Monday, May 27, 2013

Term 4 Week 7 Practice Video 2

My Youtube Video

In this video, I played the second guitar for the song "Slide Walts" by H. J. Ellis. This was sort of boring to play because it was just easy chords.

Term 4 Week 7 Practice Video 1

My Youtube Video

In this video I played the same song as I did last week. I did this again for my practice video because I really want to be fluent in this song, therefore I try to practice more. I think I did better in the beginning of the song, but in the middle it was horrible.

Term 4 Week 6 Practice Video 2

My Youtube Video

In this video I played the melody of "Slide Walts" by H. J. Ellis. This is a piece from the Yamaha Classic Guitar Course 1 book. This is originally a duet. I love this song because of its complexity. I love how there's a lot of new techniques that I'm not fluent in yet, like sliding and slurs.

Term 4 Week 6 Practice Video 1

My Youtube Video

In this video I played the role of Guitar II in the song "Polka" by J. Kuffner. Playing this was not hard because there are only chords in this part and even though there is a little bit of plucking, the position was already set so I didn't have to move my fingers and things like that.

Term 4 Week 7 (21 - 23 May 2013)

THEORY

On Tuesday, we continued the MDW. I wasn't able to finish it before lunch time because there was a lot of pages I didn't fill in yet, I was only able to finish one and a half pages.
On Wednesday, Mr. John gave us time to fill in more of the MDW, but in the last 15 minutes of the theory session, he taught us about tempos and beats and he asked every one of us if we could tap the beats according to the actual beats he wrote on the board. I liked learning this because it wasn't that hard and I've learned it before.
On Thursday, we tried to finish the MDW again. Mr. John told us that we have time until next Tuesday. I was very grateful for that because I wasn't done at all, especially the screenshots of the videos and things like that.

INSTRUMENT

On Tuesday, we didn't have instrument class, but instead we practiced playing the violin. Mr. Herry took over the instrument class. He asked us to copy down the melody of "Janger Bali". I think this one is definitely more difficult than "Suwe Ora Jamu" because the melody is faster and there a lot of notes in one bar. It's hard for me to read it fast. For Violin 2, Mr. Herry asked us to play the first three notes in every bar so we can get used to the speed. After that, we did a run-through. And then we combined "Janger Bali" and "Suwe Ora Jamu" and "Janger Bali" again. I love the medley, it sounded really cool.
On Wednesday, we didn't have instrument class and we practiced violin again in the main music class. Today Mr. Herry gave us a new music sheet with the whole medley of the Indonesian folk songs if I'm not mistaken. Playing this was hard because there was a combination of pizzicato and arco and it was hard for me to move on to the next few bars because I have to play the notes well since we're playing in the Grade 12 graduation.
On Thursday, we practiced playing the violin again, but this time Mr. Sadrakh sort of took over. He played the piano while Mr. John played the guitar and Mr. Herry recorded everything. It was very fun because we played the whole thing and it sounded really good with each other. I think I have problems with where to put my finger when I'm supposed to play A1 or D2 and stuff like that.

Term 4 Week 5 Practice Video 2

My Youtube Video

In this video I was playing the role of the Guitar I of the song "Polka" by J. Kuffner. This is originally a duet. I think this song wasn't hard to play because I practiced a lot and I really like it.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Term 4 Week 5 Practice Video 1

My Youtube Video

In this video, I played "Tango" by J. Ferrer from the Yamaha Classic Guitar Course. This was difficult for me to play because the tempo was confusing me with the 3 notes in one beat. There are also slurs which I'm still kind of not used to. The positions are new to me as well so I have to get used to them and I also have to practice more at home.

Term 4 Week 4 Practice Video 2

My Youtube Video

In this video, I played "Andante" by F. Carulli from the Yamaha Classic Guitar Course 1 Book. I think this was sort of hard to play because of the various intervals and the different positions. I'm very unfamiliar with it, therefore playing a lot of mistakes in the video.

Term 4 Week 4 Practice Video 1

My Youtube Video

In this video, I played "Allegretto" by D. Aguado from the Yamaha Classic Guitar Course 1 Book. Similar like the previous week's video, I think the notes were easy to read, but I have to be careful with the fingers and also the new positions on different strings. I also learned that a note with the lower stem has to be louder than the notes with the upper stem.

Term 4 Week 2 Practice Video 2

My Youtube Video

In this video I played "Melodia" by F. Sor from the Yamaha Classic Guitar Course 1 Book. I think the notes in this song was easy to read and play, but in the book it states which finger I should use (p, i, m, a) which was sort of hard to do.

Term 4 Week 2 Practice Video 1

My Youtube Video

In this video I played "Ballade" from the Yamaha Classic Guitar Course 1 Book. I think I didn't do very well in this video because I know I lacked practice at home.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Term 4 Week 6 (14 - 16 May 2013)

THEORY

On Tuesday, Mr. John was absent so Mr. Herry was the substitute teacher. We listened to the different Jingles our friends made. My group's jingle went first and then after that Mr. Herry asked the others for feedback. Some people said it's catchy, but some didn't. I think all of them said it was very simple, someone said too simple in fact. Some people also think that my group's melody lacks dynamic and it sounds boring, but since it's for an airline commercial (or a commercial in an airplane) I think it's supposed to be soothing and relaxing.
On Wednesday, Mr. John was absent again. We had to continue our MDW so far in the week. After that, Mr. Herry asked us to copy down the melody of "Suwe Ora Jamu" in our music books. Then he asked to borrow the violins and then we started practicing. First, we practiced similar like yesterday; we practiced how to play the A-string, but we also practiced the E, D, and G-string. I had trouble with that because of the same squeaky sound that was produced by my horrible bowing.
On Thursday, we practiced the same thing but this time with variation. We learned how to play argo and pizzicato in the violin. It was very fun to play this because I like learning new things.

