Week 1: 10th-14th September 2012 We learned how to find or make a scale, a scale is a sequence of musical notes that is between

the same not that is on different octaves like Do Re Me Fa So La Tee Do. To figure it out you had to remember K(eynote)-T(one)-T-S(emitone)-T-T-T-S. A keynote is the note that you start on in the scale. A tone is 2 spaces between 2 notes, and since semi- means half, a semitone is 1 space between 2 notes. So the K-T-T-S-T-T-T-S is meant for you to remember how to find the notes. If we were trying to find the D Scale itd be D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D. We also learned how to find the Major and Minor chords of a note. A chord is the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note in every scale. So to find the D Major Chord its D, F#, A and to find the minor chord you bring the 3rd note a semitone down, so D Minor Chord is D, F, A. I feel like I learnt a lot of new terms and came to the understanding of how to figure out chords which is something I didnt know before. The unit is like making a band, Im choosing to play the guitar because I learned to play it a bit over the summer at camp. My group is doing We Are Young by Fun. We chose it because Noels voice would sound good with it and also because we have some of the main instruments in the song at our disposal. Ive kind of run into a problem though, because I dont know how Im supposed to strum. Im learning the chords easy enough but all songs have different strumming. The next class Ill have to work that out. Week 2: 17th-21st September 2012 Last week we decided that I would back up sing for Noel and it actually sounds good. I decided that I would just work on getting the chords perfect and worry about strumming later. I actually think strumming the note once at whichever word and stopping till its the next line so a lot more like the song. Week 3: 24th-28th September 2012 Everyone seems to be getting on well with the song and when were all together practicing as a band, you can tell that it sounds like We Are Young even without Noel and I singing. Mr. Butcher wants me to work on giving the guitar playing more rhythm, but I can hardly play and switch between the 6 chords I know properly whilst singing along with Noel. I get lost when Im playing, I start off playing with the group and end up stopping after the first couple of lines. Ive almost got the first verse down. Im worried that on the day I wont be able to keep up with the singing and play properly and I feel like I should choose a different instrument, something simpler so its easier for me to do both. At the moment my confidence level for me performing in November is pretty low. Since the whole purpose of the unit is to learn a song but also change it so it sounds different, that means there doesnt need to be a guitar in the song, maybe a different instrument like the steel pan so it has Caribbean flavour. Another problem Im having is when I have so sing Carry me home, Just carry me home, whilst Noel is singing over. I get mixed up with whether Im supposed to say carry or home at the time. Hopefully Ill sort all of that out in the next class.

Week 4: 1st-5th October 2012 This week was alright. I didnt think the first class of the week was very productive. I tried the xylophone, I didnt like how it sounded so Im sticking with the guitar. We recorded our group on Monday and I didnt sound very great and I couldnt get past the first verse. I think its because I mostly just practice the 1st verse and none of the other verses as thoroughly. The second class I went outside and practiced the other parts more and strummed with more enthusiasm instead of just playing the chord at the beginning if each line. When I practiced with the group I was able to go further without stopping and the strumming really changed it. I dont like the song anymore its very boring. Noel voice is sounding weird with the singing it sounds good at the verse but after there it goes croaky. Maybe instead of playing other instruments like Mr. Butcher wants he needs to be working on his voice as his instrument warming it up and making it actually sound good. My group has a very dull vibe going on and it feels slightly uncomfortable, one person in particular is bringing it down but were trying. Im going to ask Mr. Butcher if maybe he could work with the person because when that person brings out an electric guitar to play guitar loud along side me and he doesnt know the chords it makes everything horrible. Everyone except for Kiefer and maybe Kenzie want to change the song to a more upbeat one, but Mr. Butcher wont let us. I also think next class we need to work on our variations try to make it more about beat, different strumming and piano playing. Week 5: 8th-12th October 2012 This week, my group got way better. We decided as a group that to make our song sound more upbeat we needed to change our variations, which we did. I change the way I strum, I strum kind of slowly and then when its the chorus I strum much fast. At that part we all kind of play our beats faster. Were all kind of playing different beats/rhythms but together it sounds good. Week 6: 15th-19th October 2012 Mr. Butcher says that our group is sounding good, but when I listen to the recordings my guitar playing doesnt sound great at all. Im not the only one that thinks it sounds weird. It just doesnt sound musical, its just strum-strum-strum- change chords - strum-strum-strum. Everyone else sounds better than me and I think thats something that I really need to work on. Week 7: 22nd-26th October 2012 The singer in my group, Noel, cant seem to get the right key for the last verse of the song. When I was trying to help him, my group members said that I sounded good singing that part so they wanted me to do it. But the singer isnt the only person having trouble with that part, the only person playing whilst the singer is singing the last part is the piano and the other

instruments must stop. But the instruments that are supposed to stop dont stop at the right time so then the timing is off. On thursday we decided we would cut the last part of because its causing too much trouble. Now the song stops at brighter than the sun. So now we just need to work on fading that part the right way. Also Im a bit shy at singing because Ive been told that I cant sing, and I have to sing the part that goes carry me home, just carry me home. I get super nervous singing that with a microphone because of how my voice sounds. Week 8: 29th Oct - 2 November 2012 This week, we just continued to practice and make everything sound better. We worked on keeping the tempo together and making sure we could play without speedbumps. Week 9: 5th-9th November 2012 This week was all about running through our songs until we played it perfectly. I didnt change my guitar playing, I tried to make my strumming actually sound musical though. This week Noel was having trouble finding the right key to sing when we were doing rehearsals this week. Mr. Butcher told Sasha that she needed to play Noels note before she started playing so that he could match his voice to it. It worked surprisingly well and when she did that we didnt have any hiccups. I think we all had a bit of pre-show jitters, because we made mistakes that we usually didnt make. In our last class we only went through our song once because Mr. Butcher said that that was the best we had ever played and that we shouldnt re-do it and possibly mess up. That was really reassuring that we wont mess up our performance on Monday.