The
idea for my piece of music was to create something that I felt had a
lot of emotion and true feeling behind it, I wanted to perform it
live with my guitar and own vocals but I wasn't confident that my
guitar performance skills were good enough and I didn't want to take
away from the whole performance so I had it pre recorded.
I
wanted the meaning of the song to covary what I have been struggling
with and how my friends and family have helped me though. 'I
think songwriting is the ultimate form of being able to make anything
that happens in your life productive' (taylor Swift 2013) I
wanted this song to help people understand that even when they feel
at their worst they are not alone and they should carry on. I used 2
minor chords in this song and it was quite a slow tempo because I
wanted the people who listen and take in each word carefully. I think
in my recording my diction was not the best and if I were to do it
again I would ensure I had better equipment to pick up everything
more clearly.
I
wish I had experimented more with different instruments and harmonies
to make it sound more full and see if it would change the feeling of
the piece. I decided to write this song in my mid to high range
because I feel that is my strongest and most comfortable range but it
would have been interesting to experiment with my lower range to see
if this makes a difference to the feel of the song. I would liked to
of tried more strumming patterns as this may have changed the mood of
the song or the speed.
If
I were to develop this piece further I would try and add in another
instrument like piano after listening to Ed Sheeran 'Thinking Out
Loud' (Ed Sheeran 2014) I found that even if you had more then one
instrument it can still convey a lot of emotion and I was surprised
at how much emotion can be conveyed though an instrumental section
with only a simple hum or la over the top. If I were to develop my
song I would add another verse or a bridge or even an instrumental
break with humming instead of words so that the instrument could be
appreciated a little more it would also make the song feel a little
more full.
If
I had more time I would practice in front of other people to build up
my courage before performing it in front of a big group as having it
recorded took away the emotion that I worked hard to apply to this
song.
Vocally
it wasn’t my strongest performance to improve this I will have
become more confident with my performing skills by analysed what
exactly went wrong and performing in front of more people.
Over
all I am quite happy with my final song but I wish I had had more
time to build my confidence on the guitar so I could have performed
it live.
Ed
Sheeran 2014, 'Thinking out loud', on X (CD), asylum/atlantic
Taylor
Swift (2013). The
Hit Formular [online].
Available from:
<http://thehitformula.com/2013/03/19/songwriting-tips-use-personal-experiences-to-inspire-songs-says-taylor-swift-but-its-making-life-hell-for-one-directions-harry-styles/>.
[Accessed 06/01/15].
Friday 16 January 2015
Bibliography
JustinGuitar
(2009). The
D Chord (Guitar Lesson BC-111) Guitar for beginners Stage 1.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh6sPqDEZCY>. [Accessed
29/12/2014].
RipTard
(2009). Guitar
Lesson: Learn THE 4 Chords.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmChNlDknbM>. [Accessed
29/12/2014].
JustinGuitar
(2009). he
G Chord (Guitar Lesson BC-131) Guitar for beginners Stage 3.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEzwpqmt2gc>. [Accessed
29/12/2014].
The
Axes Of Awesome (2011). 4
Chords.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ>. [Accessed
28/12/2014].
The
Emin Chord (Guitar Lesson BC-122) Guitar for beginners Stage 2
(2009). JustinGuitar.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfm4-yOI6oA>. [Accessed
29/12/14].
The
C Chord (Guitar Lesson BC-132) Guitar for beginners Stage 3
(2009). JustinGuitar.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBYqdBqogo4>. [Accessed
29/12/14].
JustinGuitar
(2009). The
Amin Chord (Guitar Lesson BC-121) Guitar for beginners Stage 2.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV_EABwevy4>. [Accessed
02/01/2015].
JustinGuitar
(2009). The
A Chord (Guitar Lesson BC-112) Guitar for beginners Stage 1.
[online]. Available from:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkkOFLouQDs>. [Accessed
02/01/2015].
Walk
In the Sun. (2006). [CD] Westmeath: Island.
