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My name is Niall Huntington and i go to college at EDC and i am choosing to do a performance as my final project so i can focus on improvisation and getting that skill to an acceptable level. I will use the upcoming weeks before the gig to work on and practice my improvisation to work with bands and be able to work with any sort of band that needs improvisation and this will also help my ability to write music for bands and myself.

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Throughout this academic year I have been involved in several performances, created digital compositions and investigated the importance of an online presence for modern day musicians. I have collaborated with several different bands and focused more on being a session guitarist, this links to my final project because I am doing an event with a band I have never played with before to up my skills in working with new people and improvisation. My skills with improvisation are being tested because some of the songs I will need to just improvise throughout.

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Since my most enjoyable experiences within the course have been performing i will revolve my final project around a performance. The performance i will be doing will be at the globe in Gateshead with a band called The Embers who i have never played with before bar one member who i was in a band in the past with. We will be playing a mix of classic rock and blues, my guitar playing comes from a blues background so this comes as a good fit especially when it comes to my improvisation skills in this genre. this also gives me the opportunity to expand on my improvisation skills especially 'passing riffs' this is where in a blues setting me and the other guitarist would take turns playing riffs in the same style and key. when preparing for this gig I will be attending practice sessions with this band and get a good feel for the set list. I will be documenting the process on a digital portfolio on Padlet. At the end of the project I will evaluate the progress have made, this will be quantifiable by the online portfolio I will make and also the feedback I will receive off people who attended the event.

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When coming to evaluating my work at the end of the project i will focus on my improvement in improvisation because of all the practice i have gotten in for this upcoming show. ​

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I will also evaluate my work with other musicians and how well i collaborate with them.

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doobiejohnston (2012). Bell Bottom Bluce-Derek & The Dominos（Owings Maryland 29th Nov 1970 ）. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZdsYChtmSk [Accessed 20 May 2024].​

Hendrix, J. (2013). Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower (Official Video). [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YoVJJmP_60.​

Prince's Trust Music (2019). George Harrison & Ringo Starr - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Prince’s Trust Rock Gala 1987). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzSrShbqlz8 [Accessed 20 May 2024].​

The Bootleg Beatles (2013). Come Together. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUm_sdF_U0 [Accessed 20 May 2024].​

The Rolling Stones (2022). The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (Licked Live in NYC). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DauIh8v9V7E [Accessed 20 May 2024].​

theeshrimpking (2011). Cream - White Room (Royal Albert Hall 2005) (17 of 22). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCc00pX_pFA [Accessed 20 May 2024].​

wilson mcphert (2009). LITTLE WING (1970) by Derek and the Dominos live. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G5CJFrO2Oc [Accessed 20 May 2024].

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In this video i start my solo at (00:25) i go into this solo which is in the key of Dm and i go straight into tremolo picking and full bends. tremolo picking is the main component of my solo and this is defined as a wavering effect in a musical tone, produced either by rapid reiteration of a note, by rapid repeated slight variation in the pitch of a note, or by sounding two notes of slightly different pitches to produce prominent overtones. I also do full bends a lot and i strum them roughly which gives an aggressive tone. I use tremolo picking in the begging of this video when i am doing my section of the solo i also integrate Tremelo picking with full step bends and this gives a nice sound, i can also use this technique.

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00:00 the son starts with a small solo intro that i lay that is in the key of F# this is not the key of the introduction off the song but it is the relative minor of the son so it still fits this is also focused on hammer on and pull offs. At 00:07 the actual song starts with Luke laying the intro which is in the key of Am. At 00:19 the main riff is played by Luke and myself and we play harmonies over each other so this adds a layer to the riff and makes it sound better. 00:24-00:31 Luke and myself play riffs back and forth, this adds to the feel of the son and also is good practice for Luke and myself playing together. We wanted to improvise over this song as much as we could for reasons like making it sound good at the gig, this also helps me and Luke (the other guitarist ) get comfortable with each others playing styles, this will help because we will be able to predict the other persons lick and match it. this gives the effect of the solo being one solo and not just people taking turns. This section of trading licks ensures band dynamic and stage presence during this part because Luke and myself have to keep focus on each other to be able to smoothly play through the solo. we play harmonies throughout this song throughout verses, so we have to be staying in time all the way through, we are playing polyphonic harmonies in this song this adds an extra layer to the riff and the overall song.

