This morning I woke up to find that we have a theory class before lunch. It was our first class call after having Easter half term for two long, boring weeks. In comparison to the others we have a smaller group so it is much easier to talk and keep track of the conversation if we stay on topic. It was fairly short call as our lecturer had a meeting, we had a quick catch up by working on time signatures and scales from the Grade 3 Music Theory Rockschool sample paper.
Luckily I had already finished it at the start of the year so I was just marking my answers as went along, it was a nice recap as I have swiftly moved along to five and I am on my way to starting six properly. Next week we will go through a couple more pages as a class and tomorrow we have a catch up meeting with everybody which I am not particularly looking forward to.
Within the afternoon I then proceeded to go out on my daily form of exercise and after being for half an hour and seeing groups of teens out, I went home slightly frustrated as I can’t see my partner so why should they…
Well half term was not very eventful, turns out being stuck indoors for two weeks doesn’t have many perks at all. My younger siblings are loving it as they don’t seem to get bored of TV and just doing nothing, I on the other hand struggle to keep my self occupied.
For the first week off I tried watching as many movies as I can which seemed appealing to me. As Disney+ came out that week I stuck to everything on there as it didn’t require me to get out DVDs etc.
I got round to watching ‘Incredibles 2’ and I was more distracted my the score at times rather than the plot of the film! The drums draw you in when a fast pace fight takes place and then the brass section just hits you hard.
Going out for about half hour a day was fun until my hay fever made it impossible to see without clawing my eyes out. Despite having taken the tablet that is meant to help I felt like garbage, so after recovering from my cold thing I have a new threat.
I did acquire a new found interest within drums and I have been toning out everything else whilst listening to anything I’d normally chuck on in the background. Whilst going through my bands set list I could find myself hitting a imaginary guitar kit as no one is around to judge me…
With YouTube at my disposal, I decided to dive into a plethora of videos, drum notation and breakdowns of the tracks I have been listening to.
My favourite drummer at the moment would have to be Gavin Harrison, he is a beast, obviously I can’t explain what he is doing technically but it’s like woah. He has written a couple books full of drum things, and all the notes are a bit much for me to comprehend but it’s still cool to see noice into sheet.
Apart from that I mostly practiced and went though my grade 6 and 8 books for guitar, I did pick up my theory books here and there but I didn’t want to force myself into doing them otherwise I wouldn’t be getting anything right.
I donated a fair bit of money to the NHS rather it be through the text thing and the raffle someone put together. Musicians where donating certain items, tickets, etc and when I saw Steven Wilson’s name I instantly lit up.
I had brought two tickets for myself, my Mum had got one on her behalf, and so did my Nan. Then I brought one for my partner before the raffle shut, it was fun to participate within, but unfortunately we didn’t win.
But at least the money went to a good cause.
After warming up to play my instrument with scales, chords, etc. I began to draw my attention back to these scores I have been hearing behind films, TV and games.
In most the arrangements where huge, especially when it came to films and the games I picked up. The one that stood out the most to me was ‘Cuphead’.
It is a classic run and gun action game heavily focused around its big boss battles. It is heavily by cartoons of the 1930s which I adore, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era including; traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, and original jazz recordings.
The game has won many awards, for its art style, animation and soundtrack. Not to mention the BAFTA it one, since then the game has begun to develop a somewhat underground following.
Now that the score behind it has gained even more interest they’ve put together a website where you can purchase the score in different ways. These include scores for a high school concert band, high school jazz bands, barbershop quartets and as professional charts which is awesome.
Here’s a preview below,
On YouTube there are a few clips behind the making of the music where are a good insight but I wish there was more to sink my teeth into as it is amazing to see how it all unfolds. Feel free to check out the game or not, it is available on most platforms and it’s definitely worth your time.
Now that I have seven days a week to do anything music related I will definitely take any opportunity I can to read about any path music could take me, and or learn any genre I desire.
I hope that the lockdown is lifted whenever is necessary but it is best if we all take our time and make sure we can prevent as many deaths as possible and create a plateau effect so we can all return to our normal lives.
