Term 4 week 8

Guiding Question : How did my jazz ensemble assessment go ?

Music Theory Class :

In my opinion, my group and I did well in our jazz ensemble assessment this week. We were able to play the song fluently without making any major mistakes. We were also able to make the improvisation part of the song which I think was kind of good even though a little bit too simple. I feel happy because we got 9 for our group score and I got 10 for the individual score. However, I also think that the volume of the piano should have been reduced because it was kind of too loud and the sound of the guitar was not loud enough.

Music Instrument Class :

This week is our last week of music class and we had our last assessment on Wednesday. To prepare ourselves for this assessment, my group practiced together on Monday. We focused on making the intro and also the improvisation part of the song. I think, we can now play better compared to the first time we practiced and that we are not that bad even if compared to the other groups in my class. 

Practice video #14

This is our second practice together without the guitarist. I think, we still did the same as the previous practice and the problem was still the same, that the sound of the piano was kind of too loud and not balanced with the sound of the violins. I also think that this is still far from totally prepared because we still need to add the intro, improvisation and also the ending for our assessment. Therefore, we will focus on those things after this and also keep on practicing this song again. 

Practice video #13

In this video. I was practicing my assessment song, which is "Smile" together with my group mates. But, our group was not complete, the guitarist was absent in this practice. I think we did good in this practice and I also feel happy because we were able to play the song fluently without making any major mistakes. However, I found that the sound of the piano and the violins was not balanced. I think, the sound of the piano is too loud and that it should be reduced by a little. After this, I will keep on practicing together with my group to prepare us for the next assessment. 

Term 4 week 7

Guiding Question : What do I think about my jingle music ?

Music Theory Class ;

This week, we had to submit our jingle music and also the video. But, not all of us had submitted out works. My partner and I were able to submit our work, and I feel happy about it. I also think that our jingle music is good, but different from the others because our song is more like a fun song which can attract children. I think that this is good because if the children are attracted, they will then persuade their parents to bring them to this country. I also think that our video is quite good because we put some necessary texts to describe the pictures in the video.

Music Instrument Class ;

This week, we focused on our jazz ensemble group again. I think, my group has done well this week because we were able t play the whole song fluently and we also made some divisions of the parts for each of us. Even if there are two violinists in our group, we played different melody which made the song sounded better. We also played some background sounds or notes when the guitar was supposed to be the melody of the song. But then, there are still things that my group will need to work on. We still need to make the intro and also the improvisation part to complete our song. We will also need to do a lot more practices in order to be able to play it well and to get high score on the assessment later on.

Practice video #12

This is my second time to play "Smile" outside school. I think, I did better this time compared to my previous practice. This time, most of the notes that I played were on the right pitch and I made fewer mistakes compared to before. I was also able to remember almost all of the notes that I was supposed to play. Despite all of the good things, I also think that there are some things that I still need to work on. I still forgot some of the notes that I was supposed to play and there were still some notes which were slightly off pitch. Due to this, I will try to do a lot more practices again and I will also do practices together with my group mates to prepare us for the upcoming practical assessment.

Practice video #11

This week, I gathered with my jazz ensemble group mates and we decided to play "Smile" for our assessment later on. Because of this, I have to learn how to play this song and start to do practices on it. This is my first outside school practice on this song and I think I did bad this time because I hadn't memorized the melody of the song and I also made a lot of mistakes here. I think, I will need to do a lot more practices again for me to be able to play it fluently. I also need to pay attention on the pitch of the notes. 

Term 4 week 6

Guiding Question : How is my progress in the jazz ensemble ?

Music Theory Class :

This week, we were divided in to 3 different jazz ensemble group and each group got to decide the song that they wanted to play. My group chose to play "Smile" because we think that it is not a very hard song to play, but it's a really nice song. Soon after that, we started practicing per group and I think I did quite well in the practices this week and I also have memorized the song. On Monday, I was not able to play it fluently because it was my first time to play it. But on Wednesday, I was able to play it fluently and I even increased the tempo on my second practice. 

Music Instrument Class :

This week, me and my group practiced our song for the group jazz ensemble assessment later on, which is "Smile". On Monday, my group practiced together and we didn't do very well because we were all still learning how to play it. But then, on the second meeting, we did better. I was able to play well when accompanied by my instrument teacher and I feel happy about it. But, I haven't played together with my group because my group mate who plays the piano was still learning the chords and my other two group mates were absent. In other words, we did our practices separately. 