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This is the first time I ever tried improvising and this video was took last year when I started level 2 music at college, this gives an insight on how much I have progressed with my musical theory knowledge and my overall feel with guitar. I have worked on many things since this video was taken including different scales to use when improvising the blues specifically and also playing techniques such as strumming like double stops and unison bends which is bending from the 4th note in the scale to the fifth then hitting a flat 7th while the bend is happening. You can see the difference in my improvisation playing from this moment when this was recorded compared to my improvisation skills now and when this gig happens, you can see more feel that originally in this video i was very straight faced, i am also more confident on stage and am more confident with the people who i am playing with at the show because i didn't know them at that time but do now so it makes my comfortability with the people and the songs and compared to them i am much more confident with my playing.

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This is a video taken in a practice session for the gig on the 23rd of May and it is the song white room by cream, this song includes multiple different styles such as strumming specific strings and in the verses you only strum the A and the B and high E strings, I also have to be quite fluid with my strumming to get the right sound like the song. this song also has a effect and is on the high end of reverb, this gives it the 60s-70s psychedelic sound. We use these practice sessions to not just work on our sons and skills laying them but the other things when it comes to performing such as stage presence, this is evident i this video when we all start jumping and this is done to get us hyped so that we have energy when playing, this also gains confidence in the players because they are doing something outside of their comfort zone and yet there is just smiling and joining in seen.

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Me and a bandmate Luke went to go see the guitarist, singer-songwriter Eric Clapton in concert and the Newcastle Utilita Arena. This was a very good learning experience for me because I could see how Clapton plays guitar and rhe techniques he uses when improvising, it also gives me an insight on stage presence and how he presents himself on stage and what I gathered is that he does move around and is still very active with the band and audience for a 79 year old, he also mainly focuses on the music and the feel for it and you can see this when he is performing and after. I also notices how supportive he was to his band members when doing things like smiling and laughing when one of the band members does a solo on keys or organ or drums etc. I could take these facts and things I saw into consideration when playing on stage myself and improvising myself.

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2021 Remaster "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Steve Winwood

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The solo that I used to inspire my solo on this song starts at the time stamp (03:30). This solo is carried out by the musician Prince, he is an extremely talented guitarist, he uses a wide range of techniques in this solo such as vibrato, 1 and a half step bends, tremolo picking, his knowledge of the guitar and what to play for the key that the song is in, he also uses his incredible stage presence to his advantage when playing this solo. the audience can see the feel and makes the effect of the solo sounding better, it also adds a positive feeling for the audience and will make them want to interact more and cheer and

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2021 Remaster "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Steve Winwood

