asked for an example to be played in the piano instead since I could understand the piano and plus the notes are shown clearly. In the end we had vocal exercises to help us sing on friday. We also performed in pairs today as a rehearsal. I got the song memorized pretty well but I get mixed up with the first and last stanza of the song. I'm quite worried about the last note too because it's really high.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
2011.1.13 - friday
Since it's a new semester, the schedules have changed. We have music first thing in the morning on mondays and fridays. Today was the first session of music and the second day of school. Today we discussed about what we're going to do. We practiced singing warm ups and we learned a new song called INDONESIA. It has a slight jazz feel to it. Then, we performed in groups. Next week on monday there's going to be a performance two by two and that time we have to memorize the song.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)