Practice video #10

This is my tenth practice on "Autumn Leaves". In the previous practice, I said that I wanted to work on my mistake which I had been making ever since the first practice, and I feel quite happy that I could actually reduce making that mistake. This time, my bow still touched the other string, but not as often as before, which means that I have improved my skill even if only by a bit. After this, I will just keep on practicing it over and over again.

Practice video #9

This is my ninth outside school practice for this term. Honesty, I feel happy but kinda disappointed with my practice this time. I feel happy because I think, almost all or all of the notes that I played were on the right pith. But, I also feel disappointed because I haven't improved on the other mistake that I've been making ever since the first practice, that my bow often touches the other string(s) that it is not supposed to touch. This is a quite big problem for me because it produces annoying sound the the song. Due to this, I will try to work on this mistake in my next practices.

Term 4 week 5

Guiding Question : How well did my singing assessment go ?

Music Theory Class :

On Monday, my class had our group singing assessment on a jazz song titled "Close to You". This song was originally sung by carpenters. We had one week to prepare ourselves for this assessment and each group consisted of 3 people, 2 girls and 1 boy. My group mates were olivia and also derrick. As soon as we knew our groups, we started to practice with our groups and my group had much help from our music instrument, Mr. Sadrakh. He helped us in making the harmonization to the song and he also accompanied us in our practices. After having quite enough practices, I think my group did really good in the assessment. We were all able to memorize the song and sang it well. I also feel happy that my group actually got the highest score in our class. I think, we could have done better if we had done more practices together.

Music Instrument Class :

This week, we only had one music instrument session because the music instrument class on monday was used for our group singing assessment. On Wednesday, me and also my other class mates used the short time that we had for the class to practice playing "Autumn Leaves". We chose to practice that because we want to prepare ourselves for our last practical assessment later on, which is the group jazz ensemble. It had been a while since we last practiced to play this song in the music instrument class, and I think we did quite good. We just need to do more practices on our own in order to be able to play it more fluently.

Practice video #8

This is my eight practice video for this term. Just like in the previous practices, I am still practicing "Autumn Leaves" in this video. As I said before, I want to focus on the pitch of the notes and I think I did quite good this time because there were only few notes which were too high and are not on the right pitch. After this, I will do a lot more practices and I still want to focus on the pitch and I will also try to make less mistakes compared to this time. 

Practice video #7

Since I didn't have any practices at school this week, I decided to have more practices at home. In this video, I was practicine "Autumn Leaves". This time I wanted to focus on the pitch of the melody and also try not to touch other strings that my bow shouldn't touch. I think, I did okay in this practice because most of the notes are on the right pitch and I was able to make less mistakes compared to before. After this, I will try to do more practices and try to focus on the same thing as this time. 

Term 4 week 4

Guiding Question : How does business and industry affect music-makers and users ?

Music Theory Class :
Nowadays, businesses sometimes use music in advertising their products. Music is used to catch people's attention through jingles which can promote them. Examples of businesses which have their own jingles are indofood, betadine, etc. This development also brings benefits to the music-makers as they have a new field for their jobs. They can get paid for making jingles for certain products. It also encourages the music the music-makers to be more creative in making or composing songs. Music can make the audiences be interested in the products that are being advertised.

Music Instrument Class :
This week, me and my group used the instrument class time to prepare us for the upcoming group singing assessment. We practiced to sing it for many times with our instrument teacher accompanying.  At first, we didn't sound so good. But, after doing practices for many times, we finally did well. After the class ended, we also kept on practicing because we want to do well in the assessment.

Practice video #6

In this video, I was practicing the same song again. But, I feel quite happy with my practice this time. In my opinion, most of the notes that I played were on the right pitch and only few of them were off pitch. I have also reduced making the mistakes that I made before. When I played the song, my bow still touched the other string sometimes, but not as often as before. Overall, I think that I have improved a little bit compared to my previous practices and I feel happy about it. But, I will still need to do a lot more practices so that I will be able to play the song better next time.

Practice video #5

This is my fifth practice in term 4. In this video, I was playiing "Autumn Leaves" in quite fast tempo. Just like in the previous practice, I also made some improvisation on the tempo this time. I think, I did not do very well in this practice because there were some notes which were too high and I also haven't improved much from the last practice that I did. I still made the same mistake as before, that my bow touched the other string when I was playing the song. Due to this reason, I think I will just keep on practicing the same thing again for my next practices until I can play the song flawlessly.

