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The role i have chosen for this portfolio is a performer, and I hope to show a progression of skills and confidence of my playing and performance through out each evidence

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the role of a music performer is to play music in front of any number of people and keep them entertained. The better you are and entertaining you are the more gigs you get and as a music performer doing lots of gigs will most likely be the main source of income.

there is an amount of people that are choosing not to be musicians, in fact there is a 26% decrease in jobs in this sector. (Dunn L, 2023) one factor on the reason why many people choose not to be musicians is lessons might be a little to expensive for people just for it to be a hobby that might get dropped in the future, lessons range from £20 to £60 depending on several factors (Superprof, 2024). the musicians union states that a single group performance can make up to £147 each if its in pubs and clubs and £196 in functions meaning if doing a lot of gigs the money adds up (Musicians Union, 2024). Fees also go up once you are established and have a good reputation, it also helps that not many people are being musicians therefore there are more job opportunities.

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I intend to send in a mixture of video recordings and audio recordings of things like my first study assessments which are recorded and this is to show the level i started in the year, live performance recordings through out the year to show how not only I've improved but also to show how well i work and get better in a band setting and finally an audio recording of a music box session doing a genre that I am not used to playing, this is to show how willing i am to get out of my comfort zone and learn songs I normally wouldn't, which would help if i wanted to go down the route of a session musician.

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i will be submitting 8 live performance artifacts primarily videos. 4 of which would be videos from my live performance class, 2 would be videos from my first study assessments, 1 audio recording from a music box session and a final video from a gig outside of college.

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i will try to upload all videos and audio recordings before the 29th of May 2024

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I intend to send in a mixture of video recordings and audio recordings of things like my first study assessment which was recorded, this is to show the level I am as a solo performer. I will also include live performance recordings through out the year to show how not only I've improved but also to show how well i work and get better in a band setting and finally an audio recording of a genre that I am not used to playing, this is to show how willing i am to get out of my comfort zone and learn songs I normally wouldn't, which would help if i wanted to go down the route of a session musician.

# data[].attributes.body
The role i have chosen for this portfolio is a performer, and I hope to show a progression of skills and confidence of my playing and performance through out each evidence

# data[].attributes.body
i will try to upload all videos and audio recordings before the 29th of May 2024

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This is my piano assessment for my first study. during my performance i was very nervous due to the fact that i didn't have a piano tutor for the first half of the year meaning i was behind on working on my pieces. this experience taught me and showed me that as a performer that without enough practice and time mistakes will happen because i didn't know the pieces as much as i would like. And as a performer like a studio musician the pieces need to be known as best as possible as if i don't know the piece very well or can't play it due to not enough practice no one will want to hire me

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this was the first time I performed with a big band in college and the songs chosen for this were; Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams', 'No one Knows' by Queens of The Stone Age and 'Sympathy for the Devil' by the Rolling Stones. This taught me well as unlike my piano assessment i knew the songs played back to front due to having loads of time to practice and add a few things to make the songs more interesting. For example in 'Sympathy for the Devil' during the instrumental part i added glissandos which weren't part of the initial record... although i felt it only slightly worked due to the timing being off but i was happy with myself for trying something new. During 'Dreams' I also used the electric piano for the first time as a different sound which gave character to the song and although the song was the same 2 chords all the way through i tried different rhythms to make the sound less boring. for 'No one Knows' I learned that when a someone in the band forgets the plan to keep going. this happened when our singer Josie introduced us at the wrong time but as a band communicated without talking to just continue to the next section. All of this is needed as a performer as for example if the person who hired me is a cover artist they might want me to play some songs not exactly as it did on the record and this experience has helped me. similarly if said person who hired me makes a mistake on stage this experience has taught me to not panic and keep going

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the role of a music performer is to play music in front of any number of people and keep them entertained. The better you are and entertaining you are the more gigs you get and as a music performer doing lots of gigs will most likely be the main source of income.

