Final Project
April 16
I had so much fun creating this final project. Getting to break down a song I love, plus being able to use my creativity, along with actually feeling good about what I was creating, made this such a good experience.
I chose to only do the first two verses, the chorus, the bridge, then the chorus again because the original song is about 4 minutes at 96 bpm. I slowed it down to 70 bpm, so I knew that it would be too long if I added the third and fourth verses. I started by singing and recording the bass line of the verses and chorus. The bass line in the verse is pretty standard, in that it is I, vi, IV, V. However, it changes in the chorus to become I, vi, ii, IV, which isn’t one that I’ve seen or heard too often.
My next step was to record the melody of both the verse and the chorus. I broke these down and recorded the verse first, as there were a lot of syllables and I wanted to make sure I got them right for the most part and was able to sing them all without it sounding messy. This worked fairly well for me, except for the fact that the levels are slightly different from the verse to the chorus.
The part that I had the most fun with was recording the bridge. It is probably one of my favourite parts of the original song and I felt there was so much I could do with it. I decided to really layer the harmonies and did four different parts. The melody itself was super simple, and it repeats 4 times, so it was very easy to harmonize over top of that. I honestly did a little happy dance when I finalized the bridge because I was so happy with how it sounded (now that I’ve listened to it over and over again, I’ve gotten more critical of it, but I’m trying to hold on to the feeling of success that I initially felt).
The thing that frustrated me the most was harmonizing in the verses. The original song doesn’t have much harmony in the first verse, so trying to envision that was really difficult for me. I think it took me 3 hours just to record the harmony for the verse and find one that I liked. I’m still not entirely satisfied with how it sounds, but I know that I am my own worst critic and others may actually like listening to what I’ve recorded. I personally don’t love the sound of my voice sometimes, so trying to record layers of harmony over my own voice was sometimes hard for me.
I also decided to add a beat. Once I finished recording my vocal tracks, the song still felt a bit empty. I listened to the original song again and tried to listen to elements that could make it sound fuller. One thing that really drives the original is its beat. I experimented a bit with different beats and created one that didn’t feel overwhelming, but still filled up the space a little bit. I think it ended up really driving the song and making it sound fuller.
I surprised myself with how much fun I had doing this project. Seeing it all come together felt so rewarding and like a good culmination of the things I’ve learned this year!
April 16
I had so much fun creating this final project. Getting to break down a song I love, plus being able to use my creativity, along with actually feeling good about what I was creating, made this such a good experience.
I chose to only do the first two verses, the chorus, the bridge, then the chorus again because the original song is about 4 minutes at 96 bpm. I slowed it down to 70 bpm, so I knew that it would be too long if I added the third and fourth verses. I started by singing and recording the bass line of the verses and chorus. The bass line in the verse is pretty standard, in that it is I, vi, IV, V. However, it changes in the chorus to become I, vi, ii, IV, which isn’t one that I’ve seen or heard too often.
My next step was to record the melody of both the verse and the chorus. I broke these down and recorded the verse first, as there were a lot of syllables and I wanted to make sure I got them right for the most part and was able to sing them all without it sounding messy. This worked fairly well for me, except for the fact that the levels are slightly different from the verse to the chorus.
The part that I had the most fun with was recording the bridge. It is probably one of my favourite parts of the original song and I felt there was so much I could do with it. I decided to really layer the harmonies and did four different parts. The melody itself was super simple, and it repeats 4 times, so it was very easy to harmonize over top of that. I honestly did a little happy dance when I finalized the bridge because I was so happy with how it sounded (now that I’ve listened to it over and over again, I’ve gotten more critical of it, but I’m trying to hold on to the feeling of success that I initially felt).
The thing that frustrated me the most was harmonizing in the verses. The original song doesn’t have much harmony in the first verse, so trying to envision that was really difficult for me. I think it took me 3 hours just to record the harmony for the verse and find one that I liked. I’m still not entirely satisfied with how it sounds, but I know that I am my own worst critic and others may actually like listening to what I’ve recorded. I personally don’t love the sound of my voice sometimes, so trying to record layers of harmony over my own voice was sometimes hard for me.
I also decided to add a beat. Once I finished recording my vocal tracks, the song still felt a bit empty. I listened to the original song again and tried to listen to elements that could make it sound fuller. One thing that really drives the original is its beat. I experimented a bit with different beats and created one that didn’t feel overwhelming, but still filled up the space a little bit. I think it ended up really driving the song and making it sound fuller.
I surprised myself with how much fun I had doing this project. Seeing it all come together felt so rewarding and like a good culmination of the things I’ve learned this year!
Canons 38, 41, and 129
April 1
For some reason, figuring out the canons this week really challenged me. I think it was something about the altered solfege that threw me off, and I found myself having to either restart or find my pitch again. I think I underestimated how low in my range the home tone was, so when I had to restart, I started too high, which made the higher notes even worse for me.
I definitely found myself getting frustrated as I went on, which brings me back to how I approached things at the beginning of the year. I wish that I had been more forgiving with myself this time around, knowing that I don’t have to sing these perfectly and knowing that I had the same approach at the beginning of the year. You can definitely see me getting frustrated in the videos, which is kind of disappointing to watch.
There were some good parts of each canon, but I definitely think that it would have taken me way too long to entirely figure out these canons, and the videos would have been too long. As it is, I had to break it down into three separate videos because I didn’t have enough space to compile them all into one video.
Overall, I wish this week’s assignment had gone better for me, but hopefully my final assignment will go well, and I’ll feel better about my abilities.
April 1
For some reason, figuring out the canons this week really challenged me. I think it was something about the altered solfege that threw me off, and I found myself having to either restart or find my pitch again. I think I underestimated how low in my range the home tone was, so when I had to restart, I started too high, which made the higher notes even worse for me.
I definitely found myself getting frustrated as I went on, which brings me back to how I approached things at the beginning of the year. I wish that I had been more forgiving with myself this time around, knowing that I don’t have to sing these perfectly and knowing that I had the same approach at the beginning of the year. You can definitely see me getting frustrated in the videos, which is kind of disappointing to watch.
There were some good parts of each canon, but I definitely think that it would have taken me way too long to entirely figure out these canons, and the videos would have been too long. As it is, I had to break it down into three separate videos because I didn’t have enough space to compile them all into one video.
Overall, I wish this week’s assignment had gone better for me, but hopefully my final assignment will go well, and I’ll feel better about my abilities.
