College
The beginning of Semester 2! The semester kicked off with a band practise with my hip hop rap band! The band is doing really well as everyone is getting on well. As we have two guitarists in the band, i have opted to be a vocalist and a bassist for that band. This shows my versatility as a musician which is essential for a instrumental instructor. As Pete Honeyman said, ''You never know what you will be teaching''. As bass is in the guitar 'family' i can play it to a reasonable level. I have been playing about with my vocals for some time now. I am getting more and more comfertable with my voice. As i knew the entire rap of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself', i was chosen to perform it. I did this with much confidence and secured my place on the song! Rapping is so much fun and quite a different from my beloved rock genre im so accustomed to! After much research prior to the practice, Greensmith and I suggested doing a N.E.R.D song. This went down well and we practiced ''Lapdance''. This song has an awesome riff, and a female vocal which Alison was well up for! Both songs are sounding great!
In First Study, Kevin went over what was required of me this semester. We are to compose a completely original piece, showcasing stylistic techniques and structure. I am looking forward to the challenge!
In composition class, we were split into groups and given the simple task of created a melody then changing the tempo, key etc to create an almost 'cannon' of melodies. It was not simple! Everyone put forward melody ideas, but we were connecting. I attempted to put ideas forward, but could not control the focus of my colleagues. This is an area in which i need to work on, if i am going to control potential pupils of all ages.
On Thursday, it was my turn to do my presentation! ''The Beatles and the Philosopher's Rolling Stone''. I had been looking forward to this for some time! I did mine in the style of a film, with mock trailers and other movie related ideas. During the trailers, i handed out popcorn to all those who were watching. I felt the presentation went well and i felt confident that i had conveyed my point. I chose to take a more light hearted approch to my presentation this time round. After watching presentation after presentation, i noticed that while the talks were relevant and interesting, i wasnt taking in any information.I feel this is due to the way they were delivered. I am a big believer in performance and presenting ideas well. Although there was not as much content as i would have liked in my own, people were listening to what i was saying in the hope that something funny might happen. People will remember something more if its presented differently. In no way am i saying that mine was better than everyone elses. I just feel that some of the presentations were a bit hard to focus on. I am definatly going to incorperate this into how i teach my own pupils. Im sorry if i sound like a egotistical twat!
Thursday also saw the induction of Music History. I am quite glad that this class is back, as it will allow room for some much need academic content to the course. I actually like writing and researching essays! This lesson was dedicated to outlining the course and providing us with potential research websites. Knowing music history is not essential to an instrumental instructor, but will be useful in musical discussions with pupils and for my own personal research.
Outside of college
This week, i began to plan out my lessons for my Rock School. For my first lesson, i intend to get the kids into a circle and discuss music and what they would like to play. This will both get the kids excited about the project and let me know about their musical directions. When i know what kinda of bands that they like i can they study them and teach them material that they would actually like to play. After this, i will give them all an opportunity to play each instrument in the band. Last year, there were too many people to fit into one band, so i gave the others roles such as stage designer, video director, costume designers and dancers. As i only have roughly an hour a lesson, i dont expect to get this all done in one lesson. This will most likely run over 2 lessons, with the second lesson dedicated to instrument playing. I have found out today that i am not allowed to film the teaching of the kids, as some of the parents do not want there kids filmed. This will hinder my evidence and am now looking at written evidence for my Rock School.
Great job Alex! Good times. This is ideal
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