SUMMARY

I practiced researching independently for this session. First making the intention to learn about how song structure impacted the different structures within a single song. I have held stubborn opinions on what it means to make good music and notice myself idealizing the notion that music and art would be made better with a lesser amount of “rules”. This was similar to my starting perspective, and was a driving force in my curiosity about music structure. What are the “rules” of music? Why should we care about them?

Intention (SMART Goal)

By October 14th, as part of my School of Rock goal, I will have completed some research in music theory/ the formula for making music. I will focus on techniques described in “the Addiction Formula” by Friedemann Findeisen. The main intention I have for this project is to develop a better understanding of song structure and the components of a song that are interdependent on one another.

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)

Friedemann Findeisen:

“Friedemann is a best-selling author and a Bachelor of Music. He has written over 1000 pieces of music in a wide variety of styles. He is a frequent guest speaker at conservatories all over Europe and coaches some of Germany’s biggest songwriters.” (holistic-songwriting.com)

Training Source(s)

Book of reference: The Addiction Formula by Friedemann Findeisen

SMART Goal Schedule

I spent each day since the beginning of this smart goal session in School of Rock reading The Addiction Formula and taking notes where I saw fit (approximately every page/every couple of pages) alongside my reading and research from other sources I previously listed, I spent this time listening to music throughout the process to help me locate and compare the “ingredients” to the formulas used in the songs I connected to and how much they aligned with Findeisen’s approach.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Recurring Song Structures Referenced:

1. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus
2. Chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus
3. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, prim-bridge, chorus

The Addiction Formula book:

“The intro sets the status quo, lyrics introduce what the song is about, and the tone tells us how the singer feels.” (The Addiction Formula) Taking advantage of these opportunities would mean describing the subject while preserving ambiguity to help build interest during the early developments of a song and keep the audience hooked on potential outcomes.

Progressions should consider the contents of a song, and the length of the song, along with patterns of hype. Findeisin shared that music creators should avoid reverting to the original energy levels/status quo of a song as it gradually moves forward. Of course, this can vary within context, but most music matching Friedemann’s formula reflects similar developments as one finds in literary formulas such as “The Heroes Journey.” As he said, “In songs, the focus is to move forward.” This means that when working with high-energy areas, do your best to avoid reverting to the original energy level or the status quo you’ve set for your song. After using techniques such as implied tension, or creating tension with instruments or pitch. If not through adding effects or inputting/editing vocals (etc.) “Your hero has gone through too much,” our audience experiencing the music with us will likely be confused or disappointed if your song overshoots, and delivers a “false promise.”

Distribution of Energy:

1. Don’t make a predictable/ boring second verse- “Raise hype levels, and give the song direction by changing small things“
2. Increase the hype levels every 4 or 8 bars
3. Control both hype and tension, and avoid making transitions exist for “completion’s sake”
4. Decide the number of energy peaks prior to composition- 3 is the most common (not counting repetitions)
5. 1 2 3 RULE- Introduce, Repeat, Change
6. “End big”

SONGWRITING DECK:

Friedemann Findeisin’s works offered interesting ideas that hold great potential for me as I work through my creative processes. A songwriting deck he created was an additional tool I skimmed through occasionally. In this deck of cards, there are songwriting exercises. Exercises Findeisin proposed that composers use or experience. Advice that helped me adapt my mindset as a lyricist focused on techniques used to maintain spontaneity. At one point I discovered a statement of his that read, “Do not pre-structure your lyrics and do not start with a concept.” A technique used to keep a satisfying, relatable human flow for crafting developments of a song. To keep progressions natural and fluid. Alongside this, other texts repeatedly communicated that “every element of a song is interdependent to its surroundings”. A concept somewhat tricky for me to understand in a manner that considered his other suggestions. Though, in general, it is a sensible holistic view he maintains. His blunt personality, alternative perspectives, and musical knowledge combined with suggestions to implement power words or calls to action, and to elaborate on complete features while keeping simplicity, made the tool a somewhat dense resource.

“Songs that don’t have a chorus” (David Bennet Piano)

Choruses:

• Periodically repeated throughout the song-each time with “pretty much the same lyrics/music”

• Energy/tension released

• Predictable structure

NO chorus songs: (Ex: Jesus of suburbia/ bohemian rhapsody)

• Do not return to a given segment
• Can sneak by with memorable moments/ peaks/ excitement/ episodic structure
• Structure examples, AABA,- verse, verse, middle, verse, verse
• Instrumental choruses (7 Nation Army)
• Strophic form- AAAA

POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION

21st Century Skills

Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)

I demonstrated critical thinking skills by applying recently gained knowledge and initial understanding to examples of music from numerous backgrounds and cross-referencing patterns described in The Addiction Formula to test how consistent they are. Critical thinking skills are vital for maintaining and increasing our knowledge of everything we interact with to ensure it serves us in the way intended.

