School of Rock – Day 11 – Collaboration and Growth – Part 1

SUMMARY

Today I worked on my leadership project, practiced the base and learned about rhythm.

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY

Goal

 

  1. Watch Le Duc video explanation (if you need to)

Today my sister and I reviewed the form but we decided that we couldn’t make any major decisions without our team.

What do I/we want to do? (SPECIFIC INTENTION / FEELING / LOGLINE)

We want to create a short song with rhythm harmony, a baseline, melody and genre

How do I/we achieve it? (PLANNING & STRATEGY)

We will meet at 9am and talk more over google hangouts.

What is the MVP (Minimum Viable Product)? (MEASURABLE Evidence)

I will have a completed song of 27.5 measures. Or a minute

INTENTION

By July 23, as part of my School of Rock team/class , we will have created a song that sounds good and sticks in the listeners head. 

RESOURCES

 email, soundtrap, trello

RISK /HOOK

Our melody is the hook.

SKILLS

I have some background in piano (a year of lessons) and I played saxophone in middle school band.

BACKGROUND

What unique life experiences do you bring to the project?

Progress For Today

Today practiced a baseline for the song. I created a catchy rythm but It was only a few seconds song. The melody wasn’t finished at the time so I made it about as long as the melody.

PRACTICE ROOM (GUITAR LESSONS)

  • Explore Jake Lizzio’s The Music Theory of POWER CHORDS
  • Screenshot from Jake Lizzio’s The Music Theory of POWER CHORDS video at YouTube
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGv1uwm9ygo&list=PLlwfspJqZ126JHOY5rTkKCSAp2Ua907-v&index=28&t=0s
  • Why you need to meet the metronome notes
    • helps you keep tempo
    • play along with the metronome to practice rhythm
  • Best Strumming Pattern for beginners notes
  • Try strumming one, two, three and four pattern
    • do it like a pendulum
    • also try one, two and three and four
      • most common pattern in music
  • Today I also practiced coming up with baselines on the base

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

  • The average amount of syllables per measure is 4 to 5 but it can go up or down
  • Tie each syllable to a beat
  • Songwriting seems very difficult but this makes it seem slightly easier

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • Today I had fun fooling around with the bass guitar trying to create an accompaniment to the song. I also watched a couple of the guitar lesson videos and learned a basic strumming pattern which I tried out. 

TODAY’s ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Content (The WHAT)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 5

I enjoyed learning about rhythm and practicing the base.

Process (The HOW)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 5

I enjoyed taking my time with practicing today and taking breaks in the middle.

School of Rock – Day 10 – Community

SUMMARY

Today I practiced the guitar and wrote a short song on soundtrap.

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY

  1. Today my team decided when to meet to plan out our song. My sister and I both wrote a few measures of some songs so we could have an idea of what we wanted our song to be. Here is a screenshot of mine.

 

PRACTICE ROOM (GUITAR LESSONS)

    • Image embedded from guitargearfinder.com
  • Today I practiced the guitar chords for a while. I spend most of this time making up songs and trying to switch between notes.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • Today I practiced writing songs. I collaborated with my sister to plan out what we want our song to be. I also practiced switching between chords

TODAY’s ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Content (The WHAT)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 5

I liked making up songs

Process (The HOW)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 5

I enjoyed collaborating with my sister

School of Rock – Day 9 – Workflow

SUMMARY

Today I mainly focused on practicing playing chords and making up songs in the guitar. I also started planning out my leadership project and watching a video or two about song writing.

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY

  • Today I set up a Trello account, created a project and added leduc as a collaborator on sound-trap. I started collaborating with my sister and started planning out our leadership project.

PRACTICE ROOM (GUITAR LESSONS)

  • Today I worked on coordination by switching between chords quickly. I practicing making up songs and just tried to get used to the instrument in general.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

  • I watched a couple of the holistic songwriting videos.
  • These are things that I learned
  • be skilled enough to get hired. Be better than average.
  • keep audiences attention
  • get a hook in the song
  • brands are all about resonating with audience’
  • you must be really adaptable
  • you must be really quick
  • keep it unique and interesting

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • Today I focused on getting used to the guitar and working on coordination. I worked on switching between chords. I worked on planning out my leadership project with my sister. I also watched a video on songwriting and took notes on it.

TODAY’s ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Content (The WHAT)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 5

I loved working on the guitar.

Process (The HOW)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 5

I enjoyed doing most of the work later in the day when I was more focused

School of Rock – Day 8 – Leadership

SUMMARY

Today I mainly focused on practicing playing the guitar itself but I also learned about the creative process.

