1. Music Administrator:

A music administrator is a person who provides musical administrative tasks within a school, college or workplace. A music administrator for example works at NTU Music and follows these everyday duties that are related to music.

In order to be a music administrator, you have to take control of the facility prior to rehearsal sessions, both music performance and orchestral sessions, because when you’re in the reception at the NTU Music Centre, you have to obey those tasks and follow them as required.

Amongst those duties are the option to fill out those enquiries for both student and staff who are working in NTU Music as well as getting the music students set up for music practice in and outside of university hours. A music administrator may also respond via email and phone if a student or staff member needs something in regards to the music course they’re working at.

Music administrators at NTU are responsible for headlining the NTU Music events so that a student or staff member can look at it and think that they can go to it, no matter what the cost of the tickets may be. They will also require assistance for the Music Director at NTU because music administrators will follow the tasks for said director each day when they’re at an NTU Music lesson or event.

2. Head of Music:

A head of music is a person who operates different types of music at work from music performing, song writing and producing, to those who work in the music business in a major or indie record label. Management is the main theme of this job because at Toot Hill School, a person who knows about music knowledge can man the facility and take care of students who are a big fan of their favourite music or just music in general.

Leadership is key to handle the students of Toot Hill School because a person who is skilled at music can take charge of them and do whatever the head of music tells them to do. For example, they could play a simple melody on a music instrument, they could work on some improvements while practicing an instrument or by singing through the microphone. The importance of leadership is to communicate with students so that the head of music can call the shots to them in regards of a music task they’re doing.

3. Piano Teacher:

A piano teacher is someone who specializes in piano music through experience. An internship for a piano teacher (WKMT Nottingham) is required if a person wants to explain piano skills at someone (with whatever age range, he/she is in) due to the information that said teacher will provide in order to get this job.

A piano teacher will host some piano lessons for students who don’t play piano or has experienced piano music before. No matter the amount of time given for each of them, a teacher will discuss about the topic of the piano (e.g. how to play the piano keys, informing the chord arrangements [normal, suspended, diminished, major 7], understanding classical piano music via researching old-time pianists and composers like Chopin and Satie) to a music student so that by the next few weeks, he/she must practice it before getting perfect at it.

A piano teacher may also respond to emails on the computer as well as providing online resources to the music students whether they want to practice piano music here or study it at home. Another thing they like to do is to get themselves ready for the big performance because piano teachers like to set everything up for either an event or a music lesson they are working at before the music students come in.

I chose a music administrator at NTU because I'm closest to the college I'm currently in, Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies. In order to take that job, I will handle all the facilities at NTU Music behind the reception desk before a rehearsal session or an event hosted by NTU.

I am good at responding to students and staff members via email on the computer as well as putting in some enquiries if a student and/or staff member wants to set up for a practicing session at any time in the day. I am also great at managing time and organising prior to the real thing because I would like to plan an event for NTU Music Centre that is either related to contemporary music performance or orchestral concerts on its own or with Confetti and Metronome.

Lastly, I will rely on my independent and communication skills because I would like to keep in touch with the Music Director as an assistant while setting up for a concert or a rehearsal session. I will write to other students and staff members on an email message via desktop computer to see what they need if something's up with the situation in terms of music.

Stephen Cooper (born: 1948) is an American businessman and the CEO of Warner Music Group, or WMG for short. Before his time working at a WMG, he studied at Occidental College in his early years, earning him a bachelor’s degree in business. Afterwards, he started getting a job at the American film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) as a Vice Chairman and later the exchange carrier and telephone company Hawaiian Telecom as a CEO executive.

In August 2011, he became the new CEO of Warner Music Group after the previous CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr. stepped down from the record label after seven years.

Stephen Cooper’s skills are:

• • Communication skills

  • Leadership

  • Organising skills

  • Time management

Wednesday 8th September: Blog/Vlog 1 - Song List

• Don't Start Now [Dua Lipa] - 124 BPM

• Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting [Elton John] - 153 BPM

• B.O.B. [Outkast] - 154 BPM

• We Didn't Start the Fire [Billy Joel] - 145 BPM

I chose Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting because it is a fast-paced rock song and a timeless classic from Elton John himself. Because the song is keyboard-based, I want to listen and learn the chord structure and melody for the next few weeks before I can perfect it properly by either using the piano or the keyboard.

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting was released in June 1973 from Elton John's seventh studio album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road from 1973. An uptempo song that has elements of glam rock music co-written with Elton's longtime friend and songwriter Bernie Taupin, its lyric content involves a night out in town while also touching on the times back to when the fisticuffs occurred one evening at the Lincolnshire pub Aston Arms, based in Market Rasen.

The tempo is set at 153 BPM while the key signature is set at G major on the verses and C major for the rest of the song i.e. the chorus part.

I have created my step-by-step development plan that will help me get better at the ones I'm lacking at. In terms of timing and accuracy, fingering, instrument-specific techniques and perfect pitch, I will break them down into sections so that if I practice at doing each one, I will cover a few advances over the next couple of weeks before Christmas.

Timing and accuracy:

1. Look at fast tempo songs that are hard to perform on YouTube or on a music streaming platform. Fast tempo songs will help me practice and learn them by ear using aural skills because if a song is at an upbeat tempo, I would practice the chord arrangements and melody lines on the keyboard to try and keep up with the song's beat.

2. Don't slow down and don't pause playing midway through the song. This is due to the fact that I can't remember what the next part is until I proceed to play it. I must always remember to keep going without stopping or slowing down at a snail's pace.

3. Always use a metronome to help me keep track of my timing and accuracy while learning a song that has a fast tempo. It's useful and important because the metronome will support me by concentrating on the beat of the song with every click while performing the chords and melodies on the keyboard. Without the metronome, it would be difficult to do the song and I will constantly mess up implying that I would do it over again or carry on from there.

Fingering:

1. Practice a song that will expand on my fingering techniques through chords and melodies on the keyboard. In each song, it will require me to use both hands for it because my left side should be the chord arrangements and my right side comprises of melody lines that I must learn while training the song before covering some evidence by photo or video.

2. My two hands on the keyboard will learn the more I practice because they need to learn the chord arrangements and melodies of the song. They also help me work on the speed due to the need to slow down at first before pumping up the tempo some more (e.g. for a majority of 45 minutes or more). If I do a good job training the chords and melodies through slow or fast-tempo tracks, I would be able to perform the song with my improved fingering technique.

3. Take a short break from the fingering technique before resuming the song. My hands will learn how to practice the track off by heart but there are some moments where they would get tired, causing me to stop practicing a bit before continuing. I need to expand on taking a power rest from fingering because if I don't stop to take time away from training, my hands will get hurt if I do some more practicing without getting a break.

Instrument-specific techniques:

1. Explore the specific instrument types while practicing the song: what technique does it have and how is it being performed on an instrument? It will support me by researching each technique on the instrument because when I play the keyboard, I need to learn which of the articulations I need to get better at.

2. Discuss about a musical articulation I will learn on the keyboard. Musical articulations are important for every track I listen to because I want to delve into one of them and practice it to give it a bit more variation to the song i.e. staccato, pizzicato, tremolo, vibrato, legato, etc.

3. Once I discover which articulation I want to practice, I will have to learn it on the keyboard. I will remember to do one or multiple articulations of the song because if I practice that technique with the same musical rotation, it will get boring so it must be expanded upon in order for the song to add in varied articulations throughout.

Perfect pitch:

1. When I am practicing the song by using vocals, I need to learn it by getting some vocal training without straining my vocal cords midway in the track (e.g. give or take 45 mins, 1 hr, one and a half hour, 2 hrs, etc.). It's important for me because I don't want to mess up a single note when I am trying to lengthen my vocal range as well as my vocal projection. I have to be precise if I'm going to perform the track while omitting the strains.

2. Memorise the lyrics during the song accordingly. It helps me to remember the lyrics from the heart because I don't want to forget at some point while I'm practicing the track and singing these words. Once I recollect those lyrics of the song, I will sing them whether it'd be from a piece of paper or through a smartphone on any format i.e. Word or Notes.

3. Think about the vocal strains when I'm learning the song on the keyboard. Those vocal strains damage my vocal cords due to a difficulty of expanding my vocal range and projection while practicing. I have to be careful not to weaken my vocal cords because I need to take a short break before I continue singing. For example, a bottle of water will help me relax my vocal cords as well as staying hydrated.

On the first week at Metronome, I partnered up with Zoe Aitken and did a cover version of Cage the Elephant's Come a Little Closer. The key signature is set at C-sharp minor while the tempo is set at 148 BPM. The chords go as follows:

Verses: C#m, G#m, F#m, C#m

Chorus: A, F#m, C#m

Bridge: A, F#m, G#7

I've been busy learning the chord arrangement on the keyboard before practicing the cover version with Zoe. I've spent a few tries attempting to not make a stop in-between notes because I want to learn the chord arrangement of that song without stopping it.

Zoe meanwhile learned the lyrics to Come a Little Closer because she attempted to sing the words a few times before performing the cover version with me on keyboard. When we recorded the cover version of the Cage the Elephant song using my phone, I was looking to the camera while I was playing the song on the keyboard, earning myself enough time to concentrate on performing the chords of Come a Little Closer with little to no flaws throughout.

https://youtu.be/dg-jf1kKJso

Wednesday 15th September: Blog/Vlog 2 - Let's Practice...

Follow the chord arrangements of the song:

• Intro - C/G, C/G, C/G, F/C, F/C, F/C

• Verse - G, F, C, G (x2), Dm7

• Chorus/Instrumental/Outro: C, Bb, F, C

• Break: G, Eb, Bb, F, C

• Break 2 - G, Dm, F, G, Dm, F

While I was practicing the song at Metronome, the timing and accuracy with the keys are good because I have been warming up my hands and played the chord arrangement on the keyboard. I carried on performing the chords repeatedly until the end of the lesson.

I've learnt Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting from memory using aural skill due to hearing it two or three times prior to practicing the chord structure of this song. On top of that, I used the metronome on my phone to sync in the song's rhythm because it will help me concentrate on my accuracy playing the song's structure properly without messing up.

On the downside, the pauses are left intact whilst learning the chord arrangement of Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, particularly in the intro and bridge parts, because at some points in the song, I forgot to play the next part of the chord structure before playing this part a split second later. Also, the notes keep slipping from my hands as I'm trying to play the chords of Saturday Night's Alright in some parts of the song.

In future, I have to get rid of the pauses and omit the dud notes while performing Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting's intro and bridge sections.

https://confettilive-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/personal/c63829975_student_confetti_ac_uk/Documents/Module%20D8%20-%20Developmental%20Portfolio/Elton%20John%20-%20Saturday%20Night%27s%20Alright%20(Rehearsal%201%20-%2014%2009%2021).mp4?csf=1&web=1&e=9kF0Cx

In week two, Zoe, me and Callum created an original song titled Run Away Now using the Kowabunga backing track that the lead singer had made. The lyrics of the song speaks about running away from your problems and the tempo is set at 140 BPM. The key signature meanwhile is set at D minor.

Callum had been learning the chords on his guitar because he tuned this instrument a few times in order to get the notes accurate. Zoe had written the lyrics on her phone so that she can sing them using the microphone. I on the other hand had a similar method to Callum, practicing the chord arrangement and melodies on the keyboard.

https://youtu.be/NSe9PYX5hXI

Wednesday 22nd September: Blog/Vlog 3 - Need for Speed

I will break down the parts of the song so that I will start practicing it.

I practiced Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting on the keyboard again at Metronome. My timing and accuracy is great and this time, I had no pauses in-between the song because I concentrated on learning the chords without stopping.