Demi
Lovarto (2015). azlyrics [online]. Available from
<http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/demilovato/thisisme.html>.
[Accessed 5/01/2015].
Taylor
Swift (2013). The
Hit Formular [online].
Available from:
<http://thehitformula.com/2013/03/19/songwriting-tips-use-personal-experiences-to-inspire-songs-says-taylor-swift-but-its-making-life-hell-for-one-directions-harry-styles/>.
[Accessed 06/01/15].
recording myself singing
Listening to my own singing has always been a problem for me I don't like to her my own voice recorded so this makes it hard to analyse my vocal work, over this year I have started to work on getting used to listening to my own voice any developing my vocal skills and critical skills from what I hear.
At first it was hard not to just turn it off and say it was all terrible and pick it apart completely but after working on it and getting over the embarrassment I was able to improve my singing range and ability I found it really hard to not be overly critical of my singing as it is always said 'I'm my own worst critic' . gradually I was able to pick out things that I could work on pulling it back one layer at a time, the things like going out of tune or messing up the words is where I started. working on the big things until I got down to the tiny little things such as breathing in the wrong place for the song. this has really helped me improve my singing and confidence over all.
At first it was hard not to just turn it off and say it was all terrible and pick it apart completely but after working on it and getting over the embarrassment I was able to improve my singing range and ability I found it really hard to not be overly critical of my singing as it is always said 'I'm my own worst critic' . gradually I was able to pick out things that I could work on pulling it back one layer at a time, the things like going out of tune or messing up the words is where I started. working on the big things until I got down to the tiny little things such as breathing in the wrong place for the song. this has really helped me improve my singing and confidence over all.
key of G
While I was learning some chords on guitar I started to learn some basic theory this video gave me a basic idea of the key of g major
g major
a minor
b minor
c major
d major
e minor
I started learning the chord progressions I liked the sound of and these two were my favourites, these are the 2 chord progressions I am going to learn first.
1 six 3
g major
e minor
b minor
one six two five
g e minor, a minor d major
backing/ instrumental
This is the instrumental recording of my song, I explained to my friend how I wanted this to be played and I was there throughout the recording process and while she was learning it, I told her what chords I wanted to use and a basic melody of the song that I wanted to end up with and using trial and error we sat and created this tune. After it was easy to fit the words with the guitar and change what needed to be changed to fit it into a nice song.
My musical inspiration
While planning my song I looked into Artists that I found to be inspirational to me artists like Kate Nash really inspired me mainly because a lot of her songs tell a story in a simple way. Her lyrics are simple and easy to remember so they stay in your head a long time.
One of the main artists that inspired my song was Demi Lovarto, her songs' La La Land' and 'This is Me' are two songs I wanted to channel though my song. Each of these songs are about being yourself, finding out who you are, and not letting anything change you. This song tells you to be yourself and believe that you can do what you want.
'Do you know what it's like
To feel so in the dark
To dream about a life
Where you're the shining star
Even though it seems
Like it's too far away
I have to believe in myself
It's the only way' Demi Lovarto (2015)
When she brought out 'La La Land' it was just after she got her break with 'Sonny with a chance' and this song was a message saying she wasn't going to change who she was because of it she was going to keep her feet on the ground. 'Well, I'm not gonna change, In the la-la land machine' Demi Lovarto (2015)
Lyrically these songs had a massive impact on my song these helped me decide what I wanted to write about and what message I wanted to portray.
Mcfly's walk in the sun is a massive influence on my final song, the simplicity of the song really stuck with me the fact it was acoustic and it was heat felt and passionate. This song has stuck we me for a long time because the lyrics and the melody work so well together.I wanted my song to show this level of passion and Rawness. (Walk In the Sun, 2006)
One of my main Inspirations though was my own experiences, my individual piece reflex some of the things that I have been though and how I have struggled with it and dealt with it over the last few months. I find that songs written about personal experiences seem more passionate hard hitting and genuine then ones written about other scenarios.