there is an amount of people that are choosing not to be musicians, in fact there is a 26% decrease in jobs in this sector. (Dunn L, 2023) one factor on the reason why many people choose not to be musicians is lessons might be a little to expensive for people just for it to be a hobby that might get dropped in the future, lessons range from £20 to £60 depending on several factors (Superprof, 2024). the musicians union states that a single group performance can make up to £147 each if its in pubs and clubs and £196 in functions meaning if doing a lot of gigs the money adds up (Musicians Union, 2024). Fees also go up once you are established and have a good reputation, it also helps that not many people are being musicians therefore there are more job opportunities.

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This was my final assessment for the pop ensemble. our set consisted of; Dancing in the Dark, Wake me up when September Ends, Tainted Love, I Will Wait, Feeling good and Beggin'. I used many of the things i learned in Theory for example in Dancing in The Dark rather than playing a G chord I would play with a G added 6 and a G chord which gave the sound a fun bluesy texture during the verses, when played and in Feeling Good for my solo i used my knowledge of scales, primarily the blues scale to make the solo. this helps me as a performer as I've used up all my knowledge i learnt in my theory lessons to create my own take on songs that some ,like feeling good, i have never heard before or only heard once and would help me get commission due to my knowledge of theory and how to use it in a practical sense to create something new

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This is a recording of the song ‘Dean Town’ by Vulfpeck. This recording shows that I am not afraid to try different genres of music that I personally don’t entirely listen to or play. This song also consisted of chords that I don’t come across very often but do come up in a lot of funk songs which by the end I got a custom to. I also enjoyed playing this song as it showcased how steady I can be when playing the rhythm section of songs. This helps me as a performer as if I only stick to one or two genres of music when playing people may not want to hire me as a session musician because my skills would be limited to said genres, this however shows that I am willing to break out and not only try but also get good at a whole new genre completely.

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This is my Theory test for rhythm. I used my knowledge here during performances when I want to add a little bit of texture to a song. For example, if a song in 4/4 primarily consists of a sing note held on for 4 beats in each bar i try to split the bar by playing the chord twice per 2nd beat or adding a few licks during the bar to make my playing a little more interesting. This helps me as a performer as me playing about with the rhythm is a unique way of playing and could potentially make me stand out therefore people wanting me to play for them due to this quirk.

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This is my Theory test for intervals. This helps me when learning new songs as due to the skills I have learned I can listen to any song and pick out how to play it fairly fast. This helps me as a performer as since I don't need sheet music or tabs I can learn songs last minute, if the person who commissioned me decides to change his whole set last minute and i play it well it would give me a good reputation therefore getting more people to hire me.

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This is my Theory work for scales. This helped me in my playing as sometimes i was asked to do a solo during my performances and without knowledge of my scales i wouldn't of been successful in making the solo. it also helps when I decide to put little licks in songs which goes hand in hand with my learnt knowledge of rhythm. As a performer this helps me because there will be times when I get asked to improvise a solo or make a solo for a song and without this knowledge I would of lacked the skill to do this.

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This is my theory test for chords. This has helped me during performances as sometimes i feel the chords in songs are a little boring and making it into a dominant 7th, major 7th or added 6th really helps add variety to the song. sometimes it's better if some chords remain triads and sometimes it fits to mix it up which ultimately helps my sound and playing different from other people.

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Music business has taught me how to use copyright and moral rights effectively so as not to get into any trouble with the artist(s) who have created the product. It has also taught me what my rights are as an artist when I create a song. This helps me as a performer as if I understand an artist's moral rights, I would be able to cover said artist's song respectfully in a way my catered audience would love which would help with exposure. Collection societies also help massively as a performer as they help you earn a little bit of money on the side.

