Week 1: (17/03/25-20/03/25)
Outline of week:
On Monday, we set up the immersive room for our solo performance and ion this time we received our first piece of information about our final major project of the year. After this we was put into our bands and was informed that as a band we had to pick a theme to revolve our project around so we was put into our band and we chose the theme of movies and the first two songs we decided on where love rollercoaster by the red hot chilli peppers and immigrant song by led zeppelin
On Tuesday, I was off ill as I was ill after the solo pieces the night before however I would still be discussing our final two song choices with the band and working on the two we had currently agreed on.
On Wednesday, I was also ill but decided to work on the second of the two songs we agreed on and also further discuss our choices of songs for this term with my band at this point I was also thinking about what my research could be about for this term and i had settled with composition.
On Thursday, we decided the final two songs would be all along the watchtower by Jimi Hendrix and don't stop me now by Queen however I asked if we could possibly do all along the watchtower last as the guitar part I was playing was quite complex and I would need to work on this in my own time at home. After this we corrected the chords, we were playing as we were playing the riff part for too long in the song however this was natural to happen as I hadn't played the songs with the band yet as I was off ill on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Problems and issues that appeared:
Solutions:
Me and one of our vocalists where unavailable in session as we were off sick for most of the week which was a setback.
The band had recorded the session and written down the changes we had made in the songs for to benefit me and Eva when we eventually came back on Thursday, so we had a better grasp of the song we also worked on these pieces from home so we didn't fall to far behind when we came back in on Thursday.
We struggled to come up with our two final pieces for the term which was a setback for the week as we were stuck on the two songs we had already learnt all week.
We kept cool heads and discussed options throughout the week and eventually came to agreeance on our final two pieces which was a lot quicker than imagined earlier in the week
We struggled with the chord changes on immigrant song which made the song more confusing to play as we were playing the riff for too long in the verse sections and we also played the wrong chords in the chorus section of the song
We took a chunk of the session to sit listen and figure out the song completely as we where over complicating it in our minds. This made the session a lot easier and the song a lot easier to understand and play
Reflection:
This week I believe that it was a successful first week for the group as we didn't have a hard time with picking songs and playing our first two songs wasn't too hard as we all had learnt them over the week even if me and Eva being of was a bit of a setback.
Targets for next week:
Target one for next week would be to learn a third song in our set and that song will be don't stop me now as we are taking our time with all along the watchtower.
Target two is to have a research project sorted out and start work on our project proposal which we would present to the class as a band.
Week 2: (24/03/25-27/03/25)
Outline of week:
On Monday, we focused on starting our third song of the set don't stop me now for the first time as a band. However, it became apparent that it was very under rehearsed in the session which made it more difficult to play as a group. The song felt sloppy with bad chord changes wrong chords and overall transitions in the song where poor so we knew it would be a setback as it was going to require a whole session to memorise and make sound somewhat okay the main struggle was the part after the second verse going into the solo.
On Tuesday, our band spent the greater part of the session on working on don't stop me now as it required a lot of work to make it better compared to yesterday. It became a lot easier because everyone had practiced the song at home and in our first run through there was a significant difference in quality as everyone seemed confident in these parts the where still an issue with the part just after the second verse as our drummer was struggling to come in on the right beat so we ran that specific section a few times to improve upon it. Overall, we spent majority of the session on this however it was a successful day.
On Wednesday, we didn't have much rehearsal time as we were prepping for our presentation of our project proposal for the following day. We mostly ran through Immigrant song mostly as me and the other guitarist wanted to improve on the riff to make it sound a lot higher quality and less sloppy and after this, we printed out our scripts for the presentation which was tomorrow morning.
On Thursday, the focus of the day was to present our project proposal and our individual point on the presentation that we would speak about to present our project to our teacher. Doing this gave our group a lot more confidence in speaking out more in public and it would tie into to helping our performance on stage.
Problems and issues that appeared:
Solutions:
Our band had not learnt don't stop me now properly which led to messy timing sloppy transitions and a bad take on the song.
In Tuesday session our focus was on making sure the song was good, and we would go home the night before and learn our parts individually which would help improve the song greatly in the coming sessions
The guitar riff in immigrant song was very sloppy and made the song sound Janky and strange as we weren't hitting the right notes perfectly each time.
We chose to work on immigrant song with the remaining time in Wednesday's session and it gave me and the other guitarist to work on the consistency throughout the song.
Reflection:
I learnt that with the right motivation you can get songs a lot quicker than you would expect in the session which takes pressure of the group in the sessions coming up in the next few weeks of the term.
Targets for next week:
I want to start writing my original piece for the group as we need to perform this song live at the philharmonic hall for my project.