The only fault is that the dud notes are left intact in some parts while playing the chord arrangement of the Elton John song on the keyboard because I find myself making a mistake doing these chords throughout the entire song. The way to stop slipping down a note is to keep practicing the chord arrangement of Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting without those dud notes.

On the third week at Metronome, me, Callum and Zoe came up with some suggestions mixing original material and cover versions of well-known songs over the course of the first term. Callum decided on Next of Kin by American rock band Alvvays and we learned the chord arrangement of the song accordingly:

Rest of song: A, E, D

Verses: C#m, Bm

The tempo is set at 160 BPM while the key is set at A major. Me and Callum were learning the chord arrangement on keyboard and guitar respectively; Callum has been tuning his guitar before practicing the chords of the song. However, there are moments when his guitar will be off-tune at some points in the Alvvays cover.

I was making fast chord changes with the keyboard through modulation while also interpolating my own melodies in the cover version of Next of Kin because I can't just do only chords through the remainder of this production. My melodies differ in the verses, choruses and bridge due to putting our group's spin on it and our version of this song has the bridge written out of the production.

Due to having no drummer in the group, we used Logic Pro X to put in a drummer track set at 160 BPM (the original tempo of the song) and performed the beat of the song in time with the drummer track. The drummer track varies from kick, snares, cymbals and hi-hats to a majority of pounding kicks and snares at some parts of the song because we can't have a single drummer beat having the same thing through the remainder of the cover version so a different variation had to be added in there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y02OjIGjV2g

Wednesday 29th September: Blog/Vlog 4 - Learn about Fingering

Practice the fingering technique to improve my performance.

In week four, I have been practicing Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright since Zoe and Callum switched groups. Once again, the timing and accuracy are on point and there are no pauses. Notes keep slipping though, so I will have to work on it.

In the control room for the next hour, I have been making another song from e=mc cubed called Lips Can Move, But They Will Be Sealed on Logic Pro. The following hour afterwards, I ended up in a new group with Isobel Gaiqui, George Curran and Jacob Warren because they got a few ideas for an original song they made. Jacob came up with some chords which went like this:

F#m, G#m, A

A, G#m, F#m

During the next few hours, I came up with a few ideas for the song's lyrical content which is about being sixteen years old and focusing on the struggles of young love, titled Sixteen:

When I was sixteen

I used to think about love

In the city streets

Where we'll run away

It was pure heaven

With the way we started young

Where did those days

I want to reconnect with you

The last time I'm young in love

I'm only sixteen

When you're in a prom suit

You were the best thing I've seen

The last thing I remember

I was just dreaming

And if you're here with me, take me back

To when I was sixteen

Sitting by the park

Under the autumn leaves

I keep fantasizing you

Holding hands in the sunset

I'm only a teenager

Listening to old time love songs

Up by the window

Waiting on you

Lyrically, Sixteen talks about young love at sixteen years old like the title says. In verse one, a person and a partner are in love with each other, so much so that they wish they can run away in the city together where they won't get interrupted by people who won't hear them making love. The last four lines in the verse informs that someone is missing his or her partner because it gives an implication that a boy or a girl needs to reunite with his/her lover before their relationship can resume. It is later cemented in verse two where the difference is its setting which takes place in a park at the autumn season, meaning that summer has already moved on being an analogy for a summer romance while encountering your first love.

In the chorus, the line "when I was sixteen" becomes a repetition due to a person wishing that he or she can make love with a dating partner like that someone is sixteen years old reminiscing about the times that said person and partner are boyfriend and girlfriend. In teenage years, young love (or puppy love) is technically a definition of a first love as a teenager because a lot of teenage people go through their dating relationships with their boyfriends and girlfriends and deciding what route of their relationship will take, for good or bad.

The lyrical content of the song should inspire teenagers who've been in that relationship before, especially those who are sixteen years of age and have experienced first love beforehand. The lyrical concept of reminiscing on your first love and the repetitious chorus could eye-catch the target audience of teenagers due to the message being that if you missed your first love, you create memories about your dating partner all the while moving on from it.

When teenagers listen to this song for the first time, they can look at the memories of their boyfriend or girlfriend through rose-coloured glasses due to the fact they are remembering the good times, not the bad. Sixteen is a song that focuses on the positive side of being in that relationship and to not forget it when those teens decide to move past it.

George struggled at playing the drums and singing at the same time which resulted in him performing a simple drum beat through the majority of the song. The drums need to be programmed on Logic Pro X by inserting a few audio tracks into the production so that there will be more variety in the verses and chorus. That way, George will further expand his drumming skills in the course of the song.

Another thing that the track needs to improve is to pick out a couple of melodies that we need to do. For instance, I have been performing some melody parts on the keyboard in the verses and there weren't any melodies in the chorus parts of said song because there weren't enough music instruments (i.e. guitar and keyboard) to take turns doing the lead melody or sub-melody, except for the melodic part in the song's chorus which goes on for the entirety of this track. For future reference, we need to come up with some melody ideas and alternate between guitar melodies and keyboard melodies because it won't have a single line in every part of the song with just the keyboard or guitar recorded on there.

Isobel sang with Jacob while we were practicing, however she only sang the verses and chorus with him and doesn't have a guest feature in this track. Next time, Isobel needs to have herself featured in the song as a middle eight or bridge because we don't want to have a song with Isobel doing backing vocals with Jacob. Her vocal role needs to be prominent in either the middle eight or bridge sections when one of them gets added in the production.

The last thing we need to focus on is building on the bass guitar. When we were performing the song in a rehearsal room, we realized that there was no member doing the bass guitar and there was no bassline to go with it. This makes it impossible because without no bass line, it won't get the point across with our peers. In future, we have to put in a bass line backing up the lead guitar melody because we must sort out the chord arrangement ideas for the bass guitar to get it recorded on Logic Pro.

https://youtu.be/ewyGj1iPGJo

Wednesday 6th October: Blog/Vlog 5 - Practice Makes Perfect

I want to put together the parts into the entire song.

I have been practicing Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, this time adding in the melody parts instead of just doing the chord arrangements on its own. My timing and accuracy are improving in this song with the chords and melodies because I have been expanding the song by learning the melody bits on the keyboard by ear using aural skills. Once again, not a single pause in the song.

The note-slip is yet still there and it goes on through the course of Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting because my hands keep slipping down a note making a mistake at some parts of the song, especially while I'm doing the melodic parts of it. I ran through the song three times on a keyboard and my hands keep slipping at some parts of the practice run. All in all, I spent the last five weeks practicing this song and despite a defect with the hand slipping, it still sounds good.

On the fifth week in Metronome, Isobel and I were on our own doing some more song writing. I have been writing lyrics and chord arrangements for my new song What if I Never Believed from a deluxe edition of my Christmas album A Miracle on 81st Street. The song's tempo is set at 93 BPM and the key signature is at B minor.

Chords:

Intro: Bm, F#m7, A, Em

Verse: Bm, Em, A F#m

Pre-Chorus: Em, A, D, G, Bm

Chorus: Bm, A, Em, G

Bridge: D, G, F#m7, Em

Lyrics:

Seeping in the snow

I must've gone too far

It may be the end

Of a new beginning

I don't want to end up

As a spirit of who I am

Missed out all these nights

Underneath the northern lights

Tried to find a way

Of bringing me back to life

I won't put up a fight

'Cos I want to live in eternal winter

What if I never believed

In life after death

Should the past be erased

I would still be alive

I can't spend another Christmas

Without no other life

If I don't live through the next one

Then I'd break real slowly

What if I wrote a letter

To Santa Claus

Maybe that would bring my spirit

Back again

I don't want to miss one second

Of this magical winter

Because if I do

I won't ever survive

Give me another chance

To thrive for the holidays

No matter if it's colder

I will last a little longer

This Christmas spirit

Is all I need

To pull me out of my sorrows

And back into a winter's day

What if I Never Believed talks about rebirth, lyrically through someone who has died before Christmas, thus trying to have another winter holiday in another life. The reason why is that a lot of people have died before and around the Christmas holidays, however they will have another chance to spend the other life at Christmas time, rather than go to Heaven.

In the first verse, a person states that he or she doesn't want to end up as a ghost on the Christmas holidays, giving a metaphor of the word spirit referred to the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future from the Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol where they look back on someone's life. In the pre-chorus leading up to the chorus, the soon-to-be spirit won't miss on another Christmas for a reason i.e. if he or she missed their family member, if someone is late for Christmas dinner, if they get to see Santa one more time, etc. The chorus asks "What if I never believed in life after death?" because a listener will be asked a rhetorical question by the spirit about whether or not he or she is questioning about their beliefs around winter time, even at Christmas where a spirit would be celebrating instead of dying. It is later explored in verse two where the spirit is trying to give his or her strive to celebrate one more Christmas as a matter of life or death and in the bridge, only that someone needs to bring the spirit of Christmas alive because without that spirit, he or she won't have another holiday.

The inspiration for What if I Never Believed came from an idea that I made up by myself because the one question that comes to mind is "what if life after death doesn't exist?" This question alone became the song's eventual title that will be featured on a deluxe edition of my upcoming Christmas album A Miracle on 81st Street.

A few artists have covered about life, death and rebirth in their general songs before and even Christmas-themed tunes for their holiday albums. Right about now is when that song (both lyrically and instrumentally) would concentrate on spending a new life at Christmas time positively instead of it being too depressing. It was a drastic turn from the other songs that performers and bands have done for their Christmas albums (alongside my own Christmas album) and with What if I Never Believed, it will take that challenge to the next level in terms of being born again.

What Christmas means to me is that during the summer, right after I did the tracks for my Halloween EP, Heavenly Sweet, Hellishly Sour, I have made those festive tracks on Logic and Soundtrap which comprises of Christmas songs that cover various topics including reminisce (That Star Over There), warning shots of a break-up (Play Nice or Else), bashing naughty children for fun (Dat 'Orrible Xmas Song), double entendres (Milk n Cookies) and mixing love, remembrance and betrayal together in one trilogy (Xmas Past: First Love at Winter, Xmas Present: Where Are You Now, Xmas Future: Melt U Away). With the next album, A Miracle on 81st Street, out in a month, I bet my fans would listen to those songs and explain what is the real meaning of Christmas, sharing their own miracles joyfully in the hard times during lockdown.

My timing and accuracy are half and half: half the time I had to do some chords and melody parts in the song while playing on the keyboard whereas in the other half, I struggled to play these notes when my hands keep slipping down a note. Despite a minor mistake, I kept practicing the song a few times until it's all set for recording.

The fingering is on point because I've been doing the exercises before learning the chord arrangements by memory. I warmed up my hands by playing those chords slow and then fast a few times because the first time I did it, I started out at a slow pace before pumping the tempo a little more. Once I do some muscle memory, I would learn the song endlessly until I get perfect at it. I've been practicing using scales and arpeggios because it will extend the chord arrangement for as long as 45 minutes every day of the week. Doing 45 minutes worth of fingering will cause my hands to get tired and I have to relax them from doing further practicing e.g. massaging them will prevent myself from stiffness.

As for the instrument-specific techniques, I used the guitar instrument on the keyboard in place of Jacob Warren during his absence because the song won't be complete without incorporating guitar elements into it. Finally, the perfect pitch, again, is good, but there are times that my voice will crack in the chorus pieces. I could take some vocal exercises in order to get the pitch correct because I can't do some dud belting through the chorus in its entirety. I have to warm up my vocals prior to practicing the song because it would be better learning it with the lyrics.

This week, I started vamping the chord arrangements for What if I Never Believed and after a few practice runs, it sounds okay with a minor flaw in the lyrics as I sang the last word "shine" instead of "survive" because when it was recorded on Isobel's phone, I messed up the final line of the second verse before moving on to the song's pre-chorus. I need to make improvements on singing these lyrics, hoping that I can get it right prior to the recording.

