Ellie Thornton Music

Today is the day of the gig, and it turns out I don’t own a pair of black jeans or a black T-shirt, so I made a quick journey into Town Centre to buy them.

Once I had got into college I was out of breath, worn out and I needed a hefty break. I had also brought some food to last me and partner throughout the day as it is going to be a long one…

Once my band were all in we decided to rehearse through our set once, this reinsures us that we know what we are doing and there is no room for mistakes, if we went over it more than once we’d lose our concentration and motivation towards doing the set. Plus we would start to pick each other apart on small things that are too late to fix.

After that it was sitting around in the corridor with time, until Chris told me, Tom and Jack to go sit down in the room where Jason was cooking hot dogs. We were locked in there whilst he performed with another band and I was let out in time to watch my partner play with his band.

From that point onwards I was free to roam about and do what ever I wanted to. As the clock drew nearer to the time we were playing my Mum, two brothers, sister and Nan arrived, they all walked around looking for things to go until I was on stage.

However, my brother has a clarinet performance today also ten minutes after I get on stage, so they cannot stay for too long.

When I finally was about to get on stage they all had to leave, the band on before us was overrunning massively because they played eight songs and they decided to repeat a part in the last song which frustrated me as I’m getting to the age where my family don’t care about me performing anymore.

You can check out how our performance went under my Unit 8 tab where you will find a evaluation and my progress leading up to the gig!

We were late this morning because of traffic due to a stupid diversion which is fun but not everyone was in for rehearsal anyway so I ended up waiting in the corridor until my band arrived whilst Ethan scurried away into his lesson.

Once my band had turned up after a short while, in this time I sat and played around with my guitar out of sheer boredom, I couldn’t do any work on my phone because I stupidly didn’t charge it over night.

Not much is installed for me today due to all of the year groups being in at once and everyone in the world is trying to secure a rehearsal room which is top notch banter when our gig is tomorrow. However, I managed to gobble one up before another band took our preferred room which is good, I am not a huge fan of other rooms as they can get too hot too fast which isn’t good if I start to sweat.

When we got in a room we proceeded to go through our set twice, after an hour in a room we become demotivated so it is the perfect amount. Today’s song we were having issues with were 1999, we couldn’t figure out if the progression would sound better within minor or major. To prevent this on going argument, I decided that we should play it in major so it sounds happier and that everyone will get involved with something that sounds appealing rather than being dull and depressing.

After this rehearsal session I had nothing else to do apart from coursework which I like to do at home where it is mostly quiet so I am able to concentrate so I can bring my work to the highest grade possible. Considering I am not being offered guitar lessons again, I took the opportunity and then went home so I can get some work done, then take a nap.

When I get home I am going to tidy up my room thoroughly so I can find what I want exactly where it should be, so until tomorrow I shall see you then!

Due to the GCSE Retakes, just like the previous week, we started again at lunch again this week so I missed out on a hand full of lessons this morning, one in which as a much needed rehearsal, but I still have one to go in for alongside many other tasks…

I couldn’t get in until the end of lunch because my hot water wasn’t working and I needed a wash desperately, within this time I took the opportunity of sitting down and polishing and cleaning all of my guitars. I also went ahead and printed off various pieces of work so I can keep them in my big folder so I am well aware of where everything is if my computer fails me.

After this I soon got into college we were thrown into a rehearsal room so we were able to go through our set multiple times, after setting up before everyone I also went and handed in my completed proposal thing to Chris before everyone else as I am a huge dork when it comes to work.

We played through the whole of our set twice which seems to be the usual at the moment which is the flow I would always like to be in during rehearsal. I really do hope that I am kept within the same band for my second year, I have grown to love each and every member of my band, our playful banter and incredible work effort has led us to a point where I would have never seen myself as a female guitarist with little to no confidence…

Soon after rehearsal our singer had realised that she has not finished her proposal in full because she has had trouble managing her computer at home and the one she has to use within college. After Chris had looked through all of my work he decided that I should show my class mates what to do and point them in the right direction if they were a bit baffled in what to do!

I enjoyed doing this, fortunately I want to go into teaching music specifically at secondary level but I would not mind at college either because I love showing people what I know and passing that on to another. After I did this it was home time for me where I have copious guitar practice installed as I am not the best at remembering things in big, big chunks, hopefully I will pass but I am more focused upon my overall grade as I will be aiming for a distinction and then a distinction star next year.

Tomorrow I will be in college for 9am for rehearsal and more rehearsal on top of that, I shall see you all then!

This week we really cracked down upon rehearsal, our day started off at 10:20. I had a breakfast and went to the shop to get some chewing gum to help me concentrate in class whilst I figure out some aspects of my coursework which confuse me heavily.

Chris gathered us up within the mac room for a chat so we can discuss what we need to get done this week within preparation for Thursday and Saturday, he then soon sent us off to rehearse which I was looking forward to as we have a list of things we need to finish as a band so we can perform to the best of our combined abilities.

