Weekly Solo Set & Rehearsal Diary - Week 1

For the solo sets, I had decided to Bella's Lullaby - Cater Burwell from the the movie 'Twilight' on piano and to play Ah Feeling - Lead Pipe & Saddis using a steel tenor pan. I chose to do these songs because they are very contrasting from instruments, genre, tempo etc. 

Because I have steel pans every Thursday, I am only able to learn and practice once a week. This Thursday, we had learnt the introduction to the song. We only got that far because the introduction has a lot of runs e.g. chromatic scales and arpeggios. This was hard because there is a lot of movement around the pan  which made it harder to remember. There are two different types of runs which are chromatic scale descending and octave starting on Bb and two arpeggios.


Since I had learnt Bella's Lullaby previously, I only remembered certain parts. So I went on YouTube, and re learnt the parts that I had forgotten. I also hadn't learnt part of the song properly as I had learnt it by ear, so I re learnt it to sound like the original. I had difficulty with one of the parts that I had to re learn because I was so used to the way I had learnt it before.

For next week, I want to be able to play 6 sections of the run at normal speed or all 8 at a slow speed. I want to be able to fluently go from the verse into the pre chorus with out any mistakes 

Week 6 Summer Gig Run Through

On the 21st May, we had a run through of the songs we want to do for the summer gig. We did this to get feedback from our peers and also staff. Also, it helped us see what we need to improve on and maybe change.

Unstoppable - 

I felt that the song went well throughout. However, I felt like the songs dynamics weren't clear enough and the horn section wasn't strong enough. So I think I need to make a more elaborate horn section so we can get the most out of the instrument. We also need go through the song and need to make sure each section is different from each other so there it is clear to the listener that it is a new section. 

Save Me (Orignal) -

In beginning, I start the song but the tempo drastically slows done once Erica starts singing. So when we practice, we need to work out a happy medium between the two tempos. We also need to work on the structure of the song and find a clear ending of the song so it is a solid end.

Golden -

When we performing this song silly mistakes were made. For example, the 'latin' section and the ending wasn't counted correctly which made it sound messy. However, I'm confident if we only work on those parts until they are correct then it will make the whole song sound tight. We also need to work on the horns section because it sounds very empty. I will listen to live performances of this song and distinguish what the horn section is doing. I will then use that for inspiration when making my own horn section. 

Half Way Point

In the beginning, my plan was to arrange 4 songs of my choice and to then perform them in the final performance. On top of that, I was helping other people with their chords for their own songs. I then realised that, I was spending more time on other people's work then on my own. So I made the decision, to just pick one person and dedicate my time just to them. 

I chose to work with Erica and be an arranger/MD for the songs she wanted do in the style of neo soul. The songs that we are hoping to perform are Golden - Jill Scott, Unstoppable - Lianne La Havas and an original. 

At week 4, Erica and I did a joint presentation as both of our projects overlap with each other but are looked at from different aspects.

We did this presentation in front of our peers so they would be able to ask us questions about our project and to also give us feedback on what we should do in the remaining weeks we have. 

Practice

In this practice, we had just learnt the samba/latin section. We added this part because we wanted there to be a change of feel since its the same chords repeated. I think what we need to work on is dynamics and also work with the horn section on timing and also making variation between verses and choruses.

First Practice

MP 2 - 22. 01.16

This week, I focused on re playing in the chords to fix the timing and to make it more accurate since not all the notes in the 7th chords were played at the same time, every time. 

After I finish that, I hope to work on a bass line and to fix the vocal line (timing and levels)

Final Collaborative Performance Project - The Proposal

For the final project, I am planning to arrange four songs and perform them with other people within my class. 

As a session player, mainly for piano, I am able to easily work out chord progressions of songs by ear. I would like to extend my skill by listening more deeper into the song then just the overlaying chord progressions. I can do this by also working out other things e.g.  the bass line, horn/ string section. After doing that, I will be able to change the song slightly to show a difference between the original and the arrangement. I then plan to lead a band into learning and performing the songs that I would have arranged. 

For my research, I will listen to the original song by the artist and then compare it to covers that other people have done of that song. I will compare the styles used, if the tempo has been changed, if different instruments have been used etc. I will also listen to instrumentals of the song so I can listen to the song without any vocals to single out any counter melodies that I may have missed. 

In order to achieve the goals that I have set for myself, I will need to develop my knowledge with harmonising chords, way to tell my ideas to the band, be able to take leadership with my band and to be able to be able to analyse the song well enough to know what to change. Throughout the 8 weeks, I will set weekly targets that I like to meet.