Isobel has been contributing to my song on the second verse and bridge, however she didn't do any vocals as much due to the fact that she was feeling under the weather the moment she came into a rehearsal room. Although her primary target is to enhance her stage presence further, she wasn't feeling up to singing today so I had to sing the song in its entirety.

In short, I have to sing those lyrics in a few practice runs before filming a finished video, add in some harmonisation with Isobel's vocals and get rid of the hand slips, avoiding a single mistake on the notes. The reason why is because I want to learn What if I Never Believed and be aware of performing the proper lyrics prior to recording a video of me and Isobel performing at a rehearsal room.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ezoAwxp1Q78&feature=share

Wednesday 13th October: Blog/Vlog 6 - Rough Draft

Create a demo of the song prior to producing a final cut.

I have been doing a demo version of Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting on Logic Pro X during DAW Skills. In its instrumentation, it mainly contains a bass guitar and a few more guitars doing the chord arrangements and lead melody respectively.

For its demo version, the timing and accuracy are on point with the tune, however there are times where my hands will keep slipping down a note because I played the chords too quick. Therefore, I will have to improve on my speed by starting out slow before playing it again at a faster pace of the original tempo.

Speaking of which, the fingering in this one is fantastic because I have been warming up my hands in order to set the tempo of the chord arrangements and lead melody. I have been learning the song by starting off at a slower pace before the tempo goes any faster. For the majority of 45 minutes, there are bits that my hands will get tired while I'm learning the song. Other than that, my fingering is fantastic.

In terms of instrument-specific techniques, I used the guitar effect with the KeyStation49 MIDI keyboard on the Hard Rock and British Combo and British Stack electric guitar because I don't want to have the demo to only include chords, thus a lead melody of the song will come into play when it gets to the verses, chorus and bridge. What I should've done is to add in some more instruments under a different effect including a section of trumpets, a piano and some strings due to the fact that it will sound more refined and powerful once I make Saturday Night's Alright the second time around.

Last but not least, the perfect pitch is alright. I omitted the dud notes of the chord arrangements and lead melody by bringing up the piano roll and removing them by pressing the backspace key because I can't have a few faltering notes through the majority of this song. Overall, the demo of Saturday Night's Alright is great and it would be better to add in some lead and backing vocals and a couple of music instruments to be having a hefty music production because I need to make it sound like a live performance akin to Elton John's other gigs beforehand.

In week six, I have been writing another song for the deluxe edition of my Christmas album, A Miracle on 81st Street. The song is called Too Little Glow and the tempo is set at 125 BPM whilst the key signature is in A major. The chord arrangement goes as follows:

Intro: A, D, E, Bm

Verse: A, E, F#m, D

Pre-chorus: F#m, E, Bm

Chorus: A, Bm, E, D

Bridge: Bm7, E, A, E

The days are fading

As the sun goes down

Out came the full moon

While the wolves begin to howl

I want to stare at the stars

But they're not so far

So where is that little star

I like to know who I'm finding

Let there be

A lot of shine in them

There's not a single star

That keeps disappearing

If a star never shines

It'd be having too little glow

When a star fades away

It won't ever show

I want to see that star

That won't come and go

The star that glows in the barn

A star that won't be

Shining through the night

A baby is soon to be born

In the bed until the crack of dawn

Where is that little star

That seems to shine from afar

He soothes to sleep

While singing a lullaby so sweet

But without that star

It will not glow by daylight

Just promise it'll be there

I want to look at them

By the window, in the clear sky

Where Old Saint Nick will fly

Across the twilight sky

Not every star keeps dimming

But the spirit of Christmas

Will keep giving

Lyrically, Too Little Glow is about someone who wants to take a look at the stars, especially if one of them is hard to see in the sky. Too Little Glow is a precursor to That Star Over There because a boy or a girl would want to take a gander at the starry sky before he or she goes to sleep. Little does the person know that the one star in the sky keeps fading away, as if he or she had found it difficult to look at. Whereas the first verse speaks from a first-person narrative, the second verse includes a third-person perspective referring to the Christmas nativity due to the story of Baby Jesus being born at a stable in Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph every Christmas of the year.

What inspired me to write and produce Too Little Glow is I wanted to do a prequel of That Star Over There before the main story begins. I am quite fond of the stars and I like looking at them because they're tiny and pretty to see them at this time of weather, especially when the night sky becomes clear. In the song's second verse, I have to refer back to the nativity story where Jesus Christ is born under a manger at a stable while Mary and Joseph watched it happen. I've never wrote anything like it on a Christmas album and a lot of people had done it in an original song before, so that makes it a good thing for me to mention the nativity in the next verse while commenting on a star that still carries on dimming under that stable instead of shining bright more.

Too Little Glow is an upbeat track that has a message about seeing the stars prior to bedtime due to that when you look at a sky full of stars, similarly you have to follow your dreams and let the stars light up the way. Without those bright stars, they can be difficult for you to reach and follow a specific goal that you want to do. People of all ages would love to listen to this song as well as That Star Over There because it will be like a storybook told through song with Too Little Glow up first, That Star Over There next and the reprise at the end.

My timing and accuracy are a mix between getting it on point and pausing in-between because when I started playing the song on a keyboard and singing through the microphone in one go, I found myself making a few mistakes in the notes, particularly when it gets to the first chorus where the chord arrangement is messed up twice. For example: the two chords A and Bm are replaced with E and D. I have to be careful not to switch the chord arrangement around in future, otherwise I have to do it over again starting from the first chorus onward.

The fingering is alright. My hands were warmed up in a couple of practice runs before performing the song. The chords are spot on and I extended the song's intro by incorporating melodic lines on the keyboard too. If there's something I need to improve, it will have to be the extension of the melodies in Too Little Glow, including the addition of an outro where I will have the freedom to do a different melody line akin to its intro. Me playing just the chords on the keyboard sound bland and basic because I felt restricted to be playing only the chords rather than doing chords and melodies all at once without a mistake.

It would've featured some melodies through the rest of the song (i.e. the chorus, pre-chorus, second verse) instead of going with just playing the chord arrangements by itself. As with timing and accuracy, the first chorus in the fingering technique is a bit screwed up switching the two chords with E and D instead of A and Bm, but other than that, the fingering is good.

For the instrument-specific techniques, I didn't do much on the keyboard in terms of scale extensions and melodies. For one, I could've added in some variation with the chord arrangements and explore a wider range with the melody lines because I like to perform chord arrangements on one hand and the melodies on the other. When I performed the song on keyboard and vocals, I only did the melody part using a legato technique on the intro; the rest of them are confined to chord arrangements without melodic elements.

Jacob on the other hand should've used a diminuendo effect on the verses and chorus on the guitar because I would like to tell him to play the chords quietly in the verse before building up as loudly as it can in the chorus. He also could've used some variety on the guitar because doing one thing in this instrument repeatedly isn't enough.

Lastly, the perfect pitch is great, save for the vocal strains when I'm belting in the chorus. Again, I could do some vocal exercises by practicing the song before performing it because I could do the vocals in a few tries prior to singing the whole track. There are moments that I messed up on the lyrics a bit and I had to sing them from a piece of paper. In future, I have to email my lyrics to a member of staff up to then because if I try to read my lyrics off my notebook, it wouldn't work due to the pages getting flimsy when I position it at an angle on a music stand or table.

https://youtu.be/71O2ltkT1tE

Wednesday 20th October: Blog/Vlog 7 - Constructive Criticism

Self-critique your performance and identify areas of improvement.

For the next six weeks, I will be learning Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting using my timing and accuracy, fingering, instrument-specific techniques and perfect pitch. Also, I'll be writing down new songs for the deluxe edition of A Miracle on 81st Street alongside original songs going towards my college unit including Sixteen, What if I Never Believed and Too Little Glow, the latter of which were taken from the album.

Here's my review point so far:

• The timing and accuracy have made some improvements with and without the metronome. The note-slipping is still there, however I will continue to perform the songs with those note-slips because one minor fault won't affect my learning process while practicing these tracks on the keyboard and/or vocals. I also omitted the pauses in-between due to practicing my fingering technique for 45 minutes with my left and right hand without stopping.

• The fingering technique is starting to get better because I have been learning a new song for 45 minutes and up by warming up my hands and catching up with the rhythm. In addition to the fingering, I am free to do some chord arrangements on my left hand and some melodic lines on my right hand because I won't be confined into doing the chords on my keyboard without a melody. Those last six weeks getting my hands in shape to prepare the song properly up to then were backed up by a couple of practice runs before performing the actual song on keyboard and vocals so that when I rehearse the track by using aural skills, I will make note of the chords arrangement and melodic lines by ear prior to playing it.

• The instrument-specific techniques are getting good because I have been understanding some trills and legato on the keyboard all the while trying to undergo those chord arrangements using 3rds, 5ths and 7ths in each of the song I have learned from. I've extended a wider range of chords because the 5ths and 7ths were easy to play, alongside suspended and diminished chords. One thing I have to improve on is to try and learn how to do a staccato technique because while I enjoyed playing the trills and legato sections, I will practice a staccato on the keyboard with each chord making a split-second sound every time in a new song. I will have to search for a song that has a staccato and learn from it on said keyboard before performing the actual thing.

• The perfect pitch on my vocals is great. At times, my vocal cords can strain when I'm belting but other than a small flaw, it's getting bigger and better with the way I've sung. Regardless of the pitch, I've sung on a few songs that I've written by myself and with a few other students, especially in songs like What if I Never Believed and Too Little Glow which have amazing vocal projection. What I like to improve on my vocals is to hit the high notes as I can because in most of my studio-based songs, they have gotten to the point where I can reach an E6. I could've taken some vocal exercises so that I can hit the notes as high as possible without damaging my vocal cords; I will take a break and drink plenty of water to relax my cords before I can resume performing.

These goals will link to my job as a musician and singer-songwriter because I have to focus on the weaknesses I've been struggling from childhood while learning how to play piano. If I can spend 45 minutes or more working on one or more specific goals that are difficult to buckle down, I will start to sound perfect in no time. I have to look at tutorials that are related to my areas of improvement physically or online because they will help me suggest the best option to practice piano and/or vocals into a lot of steps before learning it.

Another choice I have to concentrate on my refinements is to get a songbook and look for a song that will extend my musicology via timing and accuracy, fingering, instrument-specific techniques and perfect pitch. For example, I like to pick a track that has a fast tempo and then I have to break the improvements down into several sections i.e. a classical music piece with Vivaldi's Summer or a popular music piece with Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon. I should critique my area of enhancements in comprehensive detail because if I continue developing those flaws as a musician and singer-songwriter, I will eventually become a perfectionist at the piano and vocals without the defects.

I will continue expanding on my areas of improvements after half term until the Christmas break, even if they stay the same or they get changed.

