Ellie Thornton Music

Looks like I have made a return to the climbing wall!

Today I returned to Red Spider Climbing, I worked on my Blues and Greens, then I started to work on Oranges. I have been skipping them and going straight to green but they’re essential to help with my technique. It would be great to find a partner to do it with but no one has seemed interested yet at college so I’ll keep it under wraps for now, the crew at red spider are great and everyone on the wall is very friendly it’s a great environment!

My goal is to now perfect my Dropknee technique for the following three reasons:

Employing a dropknee can help you reach holds that seem far away. When you lock in a great dropknee your hip turns toward the wall, taking most of the weight of its corresponding leg, and your feet stay in a stable position. This allows you to generate upward motion with your feet and your hips, as opposed to using your arms to pull. You’ll find that this actually increases the overall distance you can reach.
Employing a dropknee can help you balance on the wall while climbing, and therefore stick to relatively bad holds. Given the relative stability of your body and your ability to reach a long distance, you create more time to optimise your grip on the next hold—a huge advantage, if said hold is terrible.
Employing a dropknee at any given moment gives you the appearance of a climbing master. All the hotties in the gym will be impressed which is always a bonus.

With a little bit of repetition and constant practice I should begin to feel the natural feel of the position and the motion it creates, when I watch other climbers attempt the competition wall they use it a lot the amount of energy it saves is very helpful.

The technique depends upon the climbers level of flexibility, which I find myself to be during BJJ, the possibility of damaging tendons, ligaments, and muscles around the knee are very much real.

Whilst doing this if I start to feel any pain I’ll drop, taking my time is crucial too just in case if I were to jerk my knee into the position then end up tearing my Medial Collateral Ligament.

Family musicianship

I never knew until today that four year olds possess the capability to draw Les Claypool and to tolerate his works alongside Primus. I was sat down at my desk doodling, then my brother Freddie comes upstairs asking why I’m playing music and calling it “weird”. He came over sat down and added to what I had started, I have a picture on my desk as I had just finished drawing Les properly and I think Fred picked up that he is tall…

He has started Primary School in September, ever since his vocabulary has expanded and hes beginning to understand what I tell him and what I am listening to, which is Primus most of the time so a part of me feels bad as he does not know what is going on especially when it comes to the music videos.

When it comes to any music that’s being played round the house by me and Harvey or in the car he always picks out the drums and keeps a steady beat with his head or feet, its hilarious but on the other hand it’s fairly impressive for a four year old. I am definitely going to keep on encouraging him towards music because all my other siblings so far have picked up an instrument or something musical.

Harvey picked up the bass when Ben joined school which is cool, hes picking it up fast and he’s trying to pick up guitar alongside learning theory with me, at the moment he is in year 9,
Jack has singing lessons at school which he enjoys and doesn’t let his autism get in the way of what he wants to do with himself, he’s currently in year 10 and working through his GCSE music with Ben,
Sadie has just started secondary school and has begun piano lessons in school with Ben’s influence through his engaging lessons which is great for her to try and push herself with,
Max is in year 5 at the moment and at the beginning of the new term he has picked up the clarinet with high hopes of progressing through to playing the saxophone when he gets the hang of it,
And finally we have Zach he is in year 2/3 I can’t recall, he hasn’t had any interest with any instruments, he is into technology and all that fun stuff so I am not too sure on what he wants to do, he isn’t a big fan of loud noise either so we shall see.

Bohemian Rhapsody The Film

Bohemian Rhapsody is simply a celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury.

Freddie exceeded the stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most admired entertainers on the planet. The film explores the sudden rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound. They reach unparalleled success, but an unexpected turn struck Freddie to other darker influences, which led to him shunning Queen in pursuit of his solo career.

Having suffered enough without the collaboration of Queen, Freddie manages to reunite with his band mates just in time for Live Aid which was organised by Bob Geldof. While bravely facing a recent AIDS diagnosis, Freddie leads the band into one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music, especially for the band themselves.

