Practice diary - Post 16

Section 1 – Practice updates
In technical development we have been looking at soloing and using it effectively and using diminished chords. We were also tasked with learning a song made of diminished chords and a song in a funk style. The song that we played was one that we were tasked with practicing over the weekend however i was one of the only people that actually learnt it, so my group have been reset with the task.

in critical listening we have been looking at learning the modes and their uses on different types of genres and music. i found this really interesting as i didn't know very much about all of the modes until this lesson. i also found out about the ways that i could use them and how effective they are.

In band skills, we have been rehearsing our song and ironing out all of the problems with the teachers. i found this to be really effective with helping the band progress with the song, as i felt that we were stuck in a rut of regurgitating the same ideas. So we came up with a new a brand new  bassline, however i will go into more detail on this in a separate blog post.

In the odeon session there was an interview with Marianne Harris and number of bands, one of which was a black metal band called who saw the light.

section 2 - other/ personal study
i am currently trying to learn some of the modes. right now i am learning to use the mixolydian scale in my music. After i will then learn the lydian as this is effective for blues and funk playing so this will be the most effective for what i am trying to study at the moment.

Practice diary - Post 15

Section 1 – Practice updates
In technical development we have been looking at blues and modes and how to use them effectively. This was very interesting as i feel like i really need to start expanding my soloing skills.

in critical listening we looked a key intervals and using them effectively. i find this to be a very useful lesson as week by week, i have seen myself progress and get better at it.

In band skills, we have been rehearsing the song as an original cover and finding out what are the most important techniques that make the song what it is. We then broke down what all of the parts are to the song and what all of the musician would be doing. I found this to be very useful as it would allow us to build upon the song and develop it with no problems.

section 2 - other/ personal study
i am currently trying to learn 'sultans of swing' by dire straights. i am learning this, as i am really interested in the way that Mark Knopfler plays and what he does with the song. i have currently been watching a number of youtube videos of him playing and the use of his claw hand technique.

Live lounge task - rehearsals (1)

today, we met up in POD 3 to rehearse from 11 to 12:30. I found that this rehearsal went very well as we spent quite a lot of time reflecting on what we should do. originally, in band skills we decided that we were going to do a slow jazz version of 'sexual'. However, now we have settled on a disco/funk style. When rehearsing, we managed to get the guitar, bass and drums really tight with each other so that made it sound really funky. We also managed to change some part and improvise but still retain the same rhythm and beat of the song.

what to improve on:
i feel that we need to improve on remaining really tight and less busy with the parts that we are playing. I also feel that we need to change the layout of the song as it starts to get too repetitive.

Practice diary - Post 14

Section 1 – Practice updates
Throughout the whole week we have been attending our formative assesments for the different lessons and lectures. The first formative assessment that i attended was technical development. I feel like this performance went very, very well despite a small slip up when playing a power chord in the second task.

next, i attended band skills for my next formative assessment, in which i feel that this went really badly. i feel as if this was the worst performance that i have done to date at ACM. I have spoken about this in more detail in a separate blogpost. After, there was a couple of quiz's that i needed to complete in my different lessons. i feel that this went Ok. however their are some topics that i really want to work on and improve.

section 2 - other/ personal study
i am currently learning 'crazy train by randy Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne'. i have got about halfway to the solo of the song and i feel that i will have learnt this within about two weeks time.

(Tech Dev) Formative Assessment reflection - Monday

As part of our formative assessment week, we had been tasked with completing three different licks, scales and riffs in order to pass. The first thing that i had to play was an 'E Shaped' A major scale with third intervals in alternate picking (Extract 1). I had practiced this scale a lot over the coming weeks leading to the performance, so i didn't worry about it. over all o feel that performance went the best out of all of them as i was very hopeful that i could do it. The next thing that i had to play was a power chord performance piece (Extract 4). I had also been practicing this quite a lot and felt that i had it to a good standard, however i did make an error when i was playing the power chords further the neck as i played it to late, however this was just a minor error. The last thing that i had to play was an extract from 'Boys of summer' by The Ataris. i found this to be easy, however i did realise just after i performed it that i played the solo extract twice as long as i should have, but i don't really think that its anything to worry about.

Live Lounge task - Meeting with the producers

On Thursday, my band decided to meet up and discuss with the producers. After my lecture i went down to POD 3, where we all met up. It only took about 3 minutes for the first producer to appear (Our other producer didn't appear for the session as he was ill). We then discussed what we would be covering and how we would do it. We were only talking for a fairly short time as we had only booked the POD for 30 minutes, however in this time we did cover almost all of the important topics that we have been planning to discuss with the producers. So, the meeting went very well.

(Band Skills) Formative Assessment reflection - Wednesday

Throughout this week, we have been completing all of our formative assessments. On Wednesday, i played the set that i had been practicing with my band for my Band Skills performance. I really feel that this was the worst performance i have done to date at ACM.

In order to complete the assessment we had to play two different songs. The first one being 'Feeling good' by muse and the second being 'Boy of summer' by The Ataris.  I felt that the first song went OK despite a few mistakes, and the second being a very bad and embarrassing attempt from me. All of the problems started when i got on stage, as i accidentally tuned both of the guitars to the same tuning. This was one hell of a stupid mistake,  (my idea was to have two guitars, with one in E flat, so that i can just plug in and play with no problems having to tune half way in the performance.) I feel that this mistake was due to a sleeping problem that I have been experiencing over this past month. The night before the show, i only managed to get 3 hours sleep. The problem has been very severe, as some nights i have not been able to sleep at all and it is still ongoing. I feel that this has led to a much worse outcome for the performances this term.

We began the performance with a short run through of feeling good, as we were the first band on. I felt prepared for this and was wanting it all to run smoothly, however it didn't turn out that way. The first performance went OK for me, with the band being tight and in time. I didn't really experience any problems, up until the second song, When i got onstage and started playing the other guitar. The band kicked in with the first riff and i felt ready to go for it, however as i started to play the first three note of the intro, i knew that something was wrong.
I immediately started to tune my guitar with the tuner pedal that the college had provided, however i didn't realise that in order to tune my guitar to flat, the pedal had to display a small red dot next to the letter. So, i was tuning my guitar just above the E flat (which made it sound dreadfully out). I also ran into another problem when i asked Jacob if i could get a high E, however he was still in standard tuning as he was just playing the rhythm section of the song. So, i had no reference point with anyone.

I then just started to play, as i wanted to get off of the stage. The pressure had started to really get to me. I could see some audience member's and friend's faces screwed up in disapproval. At this point i just wanted to get out, as i knew that I was more than embarrassing myself. I had really lost the drive that i had between the first song, as i was kind of upset and surprised at how it had started to turn out. So i really didn't want to play.

I definitely feel that if i got a second chance of performing the song, I will have vastly improved upon the last performance, and change what the teacher expectations are of me now. I also feel that all of the performances that I have done for band skills have went down badly. With the first performance being dreadful, as i had guitarist who couldn't play the song (and has now left the college) and the bad circumstances of this one.

Since the performance, i have apologised to my band members, in which they took it kindly. However in the end, all i am letting down is myself.