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In this final lesson of our solo/ensemble project I performed 'tenerife sea' , 'see you again' twice and 'this town'.
Starting with my solo 'Tenerife Sea', we practiced the song 3 times then asked Loz to record. The recording went well with few errors and Loz stated that it was very good.
Tenerife Sea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_ipDfKSesk&list=PLUVE63QR_Bu5jZFtm6a0N7MLJfq_EAp1D&t=0s&index=68

I also managed to record This town with Dan.
This town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhtH5gEDX5I&index=70&list=PLUVE63QR_Bu5jZFtm6a0N7MLJfq_EAp1D

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In the first two lessons I focused on practising 'Tenerife Sea' with Kirsten. We worked on the bridge section as this needed the most work. After the lesson had ended I felt like it was nearly ready for performance, it just needed some extra practice.
I also started work on a new ensemble project with Dan. I play guitar for him while he sings 'this town'. I set myself a target of completing this during my easter holiday, ready for when we came back.

Exercise for improvement: I decided to practice 'Tenerife Sea' instead of doing my breathing exercises to ensure that i get my distinction grade when i come back after the holidays.

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Today I recorded my solo project song 'The Boxer' with Luke. We practiced for the first hour then were ready to perform for Loz. We both achieved distinction grade!
Later on I carried on practising 'Tenerife Sea with Kirsten, She still needed some more time to remember the lyrics, although she said it would be performance ready next week!
So Far I have achieved distinction in these songs:
The boxer (solo project)
Make you feel my love (ensemble)
My Hero (ensemble)
The Boxer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHawtgYu6ZM&list=PLUVE63QR_Bu5jZFtm6a0N7MLJfq_EAp1D&index=60
Make you feel my love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDAW-jhsncs&index=52&list=PLUVE63QR_Bu5jZFtm6a0N7MLJfq_EAp1D

therefore I will need just one more solo project (Tenerife sea) at distinction level to achieve distinction over all. I plan to do this next week.

Exercise for Improvement: My breathing exercises not been entirely successful, so I plan to do a minimum of 30 minutes a day.

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This Monday I decided to change my set list again so that I could guarantee myself a Distinction grade. I added in 'The Boxer' which will be me playing guitar and Luke singing. I felt confident that I could achieve a distinction grade with this song as I have been playing guitar a while and have achieved distinction with my guitar before.
I began practising 'Tenerife Sea' with Kirsten, although she had some trouble remembering the words. She agreed to go away and learn the lyrics.

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In this Monday's session Loz requested that we perform one of are solo songs for final submission, I decided to perform 'Lego house' which wasn't in the original plan although it was my most rehearsed song.
Lego house:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjd49epVToI&list=PLUVE63QR_Bu5jZFtm6a0N7MLJfq_EAp1D&index=46
During the lunch period Loz told me that performing 'Starboy' on the drums wasn't going to get me distinction as my strengths lay with guitar and vocals. Because of this I have changed my set list once again.
I also have decided to play guitar for the song Tenerife Sea as a duet.
Lego house - solo
Modern love - solo
Hero - duet
Tenerife sea - duet
Towards the end of the day Loz asked me to perform this song just in front of him and the camera. I believed the performance went OK, although Loz graded me a merit. He told me that to get a distinction I needed to 'perform' the song more, engage with the audience and be less timid with my singing. We agreed to access the song next Monday so that I could improve my grade.
I did however manage to get a distinction grade with 'Hero' as i managed to set up Kirsten nicely.
Hero:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfnRaJoZYZE&index=48&list=PLUVE63QR_Bu5jZFtm6a0N7MLJfq_EAp1D

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In this week's lesson I have made a few changes in order to improve my grades. For one of my ensemble performances I will perform backing vocals and guitar for 'hero' with Kirtsen. In addition to this I have dropped George from 'modern love' as I feel this song will sound good as a solo.
My setlist is now as followed:
'Modern love' - solo
'Hero' - duet
'Yesterday' - solo
'Starboy' - group performance
Exercise for improvement:
My breathing exercises still isn't being attained so I have decided to change it to a more chilled out 4,7,8 which means take a breath for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 counts, then breath out for 8.