On the seventh week at Metronome, I have written another Christmas song Burnt in the Snowfields which is a fast-paced trap music track. The tempo is at 154 BPM while the key is set at E-flat minor. The chord arrangement for the song went something like this:

Intro: Ebm, Bb, Ebm, B

Verse: Ebm, F#, B, Ebm

Chorus: Ebm, C#, B, B, Bb

This girl's got a problem

Christmas has taken its toll, fam

She's been bad for the jolly Santa

If ol' Krampus was here, he would've had her

This girl's been rebelling against religion

Who would've got a hasty decision

To be antisocial towards the nice ones

It's even worse when she got a hit from the bong

This girl's a raging bull like Bernie

Rambling on while punting her friend's hernia

What is with that woman who is ticked

When her ex got a tree, she thinks it's a trick

The girl took them Christmas trees outside

Got the matches up with flares of flames, neighbors hiding

While getting the fire engine, guess who's spending

The holidays in prison for the outright rebellion

Ring the alarm, we got a fire

Blame that crazy girl for putting up a lighter

These trees are burnt in the snowfields

How are they going to have Christmas with their meals

While getting their presents wrapped

This is hell for those whose days got crap

Don't tell anyone the damage is done

Thus the girl's already had her fun

If you remembered that the girl's got problems

You wouldn't believe what the parents told them

That she went to school everyday of the week

Going to the bathroom, she was feeling weak

Had to vomit over the bogs because she was drinking

The teachers freaked, everyone was thinking

The woman went out to the Christmas party ages ago

Taking loads of shots from the glass, ten in a row

So she went to Alcoholics Anonymous

Told them the whole story, the ordeal was ominous

The girl went and got treatment for her alcoholism

Now she's moved on and faced her own fascism

Starting a wildfire won't solve the issue

They say to the madwoman they won't miss you

She may have some sweet revenge

But wait till they start to avenge on Christmas Eve

She thought she's had enough

She thought she called her bluff

She thinks she's crazy

And the boys say "she wouldn't never take me"

She thought she's going mental

She has no time to settle

She's reigning blows on the world

Waiting for someone to be heard

She wonders for an exit

If she hadn't been testing

A peaceful holiday will be resolved

While the weather gets cold

She had to find her last resort

Her Christmas on jail time is the only recourse

Never start a wildfire in future

For it will be a dystopian future

The concept and lyricism of Burnt in the Snowfields tells a story of a woman who had brought up her past mistakes by lighting the Christmas trees on fire her ex-boyfriend got her in the past while smoking. Its lyrics were read from a third-person perspective because unlike the last one where I used a third-person perspective in the second verses, I had to expand the third-person point of view into all three verses and let the narrator do some storytelling about an incident that had happened either through true events or something that I made up.

The inspiration for the song came from what happened in the streets of Worrall Avenue in Arnold that one Friday afternoon. I was walking home after a long walk and as I passed by a house, a blonde-haired woman with a t-shirt, black trousers and black socks was walking further inches away from her home and started smoking a cigarette while leaning against a streetlamp. Since the weather was getting cold due to the beginning stages of the Autumn season, I have gotten the perfect idea for a song about a female who went insane through the winter, only to realize she went a step too far and got arrested for attempting to start a forest fire outside her household.

Eventually, I came up with some chords and lyrics about the idea; the words were written from a third-person perspective with the narrator reading a story on how it happened because this madwoman character in the song didn't learn from her mistakes after her vomit-inducing incident in school a while back when she was having a festive party. Even when she looked at the trees her ex got for her, the woman decides to burn them all down which culminates in her going to prison for starting a wildfire in the first place.

Forest fires are a dangerous accident in the real world because there were several countries that proceeded to start one and went out their way of creating a dystopian society i.e. what the state of California, United States, did two years ago in 2019. When I started this idea off, the one thing I thought about was a bushfire and it should be turned into a story about what had occurred on a tragic Christmas. Everybody has a Christmas holiday that is tangled around tragic events what can either be led to an accident or in this case, an incident. I followed it up with the character of a woman who didn't take control of her anger, therefore bursting the Christmas trees into flames and it was no laughing matter for someone to do it in reality.

For instance, the first verse gives a glimpse on the woman and why her anger caused the Christmas season to be ruined. Characters like Santa Claus and the mythological Krampus are thrown into the lyrics because the former will be shocked about the way that the woman's behaving whereas the latter would give her a punishment for that one incident alone ("She's been bad for the jolly Santa/If Ol' Krampus was here, he would've had her"). A simile to a film is also referenced where a woman is burning her husband's things after discovering an infidelity ("This girl's a raging bull like Bernie/Rambling on while punting her friend's hernia").

In the second verse, we take a trip down memory lane where the woman was getting sick at school after several nights out at a party during the Christmas season because she had been drinking too much alcohol in the process. This worried the staff members that she had to take part in Alcoholics Anonymous, a group where people who had been drinking alcohol frequently get together and tell their stories on what had happened, regaining the confidence to rebuild their future without the need to take an alcoholic drink ever again.

In the third and final verse, the final two lines have a sense of imagery where the wildfires are one of the centrepieces for a post-apocalyptic story due to some stories having a bushfire create an environmental hazard, therefore fabricating a dystopian society afterward ("Never start a wildfire in future/For it will be a dystopian future"). The woman in prison is mentioned in both the first and third verses respectively; the firemen are putting the flames out of the home at one point in the track ("Got the matches up with flares of flames, neighbours hiding/While getting the fire engine, guess who's spending/The holidays in prison for the outright rebellion").

Ultimately, Burnt in the Snowfields is a track that deals with the dangers of smoking and drinking alcohol as well as a reminder to not cause chaos around Christmastime because the three verses give a statement about learning from a past mistake to whom the woman didn't do throughout the track. Teens and adults would hear the song and be reminded not to repeat the same incident again due to what had happened to the character of the woman lyric-wise. If that happens, this could lead to some serious consequences that would affect their personal choices later in life.

My timing and accuracy are good because I played the chords on the keyboards without pausing. There are some points where I stopped midway through the song when I'm trying to sing the lyrics along with the frequent use of hand slipping, however my timing and accuracy are getting better while the note-slip flaw is left intact.

The fingering is also improving because I've been warming up my hands and practiced the chord arrangement before performing it. At some bits in the song, I had to use my left hand and right hand for the chord arrangements and melody lines due to giving myself the freedom to expand on the development process of Burnt in the Snowfields. This is better than last time because I cannot be restricted to performing chord arrangements using my left hand; the melody lines could be improved if I try to sing and play those melodies on the keyboard and in the microphone at the same time.

The instrument-specific techniques are fantastic. When I played the piano on my keyboard, it created a vibrato effect and a reverb as I was putting the sustain pedal down using my foot. The vibrato and reverb effects work well with the piano instrument on the keyboard because I can play the chord arrangements of the song while using the sustain pedal with my foot, with and without it in the majority of the track. What I should've done is add in some variations in the chord arrangement of Burnt in the Snowfields (i.e. incorporating instrumental elements of pizzicato, staccato, trill and tremolo) so that I can't get stuck using the same technique through the song.

At last. the perfect pitch is okay. My vocal pitch is half-and-half between good and bad because I had to change the rhythm of the vocal projection in the verses while retaining the melody lines in the chorus. In a few parts of the song, particularly the chorus, the vocal strains still remain so I need to do some vocal exercises and warm up before performing Burnt in the Snowfields.

First of all, the rhythm had to slow down by halving the song's tempo from 154 to 77 BPM. The reason why is because I want to concentrate on my vocal and instrument timing and speed without having it to start over. The halved tempo works for me due to it setting at a slow pace for me to work on those chords and melody lines on the keyboard.

Second of all, I had difficulties attempting to sing the syllables because I wrote some words that are making it hard to sing; Isobel had to remove the lyrics so that I can sing the song properly without those words that are difficult to sort out the pronunciations of them. Speaking of Isobel, she needs to take part in the session more with her own lyrics and chords. Whether it's a song fit for my Christmas album A Miracle on 81st Street or an original track for college work, either one doesn't matter because it's her choice to make.

Third of all, Daniel Vadolia (who is a fill-in for Jacob Warren since he's on holiday) did a great job on the guitar performing a solo for the outro of Burnt in the Snowfields with a lot of slap in his own chords. The solo could've done it better if it had a lot more slap and funk interpolated in the guitar arrangement, but other than that, the guitar solo worked perfectly in the song's ending and without Dan's presence, the song wouldn't be complete without a guitarist.

Finally, the last chord in the verses had to be altered by tutor Nathan while he was practicing the song on a bass guitar. Originally, the chord arrangements had the same key twice in the first and last chords which is E-flat minor: Dbm, F#, B, Dbm. However when the chord arrangements began to change, the last chord in the arrangement is replaced with two chords in its place, G-sharp minor and B-flat major: Dbm, F#, B, G#m, Bb.

Wednesday 3rd November: Blog/Vlog 8 - Present to Peers

Play the demo to students and tutors and give constructive feedback.

Upon playing the demo of Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting back to my peers, here are some praise and constructive criticism from the students and staff members:

• Nathan Simpson - He thinks that the demo of Saturday Night's Alright sounds good and it replicates the Elton John original with its heavy guitar and piano instrumentations that were included in the track. He told me that it would've been better if it added some trumpets because it will sound like a live show tune that Elton John would play in his concerts. He also said that the timing and accuracy is off and it must be improved when I produce a final mix of the song.

• Zach Thompson - He stated that the demo version sounds like the Elton John original because it has passion and charisma into the song's instrumentation giving it new life as the production of it develops over time. He has commented on the refinements of drum kits throughout the song in its entirety due to the fact that it has a heavy glam-rock kick to it hearkening back to the original as well. What could've been better is that the outro needs to be expanded on with its use of automation (similar to fading out) because the instruments began to cut them short at the end of the song after a couple of bars.

• Faith Shaw - She said that it mirrored the original version very well and she liked the electric guitars in the track as a whole. Not only did she praise the guitars in there, but she also claimed that the mastering and mixing are great with the instruments and the drums giving it a new sound to a young generation compared to what the Elton John original had, both in instrumentation and mixing. She stated that the break in the song needs refining because the first time I recorded the song in a draft, it only had electric guitars and no other instruments so it needs to add in some new instruments to make it sound more hefty to the song's original.

• George Curran - He remarked the comparison between the original version of Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting to that of the draft version I made. In the original version of the track, it had some elements of the grand piano backed up by the electric guitars whereas the demo mix doesn't have any. This is what needs to be improved because the piano melodies will work well supporting the rock guitars and heavy drum kits so it won't be only having those two instruments recorded in the course of the track. On a side note, he commented on the variations of the drums sounding well in the draft, hearkening back to the original with a punk-rock feel that rock music listeners, old and new, can enjoy.

• Zoe Aitken - She pointed out the brilliant instrumentation and sound editing due to the volume of the instruments sounding steady with a mixture of stereo and mono in the panning, similar to a diminuendo effect that I've interpolated. In the verses, the instruments sound quiet with a simple drum beat. However, as it builds up to the song's chorus, the instruments got louder and the mixing is great to its integrity all the way up to its panning and volume of the production throughout. She asked if I want to do some vocals for it because the song wouldn't be complete without recording some lead and backing vocals (as well as harmonies) in the track's final version. Also, she told me to extend the outro so that it won't have to be short after a couple of bars in there.

• Daisy Bostock - She declared the draft mix of the song is worthy to the original Elton John song because its punk rock influences are also interpolated in the new version by putting in some electric guitars and varied drum beats through recording them. On top of that, the heavy hard-rock production of it all shows that it will not outdo the Elton John track but it will also be a great contender for an Elton John tribute album in the future. The only gripe with the production is that the bass guitar (Muted Bass) sounds quiet than the other musical instruments so it needs to make an improvement by building on some dynamics to turn the compressor up a little because it needs to make the listeners hear it too.

• Dave Culling - He added the sounds of the drum beats which are utterly fantastic. Rather than use a drum track for recording a drum beat with the same thing, I used it to make some variations in the production of Saturday Night's Alright in the punk rock setting hence its hard-rock sound and a lot of electric guitars interpolated in the new one. This is largely because I want the song to be like the original version but add in some new instruments as well by recording them using a MIDI keyboard. He however exclaimed that the production with only electric guitars is not good enough because it must be refined by putting in new instruments to make the draft stand out to the original like using classical instruments such as brass and strings, pianos and some acoustic instrumentation in terms of a classical guitar or a roots rock guitar.

To jog my memory, I have to add in a compressor to turn the muted bass up and interpolate a few piano melodies in there to mirror the original version. I would also like to lengthen the song's ending with the addition of automation fading out the song along with the refinements of the song's break putting in a few new musical instruments to the production.