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITY

  • Today I created a Trello account

PRACTICE ROOM (GUITAR LESSONS)

  • Today I focused on Continuing Justin’s 117 Free Lessons YouTube Playlist
  • I learned how to hold the guitar properly
    • never lean guitar over
  • I learned how to use correct finger pressure on the guitar
    • practice minimizing the pressure
  • I practiced my chords on the guitar once again
    • I practiced switching between the A7 chord and the e minor chord
    • I practiced reading chord diagrams

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

Reflection on the Video: While this video is about making video games and can certainly apply to music. It helps show that restrictions and deadlines can help you be creative when it comes to making music and that inspiration can come from anywhere.

STUDIO (SONGWRITING)

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • Today we got the freedom to choose what to practice. Today I focused on practicing playing the guitar itself. I practiced chords, making up songs and finding the notes. I watched a few guitar lesson videos. I also watched a video on the creative proccess and thought about what I could do to make myself more productive.

TODAY’s ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Content (The WHAT)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 5

I really enjoyed choosing what I could do today so I could focus on playing the guitar/

Process (The HOW)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 4

I procrastinated a little bit today but I enjoyed sitting down with my guitar, pulling up a playlist of guitar lesson videos and just practicing.

School of Rock – Day 7 – Planning and Pathways

School of Rock – Day 7 – Planning and Pathways

SUMMARY

Today I learned about the structure of popular songs, The basics of how to write a songs, how to extend loops on hookpad and I got some advice from professional musicians.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Holistic Songwriting by Friedemann Findeisen

Screenshot from Holistic Songwriting’s Channel at YouTube

An Example: The Swift Formula – One Note Melodies

From Holistic Songwriting’s How Taylor Swift Writes Melodies at YouTube
From Holistic Songwriting’s How Taylor Swift Writes Melodies at YouTube
From Holistic Songwriting’s How Taylor Swift Writes Melodies at YouTube

I watched the video “How Taylor Swift writes melodies”. I found it very interesting how many of her melodies are just the same note played at different rhythms. It is intriguing how some songs can be really good even though their notes are relatively simple. 

How interested in learning more about music theory and song analysis?

    • 1 (YUCK!)
    • 2 (not really)
    • 3 (sorta interested)
    • 4 (interested)
    • 5 (YES!)

Your score: 5

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

Screenshot of Lyrics Melody and Chord Progressions from HookTab at YouTube

Explore the tutorials (but you do not need to watch all of them – just pick what looks interesting to you) from the:

I watched song writing: You can calculate the amount of measures in a song by dividing the time times the temp by the beats in the measure.

Lyrics: Lyrics, Chord progression and melody are the three basics of a song.

It doesn’t matter where you start.

 

How interested in learning more about HookLab and HookTab?

    • 1 (YUCK!)
    • 2 (not really)
    • 3 (sorta interested)
    • 4 (interested)
    • 5 (YES!)

Your score: 3

PRACTICE ROOM (GUITAR LESSONS)

Screenshot from Mary Spender’s YouTube Channel

Watch Mary Spender: Powerful advice from 10 Professional Musicians you need to hear (14:15)

Screenshot from JustinGuitar.com
Screenshot from JustinGuitar.com

Start his 117 Free Lessons YouTube Playlist

Start the series of videos, follow his directions, and check out his web site, justinguitar.com.

Set a timer.  Maybe an hour a day?  The first 10 videos take less than an hour.

From the advice from professionals, I learned that pretty much the most important thing to do it practice. The more you practice the better you will be. You also need to maintain a positive attitude and try your best. I found the free lessons video very helpful and I will try to get though a lot of them.

  • Screenshot from JustinGuitar.comBe curious about Justin.
  • Mr. Le Duc considers him the best beginning guitar teacher online. He’s not the only one that thinks this.  Check out some of the celebrity endorsements at justinguitar.com.

How interested in learning more about playing the guitar?

    • 1 (YUCK!)
    • 2 (not really)
    • 3 (sorta interested)
    • 4 (interested)
    • 5 (YES!)

Your score: 5

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

Screenshot from Jane McGonigal’s SuperBetter TED Talk on YouTube

Watch Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you 10 extra years of life.  (20 minutes)

Go for a walk and think about what this video meant to you.

This was a refreshing video. It makes sense that practicing resilience can add years so your life. The mental resilience one seems very helpful and I am going to try to practice these in the future. The emotional resilience one makes sense to me too because it would help you grow as a person .