Term 4 week 3

Guiding Question : How have developments in technology changed the ways in which we engage with music ?

Music Theory Class :

Developments in technology have influenced the ways in which we engage with music. Before, people had to go to the opera house or some similar places to listen to music because that was the only way for them to be able to listen to music. But then, later on, they started to listen to music through phonograph record, cassette, then radio, and now through CD, iPod, mp3 player, and even online. These inventions / developments help us to be able to listen to music easily and now we can listen to music wherever we are and whatever we are doing. I also found out that there is a kind of mp3 player which can be played in water which can accompany us while doing water sports.

Music Instrument Class :

This week, I only had the instrument class once because the other session was used for the group slide presentation. In that one session, me and my classmates practiced to play "Autumn Leaves" with some improvisation on the rhythm. It was kind of hard at first, but after being taught by our teacher and practicing for quite many times, I don't think it's that hard. I think that I just need to do more practices to be able to play better.

Practice video #4

Just like in the previous videos, in this video, I was also practicing "Autumn Leaves". But, this time, I tried to play it in faster tempo. This is because my teacher asked me and my classmates to practice it that way. I think, I did quite well in this practice and I think most of the notes were played on the right pitch. However, there were still some notes which were played off pitch and when playing, sometimes I still touched the other string that I shouldn't have touched. This then made some unnecessary sounds. Due to this, I think I will have to do a lot more practices and also try to practice playing it in even faster tempo again.

Term 4 week 2

Guiding Question : What are the functions of music in society ?

Music Theory Class :
After doing some research and also group discussion on the functions of music in the society, I found out that music is a really essential thing in life. It is used by individuals to express their feelings, manipulate their moods, help them in studying, for relaxation, therapy, etc. It it also mentioned in a research that music can help a person to improve his / her academic performance. Music is also used by businesses in their advertisement through jingles for their products.

Music Instrument Class ;
Just like last week, this week I also practiced to play "Autumn Leaves" again. But, my teacher asked me and my classmates to play the song in faster tempo. At first, it was kind of hard to play it in faster tempo, but after some time, I was able to play it quite fluently. After this, I will just keep on practicing the song in fast tempo so that I will be able to play it flawlessly.

Practice video #3

In this video, I was trying to make some simple improvisation on the rhythm of the song. I don't think it's good enough though. I think, I will need a lot more practices before I can make some improvisation on the song. I also think that I will just focus on the melody of the song first instead of  making some improvisation because there were still some notes which were off pitch. After this, I will just continue practicing this song again.

Practice video #2

This is my second practice video for this term. In this video, I was playing "Autumn Leaves". I think, I have improved a little bit compared to my last practice. I was able to play the song more fluently. However, I am not yet able to play the song flawlessly, and I think I still need to do a lot more practices before I can play it perfectly. I will also try to play the song in my own rhythm, which is like an improvisation because my teacher told me to. After this, I will keep on practicing the same song again until I can do better. 

Practice video #1

This is my first practice in term 4. In this video, I was practicing to play "Autumn Leaves", one of the jazz songs that I can choose to play for my assessment later on. Since this is my first practice, I haven't played it flawlessly. I still made some mistakes which I will need to work on. There are also some notes which are off pitch. But, I also feel quite happy because I could at least play the whole song and I could memorize the song. I chose to play this song because it's a really popular song and I really like the song. After this, I will try to do more practices on the song in order to be able to play it more fluently. 

Term 4 week 1

Guiding Question : What is the role of music in your life ?

Music Theory Class :
For me, music is a really important thing. Without music, my life feels boring and not fun. I listen to music everyday when I am doing my works and also when I don't have anything else to do. I listen to music while I am doing my homework because I feel more relaxed if I listen to music. I also use music to help me expressing my feelings. I listen to music and I sing to them to express my emotions. Overall, music is a form of entertainment for me and I think my life will be empty without music.

Music Instrument Class :
In my music instrument class this week,  i learned to play "Autumn Leaves", one of the songs that I can play for the group ensemble performance later on. First, I read the notes and then I started to practice playing it in slow tempo. I think, I haven't done well in this week's classes, and I will needto do a lot more practices at home so that I can play better next time.

Term 3 week 10

Music Theory :
At the beginning of term 3, I did not know much about blues. But then, I started to learn about its history from the handouts that were given by my teacher. After learning its history, I also learned the elements of jazz and blues, especially improvisation. I learned how to improvise when playing jazz songs. At last, I learned to compose a 12 bars blues song and used finale software to help me in writing it. I also learned to improvise it by playing altogether with my friends. After my last performance, I have learned a lot of things about blues and jazz.