I want to also start getting a bare bones version of all along the watchtower to help make the song a lot easier after half term and take pressure of the group as a whole.
Week 3: (31/03/25-3/04/25)
Outline of week:
On Monday, we continually rehearsed our first 3 songs constantly and the one we did the most was don't stop me now. This was session was to just get better and tighten up the songs before we moved onto our final two songs. In this time, we all agreed that in tomorrow's session we all agreed that we would start all along the watchtower however we would continue with working on these 3 with a big push for development on them.
On Tuesday, we had rehearsed the first 3 songs a few times and then decided t would be time for all along the watchtower however to my frustration nobody had learn it which was a massive set back as we had 2 more full session before we could learn it before the half term. After this set back we thought we would work on love rollercoaster and start thinking of ideas for the song to sound better however nothing came of this in this session.
On Wednesday, in this session we were going to start work on all along the watchtower however Gabe wanted to add a harmony guitar to don't stop me now so that was a setback that turned into progress however frustratingly nobody had learnt all along the watchtower which was a massive set back as on a Thursday we did artist of the week. After this we performed Infront of the class for feedback and to improve stage confidence.
On Thursday we were taught about the originals of K-pop and the possible danger of a slave contract. A slave contract is when they own every aspect of your life from a young age. They control aspects such as a weight, appearance, your persona and many other things just to possibly not even get a chance in the band as it's a lifelong audition.
Problems and issues that appeared:
Solutions:
Nobody had learnt all along the watchtower which was a massive set back as half term was right around the corner and we didn't have much time left
The solution was learn it from start to finish over half term which would help us get it done quicker when we come back from half term break
We lacked the correct stage Prescence and energy in the songs we were doing which made us easily bored of these songs which we only recently started
We would watch videos of each individual artist to see how they did it in a live setting to see if we where doing to much or to little as a a band
Reflection:
i learnt that it affects the bands progress if you don't learn the song when your intended to learn it and puts unnecessary pressure on us as a group
Targets for next week:
Come back and practice my original piece and add into the setlist and work on the order of the set and where it will go
Come back and work on all along the watchtower to take the pressure of and finally finish our setlist for the term
Week 4: (21/04/25-24/04/25)
Outline of week:
On Monday it was bank holiday
On Tuesday we were in the studio and our soul focus was all along the watchtower however I had been struggling with the song quite a bit so we could only get the first verse done, However it was still a struggle as we all seemed a bit lost with the song and we needed better understanding of it so we decided we would come back to it when we all know more of the song so we thought we would get back to the songs we know to get back up to speed so we had a go at the songs and we worked on the feedback in love rollercoaster and made it into a whistle instead of normal feedback.
On Wednesday, we started working on all along the watchtower more and got further into the song after getting confused last time. We got to the end of the song and we struggled to find a place to end it which made the song feel incomplete. We also performed love rollercoaster with the new implications from yesterdays session with a big focus on stage Prescence in that song.
On Thursday we looked at a band called X-Japan and there influence in the Japanese music scene. My band had finally managed thre full setlist of covers and where ready to work on my song in the coming weeks full setlist of covers and where ready to work on my song in the coming weeks
Problems and issues that appeared:
Solutions:
All along the watchtower was not yet finished as we are struggling with the structure and the end of the song which was confusing the band
We left the song in this session to pick up in the next week so we can gather a better idea of the song as a group to figure out how we end it.
We need to work on dynamics for all along the watchtower as it sounds the same all the way through when it should vary dynamically
We didn't solve this issue yet but it's something we can work on in the coming week whiles we work on my solo piece along side it
Our stage Prescence on love rollercoaster wasn't energetic enough for the set as its one of our more energetic songs in our playlist
We will continue to research the chilli peppers stage presence to see how we can adapt to the song and we also use the feel of the song to make our Prescence better
Reflection:
Songs that seem simple can be a lot harder to put together than you think when the song confuses you dynamically and transitionally i also learnt that with team work you can improve things better together.
Targets for next week:
We need to clean up all along the watchtower and be confident in the transitions and ending of the song
Another target is to officially start work on my composition for the term and complete the setlist and get it in there.
Week 5: (28/04/25-1/05/25)
Outline of week:
On Monday we came to the hub with the aim of finishing of our setlist and the focus on all along the watchtower and we already had a verse, so we just needed to continue the song. In this time the band would practice there parts and craig would give me some advise on what to improvise with and I decided I'm going to use a c minor blues scale sop I would learn each position in the coming weeks however I would work with what I had in the session so i would improvise over the position I already knew. After we established this we would practice after the first solo but we discovered we was leaving it to long so we would shorten that solo do get into the second verse and it worked straight away however in the second solo I struggled with what to improvise so i had to brainstorm in-between each time we tried the song. This how far we got today because the song was a bit confusing for us.