“I Got So High That I Saw Jesus” In Rhythms
March 25
This was definitely a new challenge for me this week. Western pop music tends to use pretty complicated rhythms, so I tried to choose a song that I knew had fairly simple rhythms, at least in the chorus. I thought that since the chorus felt pretty easy to me, the verse would also be easy, but I was entirely wrong. I figured out the chorus pretty easily, and got the rhythms as correct as I could, but when it came to figuring out the verse, I struggled quite a bit. I could hear that there was quite a few dotted rhythms, but there were other parts which threw me off. I tried to get the other rhythms to the best of my ability, and I think they’re correct for the most part, or at least close to correct.
When it came to recording the video of myself singing the rhythms over the song, I was challenged again. All the different rhythm syllables were kind of like a tongue twister, and it definitely took quite a few takes before I had a video that was worth uploading. The notes are also pretty low in my range, but I knew it would help me to sing the rhythms rather than speak them, so I sang the harmony line in the chorus, and just struggled through the low notes in the verse.
Being able to notate rhythms is super exciting for me! Now that I can figure out songs in solfege, and figure out the rhythms, it’ll only be a few more steps before I might be able to notate a song in its entirety (both notes and rhythms).
March 25
This was definitely a new challenge for me this week. Western pop music tends to use pretty complicated rhythms, so I tried to choose a song that I knew had fairly simple rhythms, at least in the chorus. I thought that since the chorus felt pretty easy to me, the verse would also be easy, but I was entirely wrong. I figured out the chorus pretty easily, and got the rhythms as correct as I could, but when it came to figuring out the verse, I struggled quite a bit. I could hear that there was quite a few dotted rhythms, but there were other parts which threw me off. I tried to get the other rhythms to the best of my ability, and I think they’re correct for the most part, or at least close to correct.
When it came to recording the video of myself singing the rhythms over the song, I was challenged again. All the different rhythm syllables were kind of like a tongue twister, and it definitely took quite a few takes before I had a video that was worth uploading. The notes are also pretty low in my range, but I knew it would help me to sing the rhythms rather than speak them, so I sang the harmony line in the chorus, and just struggled through the low notes in the verse.
Being able to notate rhythms is super exciting for me! Now that I can figure out songs in solfege, and figure out the rhythms, it’ll only be a few more steps before I might be able to notate a song in its entirety (both notes and rhythms).
Canon #39
March 18
This week’s homework was actually a lot of fun! I’m still a little bit apprehensive when it comes to singing and recording canons, but it went way better than I expected this week.
One thing that I sort of struggled with was how much of my range this canon covered. I wanted to transpose it down a step, but then the lower parts towards the end were too low, so I ended up just leaving it where it was and stretching my voice to get the E. Those notes towards the top of my range do sound a bit scratchy and they don’t have great tone, but I was sort of surprised that I could get to those notes.
I surprised myself with how quickly I learned this canon and was able to put it together. Usually it takes me about an hour to properly learn the canon, then another hour to record it properly, but this time it only took me 45 minutes to both learn and record it.
I think some parts of the canon sound a bit awkward and there are gaps, but I’m not sure whether that’s because I didn’t do the entrances at the right time or if it’s written to have gaps in the music.
Overall, I think this week’s assignment turned out really well! I’m super happy with how it went overall and I can really see my progress from the first time I tried to record a canon.
March 18
This week’s homework was actually a lot of fun! I’m still a little bit apprehensive when it comes to singing and recording canons, but it went way better than I expected this week.
One thing that I sort of struggled with was how much of my range this canon covered. I wanted to transpose it down a step, but then the lower parts towards the end were too low, so I ended up just leaving it where it was and stretching my voice to get the E. Those notes towards the top of my range do sound a bit scratchy and they don’t have great tone, but I was sort of surprised that I could get to those notes.
I surprised myself with how quickly I learned this canon and was able to put it together. Usually it takes me about an hour to properly learn the canon, then another hour to record it properly, but this time it only took me 45 minutes to both learn and record it.
I think some parts of the canon sound a bit awkward and there are gaps, but I’m not sure whether that’s because I didn’t do the entrances at the right time or if it’s written to have gaps in the music.
Overall, I think this week’s assignment turned out really well! I’m super happy with how it went overall and I can really see my progress from the first time I tried to record a canon.
Writing a Canon in Dorian
March 4
Writing a canon seemed intimidating at first, but once I got into it, it wasn’t as difficult as I had anticipated.
I can usually work with other things going on around me, but to work on this assignment, I ended up having to shut myself in my room to be able to focus enough to write a decent canon. Once I got started, it really wasn’t too difficult, but I did struggle with figuring out what notes and rhythms to use. I ended up trying to use my theory knowledge to put in notes and rhythms that made the most sense.
When I added the third part and began to record, I didn’t struggle as much as I thought I would. I think I’m definitely getting better at singing parts without having to rehearse it a bunch of times before recording. After listening to the final product, I was a little unsatisfied with it sounded at parts, and I’m not sure whether to attribute that to not liking how my voice sounds, the pitches not lining up how I wanted them to, or the rhythms not meshing nicely. I think if I were to revise this again, I would take a lot of time to perfect those bars where it feels a little crunchy.
Overall, I’m proud of how this assignment turned out, because I haven’t had the opportunity to compose many things before. Hopefully the more I do things like this, the better I’ll get!
March 4
Writing a canon seemed intimidating at first, but once I got into it, it wasn’t as difficult as I had anticipated.
I can usually work with other things going on around me, but to work on this assignment, I ended up having to shut myself in my room to be able to focus enough to write a decent canon. Once I got started, it really wasn’t too difficult, but I did struggle with figuring out what notes and rhythms to use. I ended up trying to use my theory knowledge to put in notes and rhythms that made the most sense.
When I added the third part and began to record, I didn’t struggle as much as I thought I would. I think I’m definitely getting better at singing parts without having to rehearse it a bunch of times before recording. After listening to the final product, I was a little unsatisfied with it sounded at parts, and I’m not sure whether to attribute that to not liking how my voice sounds, the pitches not lining up how I wanted them to, or the rhythms not meshing nicely. I think if I were to revise this again, I would take a lot of time to perfect those bars where it feels a little crunchy.
Overall, I’m proud of how this assignment turned out, because I haven’t had the opportunity to compose many things before. Hopefully the more I do things like this, the better I’ll get!
Improvising in Dorian and ‘Scarborough Fair’ Dictation
February 11
I really enjoyed the homework this week. Neither assignment was particularly difficult for me, which obviously made it easier to enjoy.