Aside from that, the vocals need to be recorded through the microphone on lead, harmony and back-up into the final cut. Finally, the timing and accuracy need to be improved, amongst the fingering, instrument-specific techniques (vibrato, legato, tremolo, staccato, pizzicato, etc.) and perfect pitch too.

On the eighth week at Metronome, I've been writing an original song with Jacob Warren and Isobel Gaiqui called Puddles of Ink (All My Love). The tempo is set at 159 BPM (halved to 80) while the key signature is G major.

Chords:

Verse: Em, D, Bm, C

Chorus: Bb, Amaj6, D, Em, C, G, E, C, G, D (F# on bass)

Bridge/Middle 8: Gmaj7, Dmaj7

Ever since you vanished

I keep writing the same song

Over and over

Nothing will ever change

When we start to fall apart

I'm left alone, singing songs

About how we remembered

The track we used to play

I'm giving you all my love tonight

Holding on to everything despite

The toxic slurs and hateful spites

I'm giving you all my love

My words are left unwritten

Your voice remains unspoken

Like puddles of ink

We'd be seeping in blank paper

If I write down a melody

You'd be the bassline

And we'll harmonize

In our soft hearts to sing

What we have

Is a story inside our head

On what would be

A generous anthem for us

Between our consciences

And the scripture of our souls

We'll be the perfect song

To sing along for the moment

The concept and inspiration came to Jacob Warren when he was playing some chord arrangements on the guitar, creating the chorus of a song that doesn't have a title beforehand. In the end, I wrote down some lyrics along with him and Isobel Gaiqui about two partners who are singer-songwriters finding a song they're writing to fit their relationship. Titled Puddles of Ink (All My Love), its idea stems from searching a suitable track in your playlist while working out a dating relationship with a partner, particularly one who is in the music business (i.e. a singer, songwriter, music producer...).

The lyrics of the song range from moodiness to happiness, especially when it gets to the halfway point of the song because I need to make the track have an upbeat side while developing some major and minor chords through the key signature which is G major. In verse one, the narrator (singer-songwriter) feels tired about writing a song that looks like the same thing. This is because he or she is getting bored having to write and songs by oneself without a partner backing it up and the singer-songwriter needs support in order to make it a good track.

In the chorus, the singer-songwriter can give his/her music partner all his/her love for tonight in spite of them falling apart in their relationship. This is explained due to the fact that apart from the arguing and fighting, they still love each other and work with each other as what musicians do.

Verse two features the singer-songwriter thinking about what his/her music partner could do to write and produce, even comparing him/her to a music partner to a bass line, harmony and melody line through music theory according to the lyrics: "If I write down a melody/You'd be the bassline/And we'll harmonize/In our soft hearts to sing." It implies that the development of the bass, melody and harmonies will help them fabricate a song with lyrics of their own particularly if it comes from two singer-songwriters who are madly in love with one another.

Finally, the bridge establishes an idea for a song that the singer-songwriter and his/her music partner needs to create through writing, producing and performing because a lot of musicians, performers and bands need to get through the development process of a track prior to getting it done. Songs can be made in a studio on a DAW program or they can be done using live instruments because they can work on a track, generating a few new ideas before they can go to the beginning stages by adding a chord arrangement, melody line, harmony pieces and vocal parts in there (the same can be done for demo versions if a song is left unfinished after the first stages of music development. Afterwards, it can be recorded using live instruments or through a digital audio workstation either at a recording studio or at home prior to completion. Once the song is finished, coupled with mixing and mastering, the final version of the song will be fitted for a single or an album.

My timing and accuracy are good because I've been concentrating on the chord arrangements of the song on the keyboard without slowing down or pausing in-between. There is a bit where I had to hold down the G key before forgetting about the next part, but in other words, I carried on from there despite the timing flaw.

The fingering on the keyboard is great: I was practicing those chords on the keyboard with my hands using the bass guitar because I have been expanding those chords including 2nds, 5ths, triads and 7ths under the major key, especially in the bridge part where I had put in the Gmaj7 chord before the Dmaj7 chord rather than just playing the G key. This is due to the change in chords because I like to add two different chords rather than playing the usual four chords in the song, crossing out C and Em from the middle eight. The note-slipping is still there alongside the forgetful G and D keys midway through the track, however it still sounds good regardless of a minor fault.

The instrument-specific techniques are spot on. Using the sustain pedal, it channelled a reverb effect incorporating elements of tremolo and vibrato in the keys because on the bass guitar via the keyboard, I had to hold in the Gmaj7 and Dmaj7 keys sustaining both those chords together at a time filling in a gap. As well as the tremolo and vibrato effects, I also incorporated some pizzicato elements while practicing the major 2nds, 5ths and 7ths in some points of the track. For example, the verses feature a pizzicato in the major 2nd chords (E, D, D, C, Bm, A, C) while the chorus expands the technique with major 5th chords (Em, B, C, G, G, D, D, F#) because I like to put in some variations with the three chord techniques instead of doing the same thing through the track's run.

Lastly, I didn't reflect on my perfect pitch because I wasn't using a microphone while performing on the keyboard. However, I demonstrated the melodic lines to Isobel and Jacob pretty well and Izzie sang part of the song's verse and chorus harmonization with Jacob Warren supporting her.

Isobel could've been singing some verses from the song as well as the bridge aside from the chorus of All my Love with Jacob Warren because through the course of the song, she forgot about the lyrics and only remembered the first verse and chorus. Even though Isobel took part in the song-writing process, she needs to improve on singing the lyrics of the song as well as elaborating her confidence and stage presence.

The chord arrangement is confusing at times due to getting it complicated at some parts of the track e.g. in the chorus where the G key will move to the D key and in the bridge where C and Em comes after Gmaj7 and before Dmaj7 chords. This made me, Isobel and Jacob stumped and we could've come up with some changes so that the timing can get on point with the song's tempo.

The structure of the song is too long making it hard for Jacob, myself and Isobel to concentrate because there are so many silent gaps in there staying in that part of the song without going from one structure to another. Nathan told us that we need to narrow down the song's structure so that it would be easier to practice and perform, otherwise the long gaps will overcomplicate the structure and it will be difficult to learn the whole song.

• HERE'S AN EXAMPLE: Chorus, verse, chorus, verse, middle eight, chorus, outro

https://youtu.be/6-YQ3Rl4E5g

Wednesday 10th November: Blog/Vlog 9 - Produce a Final Version

Taking feedback from my peers, I will fabricate a final cut of the song.

Today, I have been working on a final version of Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting on Logic Pro. When I got some constructive feedback from students and staff, I had to create a proper version of that song with a few changes in the production. For one, the Muted Bass guitar was replaced by a Prog Rock bass guitar because that musical instrument didn't do well in the demo version in terms of compression, making it hard for the listener to hear that bass guitar unlike all the other instruments that were at a steady volume level. In addition, the Prog Rock bass guitar has a compressor implying that the listener can hear what's going on with the bass, not to mention its bass line and melody line in the verses from the outset.

I have added in a Steinway grand piano in the final cut of the song due to the instrument supporting the electric guitar throughout the majority of the song (British Stack Synth Lead). The British Stack Synth Lead and Steinway grand piano incorporated the song's original perfectly with an add-on of the Memphis Blast trumpet section because they sound like a live show version in hopes that it has a new sound, hence the build-up to the song's chorus.

Amongst the Steinway piano and British Stack Synth Lead electric guitar is the British Stack Combo Lead guitar because it acts as a secondary melody line, especially when it gets to the outro where the guitar has a solo supplemented in there. On top of that, the guitars and pianos incorporate a heavy glam-rock feel that the original version had with an element of a live show aspect so that listeners old and new can hear the cover of this song and head bang to the beat and rhythm of it all the moment they go to an Elton John tribute band.

Last but not least, the drum kit is altered in the final version of the song. However, the variations stayed the same in most parts of the production due to the drums incorporating a hard rock feel with all the fills before each structure. The variations sound like its demo but with a few alterations at some point through the song. For example, the drums in the intro to the demo version (Hard Rock: Heavy) sounds quiet before it gets to the verse. Notice how the Manchester drum kit doesn't have a quiet intro prior to the first verse of the song. I need to learn how to incorporate a diminuendo effect in the verses, choruses and bridge by turning down the drums before they get louder.

In the song's vocals, I have recorded my lead and backing vocals along with some harmony pieces because I want to give the final version new life by adding in some girl-group harmonies into the mix as well as a "1, 2, 3, 4" count-in. Sound-wise, the compression and reverb in the audio feedback are put in there throughout the track along with the volume equalisation on each of them. With the culmination of my lead, harmonies and back-up in the production, it gives it that live show influence in the vocal arrangement because I need to give it more feeling in its final version of the song, hearkening back to the song's original.

In terms of timing and accuracy, fingering, instrument-specific techniques and perfect pitch, they are beginning to improve in the Elton John cover because when I started listening to the song and learning it, I wasn't doing good at it due to the majority of the stops and slow accuracy in there when I could've done it better. Now, I started getting used to it without the pauses and slow speed along with the expansion of the fingering performing both the chord arrangement on my left hand and melody arrangement on my right hand.

The perfect pitch is sounding great interpolating the song's original vocals with my own harmony pieces and atop the instrument-specific techniques, the British Stack Synth Lead, sounding heavily distorted and edgy, featured a staccato technique in the verses which the original song didn't include along with some tremolo and legato elements in the Steinway grand piano. Best of all, I did an automation effect where I turned all the volumes of the instruments, drums and vocals down in the ending of the song because I like to keep it that way, reflecting the original version.

It could've been better if I add in a diminuendo effect into the Manchester drum kit, but other than some minor alterations, the final version of the song is brilliant to make and I hope I do this again in the future.

In week nine of the rehearsal sessions at Metronome, I performed another song with Isobel and Jacob called Heavenly Thoughts. The song is set at 73 BPM while the key signature is G major.

Intro/verse: G, Em, C, D/C

Bridge: Em, G

Chorus: G, Em, Bm, C

Longing to hear your voice

A whisper is all I need

I miss your crazy humour

You're my world and everything more

Please come back into my arms

'Cos there's nothing I want more

These bloodshot red roses

Guarding your heavenly heart

Six feet under, nobody said it was easy

It broke me to see you go

But you're in a better place now

Never forgotten

You'll always have a place in my heart

Crescending throughout

Your memories will live on

There's an emptiness left inside my soul

Screaming to come out

That numb feeling echoing throughout

Isobel Gaiqui wrote down some lyrics when she was in year 11 at school about missing a partner she loved. She had a science teacher play the piano for her and ultimately, I came up with the chord progression of this song by playing the first few chords on the keyboard: Gmaj7/9, Em7, C, Dmaj6. After I practiced the verse, I wrote down the bridge section to play on the keyboard: Em, F#m, G. Following that is the chorus which is: Gmaj9, Em7, C, G7, D/B.

The first two verses deal with loneliness, implying that a girl is missing her love partner and she wanted to get him back. They also infer the aftermath of a breakup because when a person moves on from a loved one, he/she will never forget about the happy times they've gone through.

In the first verse, she thinks about waiting to hear a voice from her boyfriend while reminiscing about his sense of humour giving it a characteristic and personality into the partner she's with. ("Longing to hear your voice/A whisper is all I need/I miss your crazy humour/You're my world and everything more.") In verse two, she sings about how much she will miss her boyfriend and not forget about the memories she has with him. ("Never forgotten/You'll always have a place in my heart/Crescending throughout/Your memories will live on.") Both two verses encompass what happens after the relationship breaks off because the person is left with an empty void in her heart and wondering whether her partner will be coming back as just friends.