To this day Queen cements a legacy that continues to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day through their music, performances and backstory.

The only problem I had with the film was the tameness of the script, whose narrative begins and ends with the Live Aid concert. To me its like the writer is uncertain about the details of Mercury’s relationships and lifestyle as a gay man,

But on the other hand they go ahead and re-imagine the timeline of his life, inserting a scene in which Mercury reveals to his band mates that he has contracted HIV ahead of Live Aid, two years before he was thought to have been diagnosed, in a grasping attempt to give the concert, and therefore the film, additional meaning which frustrated me massively after walking out of the cinema.

It would have made more sense for them to play Sun City before Live Aid, it would have made the film more authentic.But sticking with Live Aid made more sense for the nerves of the audience and wanting to blow the competition away.

Personally being a bit of a Queen fan myself for a solid 4 years, I keep it to myself though, here’s what I’ve been working on in that time.

I came away from the film thinking there was no cohesiveness to the sub plots. For example a bunch of the scenes were thrown together with little bits for fans of the music. The first half was way too tame and long, the second half wasn’t as bad but they could have done way more to work on the loneliness, drugs, sex, homosexuality without going overboard, to me it was all kinda just suggested.

Yet again the movie represents Freddie Mercury as he would have wanted to be remembered, as a performer who made music, and respects him by not delving too deeply into his private life which is completely understandable and respectful.

The best thing I can say is Rami Malek’s performance totally saved this from being a straight to DVD release which I am thankful for as he is a great actor and has starred within one of my favourite series called “Mr Robot” I recommend you check it out on Amazon Prime.

This film could have been fantastic, however due to the script being so poorly written (honestly, some of the scenes are woeful) and stripped of any negativity of Queen. You’ll learn more by just reading this article.

Overall the film is highly enjoyable for fans of the music and the general public as a gateway or something along the same guidelines into the deep stories and meaning behind Queens true image and rise to fame!

Tapestry – Carole King

By the early 70s Carole King’s legendary status was already assured by her work as a staff writer in New York’s Brill Building during the previous decade.

To me ‘Tapestry’ is definitely one of the most successful albums in pop music history. It’s a fairly remarkably, expressive and intimate record non the least, it’s a work of pure craftsmanship and precision all in one album.

The album was released within 1971 under a record label called Ode Records and it was produced by Lou Adler.

Her second album still to this day overflows withe emotionally honest, subtly soulful singing; masterfully written pieces that merge many genres like Pop, Folk, and R&B; this is all wrapped up with a toasty, organic but very smooth and laid back production.

The sheer intimacy right from the beginning with the album which is what hooked me in personally at an instant, the steady pace and pulse make the songs very enticing for everyone listening to join in and enjoy what they’re about to experience. “I Feel the Earth” is my favourite track with its piano riff right from the start which is soon led on by the inviting bass part alongside the guitars input!

Highlights such as “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got a Friend”, perfectly demonstrates how compassionate Carole is when it comes to song writing and production even upon her second album, it’s clear that she is more than capable to create many masterpieces at her very fingertips.

As a lover of Primus, Ghost, and all things fun – it may come as a surprise to say that this is one of my all time favourite albums to just pop on whilst working or trying to calm myself down to get to sleep eventually.It is a timeless and gorgeous album with lyrics that are still relevant to today.

When Carole King started making music, she was just writing, that was the thing in the early days of pop – there are writers and performers – this is what makes this album different to most of the others from the time and what makes it a crucial part of music history!

For the following reasons not only did it become the best selling solo album of all time (until Michael Jackson’s Thriller) but it became a cornerstone of every thinking woman’s record collection and a new edition to mine.

Tapestry will always remain a classic because it never forgets the innate urban r&b understanding of great pop while it covers itself in patchouli, satins and silks.

