This Wednesday mostly consisted of nothing again, our instrumentals were meant to start this week properly however the college told the teacher to start next week which is a bit silly but oh well.
We went through our set a couple times then I went home as there was nothing I could possibly think of doing; I also had a job interview later which I had to get prepared for but with my luck I might not get it..
However after each band member spent the weekend listening to and learning the Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack version of ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’, we spent most of our day playing through it.
The hardest part to comprehend was the structure of all things, as the version we were learning from was seven minutes long to start with and we had decided to shorten it.
Our vocalist wrote the structure out for us which showed us how she had learnt the vocals, and with some adjustments. We added a chorus before my solo, the structure was arranged and written on the board for us all to follow whilst playing through the song.
After this I went home because I was some how tired and feeling a bit stressed, we had no lessons left anyway.
Rehearsal first thing in the morning is fine but always tiring, I’ve had breakfast everyday this week which is an achievement and I am starting to feel a bit more energised throughout my working day.
We went through ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ and ‘Love Rears Its Ugly Head’. Out of all of these songs I am enjoying the one by Living Colour the most, it is particularly challenging and is constantly keeping me on my toes during with complex solos, dynamics and a handful of techniques.
This session was then cut short because Chris began to develop a migraine in the other room so he was rushed over to his office to take some tablets because he was beginning to lose his eyesight which I imagine not being very nice.
He then came back for our lesson of theory/tutor which concludes our day. We were meant to watch a documentary about Paul Simon’s Graceland but everytime Chris started and took out the DVD it would then play a voice over in German so that idea was then scrapped.
But this term we have to write an essay/review on this revolutionary album which I will start after I have watched it either in college or on Youtube, I already have the album downloaded on my phone because the tracks are all unique and very catching to the ear!
I turned up on time today or maybe a few minutes late, I was eating breakfast and did not keep an eye on the time. But when I got in everyone was stood about in the corridor getting ready to go into rehearsal rooms, so I got in accordingly.
Last night I received a phone call and I have another job interview, hopefully I will get the job this time round as I know someone who works there which may come in handy.
Rehearsal first thing was uneventful everyone was tired and starting to become ill with this cold I have brought into college which dampened the mood but we tried to press on. We went through ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and i sounded a lot better considering how many times we have been through it at this point.
We have also been repeatdly looking through ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ by Etta James and trying to come up with our version which is a little bit more lively and catching to the ear. To help us we have also been looking at other covers by bands and singers alike and we are starting to put something special together.
After this we had theory with Chris and we are now getting started with Jazz or Blues Improvisation, here are the notes from my notebook.
We then had a session where we took turns in a band with Chris going through ‘Stormy Monday Blues’ in A Minor which was fun but getting a feel for it was hard at the start but I got it in the end.
For lunch me and the singer of my band made a hasty walk to town to pick up some pizzas, etc for lunch. We made it back on time and ate them at our own pace but afterwards we were completely knackered for the rest of the day…
In our theory lesson with Jason we went through our material for the upcoming gig and contextualising it for us then to put it on to our blogs, I chose to look at ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ to start off with here is what I took down during this lesson which I will be putting into a essay soon.
We ended the day with rehearsal, all of us were tired and fed up so we went through our set twice and decided to take off early and practice our parts at home on our own to make them stronger.
Today was the freshers fair, me and Tom got in for about half past nine. We then proceeded to sit down until it was time to rehearse with our bands.
The Acid Vision Gig we were supposed to play was unfortunately put off due to the fact that our keyboard player left last minute which is highly unprofessional of him, considering he’s doing the HNC you’d think he would have learnt a thing or two about being a professional musician…
Anyway, after a good half hour of rehearsal in which we went over our old set and new, Chris then took us down to the freshers fair which consisted of a few stands trying to entice us to goto these certain universities.
The main appeal was the free pizza that they were handing out which was pretty cool, after we got that we all went back up to music. We then had to perform to the first years which was eventful, the first band that played sounded good considering two of their members weren’t there!
My band was good, something on my end sounded off due to the effects pedal I was using, I think the battery was on its way out hence as to why it sounded muddy. We played to the best of our ability and put on a good show for them.
After this we all went home, well I did to have a nap on the sofa as I still have a stupid cold. In the evening I went round my partners house and chilled with the dog then went to sleep as that’s cool.
My band The Preachers performed at The 1865 upon Wednesday the 18th of December as part of the Fareham College Christmas Showcase.
The first song we played was ‘Love Rears Its Ugly Head’ by Living Colour. Out of all our songs, I have to say that this is our strongest out of our catalogue of new material but on certain days we all may beg to differ. This wasn’t our best performance for a plethora of reasons but it has some good qualities, we did perceiver and worked with what we have got.
Our singer was not very well on the day of the gig and for her to get up there and give it her all on antibiotics and a rough voice is amazing, because she put on a great show for the audience. On my head any slip ups were due to the fact that I was staring at the audience too much rather than focussing just a tad more on what I am playing. I was told when we went to Solent University that I should play more to the crowd rather than the fretboard, I tried and it kind of failed…
I had trouble throughout trying to lock in with our bass player, if you want me to be brutally honest he was sort of in a mind of his own when it came to playing on the beat, as it was more of the backbeat, however when he focussed it came together well.