'I think songwriting is the ultimate form of being able to make anything that happens in your life productive' (Taylor Swift 2013)
One of the main artists that inspired my song was Demi Lovarto, her songs' La La Land' and 'This is Me' are two songs I wanted to channel though my song. Each of these songs are about being yourself, finding out who you are, and not letting anything change you. This song tells you to be yourself and believe that you can do what you want.
'Do you know what it's like
To feel so in the dark
To dream about a life
Where you're the shining star
Even though it seems
Like it's too far away
I have to believe in myself
It's the only way' Demi Lovarto (2015)
When she brought out 'La La Land' it was just after she got her break with 'Sonny with a chance' and this song was a message saying she wasn't going to change who she was because of it she was going to keep her feet on the ground. 'Well, I'm not gonna change, In the la-la land machine' Demi Lovarto (2015)
Lyrically these songs had a massive impact on my song these helped me decide what I wanted to write about and what message I wanted to portray.
Mcfly's walk in the sun is a massive influence on my final song, the simplicity of the song really stuck with me the fact it was acoustic and it was heat felt and passionate. This song has stuck we me for a long time because the lyrics and the melody work so well together.I wanted my song to show this level of passion and Rawness. (Walk In the Sun, 2006)
One of my main Inspirations though was my own experiences, my individual piece reflex some of the things that I have been though and how I have struggled with it and dealt with it over the last few months. I find that songs written about personal experiences seem more passionate hard hitting and genuine then ones written about other scenarios.
'I think songwriting is the ultimate form of being able to make anything that happens in your life productive' (Taylor Swift 2013)
a and am
I decided to learn these two chords to help me add more variety to my song because although the other 4 chords I have learnt are a good starting point by learning more chords I have a stronger base to start on. (JustinGuitar 2009) |
| A and a minor were quite easy to learn and I didn't have too many problems with them. |
Recordings of chords
I learnt all the chords necessary to perform my song but unfortunately I wasn't quite up to the skill level to make a song flow so I asked a friend who is better at guitar to record it for me. but above are all the chords I learnt and recorded.
You are- final Song
These are the lyrics to My original piece:
life can bring you down
and lately I have found
that things will turn around
if you just listen for the sound
of your heart beating everyday
Despite the things that people say
remember things will be okay
you are here to stay
cos you are special
you are perfect
you are pretty
you are worth it
just be strong be brave
be who you are and then you'll always win
live your life with grace
and self respect
don't you try to change
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
there will come a day
when things wont go your way
you'll first just get up and say
that you will fight another day
to make your hope and dreams come true
just imagine what you'll do
for the ones you love and people who
helped you battle though
cos you are special
you are perfect
you are pretty
you are worth it
just be strong be brave
be who you are and then you'll always win
live your life with grace
and self respect
don't you try to change
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
cos you are special
you are perfect
you are pretty
you are worth it
just be strong be brave
be who you are and then you'll always win
live your life with grace
and self respect
don't you try to change
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
life can bring you down
and lately I have found
that things will turn around
if you just listen for the sound
of your heart beating everyday
Despite the things that people say
remember things will be okay
you are here to stay
cos you are special
you are perfect
you are pretty
you are worth it
just be strong be brave
be who you are and then you'll always win
live your life with grace
and self respect
don't you try to change
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
there will come a day
when things wont go your way
you'll first just get up and say
that you will fight another day
to make your hope and dreams come true
just imagine what you'll do
for the ones you love and people who
helped you battle though
cos you are special
you are perfect
you are pretty
you are worth it
just be strong be brave
be who you are and then you'll always win
live your life with grace
and self respect
don't you try to change
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
cos you are special
you are perfect
you are pretty
you are worth it
just be strong be brave
be who you are and then you'll always win
live your life with grace
and self respect
don't you try to change
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
cos you're a star
you're the best
you are
Saturday 3 January 2015
Learning E minor and C
While learning the first 2 chords I hit a few problems I found that my fingers needed to harden up before I could play the guitar properly and for an extended period of time, I found if I play regularly then this problem will lessen as I practise. I also found that because my fingers hurt when I played I couldn't push the strings down enough so I ended up with a muted sound, by building up the calluses on my fingers I will be able to stop this from happening. After talking to someone who can play guitar well I was told that I needed to arch my fingers more as I was unintentionally muting the stings the only way I found to fix this was just to practice and strum one string at a time to check if I had muted them.