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The show I was involved with on the 23rd of May was ultimately a success, I played with the band The Embers alongside 2 other bands Violet Hail and Bogus. The first band Violet Hail are in my opinion a punk/grunge band and they played to this genre very well, the vocals matched the genre very well with screaming and raspy tones while the instrumentation was distorted and low toned. The second band Bogus in my opinion is a mix between indie and jazz this is evident in the guitarists playing style which is aggressive strumming of the rhythm and the style of piano is very jazz/pop orientated, these two styles mix very well together and hive a unique sound that works well. The band members of this band also had a very good stage presence and audience interaction, overall I thoroughly enjoyed their set. In the set I was involved in with the embers we performed 6 pieces which were all covers. The first song Come together seemed to captivate the audience and had people singing along, I believe this is because it is a wildly famous song and has a very wide audience, my playing in this song was successful and I didn't make any mistakes. It is comprised of 3 sections, the verses which a riff is played in between and during the actual verse a shuffle in Dm is played. At the end of this song me and the other lead guitarist Luke passed licks back and forth using the Dm pentatonic scale, this gave the song more of a blues aspect and a peaceful ending. The second song we did was while my guitar gently weaps, this is a very up beat and guitar based song and this is evident because we focused on the solos for this song and we had a piano solo and 3 guitar solos, each one of the guitarists in the band playing one each. my solo for this song was in the Am extended blues pentatonic solo which included alot of bends and vibrato which I thought would fit the feel of the song better, I also used a live version of the songs solo played by Prince as inspiration, I will add the video next to my evaluation. The third song we did was Bell Bottom Blues by Derek and the Dominos, for this song I did a intro I wrote in the key of F#m this would add a layer to it before the song starts when played by the other lead guitarist, then throughout the entire song me and Luke pass blues licks thought the song and improvised the entire song except the harmonies. The fourth song we did was Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix, in this song I played chords throughout the entire song and did not play lead so I didn't improvise in this song, I very much like this songs chord structure because it has a very upbeat rhythm and when it comes to the strumming it varies from soft to aggressive throughout. The 5th song we did was white room by cream, I have had experience improvising over this track before so I understood the rhythm better and could predict what the lead guitarist was going to okay so I could if could I could do fills on between lyrics, I only got the chance to do this once, it worked successfully and I did a run down of the Dm aeolian scale. The 6th and final song we did was All along the watchtower by Jimi Hendix, we thought this a good song to end on because it is well known and is very upbeat, I had a solo in this song which I improvised fully in the key of C#m and successfully played in key throught this solo using techniques such as double stops and unison bends which is the style of playing that Jimi Hendix used so this fits the song. Overall I think this gig showed my progression on improvisation through the year and how far I have came when coming to improvising solos and fills in the style of blues. I also think this gig gave me more confidence when coming to improvising solos specifically and putting the feel into my music on stage. :)

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www.youtube.com. (n.d.). 2021 Remaster ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ with Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Steve Winwood. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRCooFKk3c&list=RDdWRCooFKk3c&start_radio=1.

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Rustys Guitar (2022). SLOW MINOR BLUES IMPROVISATION GUITAR LESSON. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odxqPwhlsw0 [Accessed 10 Jun. 2024].

Manuel Rivas (2008). Derek and the Dominos - Little Wing (Studio). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLPHz8KT9No [Accessed 10 Jun. 2024].

Becker, D. (2010). Getting Your Improvising Into Shape. Mel Bay Publications.

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‌The Rolling Stones (2012). The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (Live) - OFFICIAL PROMO. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kl6q_9qZOs.

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Derek & The Dominos - Topic (2018). Bell Bottom Blues. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQjxIvcGGdE [Accessed 10 Jun. 2024].

Lemaire, A. (2015). Breaking Down the Blues, Pt 4: The Minor Blues Progression. [online] Guitar Lessons with Andy Lemaire. Available at: https://andylemaire.com/minor-blues-progression/.

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Muzician.com and Gelling, P. (2023). Progressive Improvising Lead Guitar. LearnToPlayMusic.com.

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Skinner, T. (2006). Improvising Lead Guitar. Registry Publications Ltd.

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Bencivenga, L. (2021). Minor blues.

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BREDICE, V. (2010). Complete Guitar Improvisation Book. Mel Bay Publications.

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Hendrix, J. (2012). The Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower (Audio). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPELVwO27lc

Padlet.pics. (2024). Available at: https://v1.padlet.pics/1/image.webp?t=ar_1.3333333333333333%2Cc_lfill%2Cdpr_2%2Ce_trim%2Cg_auto%2Cw_508&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet-artifacts.storage.googleapis.com%2F7b922581afd473feca5cb8bb79db3b133fee74e1%2Fe4143395812fcb997eeb7cc64ecf75a6-h-6ae2723342513b4dd2376a1a5366949b.jpg [Accessed 10 Jun. 2024].

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The Mixolydian Blues Hybrid Scale - The Holy Grail of Major Soloing!