How interested in these topics about the brain, creativity, and productivity?

    • 1 (YUCK!)
    • 2 (not really)
    • 3 (sorta interested)
    • 4 (interested)
    • 5 (YES!)

Your score: 4

STUDIO (SONGWRITING)

Screenshot from Holistic Songwriting at YouTube
Screenshot from Holistic Songwriting at YouTube

Watch Holistic Songwriting: Do THIS with every song you write | Hit Song Architect S1E3

I found the outline that he gave for a typical pop song the most interesting. I haven’t seem anything like this before and It helps me visualize the song.

How interested in songwriting, song structure, and music production?

    • 1 (YUCK!)
    • 2 (not really)
    • 3 (sorta interested)
    • 4 (interested)
    • 5 (YES!)

Your score: 4

CONTROL ROOM (RECORDING & MIXING)

Soundtrap mixing and publishing at Clark Eagling’s YouTube Channel

Watch Clark Eagling: Soundtrap tutorial 5 – Arranging the song, Mixing and adding effects

Watch all five videos in the playlist, if you are interested.

If you add different loops and spread them out and then loop them. It can make the song seem longer. Make the song start with one or two of the loops and then add more as you go on. You can also increase the temp in your songs.

How interested in recording, engineering (sound effects, EQ), and mixing?

    • 1 (YUCK!)
    • 2 (not really)
    • 3 (sorta interested)
    • 4 (interested)
    • 5 (YES!)

Your score: 3

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

Today I was still tired from getting my wisdom teeth removed but I wanted to do the work anyways. While it was difficult to engage with the work at first, many of the topics in the videos eventually made sense to me.

TODAY’s ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Content (The WHAT)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 4

I enjoyed learning about the general structures of songs. I thought that it was interesting to dive deep into what makes pop songs good or bad.

Process (The HOW)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: 3

I enjoy watching video’s but they do not engage me as much as actually playing the guitar. To me that is the best way to learn.

School of Rock – Day 6 – Bass Basics

SUMMARY

Today I learned about basslines, chromatic scale and I learned some new exercises for my guitar

CLASSROOM

Watch How Bass Works (47 minutes)

Tonality – the character of a piece of music as determined by the key in which it is played or the relations between the notes of a scale or key

root – bottom note of a chord

contrary motion – Contrary motion is motion in opposite directions. That is, when one of the lines moves up, the other line moves down (that is, in inversion)

baselines are usually scales found in almost every piece of music

Synthesizers are great for baselines

Synth base is linked to dance music

LAB

Step 1: Watch How to write Chromatic Notes in Hookpad (some bass lines are based on chromatic scale)

screenshot from HookTab

Step 2: Watch 3 ways to use Hookpad’s MIDI drag-drop feature (you can create basslines and more and export to Soundtrap and other DAW – digital audio workstations)

Screenshot from HookLab

Step 3: Try making a bassline to a chord progress or melody line.

This activity was fun. I enjoyed making the chromatic scale. I struggled with the baseline but I will try to make some more progress with it later. I definitely need more practice with hookpad.

PRACTICE ROOM

Step 1: Watch How To Add Bass Notes [Guitar Strumming Lessons] by Tomas Michaud

Screenshot from Tomas Michaud video

Step 2: Download the guitar TABS for his exercise (PDF)

Step 3: Practice one of the exercises

Write a brief reflection on how both of these exercises are working.

Profile in Excellence

Screenshot from Polyphonic at YouTube

Profile in Excellence

Image from Wikipedia

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

Choice 1: Explore Carol Kaye and James Jamerson’s Profiles in Excellent.  These are two bass players are credited with creating some of the best bass lines!  Then go for a walk and think of the funky work they created.

Choice 2: Flip through the Quizlet on Bass Composition Techniques flashcards a couple times.

After playing with Quizlet, go for a walk and think about bass lines.  Think of songs that have great basslines.  When you are back from your walk, you might want to research more about the notes that make those basslines stand out?

Screenshot from Quizlet Bass Composition Techniques

Write a brief reflection on your mental meanderings.

STUDIO

Play around with playing the low E string (6th string on the top of the neck) on your guitar. Create a simple three note-ish bassline. Get funky with it.  Try different plucking tempos to great the groove. You can even try playing Smoke on the Water

Screenshot from Kidsguitarzone.com

What did you compose? Write a reflection on what you did.

CONTROL ROOM

Record the bass line you developed in the studio.