Speaking of empty voids, the bridge and outro discuss a person who is feeling depressed and is missing on the good times she and her boyfriend had while they were together. Once again, it has that sense of loss in the lyrics because they reflect a sombre tone through someone's feelings when he or she thinks about a love partner and a failed love life. For example, "There's an emptiness inside my soul/Screaming to come out/That numb feeling echoing throughout." It comes from the pain of someone who is lonely about her boyfriend while also adding in an onomatopoeia of someone's empty void inside their soul because the sound of it screaming begins to feel dark and depressed in the song's outro.

Finally, the chorus refers back to the topic of loneliness where a girl is missing her boyfriend so bad that she couldn't help but still remember him with all her heart even after the break up. This is because it stems from a metaphor of the red roses which have thorns on them seizing a partner's heart and ending up killing it. The last two lines talk about a partner who is living in a better place because it gives little clarity as said partner is either up to heaven after he died or he's still alive and somewhere else away from the girlfriend.

I didn't expand on my perfect pitch because I had a sore throat from practicing. Although my throat was ill, I had to demonstrate the guidance of the chord arrangement flawlessly by singing a key that the key signature is in i.e. when I sang the melody lines of the intro and when I performed a B minor to Jacob when he was struggling to figure out what the next part of the arrangement is on the guitar. When my vocal cords recover, I will do better expanding my vocal projection and take a short rest without damaging them.

The fingering is spectacular because I had the confidence to perform a ninth note and a dominant 7 note on the keyboard e.g. Gmaj9, D dominant 7. Those notes helped me extend the fingering technique because they differentiate from the chords I was playing a couple of weeks ago prior to the two. Also, I had performed some melody lines on the bridge and the chorus parts of the song because when Nathan asked me to do something about the structure bits, I had to use my right hand and perform a melodic piece in the bridge before I expanded it further into the chorus by performing notes that go up to the 7th. It would've been better if I can do a melodic line in the verse as well along with practicing a Gmaj9 chord in the verses by reaching my pinky finger to A but in other words, my fingering is sounding brilliant.

The timing and accuracy are great because I practiced the chord arrangements and melodic lines on the keyboard carefully without stopping or slowing down. There are some moments where I slipped down an octave in a few parts of the track, however they're beginning to improve and I was starting to catch up with the tempo and beat without the need to slow down or pause in-between the track.

Lastly, the instrument-specific techniques are gradually enhancing because I did some vibrato, legato and reverb effects on the keyboard. The volume on the legato in the keyboard is heavily interpolated in the song's verses because the notes started out quietly before the bridge builds up to the chorus. With that legato effect, I am able to practice the chord structure and melody lines, creating a connection with the song's rhythm and beat. Furthermore, the vibrato effects also enhance the frequency of the keyboard while performing due to a rhythm change of pitch throughout the song's structure.

Jacob has been struggling with the chord arrangement of the song because he is stuck on the bit where he can't figure out what a B minor is on the guitar, especially in the chorus part. This caused Nathan to look it up on the computer and look for the guitar chords for that key in the chord structure. He has to tune his guitar properly so that he can get the chord right, or it will be out of tune from the rest of the notes in this arrangement.

Isobel has average vocal range and projection when she's practicing and performing the song with me and Jacob on a musical instrument, piano and guitar. The minor flaw with her vocal is that some of the notes she hit will end up off-key and whenever she hits the high notes, her vocals will be out of tune to the key signature the track is set at. Isobel should've taken some vocal exercises and warm up in the midst of learning the track because she has to be careful not to get it out of tune prior to performing the whole song.

Eventually, the chords had to change because some of the notes can get complicated to practice as well as perform. Originally, the structure for Heavenly Thoughts was laid out like this:

Intro: Gmaj7/9, Fmaj7/9

Verse: Gmaj9, Em, C, D dominant 7

Pre-chorus: Em, F#m, G

Chorus: Gmaj9, Em7, C, G7, D/B

When we altered the chords while practicing, Nathan Simpson came up with a new chord structure with the support of Jacob Warren, ultimately laying out the new arrangement for this song:

Intro/verse: G, Em, C, D/C

Bridge: Em, G

Chorus: G, Em, Bm, C

For future reference, whenever the chords are too hard to practice on a musical instrument or on vocals, we have to modify the chord structure so that it will be effortless to learn the next song we come up with.

https://youtu.be/GgRhpYgGcvc

Wednesday 17th November: Blog/Vlog 10 - Practice Another Song

I chose Outkast's B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) because it is a fast-paced hip-hop song with funk music and drum and bass elements. I also wanted to practice that song because I need to warm up my hands in order to learn the chords with the keyboard, thus breaking the chords down into different sections for the next couple of weeks until I get it right.

B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) was a song released on September 19, 2000 from Outkast's fourth studio album Stankonia in Halloween 2000 (October 31st). The track produced by the band and Earthtone III (Mr. DJ) differentiated itself from the usual hip-hop genre that Outkast was most known for adding in influences of drum and bass music, while interpolating electronic and funk elements to it as well.

The tempo is set at 154 BPM while the key signature is set at B-flat minor.

On week ten, I wrote another song called Forbidden in Love. The key is set at E-flat minor while the tempo is set at 95 BPM.

Intro: Ebm, Bmaj7, G#m add 9

Verse: Ebm, F#maj7, G#m, B

Chorus: Ebm, B, F#

Do you ever

Think about the past

That is said to be rewritten?

What remains of the present now?

Times have changed

When you turned older

But I will never forget

This unconditional love

Thus I stayed forbidden in love

With the one who has moved on

From the girl who's obsessed

And entrusts you

I'm forbidden in love

Unconditionally into you

The romance looked good

Until it hurts

You loved me

But you didn't mean it

When we stay as friends

Couldn't we be star-crossed lovers

When you're into

That other woman

It broke my heart to bits

But I do wish you well

The concept behind the song discusses unconditional love and forbidden love in a nutshell because a person is missing a partner that he/she loved, despite the pain he/she had caused after the partner has moved on with another one, following a relationship that was prevented from. I wrote the majority of the song by myself while Isobel Gaiqui is off sick and Jacob Warren is in another group for the day. The first two hours were spent rehearsing for the open mic night.

In the first verse, the first three lines deliver a rhetorical question: "Do you ever/Think about the past/That is said to be rewritten?" It implies that the listener is being asked a question making an impossible decision about whether someone would rewrite his/her past in the one-sided love strategy because when one person declares he/she is in love with someone else but another insisted he/she remains in love with him in spite of the struggles, one should remember about the times when they were together ("Times have changed/When you turned older/But I will never forget/This unconditional love").

In the second verse, the person tells his/her partner he/she loves the one person, however because that the person's in a one-sided relationship with the partner, he/she (the lover) didn't mean it completely. The reason why is because when the person is experiencing unconditional love, one would explain to the other that they are in love, but aren't because that someone is in a relationship with another partner. In the last two lines of the verse, even though the partner feels crushed about his/her lover and that someone is interested in someone else, he/she would rather say goodbye to them and leave it behind before moving on.

In the song's chorus, the person states that he/she remains forbidden in love with someone who is not in love with the partner because as the title suggests, the illegitimate relationship with said person and partner became explicit when they were in love together. Although that partner never fell in love with the person who is banned from seeing him/her in his/her life, said person will always reminisce about the forbidden love they had even though it can get him/her vulnerable.

The timing and accuracy are half-and-half because I struggled to get the beat on time with the tempo. I could've taken out my metronome and counted myself in because it's important for me to keep the tempo in sync while I'm practicing these chord arrangements timely on the keyboard. I didn't familiarise with the song because I didn't time to rehearse it more. The best way to keep practicing prior to performing is to memorise the music and lyrics because I wasn't focusing on the speed and accuracy of my piano playing while I was singing all at once. I have to enhance my timing and accuracy by learning the song musically and lyrically off by heart because I have to cover my area of improvement by recording a DAW studio version and evaluate between it and the live studio version at some point.

My fingering is good in the song's run, however because I'm restricted to the chord structure only, I can't gain the freedom to perform the melody lines in each chord arrangement. The other flaw was the inability to learn the maj7 and add 9 chords because when I started playing the keyboard and singing at the same time, my fingers were struggling to reach for the 7th and 9th notes therefore restricting me to playing tritone chords on the keyboard instead. I could've learned some fingering exercises on the keyboard before I can play a chord that's in maj7 and add 9 so I had to omit the chord structures in the intro and verses.

Intro: Ebm, Bmaj7

Verse: Ebm, F#maj7, B

There's not much to say about the instrument-specific techniques in Forbidden in Love other than the vibrato and tremolo in the majority of the song. They sound good on the keyboard as usual because I performed some trills on the keyboard during the verse and chorus bits wisely using the tremolo effect. Vibrato on the other hand is above average because the warmth and expressiveness in the chord structure and melodies are extended further. What I should've done is concentrate on those techniques more because I lacked between singing and learning the methods at the same time and I could've gotten through a few practice runs before knuckling down the techniques with the keyboard.

My perfect pitch is average; I stumbled some of the syllables in the lyrics because I was focusing on the chord structure and melody lines on the keyboard (this also affected my timing and accuracy). Once again, I need a couple of practice runs to learn the lyrics before I can perform them while playing the chord arrangements and melody lines of this song on the keyboard.

https://youtu.be/kdMXQu6oqmc

Wednesday 24th November: Blog/Vlog 11 - Break it Down

Once again, I will break down the sections of this song and learn it for the next couple of weeks until I get good at it.

• Chords: Bbm, G#, Eb, F#

• Break: Bbm, A

• Outro: E, C#, F#, Eb

When I listened to Bombs Over Baghdad (BOB), I used my aural skills to hear the song's chord structure because the song has some chords that appeared through the intro, verses and choruses. This was changed in the break and the ending where the chord arrangement was slightly altered instead of performing the same structure in the intro, verses and choruses. The reason why is because the music producers altered the arrangement by adding a break (key change to B-flat minor) and outro towards the end of the song rather than do the majority of the same chords.

My timing and accuracy is below average, especially when it gets to the second verse, because I found it difficult to perform the chord arrangement and melody lines on the keyboard. In the melody itself, it featured an Eb minor triad that plays in the next verse because I struggled to knuckle it down while performing the chord arrangement at the same time. Apart from that, I used the metronome to follow the timing of the beat and learn the rest of the song, however I need to work on practicing the solo parts of the second verse further on the keyboard because I have to develop the melodies and slow down before pumping up the tempo a bit. Without slowing it down, it would be impossible to practice as well as perform at a fast pace.

My fingering is okay, but not so much. The reason why is that when the chorus comes in sight, I tried hard to nail it on the keyboard with my one hand on the left (chord arrangement) and my right hand (solo lines) only to fail at it and restrict myself to only chord arrangements. Due to the song being majorly electric guitar-based and the limitations of synths, it became difficult for me to learn the chorus parts on the keyboard with the synthesiser effect because I was straining my concentration on the chord structure and melody lines when that part appears after the verses. What I should've done is practice the song with my fingering technique for over 45 minutes because I need to start out slow before moving up the tempo a bit, making sure that I can catch up with the beat.

The instrument-specific techniques are alright; the synthesiser effect through the majority of the song has a distorted sound along with a reverb effect because it was suited for the track, sounding broken and reiterated at the same time. During a few practice runs, I incorporated a tremolo effect due to the triad notes that are held throughout the song accordingly with some staccato and arpeggio elements midway in the second verse. Those triad notes alone did well, although it could've been better if I expanded more on the articulations of the song while making a few adaptions to it in terms of chords and notation elements in-between instead of practicing a chord structure that sounded bland and basic.