Tomorrow morning I will print out set lists for our gigs so we don’t like overly confused onstage, on the plus side it will make us look more professional in comparison to the other bands which is always a win in my books.

We went through our whole set today multiple times, our singer doesn’t have to go her English lessons anymore because she has taken her GCSE so that has given us more time in which I would usually have D.I.S which has given us an upper hand when striking back at the other bands.

The only song we are having issues with is ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, opted out for a guitar solo where the saxophone solo would have been as it didn’t fit so we are trying to play through that section with Millie chucking in some lyric things, improvisation if you will, which gradually builds up whilst going back into the song.

After that rehearsal session it was lunch time, the weather wasn’t particularly nice however me and my drummer walked up the shop so we could get lunch, she got custard donuts and starburst, I got a hotdog and cookies for later as I know what I am like.

When we got back soon before we know it was rehearsal time again, but afterwards we were blessed with home time which is the most enjoyable thing as my fingers are red raw from playing.

We played through the whole of our set twice, which is enough to bring my fingers to bleed but I am powering through it. If worse comes to worse I will apply superglue on my finger tips so I won’t be able to feel a thing which stops me from pulling some of my funny faces!

I get a bit worked up within our rehearsal room which led me to a couple trip ups in a couple songs here, but apart from that I did well and so did the rest of my band. We are going to stay late tomorrow to work on our songs, coursework and other issues that may arise at that time.

That is all from me I shall see you all shortly for another day at Fareham Music!

This morning started off with me being in early as per usual and Me + Ethan were on time for once which is our goal everything Wednesday morning. His day started off with a rehearsal and I was mean’t to have a guitar lesson for my upcoming guitar exam but Jake has been busy with work and not awfully fond of me or Eth so that is fun.

I went to go get us drinks, after that I proceeded to type out my project action plan/timetable off of this brief plan I put together last night which is built up upon scribbles and random letters, I will attach it below…

I will upload this when it has been finished properly underneath my Unit 8 tab, I have left this until last as I wanted to look at my work at a glance as my year draws to a sad close, however I am looking forward to a lovely summer break.

When Ethan came back out of rehearsal I had to go into a room to go through our set but my band members were scattered about so me and Lucy had to look about for Lewis and Millie. We let Millie finish up her coursework then she came into our room to rehearse, and then we remembered that Lewis has a bass lesson so he walk in when it is finished.

The main highlight of our rehearsal would have to be Jason coming in to help us with ‘1999’ as it was sounding bloody awful, so he gave us a new chord progression and bass line which works a thousand times better it is now up to rehearsing it and getting up to its peak potential for Thursday and Saturday.

We also gave ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ another shot, instead of figuring out something to replace the saxophone solo, I would rather Millie to have a vocal solo or something along those lines to showcase her abilities, because I have enough solos and the spotlight isn’t something I crave massively.

After this me and Ethan went to have a hefty lunch as we are starving at this point during the day, we had hot dogs which are incredibly filling but on top of that I had chicken and he had a sausage roll.

We then went back to college to then realise that I have rehearsal again but Lucy had to do some drumming thing with Dan, so me, Lewis and Millie went through the chord progression for ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ as we were struggling with it earlier. But to save the hassle of setting up and packing down afterwards I decided to do it acoustic with Millie singing whilst Lewis takes note of what I am playing.

Ethan then dropped me home when I finished, I am planning to go through my guitar exam stuff as I am a mere week away or so which is getting increasingly scary…

Due to the GCSE Retakes we started at lunch again this week so I missed out on a hand full of lessons this morning, one in which as a much needed rehearsal, but I still have one to go in for.

I came in a little bit earlier because our drummer had to drive and pick up her mum from the hospital so we rehearsed for an hour from one until two.

In this session we went through our set in full which was fun, here is a picture of the running order below:

‘Kiss’ is definitely our strongest new song which is one of my personal favourites so I put a lot of pride and effort into playing it. We are still struggling to play ‘1999’ and ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, I’m having a clash with our bass player about what he is playing when it comes to NC2U because it is different to the song.

I spent my evening playing through the track and had noticed that it is completely different to what he is playing. I brought this up but it was too late on within the session to go over.

So I will write up a chord chart to what I think it is and if it works better we will stick with it, if not we will use his.

Our drummer then had to leave to pick up her Mum so Chris then came it to drum for us which is always a treat. We went over ‘1999’ and ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, Lewis still needs to work upon he bass line for 1999 but it is coming together well.

Chris noted that Lucy would have to throw in a few drum fills to broaden he arrangement, because we have made it heavily funk based.

He also wants me to give singing the low parts ago which is a push for me as I’m daily mid ranged when it comes to singing, so that is something I’ll have to go over at home.

After this session we had an impromptu tutor session in the big room which was fun, we went over the date for instrumental exam and what work needs to be in soon.

Tomorrow I will have a guitar lesson where I’ll be working with Jake on certain elements that I’m still struggling with but I’ll also work with my partner this evening with parts of the exam too.