How was this did the recording go? Write a short reflection.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

Tell your daily story here!  Highlight what you learned and enjoyed most and at least one problem you solved. Problem-solving is one of the most important skills you need in life. Employers want to know HOW you get stuff done as much as WHAT you got done.

ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Content (The WHAT)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: ?

What interested you about the material?

Process (The HOW)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: ?

Which activities engaged you most? Why?

School of Rock – Day 5 – Rhythm Basics

School of Rock – Day 5 – Rhythm Basics

SUMMARY

Today I learned about rythm

CLASSROOM

Watch How Rhythm Works (47 minutes)

tempo is speed of music

pulse = rhythm

syncopation =describes jerky rhythms, where you sneakily shift a beat

cross rhythm= a rhythm used simultaneously with another

accent =emphasis or stress on one note

LAB

Step 1: Watch Drum Arrangements Made Simple and learn how to create a simple groove and fill-ins.

Step 2: Learn how to Arranging Drums in Hookpad

Step 3: (Optional) Explore Advanced Drum Arrangements in Hookpad.

I enjoyed this activity. It was interesting to see how background music is made and it will be cool to add some background  music to my first song.

PRACTICE ROOM

Time for the right hand to take center stage (if you are a right-handed guitar player).

Watch Mike Palmisano show you how to play guitar like a drummer.

Find a Funklet beat you like.

On guitar, play along with the beat trying Mike’s guitar strumming technique.

This activity was hard for me because I am just starting out on the guitar. It is getting easier for me to play high and low notes and switch between them.

A Side Note

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

Flip through the Quizlet on Rhythm Terminology flashcards a couple times.

Image Metric levels from the Wikimedia Commons

After playing with Quizlet, go for a walk and think about the rhythm of your steps.  How many beats per minute is your walk/pace/cadence? What is the tempo of some of your favorite songs?  How many beats per minute is your favorite tempo?

The tempo of my walk was slow and meandering but I usually like songs with a fast tempo. Around 120 bpm.  The walk went on for a long duration. I have note=iced that I enjoy music with accelerando. I have also noticed that many songs in video games have this quality.

STUDIO

Funklet is back!  This time in the studio. Pick a drummer, like Clyde Stubblefield. Play around with their a beat with Funklet’s editing options. Play a rhythmic guitar strumming pattern over the beat. Practice playing in time with the beat. Try muting the strings and keeping tempo, chucka-chucka style. Watch this chucka-chucka tutorial, to better understand the technique.

CONTROL ROOM

Funklet is back, AGAIN!  This time in the control room.

Pick a drummer.

Export the MIDI file.

Import it into Soundtrap.

Record a rhythmic guitar strumming pattern over the beat.

Watch Mr. Le Duc’s Tutorial for Exporting and Importing MIDI Files with Funklet, HookLab, and Soundtrap, if you get stuck with any of these steps.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

Today I learned about melody and rhythm. I also learned how to play the basic chords on the guitar. It was fun being able to experiment with what sounded good the the guitar and what didn’t. I enjoyed making up short songs. I struggled a little with soundtrap today but I am getting the hang of it.

School of Rock Day Four-Harmony Basics

School of Rock – Day 4 – Harmony Basics

SUMMARY

Today I learned about Harmony. I also learned how to play some chords on the guitar and hookpad.

CLASSROOM

Watch How Harmony Works (47 minutes)

Drone is a continuous note. Some drones are independant of the tone

Harmonics are hidden notes

In a minor triad, the middle note is a half step higher or lower

passing notes create dissonance

7th chord is adding a new note to a chord

 

LAB

This activity went well and I had fun writing different chords in hookpad.

PRACTICE ROOM

  • I am making progress on learning the notes on the Guitar but I need to practice a lot more. I will practice more later today.

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

  • Tonic (1 and 8 chords)
    • Root note creates a feeling of resolution and stability
  • Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant (2, 3, 6 chords)
    • Moderate tension, useful for transitions
  • Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone (4, 5, 7 chords)
    • Create lots of tension to get to the tonic

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

STUDIO

This activity went relatively well but I need a lot more practice with chords.

CONTROL ROOM

Tune your guitar. Try recording two tracks of guitar.  One with the single notes like Jake Lizzio showed you above and a second with the lower C bass notes to make a simple progression. Remember two notes playing at the same time is harmonyKeep it simple.  Refer to your Quizlet Guitar Strings / Notes Flashcards if you need help remembering the guitar notes on the first three frets. Set a timer. Stop playing before you feel like Chewbacca below.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

I learned about melody and chords today.Today my biggest challenge was learning how to play chords on the guitar and I am still learning. I am making progress and I will practice more today. I enjoyed watching the Howard Goodall video and I found it very informative. 

