Selasa, 21 Februari 2012

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.

Rabu, 08 Februari 2012

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.