Last week in class, I got the majority of the dictation for ‘Scarborough Fair’, so I just needed to figure out the last phrase this week. This didn’t take me long at all, and I loved listening to Sarah’s version of the song. I also really enjoyed the Simon and Garfunkel version (it is a classic, after all), but it’s so nice hearing how talented my classmates are.
I also think I’m starting to enjoy improvisation more and more. I’m not used to improvising in Dorian, but I LOVE the sound of it, especially the high ‘do’, ‘ti’, ‘re’. I hovered around that high ‘re’ a lot in my improvisation. It was at a comfortable point in my range, and it felt good to return to it after moving to ‘do’ and ‘ti’ and going from ‘re’ to ‘mi’ to ‘fa’. I tried to incorporate some skips in there, but I don’t think I was super comfortable with it yet that I could consistently sing skips. Improvising is something I want to explore more in my personal life, as it will be an incredibly useful tool in a classroom, or even when I want to write my own songs. Being comfortable improvising is going to be something that drives my songwriting process, so I’m really happy that it’s starting to feel better for me.
February 11
I really enjoyed the homework this week. Neither assignment was particularly difficult for me, which obviously made it easier to enjoy.
Last week in class, I got the majority of the dictation for ‘Scarborough Fair’, so I just needed to figure out the last phrase this week. This didn’t take me long at all, and I loved listening to Sarah’s version of the song. I also really enjoyed the Simon and Garfunkel version (it is a classic, after all), but it’s so nice hearing how talented my classmates are.
I also think I’m starting to enjoy improvisation more and more. I’m not used to improvising in Dorian, but I LOVE the sound of it, especially the high ‘do’, ‘ti’, ‘re’. I hovered around that high ‘re’ a lot in my improvisation. It was at a comfortable point in my range, and it felt good to return to it after moving to ‘do’ and ‘ti’ and going from ‘re’ to ‘mi’ to ‘fa’. I tried to incorporate some skips in there, but I don’t think I was super comfortable with it yet that I could consistently sing skips. Improvising is something I want to explore more in my personal life, as it will be an incredibly useful tool in a classroom, or even when I want to write my own songs. Being comfortable improvising is going to be something that drives my songwriting process, so I’m really happy that it’s starting to feel better for me.
‘Scarborough Fair’ Dictation
Canon 131
February 4
There were definitely a few things I struggled with this week in terms of this assignment. When listening back to my canon recording, the harmonies actually sound pretty good, but towards the end I was more unsure and hesitant, which came through in my singing. One thing that I had trouble with (which really surprised me) was the interval between ‘fa’ and ‘mi’ and ‘sol’ and ‘mi’. I’m not entirely sure why, because neither of those are particularly difficult intervals, but I kept singing ‘mi’ too flat. I fixed it in some parts of my recording, but I know it’s definitely still a little flat in other instances.
I think overall, recording this frustrated me this week because I had it in my mind that it should be no problem for me, even though I know that’s not a productive mindset to have. It took a lot for me to keep myself calm and keep going, especially because ‘mi’ has never been a struggle for me before.
I can definitely hear my confidence go down the drain towards the end of this recording, so hopefully next week I won’t get so frustrated with myself and can instead be more critical about why I’m struggling with certain things, and why certain things are easier for me.
February 4
There were definitely a few things I struggled with this week in terms of this assignment. When listening back to my canon recording, the harmonies actually sound pretty good, but towards the end I was more unsure and hesitant, which came through in my singing. One thing that I had trouble with (which really surprised me) was the interval between ‘fa’ and ‘mi’ and ‘sol’ and ‘mi’. I’m not entirely sure why, because neither of those are particularly difficult intervals, but I kept singing ‘mi’ too flat. I fixed it in some parts of my recording, but I know it’s definitely still a little flat in other instances.
I think overall, recording this frustrated me this week because I had it in my mind that it should be no problem for me, even though I know that’s not a productive mindset to have. It took a lot for me to keep myself calm and keep going, especially because ‘mi’ has never been a struggle for me before.
I can definitely hear my confidence go down the drain towards the end of this recording, so hopefully next week I won’t get so frustrated with myself and can instead be more critical about why I’m struggling with certain things, and why certain things are easier for me.
Solfege Exercises in Major and Minor
January 28
This was surprisingly not as difficult as I had expected it to be! The fact that we had to sing in minor definitely freaked me out a little bit but once I got past the first exercises, I didn’t have to work as hard to figure out the rest of them. The one thing that really helped me solidify myself in the minor key was singing up and down the scale a few times so that I could really hear where the semitones were. Once I was able to do that, the exercises actually came to me pretty quickly!
I will say, the ones that had G as ‘do’ were a little high for me, but not impossible. They were just at the top end of my range. I especially found exercise #7 to be stretching my range with that octave jump, but at least the octave jump was easy to hear, so I was able to sing the correct solfege. I really appreciated how there weren’t many leaps, and when there were leaps, they were ones that I was very familiar with, like the one from ‘sol’ to ‘re’.
I’m really enjoying how easy these things are becoming for me, so I’m hoping the rest of the semester will continue to feel like this!
January 28
This was surprisingly not as difficult as I had expected it to be! The fact that we had to sing in minor definitely freaked me out a little bit but once I got past the first exercises, I didn’t have to work as hard to figure out the rest of them. The one thing that really helped me solidify myself in the minor key was singing up and down the scale a few times so that I could really hear where the semitones were. Once I was able to do that, the exercises actually came to me pretty quickly!
I will say, the ones that had G as ‘do’ were a little high for me, but not impossible. They were just at the top end of my range. I especially found exercise #7 to be stretching my range with that octave jump, but at least the octave jump was easy to hear, so I was able to sing the correct solfege. I really appreciated how there weren’t many leaps, and when there were leaps, they were ones that I was very familiar with, like the one from ‘sol’ to ‘re’.
I’m really enjoying how easy these things are becoming for me, so I’m hoping the rest of the semester will continue to feel like this!
Bass Line Solfege and Other Solfege Exercises
January 21
I definitely am beginning to find exercises like this easier! Both of the parts of this assignment only took me about 20 minutes altogether to record.
I was really impressed with how easy I found it to figure out the bass line to “You’re Beautiful”. I think what helped was that we had briefly done it in class, so I had the sound of each chord in my head already for the most part. One thing that definitely threw me off was that I kept thinking that the “sol” was a lot lower than it actually is, then it would throw me off until I could re-centre myself on “do”. About halfway through though, I eventually got it and the verse were quite easy to sing along to. The chorus definitely took me a bit because the chord progression changes, but it was helpful that no new chords were introduced, and that it was just a different order of chords. I’m really glad that this is becoming easier for me to do! Especially last semester, it was a little discouraging that some people automatically knew what the chords were, but now it’s becoming easier for me too.