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

The few times I was confused or in search of additional resources to complete this project I emailed or spoke with people and was able to find the information I needed. Communication is a fundamental life skill.

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

This project allowed me to practice info and media literacy because I used this time to read and annotate information from a book along with a few other videos online. I then compiled the developments of this session into a blog post online. Practicing how to share ideas effectively using technology.

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

The life skills I applied during this session were largely independent skills because I worked individually. Research and analytical skills were the focus specifically. These qualities can translate to most events throughout someone’s life or career. Helping us to recognize the necessary who/ what/ how/ where/ why/ when that arise.

Reactions to the Final Version

Self-Evaluation

This session served as an opportunity for me to learn the fundamentals of conventional music structure. It gave me a better grasp of what it means to follow the “rules of music”. Before reading and annotating The Addiction Formula my opinions on composition favored less structure. After reading The Addiction Formula, I understand the importance a lot more. I have a more consistent order of the things I consider, and an improved idea of how these features relate to one another. I still believe that you can’t always rely on a formula for creation when it comes to “good” art. Something I acknowledge can be controversial at times. Yet simultaneously, I have accepted some amount of the ideas mentioned in the book. My acceptance of views from this book may also be related to how I learned that so many of the guidelines described from my sources (primarily The Addiction Formula) reference the way that many of these musical inclinations people have when arranging or composing appear to be intuitive. Meaning most people gravitate towards the structure without much force. I didn’t realize that so much of what I considered basic knowledge was the skeleton of the “music formula”. As I complete this session, I read part one of the book and worked a while into part two of three. Knowing what I know now, will hopefully help me adapt my perspective as I continue my research.

Grammar and Spelling

Grammarly

Editor

Summary

The intention of this project was to analyze the way that different types of recording equipment interacted with their environment. This meant experimenting with different factors such as what is being recorded, where, and the distance between the sound source and the recording equipment. Members of my group (group 5) recorded a sample of a guitar in a classroom setting, and samples of their voices in both a classroom setting and outside to hear these variations.

Audio Terms and Definitions

• Sound Wave
  • A vibrational disturbance that involves the mechanical motion of molecules transmitting energy from one place to another.
• Compression
  • Reducing a signal’s output level in relation to its input level to reduce dynamic range.
• Frequency
  • The # of times per second that a sound source vibrates, is expressed in hertz (Hz).
• Hertz
  • Unit of measurement of frequency; numerically equal to cycles per second (cps).
• Infrasonic
  • The range below the frequencies is audible to human hearing.
• Ultrasonic
  • The range above the frequencies of human hearing.
• Pitch
  • The subjective perception of frequency – the highness or lowness of a sound.
• Fundamental
  • The lowest frequency a sound source can produce. In other words, it is also called the first harmonic or primary frequency which is the lowest, or basic, pitch of a musical instrument.
• Sound Frequency Spectrum
  • The range of frequencies audible to human hearing: about 20 to 20,000 Hz.
• Octave
  • The interval between the two frequencies that have a tonal ratio of 2:1.
• Bass
  • The low range of the audible frequency spectrum; is usually from 20 to 320 Hz.
• Midrange
  • The part of the frequency spectrum to which humans are most sensitive; is the frequencies between roughly 320 Hz and 2,560 Hz.
• Treble
  • The frequency range between roughly 5,120 Hz and 20,000 Hz, the highest two octaves audible to human hearing in the sound frequency spectrum.
• Equalization
  • A signal-processing device that can boost, attenuate, or shelve frequencies in a sound source or sound system.
• Amplitude
  • The magnitude of a sound wave or an electric signal is measured in decibels.
• Decibel (dB)
  • A relative and dimensionless unit to measure the ratio of two quantities.
• Wavelength
  • Distance between two peaks of a wave
• Velocity
  • Speed in a given direction
• Harmonic
  • Is a multiple of the fundamental frequency
• Phase
  • Factor in the interaction of one wave with another, either acoustically or electronically

– Audio terms and definitions from Wikipedia

Voice Recording

Outdoor/Environment Recording

Instrument Recording

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

From this project I was able to learn a bit about identifying different audio features and how they can be manipulated alongside different factors. Although, the thing I benefited from the most during this project was getting to better understand the vocabulary.