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Music business has also taught me how to read contracts between a record label and myself. It is always advisable to get a lawyer for the best outcome on both sides. The main 5 key clauses to look out for are; Term, Territory, Royalties, Recoupment and Advances. Reading the contract and looking out for the 5 key clauses would help as a performer as if you don’t read the contract properly you might be surprised to find out that things may not go how you want it. For example, if you want to branch out into America and on the territory clause it mentions that this record label doesn’t have any reach in America then that would be detrimental to you as a performer which is why it is important to read contracts.

Management contracts are fairly similar to recoding contracts. Like a recording contract there are 5 key clauses; Territory, Exclusivity, Term, Post Term and Pay. And similarly to the recording contract it helps me as a performer as of this contract isn’t read or isn’t understood properly you might get blindsided by something like the post term clause, with 0 understanding of this clause a performer might get frustrated on why their old manager is still taking a little bit of their profits. This is why an understanding of this type of contract is important to being a performer.

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My CV to show potential employers to hire me as a performer

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During the planning stage I wanted to hand in 8 different evidences to show my skills as a performer. Unfortunately my band outside of college weren't able to find a place to play at and also my other funk band weren't able to record using the music box sessions. I also couldn't find the recording of me going over my scales for my technical exercise for piano. In order to salvage what I had I chose to use a run through recorded on my bandmates phone to show evidence for 'Dean Town'. Going forward I have learnt to set realistic goals for projects like this one in order not to get caught on the back foot again

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During the time my band were practicing 'Dean Town' I struggled to get past a certain timing in the song as I had to come in on the 3rd beat of the bar rather than the second which threw me off. To overcome this I kept practicing and practicing. First I tried playing it in normal speed along with the track but this caused me to make the same mistake over and over again so I decided to take the track away and also go over it with a metronome. As annoying as that was the metronome kept me in time and I kept building up and building up the speed until the tempo was the same as the song. I then proceeded to playing along with the tack and found myself playing that section perfectly. This taught me that sometimes trying to learn something fast isn't the solution and sometimes going slowly and breaking down the section is actually faster due to making less mistakes and getting less frustrated in the process

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When trying to learn 'Dancing in the Dark' I personally felt my keyboard playing was not working for the song and didn't know why. I knew however Bruce Springsteen was inspired by things like gospel and blues so I figured to make the verses sound more bluesy by instead of playing a normal G chord I would sometimes play a G added 6th in a specific pattern, alongside the guitars playing the actual riff for the song it harmonised really well to create a new but familiar sound. Things were starting to click into place but something still didn't work so I listened to the recording again and remembered there was a synth sound on the record. The keyboard I was playing did not have a synth sound but the closes I could replicate it was an electric keyboard sound which in my opinion worked really well. This helped me realise that not everything has to be like the record and sometimes what works for one artist will not work for your band as sonically you are different, considering you stick to that artists' moral rights you can experiment on the songs which I will be doing going forward.

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EC2247085@Edinburghcollege.ac.uk

Personal Profile

A dedicated, highly motivated, responsible, trustworthy, amiable person who excels both independently and as part of a team with a strong enthusiasm. Dependable and adaptable. Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and thrives in a diverse working environment. I have been playing the piano since I was 3 years old and the guitar since I was 5. My favourite genres of music to play and listen to are Classic Rock, Blues and Country. However, i can learn any song in any genre. Currently I am pursuing a Music HND with Edinburgh College with a view to pursuing a Music BA (Hons).

Experience

I Have been performing since I could remember. My most recent performances would be a mash house gig which my band did excellent on. I also did a gig in Twa Tams in Perth, and i also did a gig in Arbroath at a place called Hospitalfield house.

Education

Edinburgh College: Aug 2023 – Current

UHI Perth: Aug 2020 – Jun 2021

Arbroath Academy: Aug 2015 – Jun 2020

Skills

o I can play grade 8 piano pieces

o I can play a huge variety of scales and arpeggios on both Piano and Guitar

o I can improvise on both instruments

o I can communicate with people very well

o I know how to use social media as a tool for exposure

Hobbies

Music: Listening / Writing & Performing / Piano & Guitar / Reading Poetry