The solfege exercises are also a lot easier for me than they were last semester. I think I was a little rusty today, but I got through them quicker than I would have last semester. It was kind of difficult for me to focus today however, as I recorded these videos in the practice rooms, and as I was doing these exercises, someone also happened to be very loudly practicing their saxophone scales and technique in the room across from me and I could hear it a lot (I think it comes through on the recording at points). This definitely threw me off, especially in terms of where my home tone was, because I kept hearing other notes that weren’t related to my “do” at all. Hopefully I can find a quieter spot to do this next time!
January 21
I definitely am beginning to find exercises like this easier! Both of the parts of this assignment only took me about 20 minutes altogether to record.
I was really impressed with how easy I found it to figure out the bass line to “You’re Beautiful”. I think what helped was that we had briefly done it in class, so I had the sound of each chord in my head already for the most part. One thing that definitely threw me off was that I kept thinking that the “sol” was a lot lower than it actually is, then it would throw me off until I could re-centre myself on “do”. About halfway through though, I eventually got it and the verse were quite easy to sing along to. The chorus definitely took me a bit because the chord progression changes, but it was helpful that no new chords were introduced, and that it was just a different order of chords. I’m really glad that this is becoming easier for me to do! Especially last semester, it was a little discouraging that some people automatically knew what the chords were, but now it’s becoming easier for me too.
The solfege exercises are also a lot easier for me than they were last semester. I think I was a little rusty today, but I got through them quicker than I would have last semester. It was kind of difficult for me to focus today however, as I recorded these videos in the practice rooms, and as I was doing these exercises, someone also happened to be very loudly practicing their saxophone scales and technique in the room across from me and I could hear it a lot (I think it comes through on the recording at points). This definitely threw me off, especially in terms of where my home tone was, because I kept hearing other notes that weren’t related to my “do” at all. Hopefully I can find a quieter spot to do this next time!
Solfege Exercises from the Canon Book
December 8
At first, I was a little intimidated by this assignment. But once I gave myself time to figure out the right key for myself, and actually took the time to look through the exercises, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. It did still challenge me though.
One thing that really helped me was that I had a metronome quietly playing in my earbuds as I sang, and I tried to conduct a little bit with my free hand to keep me on time. This didn’t work 100% of the time but it was definitely better than when I wasn’t using a metronome, especially because the rhythms in exercise #23 were difficult for me. Exercise #23 was also difficult in that it didn’t really centre around ‘do’, so it became more difficult to find the right notes. I think I definitely practiced that one more than I did #21.
Exercises #21 was easier for me to begin with because it starts with just singing up the scale. That really helped me centre myself around ‘do’ and made the first part of the piece fairly easy for me to sing. One thing that tripped me up when I started practicing was the jump from ‘ti’ to ‘sol’ in the second bar, and the jump from ‘sol’ to ‘mi’ in the fourth bar. Once I got the sound of those intervals in my head though, I didn’t find it too challenging.
One thing that I have struggled with this semester was finding ‘fa’ and I think these exercises made it easier for me to hear what it sounds like and to hear it in relation to other notes.
Overall, this activity was a really good learning experience and although I don’t think I sang these pieces perfectly, I can definitely hear the difference between now and the beginning of the semester.
December 8
At first, I was a little intimidated by this assignment. But once I gave myself time to figure out the right key for myself, and actually took the time to look through the exercises, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. It did still challenge me though.
One thing that really helped me was that I had a metronome quietly playing in my earbuds as I sang, and I tried to conduct a little bit with my free hand to keep me on time. This didn’t work 100% of the time but it was definitely better than when I wasn’t using a metronome, especially because the rhythms in exercise #23 were difficult for me. Exercise #23 was also difficult in that it didn’t really centre around ‘do’, so it became more difficult to find the right notes. I think I definitely practiced that one more than I did #21.
Exercises #21 was easier for me to begin with because it starts with just singing up the scale. That really helped me centre myself around ‘do’ and made the first part of the piece fairly easy for me to sing. One thing that tripped me up when I started practicing was the jump from ‘ti’ to ‘sol’ in the second bar, and the jump from ‘sol’ to ‘mi’ in the fourth bar. Once I got the sound of those intervals in my head though, I didn’t find it too challenging.
One thing that I have struggled with this semester was finding ‘fa’ and I think these exercises made it easier for me to hear what it sounds like and to hear it in relation to other notes.
Overall, this activity was a really good learning experience and although I don’t think I sang these pieces perfectly, I can definitely hear the difference between now and the beginning of the semester.
Creating a Composition Based on Improvisation
November 18
With this activity, I didn’t have a whole lot to work with. My improvisation from a couple weeks ago was mainly based around the chord tones and didn’t have a whole lot of interesting rhythms. I tried to pick the most interesting parts and mesh them together to create a more interesting composition than my improvisation was. I also wrote in the chords in the bass, and didn’t always use them in first inversion, which would make for a more interesting-sounding piece.
Although the part of the improvisation where I didn’t have to sing using syllables was definitely more interesting than the part with syllables, I used more passing tones, which messed me up when I was trying to write those parts down. I would eventually like to be able to automatically determine which notes are which, but that’s still a skill I’m trying to improve.
The thing that I disliked the most about this assignment was having to go back and listen to myself again. I’m one of those people who hates listening to themselves, so having to listen to my videos every week makes me very uncomfortable and self-conscious.
I did overall enjoy doing this assignment however, because it made me feel like I was bringing my musicianship skills full-circle by writing something, even if it was small. It was nice to reflect on the process and think about how I started with listening to the backing track, which involves a little bit of ear-training, then improvising and singing a little bit, to now writing something down. It’s a nice sense of accomplishment, small as it may be.
November 18
With this activity, I didn’t have a whole lot to work with. My improvisation from a couple weeks ago was mainly based around the chord tones and didn’t have a whole lot of interesting rhythms. I tried to pick the most interesting parts and mesh them together to create a more interesting composition than my improvisation was. I also wrote in the chords in the bass, and didn’t always use them in first inversion, which would make for a more interesting-sounding piece.
Although the part of the improvisation where I didn’t have to sing using syllables was definitely more interesting than the part with syllables, I used more passing tones, which messed me up when I was trying to write those parts down. I would eventually like to be able to automatically determine which notes are which, but that’s still a skill I’m trying to improve.