The next song we played is called ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ by Etta James, but we played a version covered by a band called Stan Webbs Chicken Shack which is a bit more exciting and catered for our bands arrangement. Within this track my part revolves around two chords so there is nothing particularly challenging so it is a few minutes for me after going hard in the previous song. The only bit that requires full focus is when I have to improvise a solo but then it goes back to the chords, this song is especially for the singer.
At this point in the set I got particularly cold and my hand started to seize and it was sending some sharp pains down to my wrist. Next time I will try have a jumper on hand that fits within the dress code for our set to prevent getting to cold up on stage.
We have another Living Colour song called ‘Ignorance is bliss’ this one is a bit trickier in the way in which we have to focus and lock in as a band, me and the drummer made sure we were in as soon as she counted but our bassist was in a world of his own.
Getting the strumming pattern down for me was definitely tricky as its not straight its swaying in a way which makes it sound a lot cooler than usual which is one of the aspects of this song that I enjoy. The chords were fun to learn by ear, I picked them up as they reminded me of the chords used in ‘Sultans of Swing’ so in my head I went “oh there are the Dire Straits chords”.
The solos were impossible for me to replicate in such a short span of time, to get up to Vernon Reid’s standard of playing takes a lot of practice and a Floyd Rose… I did my best and improvised within the key of the song and it sounded pretty good considering the space I had to fill with no whammy bar and effects.
And finally, the ending, to me it sounds correct but we all have to lock in to not sound like its being dragged out for longer than usual, as a band I know we can improve on this but it takes time, practice, dedication and most importantly concentration. Overall I thought that song went well and it sounded the best that it could on the evening due to the circumstances our band was in.
Last but not least would have to be ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’, now this song was quite literally thrown at us last minute via a chord sheet. I was fine with reading and playing it but it was trying to find the time between learning the Living Colour stuff properly, my part time job and making sure my blog was up to date.
On the night you can see on the floor that it was there for me to read if I got lost or got caught up with what our bass player was doing, and not to play the blame game but it was something special. I don’t want to come across as harsh or unprofessional but nearing the end of the track there were bits where he was not counting properly and when he kept behind it made me sound off and it was honestly a catastrophe waiting to happen.
The only saving grace was calling up our Technician, Dan to play the solo as I never got round to it during this expensive, chaotic and almost depressing month. In the end our performance was not dreadful but it was not our best, this is a low point for us but we will only be getting better as we can criticise our selves and say that we don’t want to be shown up by other bands ever again, or at least that is what I will be telling myself…
I have chosen to peer assess The Fever, to me the set was pretty top notch, there set was definitely catered to everyones comfort zone when it comes to performance and that would have to be rock but it gets a crowd going which is something you always have to take into consideration before you go out performing.
Their stage presence is there and their outfits fit the genre and era they were playing, every song packed a punch and it was a guaranteed way to keep the audience in a tight grasp throughout. Between songs the guitarist should not be playing over the singer, especially if she is trying to interact with the crowd as it clashes. Another thing which caught my eye was he kept walking to his amp to check his settings though out the song rather than playing to the audience which is a habit everyone gets.
I think their set could have been within a different order to, rather playing all of the upbeats and leaving ‘Dream On’ to the last as I feel like it is something that could divide rather than end as it is a strain for the singer as you can hear her trying to get it done with and trying to breathe after giving it her all in the three songs before it.
Apart from that their set was spot on and it got the crowd going or what was left of it this late within the evening, it was a shame but at least there was a crowd!
From a young age, I’ve always loved the sound of music. Whilst growing up, my Dad introduced me to a wide range of genres which heavily contrasted from what I’d heard on the radio on the way back from school. ‘Pink Floyd’ were the first band I had properly gotten into from the age of 10, so when it got to my final two years in primary, I just had to take acoustic guitar lessons. The passion and energy that informs each of their albums awoke something inside of me. I felt a great need to recreate their music and create similar tracks of my own. By the time I moved up to secondary school, I got my first electric guitar and started lessons again to study for my guitar grades, alongside taking Music as a GCSE. A year or two later, I joined a band at school and we played multiple events, leading up to the end of my time there. These included the ‘Meadowside Festival’, a popular local open-air event in Hampshire. We played mostly rock songs, but ventured out with more musically complex arrangements.
I would say my biggest achievement yet would be learning the entire lead sheet to the ‘School of Rock’ musical. I had to transpose it into a more suitable key for the vocalists involved and then played it as a part of the pit band. This was a new experience for me and making sure we had it all ‘spot on’ was a challenge. We played three consecutive nights and had a great time. Playing music full-time has got to be exhilarating, right?
I have enjoyed spending all of my time in the music departments I have grown up in. I help out, which can include small maintenance jobs on all the instruments and overseeing lunchtime rehearsals when teachers are otherwise occupied. I am now the chair of my music class MMP and I know I will enjoy putting together our event and making sure everything flows perfectly. I have so far achieved a Distinction in my college studies and I am now working towards a Distinction* overall. I am finally studying towards the grade eight practical, which is a push, but I know I am capable of anything – once I put my mind to it. I practice for two hours a day at a minimum and if there’s a technique I haven’t covered yet, I sit down and try figure it out because I want to help myself improve on my own and to the best of my own ability.
I am choosing to study within Higher Education because I like the theory side as well as the performances and I’d like to try and inspire others in the future. I see Higher Education as a great opportunity to further hone my musical skills and to be able to qualify in my teaching practice, which will help me propel me into an industry I am highly passionate about.
Ellie Thornton Music 