Lastly, the perfect pitch sounds good in the course of this track because I have been practicing the notes on the keyboard with a few dud notes along the way. Also, the variations of the pitches became prominent in the song due to the high range of the solo lines on the keyboard in the structure i.e. the second verse where the instruments are omitted from the music production before appearing again towards the end of the verse. Although the notes I reached on the keyboard seemed great, the dud notes need a bit of work because they need to refine themselves by practicing the melody lines of the second verse on the keyboard for a couple of minutes before I can master them in a few weeks' time.

On week eleven at Metronome, I have written another song called Feeling Free which is about female empowerment from a third-person narrative. The key signature is set at D major whereas the tempo is at 112 BPM.

Intro: Bm, A, Em, A7

Verse: D, F#m, G

Chorus: D, A, Em, G (D#, A#, Cm, Fm, G# when the key change is set at D# major)

Did you hear about

The queen who's iced up

In her own frosted world

What brought up this accident

She's stuck on herself

She doesn't need someone who

Can break her heart, because

She's already done enough, so

How did a snow queen

Become so independent?

That's why she's cold-hearted

But feels free

From the shackles that

Chained her soul

That's how she's freezing

But feeling free

When she froze out

She was feeling quite lost

In her own blistered remedies

How could she get far?

She's on her own

Thinking what she would do

To reclaim her rightful freedom

The queen has no fear

The meaning behind the song Feeling Free came from something I made up akin to a Disney film based on a novel titled The Snow Queen. Lifting from the influences of female empowerment, I decided to write the lyrics in the setting of winter time because the main character is fearful about the things that made her isolate herself before reclaiming her newfound independence. I was feeling emotional about jotting down the lyrics and chords at first, however as the writing and music production development progressed, I felt calm and cordial upon writing those words down about feminism set in a wintery theme.

The first verse has a question that comes to mind through the listener. The narrator asks: "Did you hear about/The queen who's iced up/In her own frosted world." It implies that the listener is introduced to the character of a queen who got covered in ice because the narrator is telling a story about who the queen is, what she does and why she was self-isolating herself from everything that's going on around her. The last four lines echoed the dependence of a snow queen who doesn't want anything to break her down due to her oncoming newfound confidence as if she's done with the drama: "She's stuck on herself/She doesn't need someone who/Can break her heart, because/She's already done enough."

In the chorus, it featured a rhetorical question about the snow queen's freedom: "How did a snow queen/Become so independent?" The reason why is that the queen character is breaking free from the stress that has broke her down and she will not put up with the bad things anymore. Those two lines are also down to the listener to determine if the snow queen is confident enough to do her own thing. The rest of the lines also include a repetitious metaphor using the 2 W's 'why' and 'how' because those words explain why she and how she felt cold only to realize that she is also giving her the liberty to do whatever she wants to do: "That's why she's cold-hearted/But feels free/That's how she's freezing/But feeling free."

The second verse follows a similar pattern to the first verse except it builds up to the one where the snow queen has finally gained the courage to do what she wants in her time, erasing her fears in the process. This is due to the snow queen character's growth of her self-dependence because she has made a couple of mistakes before in the past and she will learn from it by conquering her fears and the challenges she has to deal with while putting on a brave face in-between her quest: "She's on her own/Thinking what she can do/To reclaim her rightful freedom/The queen has no fear."

The timing and accuracy are okay because I followed the chords and melodies with Nathan Simpson backing me up on the keyboard. However, there were times where I would make a single mistake on the keyboard while practicing the chord arrangement. I tend to struggle with doing the chord progression and singing the lyrics at the same time without a metronome because there wasn't a way to count the song in. For future reference, I want to bring out a metronome and learn how to play the keyboard and sing at the same time without the strains of the chord structure and melody lines throughout the track because they're important for me to time the song's beat accurately without stopping, pausing or slipping the fingers in the notes.

Furthermore, the fingering is good and I did a simple melody in the song's intro and outro rather than doing only the chord arrangements in its entirety. Sadly, it could've been better if I have to do a melody line in the verses and choruses as well without restricting myself in practicing the chord structure because they are important to produce a small solo line halfway in each of the verses and choruses instead of it being just the chord progressions through its remainder. I need to add some melody lines in the song for future reference because without them, there won't be a solo line supporting the bass-line in either verse or chorus part.

The instrument-specific techniques are good too. The triad chords went well in some ways because I channelled a tremolo element where I played the chord progression in the song jumping from one chord to another without the same aspect of holding them down i.e. Em to A7 in the intro and the addition of a new chord which is Bm to Em to G in the chorus. Although the instrument-specific techniques are getting better, they could've been refined by adding in some new articulations that will also take effect on the musical instruments e.g. a distorted bass guitar, a buzzy synthesizer, a drum kit filled with reverb, a compressed set of strings. The reason why is that the more instruments I put in with those techniques, the more it will sound like a full on orchestration of the track as a whole instead of it being on the keyboard. Plus, I will need some contributions from Isobel Gaiqui and Jacob Warren the next time I do this song.

Finally, the perfect pitch is decent because this time around, I have to sing the lyrics accordingly without stumbling the syllables. In addition to the improved perfect pitch, my vocals cords didn't strain because I made a few practice runs of the track without struggling to hit some high notes. In terms of vocal projection, it sounds great because I have been concentrating on hitting the high notes carefully during practice so that I won't be able to strain my vocal cords halfway in the song, otherwise they can get damaged unless I take a short break from it.

https://youtu.be/f3mY3-i-yjo

Wednesday 1st December: Blog/Vlog 12 - Let's Do It Again...

Repeat the process as before, then produce a demo of the track and show it to my peers after constructive criticism, both from myself (self-critiquing) and from other students. Afterwards, I will take the feedback and produce a final cut of the song.

Today, I have been learning the Outkast song a dozen times for one-and-a-half hours on the keyboard trying to nail down the second verse and chorus simultaneously with little to no falters throughout. This is because I have been making a few multiple attempts learning the second verse and chorus for one-and- without making a delay in my piano playing.

For instance, the timing and accuracy are good because I have been trying hard to get my hands on time with the song's beat. Notice the song's trills in the melody lines (instrument-specific technique) as I play them rapidly without stopping myself in-between the course of the track. This is largely due to the concentration of my hands as they were warming up in the next hour starting off slowly on the first attempt before gradually pumping up the speed in the next few attempts.

Meanwhile, the fingering is getting better because I have been spending the next one-and-a-half hours trying to warm up my hands in order to practice the chord arrangement and the melody line in the song's tempo, which is 154 BPM. As an example, that time was spent on figuring the second verse and chorus via the keyboard because I made a couple of tries learning it at a slow pace in my right hand before going faster while focusing on the song's chord structure in my left hand.

In terms of the instrument-specific techniques, I have been working on some trills using the keyboard to fluctuate a melody line in the song's second verse where it omitted the chord structure completely. This is to clarify the pizzicato technique in the synths where it creates an arpeggio effect because the Eb minor octave appeared midway through the next verse prior to the chord structure coming back, playing the notes at a rapid-fire speed:

Eb, F#, Bb, Eb

Finally, the perfect pitch is fantastic due to the identification with the notes in the second verse and chorus throughout the song's transition. Best of all, the dud notes have disappeared because I've gotten through a few practice runs learning the structure of the second verse and chorus without getting myself distracted. Coupled with refined fingering, speed and timing, the notes link up to the track's arrangement because when it gets to the second verse, I tried my best not to slow down and learn the notes accordingly without making a mistake. There were a few downfalls when I was recognising those notes off by heart, however I did a great job pointing out the structure with a few flaws halfway in.

This week at Metronome, I've been writing down another song of mine called Brainchild (Left Unsolved). The song's tempo is set at 100 BPM while the key signature of the song is at B major. The chord structure for the song is:

Intro: B, C#m, B, E

Verse: G#m, F#, E

Pre-Chorus: E, F#, G#m, B

Chorus: B, E7, G#m, F#

Bridge: G, B

Outro: F#, B, E

You think you know it all by memory

And figured out a single answer

Used to be a talented genius

Building your own creations

I have no idea what has happened

When you realise you have

No memory all about me

Your head got bumped

How did you forget about

Each and every piece of me

If an answer remains unsolved

Would you still believe in me

It couldn't be better

Without having a memory

As much as you know

What it is to keep your score

You are my unsolved brainchild

Trying to think of every question

If you don't know a thing about me

I wouldn't be right

You've been taking every step

To climb the ladder of success

Been retaining what you thought and said

Like a usual know-it-all

If it was a proper exam

You'd achieve perfection in whichever way

Only to lose your spark that is

Unable to recollect

You would think that it's a distraction

Only now it became an exaggeration

Because you're not thinking straight

The way that I wanted

It's not so easy to forget

All the things you did

That's in your head because

The real answer is left unsolved

The idea of this song came from the inability to recognise and remember what it is, particularly in the present day, because I want to achieve something that's already been done in the past or something that I never did before. The title Brainchild (Left Unsolved) served as a metaphor for someone who is gifted and talented in the glory days but is unable to memorise his/her present self as time got on. This is because the context of this song is about building your self-esteem and remembering the past glory that your younger self did that felt rewarding in your life.

The lyrics I wrote feel personal to me because it predates back to my younger self where I was at a special needs school making friends, staying after school in an after school club, getting good grades and taking part in special events that were affiliated with the school. Somewhere along the line, I went from being the smartest girl in school to being a clever woman at college, yet somehow there is an empty void inside of me that doesn't stick well with my past self because I was stuck trying to figure out what the answer may be, resulting in failure.

The two verses of the song centre around conversations with the younger side of me commenting on the past self who is being congratulated for her hard work and great effort until she comes to the realisation that she doesn't know who I am in the present. For instance, the first verse in the song explains what the little girl did in her glory days and the second verse made some remarks about her cleverness and quick-thinking. However by the last few lines, it was rumoured that the little girl lost her way in recollecting what she's doing, especially when she comes across the present self (which was me in the song), failing to identify who she is right now.

Example of verse one: I have no idea what has happened/When you realise you have/No memory all about me/Your head got bumped.

Example of verse two: If it was a proper exam/You'd achieve perfection in whichever way/Only to lose your spark that is/Unable to recollect.

The pre-chorus observes what is going on with the past side of me because the present self is answering some questions to her, only to discover that the answer remains intact and undetermined in the last two lines of the structure, building up to the song's main chorus. It emphasises the lack of recollection and a sign of moving on from the good old days due to the undecided question about whether or not the past self will be trustworthy to her present self ("How did you forget about/Each and every piece of me/If an answer remains unsolved/Would you still believe in me?").

In the chorus, the present self is supporting her past self because in spite of the failures she went through, the past self will eventually recognise what the answer would be so that she cannot repeat the same mistake over again. In addition to the self-esteem theme, the present self would brush off the flaws, telling her little girl self that "if you don't know a thing about me/I wouldn't be right."

The bridge of the song stems from the stress I had to put up with during childhood in terms of doing a difficult task, partaking in exams and having a long-time sensitivity with the noise levels. The reason why is whenever I feel stressed out, it led to the point where I would start squeaking and in some cases, result in verbal and/or physical abuse which will end up getting me into trouble. According to the bridge, the one topic that I've covered on is exam stress because if I felt the need to stress out at some point in the exam, I would take a short break from it before resuming. I had a problem with remembering stuff in my head because when I revise for a specific subject and topic I find hard to master, I would've forgotten about it the very next day on the day of the exam, essentially in GCSE subjects like Maths and English due to the thing about learning all of it prior to the test.

The timing and accuracy are above average in this one; I used my metronome to follow the beat of the song because I have to keep track of my speed while I'm practicing the chord structure and melody lines on the keyboard with little to no delay. There were some points that the timing and accuracy will get off-track with the tempo, especially in the song's pre-chorus and in the outro due to the fact that some chords can get odd and complicated to learn and perform. I need to start alternating some chords in the structure so that it doesn't sound weird and complex for me to play and sing.