Music Instrument Class :
This week was my last week of term 3 music classes before my practical assessment. In my instrument class on monday, I practiced to play my composition with m classmates. I did not have class on wednesday because the session was used for my assessment. I am also happy because finally this week I could play my song fluently and I think I didn't make many mistakes.

Practice video #19

This is one of my last practices before my practical assessment this week. In this practice, I think I did quite well and I think I am quite prepared for the assessment because I have memorized the song and I am also able to play it quite fluently. But, I will just keep on practicing it until the day of my assessment. 

Practice video #18

I think, my practice this time is not that different from my previous practice. My skill in playing my song is also still the same. After this, I will try to do a lot more practices again because I really want to play it perfectly and I don't want to make any mistakes on my assessment later on.

Practice video #17

In this video, I was practicing my own blues composition again. I think, I have improved my skill in playing it by a little bit this time. I was able to play it quite fluently and didn't make any major mistakes. I was also able to play the Eb notes correctly. But, I think I will still need to do more practices in order to get a really good result.

Practice video #16

In this video, I was practicing my 12 bars blues composition. I think, my skill has not improved from my last practice. I don't know why it is so hard for me not to touch the other string while playing on the other string and I am still struggling with it even though I have been practicing for long time. I will try to practice this again and again, especially that part so that I can play better next time.

Practice video #15

This video is one of my practice videos. I think, I haven't done enough practices cause I still made mistakes in the practice. I was able to play the Eb notes, but I still touched the G string when I was playing on the D string. After this,  I will practice playing my song again in order to be able to play it more fluently.

Practice video #14

I feel quite disappointed with my practice this time because I feel that i haven't improved my skill from my last practice. I think, I still made the same mistake as before, that I sometimes touched the other string when I played some notes. I think I will just keep practicing my 12 bars blues composition because I will have my practical assessment this week.

Practice video #13

In this video, I was practicing my 12 bars blues composition again in order to prepare me for my next practical assessment. I think I did quite well in this practice, but not yet perfect. I still made few mistakes when moving from one string to another. But, I feel happy because I could finally play the Eb notes correctly. After this, I will keep on practicing it again so that I can play everything fluently and at the right pitch.

Term 3 week 9

Music Theory :
After learning about blues and also its elements for few months, I now understand more about them. I have also gained my knowledge about improvisation from the activities that I do in my class. I understand that in doing improvisation, I can play any notes that I want to play as long as the chords are the same. I have actually tried improvisation by playing my composition with my classmates. We play our compositions by taking turns and also play them all at the same time.

Music Instrument Class :
Just like in the previous weeks, I still practiced playing my 12 bars blues again this week. In my opinion, I have improved my skill a little bit because I have been practicing regularly for the last few weeks. Now, I am able to play my song quite fluently and most of the notes are at the right pitch.

Practice video #12

In this video, I was still practicing the same thing as the previous practice video. But, I think I have improved a little bit. In my song, there are two parts of it which have the note Eb, and in this video I was able to play the first part quite well, but I still had to stop for a while before playing the second part. Therefore, I will just keep on practicing my own composition again until I can play it more fluently and correctly.

Practice video #11

This is my eleventh practice video for this term. In this video, I was still racccticing my own blues composition    in order to prepare me for my next practical assessment in which I will have to play my 12 bars blues composition in front of my class with my instrument classmates. I think, I did quite well in this practice as I was able to play Eb notes instead of E. However, I dont think this is good enough because this time, I had to stop for a while when I wanted to play Eb notes because I hesitated and I was scared that I would play E again. After this, I am just going to continue practicing the same song again as I want to prepare myself for the next assessment.

Practice video #10

As I had mentioned in my last practice video, I would just keep on practicing the same thing over and over again. In this video, I was practicing my composition again. After listening to it, I think I still made the same mistakes as in the last video and I haven't improved my skill yet. I think I will need a lot more practices in order to improve my skill and to avoid making the same mistakes again. So, I will probably still be practicing the same thing again next time because I don't think this is already good enough for my assessment.

Practice video #9

This is a video of myself practicing my whole 12 bars blues composition. I am still practicing it over and over again because I still made mistakes in my previous practice. This time, I think I have played better than before, but I still made some mistakes which I need to work on again. The E flat notes were still a little bit too high, I think. Other than that, there was one time when my bow touched the other string, which shouldn't have happened. Therefore, I think I will just keep on practicing the same thing over and over again until I can play my song more fluently. 