For the length of time this project was being tested I was not present and therefore did not have direct access to the experiment to witness firsthand the details of the process. This problem could have been a greater setback, however, due to the efforts to collaborate within my group, they were able to communicate with me in order for me to access that information and complete this project.

Resources

• Audio Recording Sound Safari Project – All The Resources
  • Sound Safari Team Directions and Forms
  • Zoom H4n Tutorial: The Three Keys to Great Audio for Video (Basic)
  • Zoom H4n Tutorial: Filmmaking 101 – How to Record High-Quality Audio on a Budget (Detailed)
• Hearing Test
• Music / Sound Terms in Quizlet
• Physics of Music Resources and Presentations
• Microphones and Recording Basics

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

Editor

• 

Summary

The goal of this project is to improve understanding of musical techniques used to engage the listener and harness certain features. Learning to do these things effectively can be important to musicians who strongly value being understood amongst a large audience.

My First HookTheory Melody

• 

Notes from Howard Goodall’s Melody Video

• How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Melody

Cue

Notes

How did cultures go about developing more notes once progressing past pentatonic notes? Why have humans not come to a global consensus on how many tones to use on a scale? What impacts the decision that causes scale length to vary?

– All music “uses the same baseline” – Some melodic principles are universal to every culture around the world – Every music system uses the same five notes- instincts for language and frequencies seem to have been instilled in us since birth—” these five notes are like a human inheritance”—pentatonic notes– – Tone variation is impacted by culture -Movement between whole tone to whole tone is more common (especially vocally) because more people struggle with transitioning from whole tones to half-steps/ semitones. – Note groups-scales are called modes – Modes—moods in different cultures – Across all frequencies we pick notes and assign moods/feelings—these are called modes – Sharpening—raising by a semitone/half step—yearning/reaching – In declination, modes are left without alteration/sharpening—this later started to lead to lowering/flattening. False relations occur when these alterations are overlapped. – The melodic modifications applied to the vocals of different genres can be cultural–blue notes– – Standardized tuning–diatonic tuning gives people the option to join frequencies that complement each other – Ionian-major scale minor scale designed to be compatible with major leaving room for a smooth transition between the two – Identifying which mood is intended to be channeled before assembling a song could help establish a starting point through modes. – Jewish melody was crucial to creating the foundation of American broadway-style music. ————————————– tonic-tonic –closed off phrase no tension tonic-dominant–tonic—high tension–demands the second phrase to resolve tension submediant–not high tension/not tonic focus on creating patterns

Summary: The overarching idea I was able to take from the video was that humans are naturally attracted to certain sounds, tones, and frequencies. This causes them to reappear within different cultures and ultimately influence those listening, even subconsciously.

Melody Composition Terms and Definitions

• The terms and definitions below are from the Basic Concepts of Music Theory podcast by Jamie Henke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Her Basic Concepts of Music Theory video on YouTube

• Theme: A long, flowing melodic idea.
• Motive: A short, rhythmic idea (Beethoven’s 5th).
• Period: 8-12 measures or a musical sentence.
• Phrase: Usually 4 measures.
• Antecedent (Question) Phrase: First 4 measures of a period.
• Consequent (Answer) Phrase: Second 4 measures of a period.
• Scale Degrees (C Major Scale)
  • Tonic: C (1 , 8) – Stability and resolve.
  • Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant: D, E, A (2 , 3 , 6) – Moderate tension, useful for transitions and carrying on an idea.
  • Subdominant, Dominant, Leading Tone: F, G, B (4 , 5 , 7) – Causes the most tension, leads to the tonic.
• Steps: Any movement using half or whole steps.
• Leaps: Any movement using intervals larger than a whole step.
• Conjunct motion: Melody is built primarily out of steps.
• Disjunct motion: Melody is built primarily out of leaps.
• Repetition: Repeated material (i.e. motive) used to create a link between two phrases of the period.
• Contrast: Two phrases that contain contrasting material to create tension and interest.
• Variation: Halfway between contrast and repetition. The two phrases include some recognizable material and some varied material (i.e. taking ideas up an octave).

One of My Favorite Melodies

• key of f, tonic note, and tension notes
• What do you notice about the note structure/pattern of the theme of the melody?