The thing that I disliked the most about this assignment was having to go back and listen to myself again. I’m one of those people who hates listening to themselves, so having to listen to my videos every week makes me very uncomfortable and self-conscious.
I did overall enjoy doing this assignment however, because it made me feel like I was bringing my musicianship skills full-circle by writing something, even if it was small. It was nice to reflect on the process and think about how I started with listening to the backing track, which involves a little bit of ear-training, then improvising and singing a little bit, to now writing something down. It’s a nice sense of accomplishment, small as it may be.
Improvising over a Backing Track
October 29
I faced a few challenges when approaching this assignment. Firstly, it was a super busy week, so I didn’t have the time to prepare like I had hoped. The backing track was also a little low for my voice but the chord progression was easier for me to sing along to, which is why I chose it anyways.
I found it difficult to start improvising but once I got into it, it became a bit easier. I was able to find the notes that each chord had in common so that if I wasn’t sure where to go next, at least that note would fit into the next chord as well. I think where I ran into trouble was trying to sing the IV chord. Because it was so low, it was more difficult for me to find the pitches.
Once I got to the part where I was able to improvise on a neutral syllable, I actually really enjoyed this exercise. I think the idea of having to know the solfege was holding me back from improvising with more creative melodies, so once I got to this section, I had more freedom to be creative and experiment with passing tones. This part was actually really enjoyable for me because improvising like this is something I do quite often when I’m listening to music getting ready in the morning, or when I’m driving by myself.
I think one thing this assignment taught me is that I need to be more comfortable improvising. Especially as someone who is hoping to pursue music therapy, improvising is something that will be incredibly valuable to my future career. Improvisation will also be useful the next time I sit down to write songs, as it will help me get through any writer’s block I might have. I hope to continue to practice improvisation because I feel like once I get a hang of it, I will have a lot of fun doing it.
October 29
I faced a few challenges when approaching this assignment. Firstly, it was a super busy week, so I didn’t have the time to prepare like I had hoped. The backing track was also a little low for my voice but the chord progression was easier for me to sing along to, which is why I chose it anyways.
I found it difficult to start improvising but once I got into it, it became a bit easier. I was able to find the notes that each chord had in common so that if I wasn’t sure where to go next, at least that note would fit into the next chord as well. I think where I ran into trouble was trying to sing the IV chord. Because it was so low, it was more difficult for me to find the pitches.
Once I got to the part where I was able to improvise on a neutral syllable, I actually really enjoyed this exercise. I think the idea of having to know the solfege was holding me back from improvising with more creative melodies, so once I got to this section, I had more freedom to be creative and experiment with passing tones. This part was actually really enjoyable for me because improvising like this is something I do quite often when I’m listening to music getting ready in the morning, or when I’m driving by myself.
I think one thing this assignment taught me is that I need to be more comfortable improvising. Especially as someone who is hoping to pursue music therapy, improvising is something that will be incredibly valuable to my future career. Improvisation will also be useful the next time I sit down to write songs, as it will help me get through any writer’s block I might have. I hope to continue to practice improvisation because I feel like once I get a hang of it, I will have a lot of fun doing it.
Solfege Exercises
October 22
These exercises actually turned out to be a lot more manageable that I initially anticipated them to be! When we first received the assignment, looking at all the exercises seemed very daunting and I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to properly sing all of them.
I started to hum them to myself when I was doing my makeup in the morning, or making breakfast, so that I had the pitches in my head at all times. Then, when I actually sat down to practice, it was really easy to sing the exercises because I was able to focus more on singing the correct syllables and less on singing the correct intervals.
One thing I struggled with was finding a good key to sing in. I started singing with D as my ‘do’ but then realized it ended up being way too high for me to sing. I then lowered it to Bb and that was easy enough, but it was still a challenge to reach the high ‘sol’ in the last exercise. I think if I had lowered it even another semi-tone, I might have been okay to sing it easily, so I’ll have to keep that in mind for the next time I do something similar.
I’ve done exercises like this before when I was in musicals, so I think the familiarity also made it decently easy for me to be able to do this successfully. I think it’s a super useful exercise to be able to centre ourselves in a certain key and to explore our entire range, which is what we often did when warming up to rehearse for the musicals.
Overall, I think solfege exercises such as these are really useful tools in a music classroom, and are something that we as music educators should be familiar with so that we can set a good example for our students.
October 22
These exercises actually turned out to be a lot more manageable that I initially anticipated them to be! When we first received the assignment, looking at all the exercises seemed very daunting and I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to properly sing all of them.
I started to hum them to myself when I was doing my makeup in the morning, or making breakfast, so that I had the pitches in my head at all times. Then, when I actually sat down to practice, it was really easy to sing the exercises because I was able to focus more on singing the correct syllables and less on singing the correct intervals.
One thing I struggled with was finding a good key to sing in. I started singing with D as my ‘do’ but then realized it ended up being way too high for me to sing. I then lowered it to Bb and that was easy enough, but it was still a challenge to reach the high ‘sol’ in the last exercise. I think if I had lowered it even another semi-tone, I might have been okay to sing it easily, so I’ll have to keep that in mind for the next time I do something similar.
I’ve done exercises like this before when I was in musicals, so I think the familiarity also made it decently easy for me to be able to do this successfully. I think it’s a super useful exercise to be able to centre ourselves in a certain key and to explore our entire range, which is what we often did when warming up to rehearse for the musicals.
Overall, I think solfege exercises such as these are really useful tools in a music classroom, and are something that we as music educators should be familiar with so that we can set a good example for our students.
Lead Belly’s “Bring Me Little Water Silvy” Solfege Cover
October 15
At first this project intimidated me. I’ve never done anything like this before, and using the GarageBand software took some getting used to, but once I started it was actually super satisfying to hear all the parts of this song come together.
I think the easiest part was figuring out the solfege of the bass line, and what each chord was, because that was the most simple task. It didn’t require as much listening as the other parts, and I was able to figure it out and record it fairly quickly.
Even though the bass line was the easiest, I started with the melody line. This wasn’t super difficult because a lot of the notes are centred around the home tone and there aren’t a lot of passing notes. However, it did take a while to record a version that I liked and that I felt was good enough.
The hardest part was for sure the harmony line because I kept hearing the melody line when I was trying to figure out the harmony, and I would end up just singing the melody. Eventually, I ended up breaking it into small parts, and singing those small parts over and over again until I couldn’t forget them and it felt like second nature. This took me about half an hour to figure out the harmony, remember the syllables, and record a version that synced up with my melody line.