Term 3 week 8

Music Theory :
Blues music is one of the music genres which gave influence in the early development of jazz music. The chords and also the 12 bars template that are being used in jazz music were developed with inspiration from blues music which had been developed long before jazz music was found and was formed. Many jazz musicians also got their inspirations in writing their jazz songs / compositions from blues music. That is the reason why there are similarities between blues and jazz music.

Music Instrument Class :
Just like what I did in the past few weeks, this week I did the same thing as before, which was practicing my own composition. I practiced in front of my classmates and also my violin teacher. After showing it to him, he said that I just need to practice more on my own, but it was already okay. After this, I am just going to practice my composition again until I can play it better and more fluently.

Practice video #8

Since I had practice every part of my song at fast tempo before, I am now trying to practice the whole song at the same tempo so that I can play it more fluently. In this video, I was playing my whole song at the tempo that I will follow for my practical assessment later on. In my opinion, I have not played it fluently and I still made some mistakes, especially in playing the E flat. Therefore, I will just keep on practicing the same thing again and again until I can play better than this. 

Practice video #7

In this video, I was practicing the next part of my song, which is the third 4 bars of it. I tried to play it with the tempo that I will follow on my assessment later on. I think, I played it well and the only mistake that I made was when I played the last note in my song. When I was playing that note, my bow still touched the string beside it which is the G string. After this, I am going to try to practice playing the whole song at this tempo.

Practice video #6

In this video, I was practicing the second 4 bars of my blues composition at the same tempo as my last practice for the first four bars of my song. I think, I will need more practices to play it again because it was not yet that good. After I tried to listen to it for sometime, I found out that I still touched the other string, which is the G string once and I think I can stop making that mistake over and over again by doing more practices. 

Practice video #5

In this video, I was trying to practice the first 4 bars of my song again, but in faster tempo which I think will be the tempo for my assessment later on. Since it is the first time for me to play it this fast, it was not yet perfect. I tried to listen to it and I think there was a note which was a little bit too high, but the rest was okay. After this, I will also try to play the other parts of my composition in this tempo.

Practice video #4

In this video, I tried to practice my whole composition from beginning to the end in slow tempo. I think, I still need to work on it again because I still made some mistakes. If I'm not mistaken, my bow touched other strings three times in this practice. Therefore, I am just going to continue practicing the same thing again after this until I can play it better.

Practice video #3

In this video, I was practicing the third four bars of my song. Just like in my previous practices, I still practice my song in a slow tempo because I want to be familiar with it first and try to play it fluently before increasing the tempo later on. I actually made a mistake in this practice, when I was playing one of the notes, my bow also accidentally touched the other string and made some noises. After this, I will do more practice on this part and also try to practice the whole song.

Practice video #2

This video is a video of me practicing the second 4 bars of my composition. This time, I still practiced in slow tempo because i am not yet that fluent in playing it. However, this video doesnt show the 5th bar of my song because it was not recorded somehow, it's more on technical issues. I think I did not make any mistakes in this video, therefore I will continue practicing the third four bars of my song later on.

Practice video #1

In this video, I was practicing the first 4 bars of my own blues composition in slow tempo. Since I still practiced it in slow tempo, it was quite easy and I didn't actually make any mistakes. After this, I will try to practice the second 4 bars of my composition. 

Term 3 week 7

Music Theory :
This week, I had general rehearsal in front of the class twice. I played my own composition and I think I have improved on the second time I played. At first, I was totally nervous when playing the song and I also made some mistakes. On the second time, I still made few mistakes because it was the first time for me to play in ensemble with my class mates. I think I have become better and more fluent in playing my own composition. After this, I will try to practice more and more so that I can play better.

Music Instrument class :
In my instrument classes, I also practiced my own 12 bars blues composition and I also needed to show it to my instrument teacher. After I played it infront of my teacher, he told me that I had played it well and that I just need to do more practice. Luckily, he didn't say or tell me that I had made mistakes in playing it.

Term 3 week 6

Music Theory :
This week, I composed my song, which is the 12 bars blues. In composing the song, I had some challenges. First of all, I found it hard to start writing my composition because I had no idea on what to write. Then, it was also hard for me to write the other notes even after I had started my composition. I was worried that the notes which I used in my composition would not fit with the chords and if the song would sound nice. After I finished writing the song, I listened to it for many times until I felt that the song was okay and I also asked my teachers to check my composition and give comments about it.