I found it quite difficult to change chords quickly and to remember the right positioning for my fingers for each chord to improve my muscle memory I will practice the chord position without strumming.
I have now moved on to the next 2 chords in the four chord song.
E minor this is one of the easier chords to remember two fingers 2 strings one fret. (JustinGuitar (2009))
I find he formation of the C chord the hardest to do as my fingers are not long enough. After speaking to a guitarist I found they had the same problem starting out but with practice and trying out different styles and hand positioning I will be able to find the best way for me to play the C chord.
(JustinGuitar (2009))
I found it quite difficult to change chords quickly and to remember the right positioning for my fingers for each chord to improve my muscle memory I will practice the chord position without strumming.
I have now moved on to the next 2 chords in the four chord song.
E minor this is one of the easier chords to remember two fingers 2 strings one fret. (JustinGuitar (2009))I find he formation of the C chord the hardest to do as my fingers are not long enough. After speaking to a guitarist I found they had the same problem starting out but with practice and trying out different styles and hand positioning I will be able to find the best way for me to play the C chord.
(JustinGuitar (2009))
Friday 2 January 2015
learning guitar Four chords G and D
This year I decided I really wanted to learn how to play the guitar so I started looking on YouTube for Videos that may help me pick up chords and strumming patterns. One of the first videos I looked at looks at the four chords needed to play some popular songs I got the idea to look into these chords because of a song by 'Axes Of Awesome' the four chords used in this video and in that song were G,D E minor and C. the first two chords I wanted to learn were G and D
JustinGuitar (2009) This is a G Chord, I find this image helped me as not only dose it show the chord written down it also shows someone playing the chord, this is a screen capture from a video I found I added this picture because I not only want to follow the videos but I want to be able to look on websites and know what chords I need just by looking at them.
This is An example of a D Chord I found this on a YouTube JustinGuitar
(2009) video but I find the still images easier to follow as the videos seem to be a little patronizing.
These are the first chords i have learnt i am Going to practice them before learning any more. My next post will be about the next two chords in the four chord song.
If My skills improve enough I want to include my guitar on my final performance along with my own lyrics, the group task helped me learn new skills in writing, I learned that if I just play around with instruments and things then I am able to create something without realising it. I will try this new skill when writing my song by using my guitar and finding chords and trying different strumming patterns to create the melody for my song and from there work on lyrics to fit what I have created.
JustinGuitar (2009) This is a G Chord, I find this image helped me as not only dose it show the chord written down it also shows someone playing the chord, this is a screen capture from a video I found I added this picture because I not only want to follow the videos but I want to be able to look on websites and know what chords I need just by looking at them.This is An example of a D Chord I found this on a YouTube JustinGuitar
(2009) video but I find the still images easier to follow as the videos seem to be a little patronizing.These are the first chords i have learnt i am Going to practice them before learning any more. My next post will be about the next two chords in the four chord song.
If My skills improve enough I want to include my guitar on my final performance along with my own lyrics, the group task helped me learn new skills in writing, I learned that if I just play around with instruments and things then I am able to create something without realising it. I will try this new skill when writing my song by using my guitar and finding chords and trying different strumming patterns to create the melody for my song and from there work on lyrics to fit what I have created.
Four chords for Guitar video
While looking i found this video where it teaches you one step at a time what to do to learn the chords. D, G, E minor and C these four chords are the base for many popular songs and by learning these I may have a base for my own individual piece.
From this point I will look into more videos to help me learn the chords then strumming patterns I will also practice these chords in my own time so I become better at them.
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