Today is technically our last day of term, and the start to our half term which seems odd but oh well. Being indoors isn’t all too fun, running out of things to do in my pass time that aren’t to do with music which is irritating.
We had a meeting today with our whole class and lecturer which is always interesting, it’s nice to hear everyone’s voices but being at home makes me a bit unenthusiastic to it.
Within this meeting, the whole situation with our break was explained and how we are being marked overall which is a relief for all of us in fear. Afterwards we all had meetings within our band, discussing our final set as we are all gearing up to if we were to play it.
The whole meeting thing took place mostly over the phone, but we made sure to include our keyboard player and lecture on what we are intending to play! Here’s a brief compilation below, I missed out ‘Don’t Start Now’ by Dua Lipa.
We decided to get rid of a few songs, so our set is 45 minutes long, but we have enough in our back catalog to play for longer if necessary.
After all of this I began to gear myself up for a very uneventful half term stuck indoors, luckily I’m surrounded by my instruments and family, along with being able to keep in contact with my partner.
Today we did not have any scheduled lessons apart from tutorial in the afternoon, if I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t check it as I think it’s a load of rubbish apart from the bits where it goes over what’s going on within college.
But as you all know, we aren’t in so it’s pointless. I did as much work as I could today, despite feeling very low, and tired after finally getting over the cold I had.
I decided to focus more upon triad inversion as it had recently came up within my grade books, and I was about 25% uncertain upon it. Turns it it’s stupidly simple, and I need to calm down and stop trying to over complicate everything that steps in front of me as it holds me back massively…
Later on, I went over my bands set list which is the same old routine gets a bit boring but it needs to be done so I don’t turn up to a gig and be clueless to what is going on. I then proceeded to go over the final scale this week which I am focussing on which is below.
Today I am trying to get everything back to a more professional standard, I’m slowly getting over my week long headache and the not being able to breathe side of things which means more time to practice without feeling sleepy.
This morning I started off my finishing up all of the sections for the proposal thing and putting them together into a word document, which didn’t take too long.
This is now one less thing I will have to stress about whilst recovering, now that I have been put onto the furlough scheme I don’t have to worry about coming into contact with others at work.
I decided to then go over chord relationships within both major and minor keys. I started off by hitting down the order within basic triads then along with extended chords as well.
After I did that, I made up a example within C major to keep it simple so I don’t get all twisted up. The result was successful, now I know how to apply this to other major keys.
I also started to read into the relative minor key, both major and minor share the same chords but the formula starts on a VI if we were looking from a major perspective so to speak.
Yet again, I played it safe and stuck to a key signature that I’m comfortable with when it comes to basic understanding, etc. I also went over the V chord as it is often changed to a Dominant 7th as you can see above.
At 2pm today I attended a class meeting which was a bit crowded but it was nice to hear everyone’s voices, we went over on who was in which theory class and what we are meant to be doing to get our grades.
I’m well on track for getting what I want I just need to keep giving it my all and updating my blog with my targets, goals etc.
To finish off my day I went over my bands set list along with the exercises within my grade 8 guitar book, now that I’m regaining energy it is a lot easier to focus upon my upcoming exam!
I started it off with the easiest scale over 3 octaves, it is a demanding shape if you’re taking that approach. But if you think about the scales ‘spelling’, it’s easier to think of what notes and the spaces between each.
Last day of the week, I’m still not feeling my absolute best. These headaches I’ve been waking up with are a implication to everything I’m trying to achieve.
I cannot practice my instrument properly without being in agony at the moment, noise hurts so I am limited to reading, writing, typing, etc. I logged on to teams in the morning to register, then I got to work finishing the first two tasks.
Now I have to figure out how to publish them and try saving them within the template provided. It’s a PDF so it’s online, I just have to think of a way to take it offline so I can edit it and make it my own.
I am slowly gathering everything I had put together within preparation for our gig to compile on to here and the teams chat for everyone to use. Rather than people bugging me for it, what I have will be there plain and simple.