I highly recommend that everyone goes out and gets a copy of this album on any platform and or all of them, I could go on for pages about each of the songs but we’d be here for days so I kept it short and sweet, because her songs should be how you see them and not how other people do. It’s practically an essential album for any and everyone no matter what you listen to, without her we wouldn’t have the music industry we have today.

Daniel Strauss, Guillotine Tour Seminar; Sunday the 21st of October 2018

My half term is going well so far, today I met Daniel Strauss, also known as “The Raspberry Ape”. He is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under 10x world champion, from Roger Gracie.

He has been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for the past 12 years and in that time hes had an active and successful competitive career: A British and English champion at black belt, NAGA elite European champion and a number one ranked black belt by the UKBJJA. He has also been invited to and competed in the world’s biggest submission grappling tournaments such as Polaris pro, ADCC and the Eddie Bravo Invitational.

In 2016 he started “The Raspberry Ape Podcast” with the goal of creating an educational and entertaining resource for the community. Since it began it has served as an important documentation of the history of UK Brazilian jiu jitsu with some of the country’s most influential individuals as guests.

Today we went over his signature move the Guillotine, it may come across as a simple move to the untrained eye but the sheer amount of time and additions Strauss has made and has proven to work very well to himself and everyone who has attended his tour, it is a brutal game changer within grappling especially to me!

If you would like to check out Daniel Strauss, there is a short video his website can also be found under Raspberry Ape.

Aural Perception, Wednesday the 17th of October 2018

The first song of the lesson today is called ‘She’ by Harry Connick Jr.

Time Signature – 4/4
Tempo – 104bpm (Andante)
Timbre
Style – Funk/Soul/Jazz
Instrumentation – Upright Fingered Double Bass, Grand Piano, Electric Guitar with Wah-wah effect, Male Vocals (with a potential harmony), Drums, Bongos/Congos, Electric Bass (fingered with wah-wah effect) and a Hammond Organ (could potentially be electric keys).
Structure
Pitch
Dynamics – Forte which Crescendos to Mezzoforte.

Next up is ‘Caroline in my mind’ by Dixie Chicks.

Time Signature – 4/4
Tempo – 75bpm (Andante)
Timbre
Style – Country/Rock
Instrumentation – [Audience], Acoustic Guitar, Male Vocalist and Three Female Backing Vocals.
Structure
Pitch
Dynamics – Forte which Decrescendos to Piano.

The final song today is called ‘Daughter’ and it is by Pearl Jam.

Time Signature – 4/4
Tempo – 97bpm (Andante
Timbre
Style – Alternative/Indie/Rock/Grunge
Instrumentation –
Structure
Pitch
Dynamics – Piano gradually crescendos to Mezzoforte, Pause to Forte which Decresendos to Mezzopiano/Piano gradual Crescendo to mezzoforte to forte again.

Wednesday the 17th of October 2018

Today was pretty lacklustre being a Wednesday in all, within D.I.S we chose to rehearse as three and go through our songs again without our singer because she wanted to catch up with her blog. In the other band I am in we have agreed to do ‘Year 3000’ by Busted which will be fun and an easy song to chug out in general.

After we had gone over our songs as a band, I then had a guitar lesson which is always interesting we went over everything that was given to us previously and a grade 6 booklet to look over during half term which will definitely occupied.

At lunch, Jason kindly came over to the library to check my stylistic analysis work and to have a chat which I always enjoy. I now know what I need to work on to complete this work and to take it further than the state it is in at the moment.

Afterwards we had Aural Perception with Chris, which I’ve grown to enjoy and I am obviously getting better each time we have the lesson and when I listen to music whilst writing up my many works which often makes me side tracked but that’s more than fine to work through amongst the chaos.

Chris then kindly finished up the day with restringing my bass which I have been looking forward to subtly all week, during that time Jason came in and looked through my blog which he enjoyed whilst having an entertaining chat with Chris non the least. When Chris was done and Jason had to go I double checked I had everything and went home for the half term ahead of me!