Once I had all the parts recorded, I used some of the other features of GarageBand to make the melody line the most prominent, and lowered the volume of the harmony line.
I think if I were to do this again, I would maybe play around with some percussion parts, or add an introduction of some sort. I might also experiment with some other features that GarageBand has to offer, to see what I can do with the vocal tracks and make it sound more like a professional recording.
All together, I’m decently impressed with how this project turned out. It definitely took a lot of work and focus, but I think the final product was rewarding.
October 15
At first this project intimidated me. I’ve never done anything like this before, and using the GarageBand software took some getting used to, but once I started it was actually super satisfying to hear all the parts of this song come together.
I think the easiest part was figuring out the solfege of the bass line, and what each chord was, because that was the most simple task. It didn’t require as much listening as the other parts, and I was able to figure it out and record it fairly quickly.
Even though the bass line was the easiest, I started with the melody line. This wasn’t super difficult because a lot of the notes are centred around the home tone and there aren’t a lot of passing notes. However, it did take a while to record a version that I liked and that I felt was good enough.
The hardest part was for sure the harmony line because I kept hearing the melody line when I was trying to figure out the harmony, and I would end up just singing the melody. Eventually, I ended up breaking it into small parts, and singing those small parts over and over again until I couldn’t forget them and it felt like second nature. This took me about half an hour to figure out the harmony, remember the syllables, and record a version that synced up with my melody line.
Once I had all the parts recorded, I used some of the other features of GarageBand to make the melody line the most prominent, and lowered the volume of the harmony line.
I think if I were to do this again, I would maybe play around with some percussion parts, or add an introduction of some sort. I might also experiment with some other features that GarageBand has to offer, to see what I can do with the vocal tracks and make it sound more like a professional recording.
All together, I’m decently impressed with how this project turned out. It definitely took a lot of work and focus, but I think the final product was rewarding.
Sesame Street Solfege and Figuring out Solfege for Halsey’s “Clementine”
October 5
Recently, I’ve been recording all of my videos in a practice room, for the sake of privacy, but on the day that I was recording, I only had to be on campus for half an hour. I didn’t want to prolong the amount of time I was there, so I recorded the first two videos before my masterclass, and the last one was done in my room at home (I think you can probably hear the blender in the background of that video). When I had recorded at home before, I was a little nervous for my roommates to hear me singing, but this time around I was less shy and was able to record a successful video.
I decided to start with the Sesame Street song this week, thinking it would be the easiest part of this week’s homework, but I was actually surprised at how challenging some parts of it were. I didn’t struggle to sing the bass line too much, and it obviously helped that it moved in steps. The only challenge that I had with it was that it is quite fast and I sometimes couldn’t say the syllables as quickly as the bass line moved. The thing that I struggled with the most was finding the chord in the bridge. I think because it went by so quickly, it was hard for me to hear the home tone, so I ended up just using the process of elimination. I figured that it wasn’t the ‘do’ chord, so I had to decide if it was based on ‘sol’ or ‘la’. I think one thing that messed me up was that I was singing a minor chord, but the chord in the song didn’t sound minor, so for a little bit I thought it might be minor but when I thought about it more, it really didn’t sound minor to me. I ended up settling for the V chord, even though I’m still not 100% sure that that was what it was.
Singing solfege to songs becomes easier every week that we do this. This week, I decided to figure out the solfege to a song called “Clementine”. I chose this partially because there aren’t a lot of quick note changes, which makes it easier to figure out solfege, and because the accompaniment is just an arpeggiation of the chords, which allows me to stay grounded in the right key. Originally, I had wanted to start at the beginning of the song, but I felt that it was too easy and that I wanted to give myself a little bit more of a challenge. Like the Sesame Street song, a lot of the solfege was moving in stepwise motion, which made it less difficult to figure out. I got a bit mixed up at a couple points where I thought the notes were moving down when they actually weren’t, but I think that just came down to me needing to focus more and really listen.
When it came to being able to sing the chords of “Achy Breaky Heart”, I sometimes found myself singing the solfege without even thinking about it. I would be just sitting down to do homework and the chord changes would be stuck in my head. I definitely didn’t expect that to happen, and I thought it would have to be more of a conscious effort to sing this solfege. Even as I’m sitting here right now, I’ve got it stuck in my head.
For my next assignment, I want to continue to challenge myself with pop songs rather than the simple songs that I was previously doing, but I also want to take the time and really focus and internalize the notes so that hopefully I can continue to quickly realize what the solfege is.
October 5
Recently, I’ve been recording all of my videos in a practice room, for the sake of privacy, but on the day that I was recording, I only had to be on campus for half an hour. I didn’t want to prolong the amount of time I was there, so I recorded the first two videos before my masterclass, and the last one was done in my room at home (I think you can probably hear the blender in the background of that video). When I had recorded at home before, I was a little nervous for my roommates to hear me singing, but this time around I was less shy and was able to record a successful video.
I decided to start with the Sesame Street song this week, thinking it would be the easiest part of this week’s homework, but I was actually surprised at how challenging some parts of it were. I didn’t struggle to sing the bass line too much, and it obviously helped that it moved in steps. The only challenge that I had with it was that it is quite fast and I sometimes couldn’t say the syllables as quickly as the bass line moved. The thing that I struggled with the most was finding the chord in the bridge. I think because it went by so quickly, it was hard for me to hear the home tone, so I ended up just using the process of elimination. I figured that it wasn’t the ‘do’ chord, so I had to decide if it was based on ‘sol’ or ‘la’. I think one thing that messed me up was that I was singing a minor chord, but the chord in the song didn’t sound minor, so for a little bit I thought it might be minor but when I thought about it more, it really didn’t sound minor to me. I ended up settling for the V chord, even though I’m still not 100% sure that that was what it was.
Singing solfege to songs becomes easier every week that we do this. This week, I decided to figure out the solfege to a song called “Clementine”. I chose this partially because there aren’t a lot of quick note changes, which makes it easier to figure out solfege, and because the accompaniment is just an arpeggiation of the chords, which allows me to stay grounded in the right key. Originally, I had wanted to start at the beginning of the song, but I felt that it was too easy and that I wanted to give myself a little bit more of a challenge. Like the Sesame Street song, a lot of the solfege was moving in stepwise motion, which made it less difficult to figure out. I got a bit mixed up at a couple points where I thought the notes were moving down when they actually weren’t, but I think that just came down to me needing to focus more and really listen.