My Second HookTheory Melody

• Place a screenshot of the melody notes on HookTheory
• Link to a .mp3 file of your second melody from HookTheory
• Write a brief reflection about this melody. What do you like about it?
  • Where did you raise tension or suspense in the melody?
  • Where did you resolve tension in the melody?
• DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

This project introduced me to new terms and definitions. I also learned about some of the historical and cultural influences that have impacted music and musical terms, this is something I thoroughly enjoyed. A challenge I encountered during this project, was using the resource in a way that was honoring the ideas I had. HookTheory is objectively simple and easy to understand, but I would quickly forget how to do certain things, and struggled in length with adjusting the duration of individual notes in ways which complemented one another for some time.

Resources

• Assessment a Feedback
  • General Music Composition Rubric (Google Doc)
  • Period Melody Composition Rubric (PDF)
• Hook Theory Tools and Tutorials
  • hooktheory.com/theorytab/index (Analyzing Songs)
  • hookpad.hooktheory.com (Creating Songs)
  • Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 1: User Interface (YouTube)
  • Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 2: Melodies (YouTube)
  • All HookTheory video tutorials
• Music Theory
  • Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)
  • How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Melody
  • Melody defined at Wikipedia
  • iTunesU – Basic Concepts of Music Theory by Jamie Henke at University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Her Basic Concepts of Music Theory video on YouTube
    • https://www.youtube.com/embed/rl-V2IsUprQ
  • Michael New
    • The 4 Critical Parts to Writing a Melody
    • How Basic Chords Work – Music Theory Lesson 1
  • Art of Composing
    • Last two minutes of How to Compose Music – Lesson 1 – How to Write a Melody by Art of Composing
      • Inversion, etc.
    • How to Compose Music – Lesson 3 – The Musical Period by Art of Composing
    • artofcomposing.com/creativity-importance-melody
• Free MIDI files midiworld.com/files/
  • MIDI file of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from his 9th symphony
  • Coldplay Talk sample midi file
    • The musical notation interactive sheet music for Talk by Coldplay
• MIDI and Music Notation Editors
  • onlinesequencer.net – online
  • flat.io – online
  • noteflight.com – online
  • MuseScore downloadable program
• GarageBand
  • How to View and Print Sheet Music: Garageband X Tutorial
  • GarageBand Basics Screencast Video Tutorial
• Melody Research, Analysis, and Recording Project Feedback Form (PDF)

Cue	Notes
Contextual interference	Change pattern to make it more difficult Play as slow as possible in order to play it perfectly.
Desirable difficulty	After overcoming contextual interference, continue to advance to avoid “the dreaded plateau”.

Summary

Summary

School of Rock’s DAW composition project of session 4 was intended to be completed by March 7th. The project began with the selection of an artist and song to draw inspiration from. Later using these things as resources to produce an original song in its likeness. Despite most of what I would hope to produce being non-electronic, my experience with this project was limited to the electronic genre. This was a result of having limited experience with instruments I would prefer to use. Being so, my instrumentation was primarily synth, keyboards, and soundscapes that aligned with the original production.

Audio File Formats and Definitions

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format): stores standard CD-quality audio; similar to WAV (Higher Quality)

WAV (Waveform Audio File Format): CD audio; can be saved with different sampling and bit rates; similar to AIFF (Higher Quality)

MP3 (Audio File): Used to store audiobooks and music on a hard drive; Close to CD-quality sound; the higher quality sound comes from higher bit rates which also take up more storage space

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface): music data: notes played, when notes are played, how long each note is played, and the velocity of each note played; used to be able to exchange and use information between software and hardware programs; no actual audio data

All the audio file format information is found at: fileinfo.com

Song Used As Template

Due to my lack of skill with physical instruments, I opted for a more electronic sound. The song I drew inspiration from is Pastel Ghost’s “Silhouette”. I chose this song in particular because I liked the unique synth sounds toward the beginning (0:08-0:38). They were really distinct and the style of the song was something I wanted to emulate for this project. Other notable features I tried to incorporate into my production were the “fuzzy” synth largely notable during 0:43-0:44, the drum beat from 0:00-0:08, and the ethereal soundscape which enters at 0:38 before it breaks at 0:44 but continues on and off for the majority of the song.

GarageBand Tracks

• 

• 

My Composition

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

While experimenting with this project, I was able to learn some things about the workstation and how to navigate it on a computer. Though, I only set out to learn these things due to the issues I encountered. I’ve had a bit of access to Garage band (all of it had been mobile), but I hadn’t thoroughly explored the features or understood as much of their purpose before watching videos and asking questions during this project. The source provided to the class helped me get a good grasp of how the project should be approached and the potential that this project had. Videos from the Produce Like a Boss YouTube channel proved useful to me in moments of confusion.