I went over the intervalic structure behind all of my scales instead of playing them today, the more I study these things it will be easier for me to apply them anywhere on the fretboard and keys.
Within preparation for the next week, we have to prepare a question for our theory lesson. So far nothing has came to my head that I am technically struggling with, I have all the resources I need to be able to piece it all together myself.
If I do end up struggling with anything I may find within the books I will be sure to bring it up within the lesson!
Second day within this lockdown situation, and I have woken up with a terrible cold. It is draining to even be awake and perform tasks, it was hard to stay focused on my work being set to me today but I have been trying my hardest. I don’t want to call in sick as of yet as I am not entirely sure if this is just a cold or something more serious…
I know others within my class may be excelling without a cold and will have a lot more to show than I do today but there is not a awful lot I can do. I began my day by putting my proposal within to the template and tweaking it here and there to meet the word count and tailoring it to meet my own goals, etc.
After that I tried to get my head around the action plan, but the dates provided were a bit iffy, so I have to come up with a set and make everyone aware of what they are. No pressure.
Within the afternoon I practiced for as long as I could withstand, it is getting harder to focus throughout the day, our set is becoming a piece of cake so I am slowly moving away from it and taking a look at it every couple of days. My main focus now will be going through this bad boy.
I am beginning to get a hang of it, along with some generic backing tracks online.. I thought I could get a headstart for the first year of UNI, mainly because it revolves around this book.
I tried to put my head down and finish the first section within my grade six book but I didn’t have the energy and I couldn’t get within the right mindset to focus so I have left it for now as it is my challenge thing at the moment.
Today I will be trying to get as much as I can possibly do without getting worn out. At some point I will have to go out for my daily form of exercise as being cooped up all day is not good for my mental or physical health.
To finish the first section of my grade six Rockschool theory book.
Go back over all of the previous chords, scales and arpeggios from grades 4 and 6.
Put together and finalise all of my work for task 2 on our assignment brief.
Go back other my proposal I have uploaded and meet the word count, this will include a deeper insight to our bands idea.
Begin studying the Real Book and Jazz guitar within preparation for university.
Today has been my first proper day within lockdown, on Friday at 8:30pm Boris Johnson announced that the UK will be going on lockdown. You’re only allowed out for essential food shopping, and one form of exercise with a member from your household.
Throughout Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was working to help provide supplies to the general public, but due to non essential shops being closed within fareham Town Centre there hasn’t been many people coming to our essential shop which has led to a sudden decrease in sales and most importantly my pay…
This whole situation is taking a toll on my mental health for a lot of reasons, there is a lot of stress and anxiety amongst all members of my family. Most of us have colds now and we don’t feel the best be we are staying positive and keeping each other’s moral up.
I am missing my other half greatly, but this whole lockdown is for the benefit of the people who I love and care about and it is for the best. He is working at Tesco all week and I hope he doesn’t pick something up whilst serving the NHS, elderly and the rest of the general public.
Today I have carried on helping my youngest brother with his school work to give me a view into teaching young children and understanding how they go through things that we have all became a custom through.
He has had a lot of work to go through in such a short period, he has had the occasional piece of music homework which has spiked my interest here is a picture below.
I feel like getting to grips with the curriculum for the younger years then the older years with my brother in year 6 will be interesting and insightful.
At 2 o’clock today I attended the class on the Microsoft Teams program thing, I was on it since nine just going through what is what. I completed the first task last week and I am well on my way to putting the other tasks together to put on here and the booklet.
Rehearsing my set at home has been interesting especially with the six other siblings in the house who burst into my room when they hear me playing my guitar! Or tell me turn it down…
I’ve been trying to not over do it as I have to take my mental health into consideration along with my physical, I went out with my family after my class for a walk and ride up and down the hill we live by.
Getting out of the house definitely gives me a like sense of normality amongst all this chaos, this crisis has effected many things within my day to day life and I shall be continuously updating my situation on my blog stay tuned.
Ellie Thornton Music 