When it came to being able to sing the chords of “Achy Breaky Heart”, I sometimes found myself singing the solfege without even thinking about it. I would be just sitting down to do homework and the chord changes would be stuck in my head. I definitely didn’t expect that to happen, and I thought it would have to be more of a conscious effort to sing this solfege. Even as I’m sitting here right now, I’ve got it stuck in my head.
For my next assignment, I want to continue to challenge myself with pop songs rather than the simple songs that I was previously doing, but I also want to take the time and really focus and internalize the notes so that hopefully I can continue to quickly realize what the solfege is.
Home Tones and Chords in my Music
September 28
When I was practicing this week, I noticed a lot of the places that I paused were very easy places to identify the chord surrounding the notes, and a lot of the pauses happened on notes that were part of the home chord. For example:
September 28
When I was practicing this week, I noticed a lot of the places that I paused were very easy places to identify the chord surrounding the notes, and a lot of the pauses happened on notes that were part of the home chord. For example:
In the first image, I noticed that this note was ‘do’ in the home chord, and therefore the home tone of this section of the piece. It also comes directly after a bar in which all of the notes of the home chord are stated, which made it easy to identify the solfege of the chord.
In the second image, I paused on the ‘sol’ of the home chord. This one was a bit more difficult to sing the solfege of, because it isn’t played directly after an arpeggiation of the home chord. However, this concerto really revolves around the home chord, so when I paused on this note, I already had the right key in my head.
The third image is one taken after a modulation to the dominant, therefore this particular note is ‘do’ in the new key. Because this occurs in a new key, it was a little more difficult to find the notes of the chord. However it was made easier by the fact that it is the home tone of the new key, and not just a note in the home key.
I think this was a super helpful exercise because I’m able to analyze my pieces easier and therefore figure out where it will go next. This allows me to focus less on reading my music, and more on having good tone, playing with vibrato, and other things that make a piece sound beautiful.
In the second image, I paused on the ‘sol’ of the home chord. This one was a bit more difficult to sing the solfege of, because it isn’t played directly after an arpeggiation of the home chord. However, this concerto really revolves around the home chord, so when I paused on this note, I already had the right key in my head.
The third image is one taken after a modulation to the dominant, therefore this particular note is ‘do’ in the new key. Because this occurs in a new key, it was a little more difficult to find the notes of the chord. However it was made easier by the fact that it is the home tone of the new key, and not just a note in the home key.
I think this was a super helpful exercise because I’m able to analyze my pieces easier and therefore figure out where it will go next. This allows me to focus less on reading my music, and more on having good tone, playing with vibrato, and other things that make a piece sound beautiful.
“If I Didn’t Know Better” in Solfege, and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart”
September 28
This week, I accidentally challenged myself a lot. I was having issues deciding which song to try to figure out the solfege for, so I just shuffled all my songs on Spotify, and one of the first ones that came up was the song “If I Didn’t Know Better” from the TV show “Nashville”. It sounded easy-ish at first because there weren’t too many note changes, and it’s not a very fast song, so I figured it was just challenging enough to push my comfort zone but still be attainable for me. What I didn’t anticipate was that it was in a minor mode, so I wasn’t sure whether I should be starting on ‘do’ or on ‘la’. I started singing starting on ‘do’ but figured since we’ve been singing minor chords on ‘la’, I should be starting on ‘la’. I also struggled a little bit to find the correct solfege, because the singer slides up to a lot of her notes, so I tried to simplify it for myself, which I think worked out decently, but I’m definitely going to try something less blues-y next week. However, I am satisfied with what I worked out, even if it isn’t perfect, because this proved to be a challenging song to figure out the solfege for.
For the Billy Ray Cyrus song, I didn’t find it too difficult, but I definitely had to focus a lot to be able to sing and dance at the same time. Since it was something new this week, I found it a bit difficult to switch between the I and V chords, but I think especially more towards the end of the song, I figured it out. It was a little low for my range, but it wasn’t super difficult.
I’m really enjoying taking the concepts we’re learning in class and applying them to songs that we might hear in our everyday lives, because I think a lot of the time we look at something like dictation and sight singing and think “why do I need to learn this?” But doing things like this make it a lot more fun to learn and also shows how we can apply these concepts to our everyday.
September 28
This week, I accidentally challenged myself a lot. I was having issues deciding which song to try to figure out the solfege for, so I just shuffled all my songs on Spotify, and one of the first ones that came up was the song “If I Didn’t Know Better” from the TV show “Nashville”. It sounded easy-ish at first because there weren’t too many note changes, and it’s not a very fast song, so I figured it was just challenging enough to push my comfort zone but still be attainable for me. What I didn’t anticipate was that it was in a minor mode, so I wasn’t sure whether I should be starting on ‘do’ or on ‘la’. I started singing starting on ‘do’ but figured since we’ve been singing minor chords on ‘la’, I should be starting on ‘la’. I also struggled a little bit to find the correct solfege, because the singer slides up to a lot of her notes, so I tried to simplify it for myself, which I think worked out decently, but I’m definitely going to try something less blues-y next week. However, I am satisfied with what I worked out, even if it isn’t perfect, because this proved to be a challenging song to figure out the solfege for.
For the Billy Ray Cyrus song, I didn’t find it too difficult, but I definitely had to focus a lot to be able to sing and dance at the same time. Since it was something new this week, I found it a bit difficult to switch between the I and V chords, but I think especially more towards the end of the song, I figured it out. It was a little low for my range, but it wasn’t super difficult.
I’m really enjoying taking the concepts we’re learning in class and applying them to songs that we might hear in our everyday lives, because I think a lot of the time we look at something like dictation and sight singing and think “why do I need to learn this?” But doing things like this make it a lot more fun to learn and also shows how we can apply these concepts to our everyday.
Finding the Home Tone, Peggy Lee’s “Fever”, and “You Are My Sunshine” in Solfege
September 21
This week, I felt a lot more comfortable doing these exercises. I think this was because I had done similar exercises already, and I was also working in a practice room this week so I wasn’t shy or worried about my roommates overhearing (even though they wouldn’t be judgemental at all, I still get a little bit of stage fright).
When I started the first exercise, I began in the minor mode. After doing the pattern and singing the solfege for the chord, I realized the pattern I had sang was actually just the chord that I had sang. I also forgot the hand gestures for the solfege. I haven’t ever used hand gestures before, but I want to aim to have the different gestures for each note of solfege memorized soon.