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In this week's sessions we were asked to show Loz what we had been working on, so I decided to show him 'modern love'. Me and George had a few run throughs and I thought we were ready. Whilst Loz watched us I forgot the occasional lyric. This was fedback to me along with the the fact that I needed to perform the song more (put in emotion etc).

In addition to this I also practiced some songs with Kristen for my ensemble project: 'Hero' and 'See you again'. We ended up performing 'hero' in front of Loz who suggested that we used a metronome to keep us more in time.

Exercise to demonstrate improvement:
I have been doing my breathing exercises although recently have decided to reduce the inhale/ exhale time as the 10, 15 exercise was quite unrealistic. I am now doing a 7, 11 exercise instead .

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I decided to practice Starboy again today as I feel like it needed more work. Ed wasn't available so I had to carry on without him. We ran through the whole song a few times. After running through I realised that both George and Melissa were definitely getting there with the song and that I needed to put some more work into my drumming, as I was struggling to keep up with the pace of the track.
I spent some time on developing the drum beat by myself all through today.

Exercise to demonstrate improvement:
Still struggling with breathing hoping to get it it soon.

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For this weeks practice I decided to rehearse 'Starboy'. I started the session with just Melissa and George, although after a few rehearsals I was told that the song sounded 'empty'. I realised that this was true and decided to select Ed to play the bass, which would give the song more meat. I got Ed to come in with the bass ready for when Melissa sings the line 'house so empty ......'.
Loz came into my group after a few more practices and advised me to use a looper to keep the beat in time. While this was sound advise I decided that I wanted to keep me on drums for the whole song and therefore keep myself as keeper of the time. Main reasons being I wanted to drum the song from the beginning and I thought that learning the drum beat to a distinction standard would help to improve my drumming.

Exercise to demonstrate improvement:
I have kept up my breathing exercise every morning / evening. I am finding the exercise challenging although I believe with more time I will achieve my goal of 10 in row by the time I am performing vocally.

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Before the lesson I decided on the songs that I was going to perform.
Yesterday - solo
original - solo
Modern love - duo
Starboy - group of 3
Today I was given an hour slot for my solo/ensemble project. I chose to select George C and Melissa to help me with two of my songs.
Modern love - After hearing a cover full of feeling from George C, I chose this song as I believe it was great way to develop the emotional side of my singing. To start with me and George jammed the song around to get an idea for what key I wanted to play in. I finally decided to play this song in D, so that my voice wasn't straining for the higher notes, however It wasn't low enough to leave me unchallenged. As the practice time developed I decided to have George provide backing guitar (melodies) over the top of my standard chords, to sweeten the song. I also got George to provide backing vocals in the chorus as well as a rhythm section to allow me to play a solo. For next week I plan to practice my guitar part whilst singing. George already new the song well so I didn't give him any homework for that song. I also need to come up with a solo.
Starboy - I wanted to do the syncopated, bass heavy 'Starboy', as I believed this would be a great way to demonstrate and work on my drum skills. I selected Melissa for a vocalist as I knew she could hit the highest notes and perform the song with passion. In addition to this I chose George C to play the keyboard, as all i needed was someone to play simple chords in time, which I believed George could do. In the hour I rehearsed twice over with Melissa singing while me and George played guitar. After the rehearsal I told Melissa to learn the lyrics for next week, to ensure that they were polished of. I also told George to learn the chords. For next week I plan to practice the rhythm with anything I can find at home before returning to the practice rooms for a second attempt.

Exercise to demonstrate improvement:
I will be completing a breathing exercise in the morning and in the evening
everyday to improve my vocals and to ensure that I am singing from my diaphragm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8k6MiEJjo4
I plan to do this exercise 10 times, towards the end of term I will be able to this with ease.