School of Rock Day 3

School or Rock – Day 3 – Melody Basics

SUMMARY

Today I learned about melody and I started to learn the notes on the guitar.

CLASSROOM

Watch How Melody Works (47 minutes)

  • Every music system in the world uses the same five notes. They are pentatonic
  • Western Music has 12 notes. Other cultures have more notes
  • Melody is about mixing and matching intervals
  • playing the same note as someone else from opposite directions sounds good. creates discord
  • Blues notes are notes in between notes
  • Melodies Help control the song

LAB

Watch the tutorial and write the melody to twinkle twinkle.

Melody: 11556654433221

How was this activity? Write a reflection on what you did and learned.

PRACTICE ROOM

  • Before Today I was unfamiliar with the notes on the guitar and I had fun learning them.

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

Don’t worry about not living up to your past work, just try your best and keep living life. Don’t be afraid and keep doing your job.

 

STUDIO

  • By Jamie Henke, music.wisc.edu/faculty/jamie-henke/
    • As you watch Jamie Henke define and explain melody terms, YOU write them below…
    • Period: Eight Measures of Music
    • Phrase: Set of four measures
    • Antecedent Phrase/ Question Phrase: First Phrase
    • Consequent/Answer Phrase: Second Phrase
    • (hint: if the definition appears on the screen, pause and write it down)

Melody Composition Terms

  • Theme: A long more flowing melodic idea
  • Motive: A short rhythmic idea
  • Period: Eight Measures of Music
  • Phrase: Set of four measures
  • Antecedent (Question) Phrase: First Phrase
  • Consequent (Answer) Phrase: Second Phrase
  • Scale Degrees Names: Names of Notes in Measures that cause tension and relief
    • Tonic: Begins and ends the scale, determines key
    • Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant: Give you some need to move foreword. It between kind of tension
    • Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone: They have foreword leaning force. Cause the most tension
  • Steps: any movement using half or whole steps
  • Leaps: any movement using intervals larger than a whole step
  • Conjunct motion: Melody primarily built out of steps
  • Disjunct motion: Melody Primarily built out of leaps
  • Repetition: Use repeated material to create a link between the two phrases of a period
  • Contrast: write two phrases that contain contrasting material to create tension and interest
  • Variation: Halfway between repetition an contrast. The two phrases contain some recognizable material and some varied material

Melody Resources

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

CONTROL ROOM

  • At first the software was confusing to me but I got it eventually. I am enjoying learning new technologies in this class.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

I enjoyed learning about the notes on the guitar today. I have no previous experience on the guitar so it was fun to start learning. My sister helped me when I was confused about some of the notes which was nice of her.

School of Rock Day 2-Basics and Foundations

School or Rock – Day 2 – Basics and Foundations

SUMMARY

Today I learned about music theory and structure. I learned more about soundtrap.com and guitar rigs.

CLASSROOM

Write notes of topics you want to remember.

  • Notes are different frequencies of vibrations
  • majority of music is made up of only 12 notes
  • the formula of a major scale is whole whole whole half whole whole whole half
  • major chords are 4 apart than three
  • minor chords are three then four apart
  • use number system for chords
  • add melody notes that are part of the chord
  • pentatonic scale has five notes

LAB

Explore some more songs at https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/charts/chart/top

A lot of the happy songs such as Take on Me and Shake it Off had a faster tempo of around 160 bpm. Most of the sad songs were around 120 bpm like Cryin’ by Aerosmith. The Keys of the songs varied a lot depending on genre but I noticed that many sad songs were in the key of F. I noticed a lot of major chords in happy or triumphant songs and a lot of minor chords in sad ones.

 

PRACTICE ROOM

Watch these videos and connect your guitar to Soundtrap and get some sound happening. Have fun exploring audio options.

  • This process was a little confusing at first but eventually I got the hang of it. 

JOURNAL

Today my nemesis was motivation and my goal was to get my work done. It was a challenge to stay motivated to do all of my work on time. I did enjoy getting outside on the walk. It was very relaxing.

STUDIO

Finish Soundtrap.com expert training here…and play with your guitar.

https://academy.soundtrap.com/p/soundtrap-expert

I finished the training yesterday.

CONTROL ROOM

  • This is a very complicated software but I think that I am starting to understand the basics of it.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

Today I enjoyed learning about music theory. I was also exited to finally get my hands on the guitar. It was interesting to study individual songs on soundtrap and look for patterns in them. It made me think about the structure of music.