The fingering is below average. Once again, I am restricted to practicing the chord arrangements with my left hand because I didn't have the freedom to perform my own melody lines with my right hand. Ultimately, I dropped the technique of having to play the keyboard and sing with the mic simultaneously and I decided to sing the lyrics to the song instead. To make matters worse, some of the chords in the chord arrangement can get difficult for me to practice on the keyboard because the majority of them are overcomplicated and they needed changing as well as extending while on that same note.

Verse: G#m, F#, E, C#m7

Pre-Chorus: E, F#, G#m, F#7

Chorus: B, E7, G#m, F#

Bridge: G, A, B (X2), E, F#, G#m

Outro: B, Bbm, G#m, E, Fdim, F#

While learning the instrument-specific techniques, the prominence of vibrato and tremolo are being played throughout the song because the keyboard-based arrangement has some variations in the melodic lines and in the chord structure, ranging from happy and cheerful to moody and depressing. Nathan opted me to change the chords through the song's entirety meaning that some notes will be bright with a dark and mysterious edge to it, including the addition of an F diminished chord in the outro and the repeated notes of the bridge being played twice before adding some new chords, leading to the song's final chorus before the ending, not to mention making it a double chorus in this one. This is due to it being in the Phrygian/Lydian/Mixolydian modes because of the extensive use of the seventh major and minor chords in the verse and pre-chorus alongside a mixture between smiley and enchantment in the remainder of the song.

Lastly, the perfect pitch was great because I have been identifying the notes while I was singing the lyrics as well as playing the piano to the full extent. It even gave me the option to sing this song at a lower register without having to hurt my vocal cords throughout due to hydration by drinking plenty of water. My vocal projection could've been extended in the song by adding in some backing vocals and ad-libs, however I have to save them when I do a studio version of the song on Logic Pro.

https://youtu.be/Bhy2R8YW7ao

Wednesday 8th December: Blog/Vlog 13 - Critical Evaluation

Look back on my areas of improvement and evaluate myself, giving me constructive feedback along the way.

In the next few weeks, I will be learning Outkast's BOB (Bombs Over Baghdad) on the keyboard while covering my areas of improvement which are timing and accuracy, fingering, instrument-specific techniques and perfect pitch. For the next two hours, I will be practicing this song without a falter because I will go through the chord structure and melody lines with those four techniques flawlessly omitting the cons throughout.

My timing and accuracy is perfect. The reason why is that I have been following the song's structure on the keyboard without hesitation halfway in the next two hours. I nailed down the arrangement and melody lines due to the improved timing and accuracy as I started out slowly until the structure got faster drastically after gradually moving up the speed every thirty-five minutes with the removal of pausing in-between. At some parts of the song, my timing went out of sync with the beat and melodies because I could've used the metronome and follow it along with the rhythm and solo lines otherwise I will keep pausing frequently through the track.

My fingering is amazing because I warmed up my hands focusing on the arrangement and melody lines in the next two hours without slipping down an octave. I did well trying to sort out the arrangement and melody lines on the keyboard without hurting both my hands because I have to take a short rest from practicing before continuing forward with the song through the remainder of the day. For my area of improvement, I want to expand the fingering and change some chords up a bit, differentiating from the original version because they will bring a new spin in the song's arrangement while also retaining the melodies from the original cut.

I did great with the instrument-specific techniques because I have been discovering the articulations while playing the chord structure and melodies of the song. For example, I played those notes on the keyboard in a legato effect because in the verses, I've been learning them in a relaxing vibe before it eventually got louder, incorporating a diminuendo effect in the process. In another example, I've been adding some phrase marks in the track's structure and melody lines on the keyboard due to the messages they have while playing the notes of the track; they occur throughout the arrangement repeating each of the notes in the verses and chorus. What I need to improve on is the expansion of the two techniques because both the legato and phrase marks will give the song its smooth tone while understanding its meaning as it progresses halfway in.

Lastly, the perfect pitch is fantastic because I reimagined the notes of BOB (Bombs Over Baghdad) without faltering them halfway through. There were a few dud notes to add into the mix due to the fact that I was not focusing on remembering the notes as they were put out of place at some point in the song. For instance, take the second verse; I was practicing the chord structure throughout the verse when I should've gone and omitted the arrangement only featuring the melody lines because they will sound repetitive repeating the structure in the verse.

In the final week at Metronome, I have been writing another song called Game Over, a rap song that's about a failed relationship between two people while also lifting elements of video game techniques. The key signature for this track is set at G minor while its tempo is set at 92 BPM.

Chords:

Intro: Gm, F, Gm (X2), Cm

Verse: Eb, F7, Gm

Chorus: Bb, Cm, Gm, Bb, D, Gm

We used to be the perfect players

Trying to beat a video game sooner or later

You're the main star and I am the confidant

Giving me the thrills whenever you flaunt

Your items at me when I reached a bonus

Giving me all your powers you've shown us

Tell Jonas, I have hit an SOS

When you told me I feel less of

A supporting role and more of the BG girl

Always taking up space like you've owned the world

Eighteen months of development hell

Waiting for your next game that won't go well

Besides, I like to watch you fall

I'm never gonna be the one you call on

If you were the leading man, I wouldn't place you

Anywhere which is why I'm replacing you because

The game's over

I'm sick and tired of your lies

Hadn't wished I fallen in love

Hoping I'd rather die

How could you get so cruel

Like I'm facing a final boss

This is where your game ends

I must leave you at all costs

Har-de-har-har, what kind of idiot

Would be with a woman that imminent

A woman so foolish, we should've stayed together

If life is a game, then we won't last forever

The scenario of being in a video game

Is that you win at the end of the game

So much so, you're addicted to it

I could've quit when you wouldn't fix it

Meanwhile, you were playing the wild card

Going around telling yourself you went hard

On your star-studded status

Even without me, it shouldn't matter

You went and did it anyway

I could've gotten back at you any day

Be selfish all you want, I'll do it alone

I don't care if you have faced your woes, because

Let's talk video game addiction

The kind that the gamers predicted

Not every guy or girl plays games

They have to learn what games they make

They can go to college and create them

No matter if they love them or hate them

For the next three years or more

Making a game for fun is not a bore

Except when I'm right here with you

Trying to back away from what I do

That makes you annoyed from the get-go

Who'd thought you turn from a hero to a zero

I just like to watch you lose a life

As you continue lacking your strife

In the end, you remain a martyr

I can't put up with your alibis and the drama, because

The idea behind the song is I want to create a breakup track that feels different from the usual "men playing games with girls' hearts" scenario. The reason why is because I have to write and produce a song that takes that topic with some elements of the video game techniques and strategies being featured. Game Over is the one thought that comes to mind because in one part, a college is opening up a new hub specifically made for the people who are into eSports tournaments. Meanwhile in the other part, I want to make a breakup anthem that is filled with video game influences because I got bored with a lot of artists trying to recreate the topic, while also adding elements of betrayal.

In the first verse, the girl was feeling happy about her relationship with her boyfriend, giving comparisons to the video game format i.e. she becomes the sidekick, while he is the main hero of the game. As soon as it gets to the rest of the verse, particularly in the next ten lines of it, their relationship came to a head when the girl soon discovers her boyfriend's true colours, adapting to his self-centred ego. This is because she is going through a rocky fling with her boyfriend and as soon as he got away from her, the girl got upset that she has been moved down a notch to a nobody who will not appear in the game at all. ("You told me I feel less of/A supporting role and more of the BG girl/Always taking up space like you've owned the world")

In the second verse, the drama continues as her boyfriend is living the good life with his arrogant behaviour. In reality, although the thing with video games is that you win at the end with its victorious ending, the male partner is losing at the real life world in the process similar to getting a game over screen that is most common in video games because when he left his girlfriend to go solo, it makes it hard for him to keep his main character status at a low profile until you realise at some point that the boyfriend is failing himself too soon, both in character and confidence. ("Meanwhile you were playing the wild card/Going around telling yourself you went hard/On your star-studded status/Even without me, it shouldn't matter/You went and did it anyway")

In the third and final verse, it concludes with the girlfriend feeling happy about her now-ex-boyfriend's misfires in the aftermath of a breakup. The reason why is that she is making her sarcastic remarks at the former partner ("Who'd thought you turn from a hero to a zero?") as she is giving one final comment at him before calling it quits and moves on from the relationship, echoing the title of the song as the girl is not going to take her boyfriend's fibs any longer and his "games". ("I just like to watch you lose a life/As you continue lacking your strife/In the end, you remain a martyr, I can't put up with your alibis and the drama") What's notable is the first few lines about the students that are studying games at a local college. This is because that when a person is addicted to video games, they must also educate themselves by making the games on their own or with a team of people with a bit of constructive criticism added. ("Not every guy or girl plays games/They have to learn what games they make/They can go to college and create them/No matter if they love them or hate them")

Finally in the song's chorus, the girl is getting tired of her relationship because after finding out the true colours of her estranged boyfriend, she must think of a way to walk away from him before the relationship gets worse. The last word ("because") builds up to the chorus after each verse due to giving it a lot of tension into the song's lyrical content. For example, in the first verse, the girlfriend is replacing her former partner who couldn't locate him at any part of the game, therefore getting the boot after she was unable to place him somewhere. In another example, the second verse has got a snarky tone because she makes some sarcastic comments about her boyfriend's failures and would rather be the main star herself instead of him. Finally in the last verse, she delivers a final blow to her now-ex-boyfriend because it's here that she is leaving his games behind and withdraws the relationship for good.

The timing and accuracy are good because I used the metronome to follow the beat of the song while I was practicing my chord structure and melodic lines on the keyboard. However, I was doing bad when I was pausing halfway through the song due to the fact that I wasn't concentrating on playing the keyboard and singing simultaneously. I need to practice my timing and accuracy more on the arrangement and the melodies using the keyboard because I want to keep learning them by going through a few more practice runs, starting out slow before going faster.

The fingering is getting better because I have been changing the chord arrangement of the song expanding them to the seventh note chord in the keyboard. In the intro, I've added an additional seventh note chord called a D major 7 because I want to lead this chord into the first verse without getting an unstable start. A similar thing happened to the verse because I have been putting in a Cm7 chord reverting back into the first chord of that structure four times before going into the chorus. In the song's chorus, I have omitted the first three chords because they became complicated for me to practice and perform, therefore I narrowed it down to the last three chords of the section. However, the end of the chorus could've added in another chord to go back in the first chord because I want to do a similar thing with the verse by adding in a seventh chord, either normal, suspended, diminished or a dominant one to revert into the beginning chord of the chorus section.

Intro: Gm, F, Gm (X2), Cm, D7

Verse: Eb, F7, Gm, Cm7

Chorus: Bb, D, Gm

The instrument-specific techniques are good because they have the tremolo and vibrato effects incorporated in the notes of the keyboard, creating a reverb effect into them. Another thing about the instrument-specific techniques is the incorporation of the legato technique because the majority of the notes are played in a long and calm way throughout the song's structure. What I should've done is expand those instrument techniques by adding in some staccato pieces because I need to play some short notes on the keyboard in some parts of the verse and chorus other than just a legato technique in its entirety.

The perfect pitch is average because I have been identifying the notes instrumentally and vocally over the course of this song through playing the keyboard and singing in the microphone. Unfortunately, when I started playing those notes on the keyboard and sing at the same time, I found it hard to sing the syllables in the lyrics because they can be difficult to pronounce and I sometimes forget to sing the song while concentrating on one thing rather than both at them. What needs improving is to remove the words that are hard to pronounce and identify because I need to write out one of the words that are difficult to sing on the microphone i.e. "video," "always taking up space like you've owned the world," "going around telling yourself you went hard."

https://youtu.be/Yhc3kCX9z50