On Tuesday our focus was to tighten up what we do on all along the watchtower and that meant establishing when we will end the song and I suggested that we should cut the slide guitar part out as the song is confusing us however, we decided to discuss it another day and move onto the third verse and third solo and once we did this it was becoming a lot better however in the performance I broke a string so we didn't get to play the song properly as I needed to change the guitar mid song however the rest of the set sounded good.
On Wednesday there was no rehearsal as we had to sign a slip and do artist of the week.
On Thursday our band performed the set without one of our vocalists due to illness and our bass player who wasn't in our current session. This led us to skipping our all along the watchtower as our other singer didn't know the words as she was on backing vocals. This was a setback, but it helped us improve further on our other songs and improve the set list time as we needed to fit it in a 15-minute slot.
Problems and issues that appeared:
Solutions:
One of our singers is off sick and not able to come to our Thursday session due to losing her voice so our other singer took the lead role
We skipped all along the watchtower. As our other singer didn't know the lyrics to the song and not doing it gave us a rough idea of how much quicker we need to be as a band so we can fit all along the watchtower and my new original in.
My string snapped on my guitar on Tuesday which didn't help throughout the week as I didn't have the correct string to change it
This meant we lost time throughout the week to rehearse as I didn't have a guitar to bring so I had to use the colleges or other people's guitars.
Our stage Prescence was another issue as we didn't have enough energy towards the later end of the set as we lost a lot of it earlier
We worked on taming the Prescence down on other songs to keep the energy high throughout the whole set which made the performance more enjoyable
Reflection:
Our confidence in the set made it easier to think about what to do next as we where progressing quite a bit into the final week as a group now we just needed to work on my original
Targets for next week:
Start my original as a band as it is mandatory to do in the term as it is apart of my coursework.
Try and get our set down to 15- 20 minutes as there was spare time at the gig to give to us as a band.
Week 6: (05/05/25-8/05/25)
Outline of week:
On Monday we were off due to a bank holiday however i had informed my band that my song was done
On Tuesday we worked on my original piece that was called what tomorrow brings and in the session i showed them the full song. Once I had shown them the full song we started coming up with other parts with things I asked them to do however in this song the pianist and other guitarist would improvise to help there project and the bassist would play something I asked them to play aswell as the drums, after a few attempts of the song we had a basic song which would improve on in more depth in the coming days after this the singers had said I should sing it and they doing backing vocals to help with adding more depth to the song and by the end of the session we had a fulls one ready to finish for the end of the week.
On Wednesday we focus souly on what Tomorrow brings as tightening up our parts and the sections. As I continued to sing the pianist and guitarist would start to develop on there improvisation to add more texture to the song and emotion in certain sections for example they had a solo each and the pianist added bits to the intro I had made previous also the drums would start to work on some fills to cater to the piece and the bassist would start to develop there bassline to be more melodic overall the song had come on a lot in the past 2 sessions moving into our last session of the week.
On Thursday we ran through the whole set as a group to make sure we fit into our now 20 minute time slot and overall it was very successful with the changes and songs being smooth and tight as a band however I believe stage presence is still abit down compare to what we want to do as a group which is keep the whole set high energy with my original being the calming point in the session.
Problems and issues that appeared:
Solutions:
The guitarists improvisation wasn’t a good enough standard and was overall quite poor as he was playing in the wrong key for the song
He had developed on this by playing in the right key however his catering to the song and style was still low quality and he was playing a lot dead notes in the solo and the song as a whole so slight improvements but not a lot
Everyone struggled to develop there parts to cater to the song more as a band which was due to a lack of playing the song
We developed upon this and most of the bands parts where pretty solid by the time we got to Thursday instilling that the song isn’t a mix of confusing genres
The was still a lack of energy in the set particularly after my original piece as we are forced to bring the energy down to the song being quite slow and melodic
We worked on remembering to keep the energy up as we go right back with don’t stop me now and all along the watchtower which makes the set a lot funner to play and we look less bored
Reflection:
I learn in this week with the correct focus as a band you can achieve a lot when it comes to original composition as everyone has there own interesting take on the song which gives the song extra texture and styles you possibly didn’t think of by yourself
Targets for next week:
Make sure the guitarist plays less sloppy as I don’t want the song to seem unpolished on gig day next week and make sure she plays in the right key for the song
I aim to show off my work and effort I put in over the term to make our set good and have fun while’s playing at the philharmonic hall