Well, after all of the hard work and practicing, this project is finally coming to an end! I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself. From learning how to play piano while singing, to harmonizing, to figuring out how to use GarageBand, to learning a moderately difficult piano piece in a short amount of time, I think I have accomplished a lot and I have much to be proud of.
This project was such a great experience! At first, I did not know what to expect or what I was going to try to accomplish. I am pretty musical so when I originally thought about this project, I was not sure what I was going to do to push myself. Although I was originally skeptical, this project has pushed me to try things I was not comfortable with and has helped me progress and develop musically. I want to thank my music teach, Hector Vazquez, for providing me with the challenge and opportunity to grow.
As you know, the second half of this assignment, following the midterm demonstrations, was dedicated to learning Sonatina in G major by Muzio Clementi. Over the past couple of weeks, I was not sure if I would be able to accomplish this in time; however, I somehow pulled it off! It is not perfect. It is not as smooth and fluent as I would like it to be, and the dynamics are not fully intact, but I have finished the piece. Considering I was not sure if I would even be able to finish it, I would say this is a win. So, without further ado, here it is. The finale… Enjoy!
Photo Credits: Header photo by David Brooke Martin
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I am at the midway mark and I have decided to refer to it as “Midway Madness”… I may have bitten off more than I can chew. The song is going really well; however, my time is limited and running out very quickly. It has been difficult because with the end of the semester looming, all of our final projects are nearing. I have been so busy that it has been hard to find time to practice. Although I have been practicing often for short chunks, this piece is complex and needs a good amount of attention. With all of this in mind, the song is coming along quite well, I just do not know if I will have enough time to fully finish it and put it all together. We will have to see what happens. I have been thinking about solutions to this predicament in case I cannot finish it and have come up with a few options:
The final section of the song repeats the first section but adds a more complex ending/finale. If times runs out and I feel I will not be able to finish the song, I could cut out the more complex ending and finish it the same way as the beginning section of the song with solid finale chords at the end instead. This will allow me to focus on solidifying the other sections of the song without cutting/missing out on much of the song.
Finish the song but not up to tempo. I can always learn the whole song slightly slower than it is supposed to be. This will allow me to better sightread the specific parts I am struggling with.
If putting the song together does not go smoothly, I could record the different sections of the song separately and either showcase it that way or find a way to paste them together.
If all else fails, I can admit to taking on more than I could handle and showcase what I have accomplished thus far. Sometimes, with goal setting, things do not go as planned and this is ok! Sometimes, we need to not be so hard on ourselves and realize it is ok that we did not complete our goal exactly as we imagined and planned. This does not mean we cannot finish it on a revised timeline.
I am still hoping to complete the full song, but we will have to see how this goes over the next few weeks. If it does not work out, I do have some good backup ideas that I will try to accomplish instead; but for now, I will keep on trying!
Now that I have that out of the way, let’s talk about how things have been going the past few days. If there was no timeline on learning this song, and I was just doing this purely for fun, I would say things are going great! I have been learning the song relatively fast, I have been able to figure out most of the rhythms without too much difficulty, and I really enjoy this piece and the way it sounds. What has been a struggle so far is the complex ending, and bars 62-68. Both of these small sections have a couple of runs that I stumble over and am having a harder time getting down. Over the next couple of days, I am hoping to section of these chunks and work on them in a loop. By slowing them down and repeating the small chunks over and over again, it will help me solidify the notes and rhythms and work it into my muscle memory. I am hoping to have these chunks down by the beginning of next week so I can begin putting the entire song together.
Something else that is going to be tough to do in a short amount of time is getting all the stylistic elements of the song down pat. I am hoping that at the very least I can some of the main ones such as playing certain notes staccato and others legato. This will come at the very end when the whole song is put together and if time allows for it.
To end this blog, I am going to give a brief preview of the first section of the song. Enjoy!
Photo Credits: Header photo by Markus Gjengaar on Unsplash
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I had so much fun working on my last project for the midterm display; however, now it is time the change channels and focus on something a little different… piano. For the second half of the musical growth plan, I planned on working on learning Sonatina in G major by Muzio Clementi. This piece is 4 pages long and is in 3/8 time. It has lots of runs and stylistic elements to it. I have included a photo below of the first page of the sheet music from my music book. I am a bit nervous for this half of the musical growth plan as I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I do not have very long to learn this piece and with the end of the semester nearing, there are lots of final projects due that will be taking up a lot of time. It is going to be tough, but I am still going to try! Stay tuned to see what happens!
Sonatina in G major, Op.36, Part III by Muzio Clementi
To begin, I started by mainly listening to the piece a few times. If possible, it really helps to listen to a piece before learning it so you can get a feel for the rhythms and have an idea of what it is supposed to sound like. Because of this, I spent some time finding a good recording of the song that I could listen to a few times to get an idea of what the song should sound like. It will also be helpful as I’m working through the song if I get stuck on something or can’t figure a certain measure out. It is always nice to have a recording in your back pocket for this. I have linked the YouTube video that I have been using below if you are interested in taking a listen.