Week 1 - I will use this week to research and get a selection of songs from different types of                genres that I could possibly arrange. I would have asked the people who I would                    like to perform in my band
Week 2 - I will have the four songs that I would want to arrange and start arranging them on                 Logic 
Week 3 - By the end of the week, I would have finished the first song and I would like to also                practice with my band. 
Week 4 - By the end of the week, I would have finished the second song and I would like to also                practice with my band. I would also practice the previous songs
Week 5 - By the end of the week, I would have finished the third song and I would like to also                practice with my band. I would also practice the previous songs 
Week 6 - By the end of the week, I would have finished the fourth song and I would like to also                practice with my band. I would also practice the previous songs
Week 7 -  I would bounce down all the logic tracks I had done and any rehearsal videos we                    had filmed 
Week 8 - Final Practice 

Bibliography; 

Elliott, M. (2011) Adding flavor to chords - major and minor 7ths - Basix. Available at: http://music.tutsplus.com/articles/adding-flavor-to-chords-major-and-minor-7ths-basix--audio-12081 (Accessed: 28 April 
2016).

Chordbook (2016) Harmonised Major Scale seventh chords. Available at: http://chordbook.com/learn-guitar/harmonised-major-scale-seventh-chords/ (Accessed: 23 May 2016).

patdavidmusic (2011a) Understanding: 7th chords. Major, minor, dominant, diminished. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Db4wlA8az0 (Accessed: 23 May 2016).

How to turn any (pop) song into a jazz song? (2016) Available at: http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/4015/how-to-turn-any-pop-song-into-a-jazz-song (Accessed: 15 April 2016).

Chordbook (2016) Harmonised Major Scale seventh chords. Available at: http://chordbook.com/learn-guitar/harmonised-major-scale-seventh-chords/ (Accessed: 23 May 2016).

Evaluation of The Easter Gig

On the ......., my group and I performed Never Forget You - MNEK ft Zara Larson, a mash up of Say My Name - Destiny's Child and Drunk Texting - Chris Brown. We also performed an original.

We had started with the original and because we were the last group to perform, certain equipment wasn't in the right place. for example, the pedal was attached to the FP4 on the other side of the stage so I had to walk across the stage which didn't look nice. I think it would of been better if the singers would of engaged with the audience. Watching it back, the music didn't sound empty, but the way we set ourselves looked very empty so I think for next time we need to think more about our stage plan.
In the beginning of the song, I had connected the pedal to the wrong hole which changed the way the pedal worked. Next time I need to double check that I have connect everything properly. Also, the personal monitor that I used wasn't turned up load enough so I couldn't hear myself but I managed to change that in the small break we had in between songs.

The second song that we performed was Say My Name/ Drunk Texting. Before the song started, Leonie Guitar/ Bass Player had to swap sides because the guitar and bass amp were on two separate sides of the stage so that took more time then I would of liked it to be. Also, I think the group could of come up with a signal to let people know when they're ready because this would avoid starting then stopping because someone isn't ready. Since the band before us used the TC Helicon, it created problem for one of our singers which was't intended. So one of the members of the previous band had to come on stage and sort out it out since we didn't know how to use it. I think we weren't at fault, however I think that it could of been dealt with differently. I think for next time during sound check we should make sure that the levels are correct and to maybe ask the group before what they had done and make a note so we know how to change it to home we need it. 
For the beginning, we used logic and a midi keyboard for samples from the song Drunk Texting which is heard in the beginning of the original song. At the time, I thought it was fine because everything from where I was standing. However, when watching it back, you couldn't hear the sample that was played in the beginning. Also, I realised when watching it back, lower end of keyboard wasn't loud enough. Because of this, it was sounded liked something was missing.

For our final song, we performed Never Forget You. When performing the song it sounded good from where I standing. However, when we finished the song, we realised that the backing tracking wasn't playing and only the click track which was only heard for the drummer. We don't know why it wasn't played since we had used it before hand but it wasn't noticeable that there was something missing. Also, when watching it back, I realised my fingers tend to slip when playing a melody or chords. So for next time, I need work on my accuracy when playing.

Overall, I think our set went very considering the technical difficulties that we had.

Case Study; Jill Scott - Golden

For my case study, I'm analysing what makes the song and I realised that because the ensemble is not rhythmically complex, it allows the vocal line to be more complex for example the repeated line of 'Living my life like it's golden'. This phrase is repeated 5 times but is using triplets in a 4/4 time signature. By doing this, it fills the gaps made by the ensemble. 

The original chords are Eb/ Db F F# Bb (F#maj7)
C#/ C Eb F Ab (Ab 6)

B/ Bb C# Eb F# (F#6)

Bb/ Ab C C F (Db Maj7)

Ab/ G Bb C Eb (Eb 6)

F#/ F Ab Bb C# (Db 6)

F/ G Bb C Eb (Eb 6)
Eb/ F# Ab Bb C# (F# add 9)

These chords sound complex because of the clashes made by making different inversions of the root chord and also that added 7th/9th changes the tonality of the original chords.

These are the original chords; 

Right	F#maj7	Ab 6	F#6	Db Maj7	Eb 6	Db 6	Eb 6	F# add 9
Left	Eb	C#	B	Bb	Ab	F#	F	Eb

These are the basic chords that may have been used;

Right	Bbm	Ab	F#	Fm	Eb	Db	Eb	F#
Left	Eb	C#	B	Bb	Ab	F#	F	Eb

From listening to both the simple and complex version, they both sound the same with the slight difference of richness with in the chords.