Maryam’s SMART Goal

SUMMARY

Role: Guitar

Intention (SMART Goal)

My session 4 smart goal for School of Rock was to learn to play the introduction to the System of a Down song ATWA by March 7th. Throughout the duration of this project, progress was measured in audio files. Whether or not the smart goal was successfully reached is determined by how accurately the introduction is played in relation to the given speed and correct finger placement. As of the beginning of this project my skills were limited to a few simple riffs and 2 chords. Choosing this song was intentional. It was selected because it is slow, short, and simple in comparison to other songs I would be interested in learning. Picking a realistic goal also made staying motivated easier because the project was less intimidating. It also helped that I enjoy the music created by the band, and have been interested in learning guitar for a while. I set this particular goal now because it is realistic considering my current amount of experience. Taking a course relevant to my goal also allows me to incorporate doing so into my schedule.

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)

Frank Iero, Daron Malakian, and Tony Perry are a few of the guitarists I take inspiration from. Daron Malakian in particular has inspired me due to his particular artistic style. He began playing guitar in his teen years, playing in several bands and amounting great success through music while in the band System of a Down. Frank Iero similarly began playing guitar in his teen years before developing his image. Later joining the band My Chemical Romance and venturing off into other successful bands. The history of Tony Perry’s guitar career begins in his early childhood under his grandfather’s instruction. His career as a guitarist has continued to develop alongside his role in the band Pierce the Veil which has also specifically inspired me.

Tony Perry (live)-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2NQruI_sUc

Daron Malakian (live)-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLQxi3Y2exI (ATWA live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt8AJ2He3sw

Frank Iero (live)-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id55-3wDcQQ

Training Source(s)

Sources used to achieve this goal were the “Gustavo Vega Covers” video entitled Como Tocar: A.T.W.A – System Of A Down (Tab Tutorial), in combination with System of a Down’s official audio of ATWA.

The segment relevant to my Smart Goal project spans from 0:00-0:12. This section repeats itself through 0:00-0:45.

Areas of tension in my practice schedules were often between points 0:10-0:12, and 0:12-0:15. These segments had shifts that took time to adjust to, and or finger placements that broke the general pattern. I was also initially confused by the fact that the entirety of the song (0:00-2:56) is played in Drop C.

SMART Goal Schedule

My Smart Goal schedule was very intuitive. Practices would average a minimum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 3 hours for every other day of the week. The focus for each practice and the time spent practicing would fluctuate. The first session being February 25, primarily focused on accuracy. February 27th and March 1st focused on accuracy in relation to speed. While March 3rd and March 4th were spent enhancing the clarity.

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 developing my skills for this project and teaching myself to play guitar, critical thinking, and deductive reasoning proved important in isolating the issues in my performance. This meant adjusting the pressure applied to the strings to reduce scraping, or changing my hand posture to shift more efficiently.

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

Being new to School of Rock there were several points of confusion for me during the execution of this project. Pushing myself to ask for help has always been difficult for me, and reaching out for assistance and advice in the areas of confusion (technological) was intimidating. However, when necessary, I ask others in the class for guidance.

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

Though it didn’t prove to be very difficult, I had a brief struggle with reading the tabs and translating them to the guitar. My greatest point of struggle has been uploading audio files, images, and timestamps. These are things I chose to seek video/tutorial help for.

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

This project allowed me to exercise my inquisitive nature through the small research opportunities, and moments of problem-solving. Setting a goal, organizing factors to reach that goal, and overcoming difficulties are skills necessary for life. Actively practicing these things is important to continue to grow and develop as a person.

Self-Evaluation of Final Version

Initially, I struggled with managing my time, finger placement, and strumming/string scraping. Since working on this project, I have been able to capture partial progress in these areas. In comparing the first and last recordings of my practice sessions for this song, there are clear improvements in timing. Alongside this, there is also much more clarity and much more confidence which benefit my performance.

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

Issues during my attempts to learn the introduction were finger misplacement, scraping the strings, and maintaining proper speed. Improvements to these things can be heard in the recorded files. Most of the necessary adjustments were made by prioritizing finger accuracy above all else. Later, transitioning to speed alterations. Even as this project concludes I am trying to play with more clarity and reduce the number of string scrapes. This project has helped me grow as a creative person because it has allowed me to expand my abilities. Learning to improve my techniques on the guitar has the potential to create more creative opportunities and ways of expression which would prove valuable to me considering some of my artistic goals.

Grammarly

Editor