SUMMARY
For my Smart Goal of April 2022, I wanted to learn to play some of the guitar parts to Deftones’ My Own Summer. The segments of this song I wanted to learn were segments I chose because I believed they would require only slightly more skill than that of my Smart Goal for last month. This decision was made in an effort to be realistic about my rate of change. I would come to realize the most necessary change for me was a change in speed and a better understanding of how to read time when it comes to a musical context.
PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY
Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)
Ricky Olson/Ricky Horror
Ricky has been an active member of the band Motionless in White since the year 2009. This time was spent alternating between the roles of supporting vocalist, bassist, and guitarist. Despite referring to several sources, the details of his journey as an instrumentalist are too vague to recount.
Monte Money
My discovery of Monte’s career as a guitarist was through his role as guitarist in the band Escape the Fate. His guitar experience began when he was fourteen during the year 2004 when his grandfather bought him his first guitar. That same year he founded Escape the Fate with friends of his and remained a member till the year 2013.
Alex Garcia
Alex Garcia was someone I became aware of through listening to the band Mayday Parade. Similar to Ricky Olson, his journey as an instrumentalist is not well documented online. However, I was able to find a very brief description. “After basic training and convincing that it was possible, Alex pursued joining a band. After a short break, he returned with specific interests and goals in learning the fretboard, becoming a lead guitarist, and honing his songwriting skills.” (littletonguitarschool.com)
Training Source(s)
SMART Goal Schedule
Similarly to the practice schedule used for last month’s Smart Goal project, my schedule was largely intuitive. I would require myself to fulfill a minimum of 15 minutes of practice a day from the beginning of the project. This was time spent reviewing the material and generally practicing the guitar in relation to the assignment. Occasionally the timing of my practice sessions would fluctuate but this duration set the expectation.
PRODUCTION
SMART Goal Starting Point Evidence
SMART Goal Ending Point Evidence
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION
21st Century Skills
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
While learning My Own Summer on guitar I had difficulty managing my speed. I took the initiative to research exercises that could be implemented so that I could positively influence this and incorporated them into my practice sessions.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
Not much collaboration was necessary for me to complete this assignment. Briefly, as I was considering which composition to learn, I consulted some of my peers. I described my current skill set and the pieces I wanted to learn and asked for their input. This was the extent of their involvement.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
Since being enrolled in School of Rock I have learned how to use some new technology. Most of these introductions occurred last month. During April I got more practice with these systems/websites.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
Self-management and self-assessment skills continue to be inherent and crucial to completing this assignment. These skills are easily recognized as important abilities needed to be translated to every aspect of what we do in life to make necessary improvements and in order to find stability.
Reactions to the Final Version
Hearing the audio recording of myself playing the segment I intended to learn I am displeased with several things. I can still hear loud scraping from the strings, some notes seemed to slur accidentally, and my attempts to reach a certain speed may have impacted accuracy. Despite this, I can still hear some amount of progress which I am glad I’ve been able to make.
Self-Evaluation of Final Version
After having reached my Smart Goal of being able to play the intended segment of Deftones’ My Own Summer, my only grievance is that I struggle to play according to the time signature. More specifically I struggle to play faster than I have been. This has introduced a new goal. To somehow adjust myself or the guitar in a way that would be optimal to increasing speed. As briefly mentioned, I have started looking into exercises to benefit this cause and began applying them in practice.
Grammar and Spelling
Grammarly