After listening to this recording for a few days, I sat down with my sheet music and began working on the right hand alone. It is definitely easier to learn a song, especially complicated ones where the right and left hand are doing different things, when you break it down and make it simpler. My strategy when learning songs is usually to begin with learning just the right hand alone, then learning the left hand alone, and then working on adding them together. So far, I have not made it past the right hand but that is ok. I am just starting to work on this piece and the right hand is usually more complicated than the left. It most definitely is in this case. In addition to breaking the hands up, it is also helpful to drastically slow the song down when you begin learning it. I have also been doing this. I am hoping by my next blog post that I will have the right hand down pat and can begin working on the left hand. I look forward to sharing my progress and some of the challenges I encounter in my next blog; but for now, here is a very short clip of what I have been working on. Enjoy!
Photo Credits: Header photo by Ebuen Clemente Jr
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Well, here it is! The final blog for my midterm musical growth goal! This was such a fun adventure. From starting off with just wanting to play piano and sing at the same time, to experimenting with harmonies and GarageBand, this project has taught me so much and truly pushed my musical abilities.
Initially, I thought that singing and playing piano would be a challenge; however, I ended up finding this rather easy. Since I found this easier than expected, and the idea behind the project was to push your musical abilities and grow, I switched my goal to learning how to harmonize. This was a super fun task! I really enjoy singing so learning to harmonize was a great addition to my musical repertoire. I began working with harmonies mainly by playing a note on the piano, finding a third, fifth, or seventh, and imitating this sound. From here, I would try playing a note and finding the harmony without the piano. For me personally, I struggled with lower harmonies more than I did with higher harmonies. For some reason, I found it much harder to keep the harmony going, without hitting the wrong pitch, in the lower range of my voice. Because of this, I decided to work on high harmonies first. I practiced harmonizing with any song that came on until I got somewhat comfortable with it. After this, I began working on the songs that I chose for my midterm display. These songs include “Perfect” and “Afterglow” by Ed Sheeran. These songs are really great songs to work with when working on higher harmonies. My favourite place to practice these harmonies was while driving in my car. The privacy really allowed me to open up and not be afraid to mess up or hit a wrong note. After getting to a point where I was comfortable harmonizing with these songs, I decided to challenge myself further by working on a song that incorporated some low harmonies. For this song I chose to work with “Anyways” by Noah Kahan. This song has a mixture of high and low harmonies which really challenged me. After getting to a point where I was comfortable with these songs, I recorded them using GarageBand. This was a whole other challenge!
My GarageBand mix for “Anyways”
This project was the first time I experimented with using GarageBand. Luckily, I had my sister and dads help figuring it out, but it was still challenging. My first challenge was figuring out how to get an audio recording of the actual song onto GarageBand so I could record over it. I ended up having to create an mp3 audio file and upload it as an audio track. Once I finally got this set up, I struggled getting the microphone and headphones setup. First there was the struggle of finding the right chords and adapters I needed for my MacBook. Once my dad helped me find all the right tools, I had to get help figuring out how to set up the input and output options on GarageBand and make it so that each track has the right preferences. Once all of this was solved, I was finally able to record. Although I would have loved to experiment with cutting and rerecording sections, I did all the recordings in one take as I did not have time to work this feature of GarageBand within the deadline. The next interesting part about working with GarageBand is that is strictly an audio tool. Because of this, I had to experiment with how to attach video file to the GarageBand audio file. In order to do this, I recorded a regular video of me singing on my iPhone, muted this file, and synced it with the audio file. The only problem with this was getting the files to sync up accurately. In order to solve this, I went to my dad for help. He showed me a technique that he uses to fix this issue. In order to make sure the files line up perfectly, you need to clap at the beginning of both your video recording and audio recording on GarageBand. If you do this before you start the actual recording, you can line up the claps and then you won’t cut out any of the song.
My new goal had lots of struggles that came along with it, but it was extremely worth it. I now feel way more comfortable with both harmonizing and GarageBand. This project pushed me cognitively in areas including translating notes and rhythms, recognizing pitch, sensory integration and more. Emotionally, it allowed me to relieve stress, encouraged exploration and creativity, and more. So, without further ado, here are the videos (of me harmonizing) that pushed my musical development so much! I hope you enjoy!!