INSTRUMENT

On Tuesday, we didn't have instrument class because we still had to discuss the jingles. Right after that, we discussed our new assessment: playing a song with a string instrument, which is the violin. Today we mostly practiced the A-string. I think playing the violin is hard because every time I try to play there's always a squeaky sound.
On Wednesday, we didn't have instrument class because we had to practice our violin-playing. After recess, Mr. Herry divided the parts into Violin 1 and Violin 2. Violin 1 will be played by the ones who take violin instrument class, while Violin 2 will be played by the ones who aren't familiar. So we started and finished the "Suwe Ora Jamu" melody. I think it sounded really good, even though it's not perfect. I should definitely practicing on my bowing, but I don't know how to do that because I don't have a violin at home.
On Thursday, we didn't have instrument class, but we practiced more of the violin again. 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Term 4 Week 1 Practice Video 2

My Practice Video
In this video, I played Bunda again because I know I'm lacking the practice. I think in this video, I did a better job than I did in the previous one because I didn't hesitate as much in this video.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Term 4 Week 5 (7 - 9 May 2013)

THEORY

On Tuesday, we worked on our Finale. I couldn't finish it at home because I couldn't find the time, so I continued it with Eun Joo and Pinka. In the beginning, the measure was 4/4 but in my melody it was supposed to be 3/4 so I had to redo it because I didn't know how to change it. Once I clicked 3/4, it still didn't work, so we decided to do it through Pinka's laptop and it finally worked. After Instrument class, we were still not done, so Pinka took my music book so she could finish it at home.
On Wednesday, there wasn't any music class because we had to attend a seminar.
On Thursday, there wasn't any music class because it was Ascension Day.

INSTRUMENT

On Tuesday, we didn't play any songs, but instead we listened to Mr. John playing the guitar.

Term 4 Week 1 Practice Video 1

In this video, I practiced what Mr. John taught me this week: Bunda. I don't think I'm fluent yet because I know I'm lacking practice, but I will practice more.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Term 4 Week 4 (30 April - 2 May 2013)

THEORY

On Tuesday, we had the singing assessment. Eun Joo, Pinka, and I were the second group to perform. When it was our turn, I felt very nervous because I was pretty sure that I lacked practice at home, so in the first round I was very unsure of myself and I hesitated a lot, therefore creating a sort of humming noise and it didn't sound good. Mr. John knew what happened and he told us not to be shy and if we made a mistake we should just move on, so he gave us another chance and we definitely sang better compared to the first one, thanks to Mr. John's advice. I'm satisfied because I actually remembered the lower harmonies. Oh and in the end, Pinka decided to the lower harmonies with me because she couldn't reach the higher harmonies, and Mr. John was okay with that.
On Wednesday, we learned about chord progressions. Mr. John showed us different kinds of way to play the chord C and it was very fun to learn. Also, it is very useful in making the jingle since we had to put the chords as well.
On Thursday, I worked on my jingle because my goal this term was to not procrastinate so yeah, I did. It was difficult for me to compose something without playing a musical instrument at the same time, so I decided to go to the piano and write the melody. For today, I've done 8 bars out of 16 bars. I think that's pretty good, considering what I've done last term (which was procrastinate a term long). I think my work's in good progress because I've made the chords along with the notes and I'm quite proud of it.

INSTRUMENT

On Tuesday we didn't have instrument class because we had the singing assessment.
On Wednesday, we didn't have instrument class because we had to continue on learning the chord progressions.
On Thursday, we didn't have instrument class because we had to start on our draft of our jingle.

Term 4 Week 3 (23 - 25 April 2013)

No music class this week because of UN.

Term 4 Week 2 (16 - 18 April 2013)

THEORY

There was no music class on Tuesday because of the UN Tryout.
On Wednesday, we started working on our new assessment: singing an Indonesian song, which in this case, was "Tanah Air" by Ibu Soed. I have loved this song since I was very young, so I had no problems with the lyrics and the melody. Mr. John and Mr. Hary told us that we should sing this with different voices (therefore creating a group), so since I was in a group with Eun Joo and Pinka, Eun Joo sang the normal voice, Pinka sang the higher harmony, while I sang the lower harmony. All of tried to sing the normal one first and then we also tried to sing the higher harmony with Mr. Hary and Mr. John. In my opinion, finding the higher harmony was not hard, but not easy either because when I think I've found the right note, it sounds weird combined with the normal one. I definitely should practice more in finding the different harmonies.
On Thursday, we continued practicing on the singing, but this time instead of the higher harmony, we practiced the lower harmony. Since I had to sing this part, pressure was on me because finding the lower harmony was very difficult and I've always had that struggle. I couldn't have find the lower harmony without Mr. Hary's help, so I thank God for him. To improve, I should practice at home. Today is also the due date of the essay on the topic of how music can influence other people. I sort of liked doing that essay because I love music and it affects me so much, especially my feelings and emotions, etc.

INSTRUMENT

On Wednesday we didn't have instrument class because we had to practice the singing, since next week there is no music class.
On Thursday, we only had a few minutes of instrument class because like yesterday, we spent our time singing. But when I went to instrument class, I still practiced "Tanah Air" with Eun Joo because I was frustrated on not finding the lower harmony.