Tuesday the 16th of October 2018

This morning we started off with a rehearsal with Jason which is always enjoyable for me at least, our singer wasn’t in today because of personal reasons which is completely understandable. This therefore led us on the act like professionals and to use the time given appropriately, Jason came in and helped us come up with lyrics for our original song we got pretty far with that and nearing the end of the session we packed up within preparation for our next class.

Composition was a blast as per usual we worked on another 30-second piece about ‘Happiness’ this time because everyone in my class is always happy 24/7 without a doubt. My piece consisted of a brass section, a couple of basses cause that’s cool and drums, I tend to keep my head down during that session and work at my own special pace which seems to help me and not to worry considerably about it like I did when composing for GCSE as that was a burden.

After composition we had Stylistic Analysis with Jason which is always fun times, yet again I keep my head down and do my work whilst everyone gets on with what they’re doing I tend to ignore others as then I get off a task to which is not great. I finished up my analysis of ‘Mercy’ by Duffy and then proceeded to start my analysis of ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars which was fun as I get lost easy trying to think when others are around me so I asked Tom for some help for the next time we have the class with Jason for some of his notes to give me a hand.

When that lesson had finished we had lunch which went alright then we had rehearsal. We went through our set as per usual to the best of our abilities and talked about the original a bit, but it’s difficult to do, our singer was in but she didn’t feel like singing which is completely understandable. so we went through the set and now there are some worries with doing ‘Sex On Fire’ which is excellent so we left it like that to pick up on tomorrow.

Then we had a tutorial with Chris which is always special fun times, we went through our pro-portal thing and set our goals and what we are striving for, etc which is always nice to keep in mind, after tutor had finished I asked Jason if he could come and check my work so far which he agreed to do yet again which is very kind of him, then after that it was home time which is the best time.

Monday the 15th of October 2018

My weekend went well considering how terrible the weather was. But besides it being wet and cold, I enjoyed listening to the heavy downpour for some reason it’s always been relaxing to listen to. I used to enjoy hearing it when I was back at secondary working on my music theory with Ben which is nice to reminisce on.

This morning in Music Business, Chris went over that the cut off point was today and that everyone else is safe and that he’s now expecting everyone to work at their full capability. After that, we watched a video of a great band called ‘The Tower Of Power’ the song in question is called ‘The Soul Side Of Town’ which I personally enjoyed being into Funk and all that other fun stuff.

After that Chris said we had our one to ones today so for the final twenty minutes or so of the session he went off to his office whilst he eventually got through every ones blogs and asking each and every one of us how we feel, etc.

After that, we had rehearsal which is always, in my initial band our singer was at a funeral which is sad to hear and my thoughts go out to her.

But I spent most of my time with the other band Chris has put me in to play the guitar in which is a challenge but fun none the lease, we started to come up with an original song and went through ‘Lucky Man’ by ‘The Verve’ which is fun the other guitarist/vocalist has totalled his fingers so I had to play his part rather than the lead part which went well, then after that we had lunch.

After we went through that song we began on the original piece and came up with an upbeat chord progression that Jason previously helped us out with which I remembered from a couple weeks back, now it’s up to our vocalist to come up with something to go with it!

When lunch was finished, we had directed independent study, but I didn’t know what to do as I’ve done a hell of a lot over the weekends as I have no social life quite frankly, so me and Tom went to talk to Chris and he told us to rehearse now so the others can leave early and for me to go have my one to one after which was fun times, Chris enjoyed my blog and my progress and we talked about many fun things including Les Claypool.

After that Chris came back over to music with me and we worked with my other band because the setlist was a mess and the bassist wasn’t in, and we agreed to do ‘Red Red Wine’ by UB40 which is a good tune, after that it was the end of the day and we went home.

I have training tonight so I’m going to be either totalled tomorrow morning or in the mood to destroy, so we shall wait and see…