Music Instrument class :
This week, I asked my teacher to check my composition and to give comments on it. After I fixed my composition because there were some mistakes, I started to look at the composition and tried to think of where the notes are located on violin. I didn't have time to practice in my instrument class this week, therefore I will try to practice my song at home and also in class next week.

Term 3 week 5

Music Theory :
So far, I have learned the basic format / template of blues compositions. I learned the chords that are commonly used in composing blues songs. I also learned that blues songs are usually upbeats. After learning all these things, I tried to apply the concept that I have learned by doing some exercises to compose blues songs with the chords given. It was a bit hard, but after sometime I could finally do it. After doing some exercises, I was asked to compose a 12 bars blues composition which needs to be submitted next week. So, I learned to apply all the things that I learned about blues in making composition.

Music Instrument class :
This week, I practiced to play "fly me to the moon" again because we haven't played it very fluently. After playing that song for quite long time, me and my classmates now can play the song quite fluently. I also continued composing my 12 bars blues composition which has to be submitted next week. I am not yet sure about my composition and I am still reconsidering to change my composition.

Term 3 week 4

Music Theory :
So far, I have done 2 essays about jazz music and also 1 singing assessment. From the two essays, I have learned about the background information about jazz music, which includes the history of jazz, types of jazz, important elements of jazz music, especially improvisation, and many other things. From the singing assessment I also learned samples of jazz songs and also how to sing jazz songs. In singing and playing jazz songs, I think we need to be more expressive because it's supposed to be a way of expressing our feelings.

Music Instrument class :
This week, I still learned how to play the song "Fly me to the moon". We practiced together with tempo which was a bit faster. However, I still need a bit more practices because I still made some mistakes. After this, I am going to continue practicing this song so that I can play better. I need to practice it because it will be one of the preparations for my practical assessment later on.

Term 3 week 3

Music Theory :
On Monday, we first discussed about the essay on the beginning of Jazz.After that, we were given task booklet for this semester by our music theory teacher. We read it together and also discussed it together. At last, we were given the glossary of jazz. On Wednesday, we practiced to sing two jazz songs. Since the first week of music class this semester, I have learned the history of jazz and also some samples of jazz songs. I also learned to sing two jazz songs which are popular. Lastly, I have also learned to play a jazz song with my instrument. Other than that, I also learned about the glossary of jazz which is really important and useful for me. Next on I will make an essay about jazz to improve my understanding on it.

Music Instrument class :
This week, me and my classmates learned to play a jazz song which is pretty popular. The title of the song is "Fly me to the moon". Since I have searched the melody of the song last week, I just needed to look at those notes and play them. The notes were not that hard to be played and now I am able to play it even if it's not that good. Even though I'm not yet able to improvise in playing it, at least I am able to play the melody of the song.

Term 3 week 2

Music Theory :
I learned that jazz was first introduced in New Orleans, America in early 1800s. It was introduced by the African-American people who were enslaved for a long time. I also learned about the big band era. I learned that in the big band, there was a really popular musician named Benny Goodman. He was also called as the "King of Swing" because he was really good at playing swing. There were also a lot more musicians who were really good at playing jazz music. I learned that jazz musicians used musical instrument in unique ways and different from the classical music era.

Music Instrument class :
This week, I only had one session of music instrument class because we had holiday on Monday. In the music instrument class today, me and my classmates needed to start looking for the melody of the song titled "Fly me to the moon". It was not that hard because it was available on the internet. From this task, I also learned about chords because I could see which notes are in certain chords.

Term 3 week 1

Music Theory :
This week, we learned about the beginning  / history of jazz through handouts that were given by our teacher and also his explanations in class. I learned that jazz was first introduced in New Orleans, America by the African-American people. They developed this music genre with inspiration from spiritual songs. The musicians played the same instruments played during the classical music era, but in unique ways. In jazz music, improvisation is a really important thing because the musicians need to know how to improvise in playing jazz songs. We also heard some samples of jazz songs from youtube in class. I think, I learned a lot of new things about jazz which I wasn't familiar with from the music lesson this week.

Music Instrument class :
During the instrument class time, we didn't actually have music instrument class. That is because we wathed our teachers' performance on one of the popular jazz songs titled "Autumn Leaves". From that performance, I learned that improvisation is really important in jazz music and to be able to improvise in playing jazz music, we have to first master the music instrument.