[SEE BRIGHTSPACE FOR VIDEOS. FILE SIZE IS TOO LARGE]
Photo Credits: Header photo by Israel Palacio
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Learning to sing while playing the piano has been going really well! I am about halfway to the midterm checkpoint for my musical growth plan and I have been progressing faster than expected. I have been really enjoying the chance to have a creative outlet amongst the business of school. I have been taking advantage of the opportunity to practice playing and singing together… maybe even too much. Thus far, I have accomplished all the songs I originally considered in my growth plan. I can play and sing “Drivers Licence” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran, and “Skinny Love” by Birdy. I have also gone on to learn a few more songs such as “Give Me Love” by Ed Sheeran and “Someone Like You” by Adele.
Reflecting on my journey so far, I started off really nervous and timid with singing. Although I have performed in front of audiences before, I don’t often do both singing and playing piano together. As the time has gone on and I have gotten more comfortable, I have been opening up more and caring less about who in my household hears me practicing. I have even let my significant other hear one of my songs which is a big step for me. I am pretty comfortable playing and singing when I am alone; however, I must admit that I am still pretty self-conscious in front of others. I do not like feeling like I am being judged. Although I have found myself worrying about this (even though it is just my own family that hears me practicing), I do still really enjoy doing it and could see myself continuing to do it even after this assignment and class.
As I mentioned above, I have progressed through my original goal quite quickly. For this reason, I have decided to further my goal and take on something new. I am now going to look into harmonizing. I am hoping that my the midterm deadline I will have a recording of me harmonizing with a recording from another artist. I thought this would be a cool new goal that would continue to push my boundaries!
Harmonies require a good ear and understanding of pitch and chord structure. When harmonizing you are usually pulling another note from the chord to sing overtop of the original note. For example, if you have a C chord, you could take the 3rd of the chord which is an E, the 5th of a chord with is the G, or sing a full octave above which is another C note but higher on the scale. There is also another type of harmony, known as a “close harmony”, which is a note that is very close to the other note on the scale. This is often what you hear when you listen to barbershop quartets and pop groups like the Beach Boys.
Over the remaining time I have before my midterm critique, I am going to experiment with learning harmonies and trying different types of harmonies. I am thinking of taking one of the songs I have already learned (most likely “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran) and instead of singing melody, singing a harmony overtop of the singer himself. I am also hoping to experiment with a few other songs so I can try more harmonies. I am thinking of experimenting with “Anyways” by Noah Kahan and “Afterglow” by Ed Sheeran. My hope is to incorporate multiple different harmonies throughout the course of these songs. These three songs are my new goals for my musical growth plan and are what I hope to display for my midterm evaluation!
In order to aid in my new goal, I have found a couple resources that may come in handy:
That’s all for now! I look forward to showing you my progress in the near future! Hopefully in a couple weeks I will be harmonizing like there’s no tomorrow!
Photo Credits: Header photo by Michal Czyz on Unsplash
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Jumping into my music journey began at a young age. I was 6 years old when I started playing piano. From there, I continued piano lessons for many years, started playing multiple instruments in concert and jazz band, ventured into community band, and more. Because of my vast experience in music, when it came time to create my musical growth plan, I wasn’t sure what route to go. I ended up deciding I wanted to try singing while playing piano for the first half of my growth plan. Up to the midterm I will be focussing on trying to sing a variety of songs while playing basic chords on the piano at the same time.
After creating my musical growth plan, the first thing I needed to do was find sheet music that I could use to learn the songs. A really good resource that I know of for sheet music is ultimate guitar tabs. This website provides chord charts for countless songs. This website is meant for guitars; however, I know that if you look at which fret the capo is supposed to be on, you can simply go up a half step for every fret in order to find your starting chord on the piano. For example, if a guitar song starts on the chord G and the capo is on fret 3, then you go to G on the piano and count up three half steps to find your starting note/chord. In this case it would be Bb! You can then repeat this process for each chord in song. Usually, songs only have about 4 chords so once you have transposed each chord in a song once, you have the chords for the entire song!
Because I know this technique, guitar tabs was a perfect resource for me to find basic sheet music for songs I wanted to learn. I decided to print off sheet music for drivers licence by Olivia Rodrigo, skinny love by Birdy, give me love by Ed Sheehan, and Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen to get me started. After printing off the music, it was time to get started learning and practicing!
When considering how to begin the process of singing while playing piano, I decided to begin with what I was least comfortable with. Because I have been playing piano for so long, I was not too concerned about this; however, singing is not as comfortable for me. I love to sing but I am not very confident with my singing. My dad and my sisters are all very talented singers so whenever I sing, I feel like people have high expectations for me. Everyone expects me to be good, so I get really nervous which makes me uncomfortable. As a result of this, I figured it would be a good idea to get comfortable with singing the songs alone first. That is mainly what I have been focussing on lately. In addition, I have already familiarized myself with the chords and am comfortable playing the songs so over the next few weeks I will begin putting the two together!
For now, here is a video of what I am currently working on. This is a very rough first attempt of me singing hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Hope you enjoy!