When I tried to switch to the major mode, I found it difficult, and kept getting stuck once I opened my mouth to sing. I ended up having to turn the camera off and sing some songs that I knew were in a major key just to orient myself in a major key. However, when I finally got myself thinking in the major mode, it was a lot easier to come up with different patterns. I think I’m just used to hearing more things in a major key, so when it comes time to make up a pattern, I have more ideas in my head. I also remembered the hand gestures for the major mode (at least I think I did), which tells me that I need to challenge myself to work in the minor mode more often.
When it came to the exercise with Peggy Lee’s “Fever”, I had a lot of fun doing it. I found it really easy to get into the headspace for the song, and even found myself dancing in my seat a little bit. I think exercises like this are a fun way to learn and allows me to actually enjoy learning musicianship skills rather than doing the same sight-singing or dictation exercises week after week. I think one thing that had me a little stuck was that I found myself singing the same little progression of notes over and over again, and found it difficult to break away from that. At one point, I was able to sing something a little different, but once the key change came, I got stuck again. However, I think I’ll get better at this with more practice.
Finally, the solfege exercise was a LOT easier this week. I didn’t overthink it as much as last week, and I also had a bit more patience with myself. Again, I think I was more comfortable today because I was in a practice room, where it is a lot more common to hear people singing in solfege, as opposed to a house full of social science majors (I’m the only music major in my house!).
Overall, this week I think I saw what I could do when I was patient with myself and when I had fun learning. I’m really enjoying the attitude surrounding learning that is demonstrated in this class and I hope I can take that outlook and apply it to other areas of my studies.
September 21
This week, I felt a lot more comfortable doing these exercises. I think this was because I had done similar exercises already, and I was also working in a practice room this week so I wasn’t shy or worried about my roommates overhearing (even though they wouldn’t be judgemental at all, I still get a little bit of stage fright).
When I started the first exercise, I began in the minor mode. After doing the pattern and singing the solfege for the chord, I realized the pattern I had sang was actually just the chord that I had sang. I also forgot the hand gestures for the solfege. I haven’t ever used hand gestures before, but I want to aim to have the different gestures for each note of solfege memorized soon.
When I tried to switch to the major mode, I found it difficult, and kept getting stuck once I opened my mouth to sing. I ended up having to turn the camera off and sing some songs that I knew were in a major key just to orient myself in a major key. However, when I finally got myself thinking in the major mode, it was a lot easier to come up with different patterns. I think I’m just used to hearing more things in a major key, so when it comes time to make up a pattern, I have more ideas in my head. I also remembered the hand gestures for the major mode (at least I think I did), which tells me that I need to challenge myself to work in the minor mode more often.
When it came to the exercise with Peggy Lee’s “Fever”, I had a lot of fun doing it. I found it really easy to get into the headspace for the song, and even found myself dancing in my seat a little bit. I think exercises like this are a fun way to learn and allows me to actually enjoy learning musicianship skills rather than doing the same sight-singing or dictation exercises week after week. I think one thing that had me a little stuck was that I found myself singing the same little progression of notes over and over again, and found it difficult to break away from that. At one point, I was able to sing something a little different, but once the key change came, I got stuck again. However, I think I’ll get better at this with more practice.
Finally, the solfege exercise was a LOT easier this week. I didn’t overthink it as much as last week, and I also had a bit more patience with myself. Again, I think I was more comfortable today because I was in a practice room, where it is a lot more common to hear people singing in solfege, as opposed to a house full of social science majors (I’m the only music major in my house!).
Overall, this week I think I saw what I could do when I was patient with myself and when I had fun learning. I’m really enjoying the attitude surrounding learning that is demonstrated in this class and I hope I can take that outlook and apply it to other areas of my studies.
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in Solfege
September 14
This exercise was a lot more difficult than I assumed it would be. I’m the kind of person to procrastinate because I don’t know where to start, and I’m scared of doing it ‘wrong’ (I’m hoping that throughout this class, I can get rid of that mindset), so it took a lot to motivate myself to sit down and work out the solfege for ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.
Once I sat down, I decided to make myself a chart of where I visualized the notes going, so that it was easier to keep track of what I had figured out.
I started recording immediately, so I could reflect on my process, and so that others could see the approach I took as well. Not even a minute into recording, I had already gotten frustrated with myself (again, my perfectionist tendencies taking over). I think I was a little nervous to sing, even though it was just me and my camera.
One thing that I think really helped me focus and figure out what I think the solfege is, was that I talked to myself the entire time. That way, I could properly collect my thoughts. I also used a little bit of the theory that I remembered from last year to figure out if something had resolved and, if it had, what note it most likely resolved to.
I think towards the end, I was a little more encouraged with the progress I had made, because I can notice the change in energy In the video when I think I’ve figured it out.
After watching this recording, I think something I want to try differently for the next assignment is to go into it with a more open mind, so that I don’t get as frustrated with myself in the beginning. I want to aim to have more patience with myself. I would also like to continue working through things while talking to myself because I think it really helped me compile my thoughts and focus on what I was doing.
Overall, I’m happy with the way I worked through this assignment, even if the solfege isn’t entirely correct.
September 14
This exercise was a lot more difficult than I assumed it would be. I’m the kind of person to procrastinate because I don’t know where to start, and I’m scared of doing it ‘wrong’ (I’m hoping that throughout this class, I can get rid of that mindset), so it took a lot to motivate myself to sit down and work out the solfege for ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.
Once I sat down, I decided to make myself a chart of where I visualized the notes going, so that it was easier to keep track of what I had figured out.
I started recording immediately, so I could reflect on my process, and so that others could see the approach I took as well. Not even a minute into recording, I had already gotten frustrated with myself (again, my perfectionist tendencies taking over). I think I was a little nervous to sing, even though it was just me and my camera.
One thing that I think really helped me focus and figure out what I think the solfege is, was that I talked to myself the entire time. That way, I could properly collect my thoughts. I also used a little bit of the theory that I remembered from last year to figure out if something had resolved and, if it had, what note it most likely resolved to.
I think towards the end, I was a little more encouraged with the progress I had made, because I can notice the change in energy In the video when I think I’ve figured it out.
After watching this recording, I think something I want to try differently for the next assignment is to go into it with a more open mind, so that I don’t get as frustrated with myself in the beginning. I want to aim to have more patience with myself. I would also like to continue working through things while talking to myself because I think it really helped me compile my thoughts and focus on what I was doing.
Overall, I’m happy with the way I worked through this assignment, even if the solfege isn’t entirely correct.