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1. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths as a musician, and how have you developed them over time?

I have a wide range of music tastes as well as being an incredible listener in general. Over time my music taste has just kept on expanding by actually trying people's music recommendations online and then exploring from there. I don't know how I've developed my listening though.

2. Reflect on a particularly challenging moment in your musical development. How did you overcome this challenge, and what did you learn from the experience?

When I was really young, I took piano lessons and kept on improving my piano skills over time. But once I left America, I kinda stopped playing the piano and became really disconnected from the instrument and music in general. It was just recently when I started to play piano again for the first time and it's been a real struggle trying to regain my skills after not playing for so long.

3. How have your musical tastes and interests changed throughout your high school years? In what ways have these changes influenced your growth as a musician?

My music tastes have completely changed and evolved in just the last year alone. I have leaned toward more rap/hip-hop songs and more newer songs. This has influenced my growth as a musician because it introduces me to new musical styles that I could try to replicate and edit in my own music

4. Think back to a performance or project you completed in the past year. What were some of the most valuable lessons you learned from this experience?

Earlier this year, I performed let it be by the Beatles in front of my class, and the most valuable lesson i learned is that practicing alone is nothing like in front of other people (obviously) and it is much much more stressful but it is do-able.

5. How do you see your musical identity evolving over the next few years as you move beyond high school and into college or the professional world? What steps can you take now to prepare yourself for this transition?

I think my musical identity will continue to evolve because next year I have decided to continue taking music as a class and I love playing music so I hope to never really stop.

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Plans for Presenting/Sharing to my audience

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Plans for Presenting/Sharing to my audience

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How will I be Presenting: I will be playing a recording of me playing it on the TV/Speaker for my parents

Recording the Reactions: My brother will be recording OR I'll have my phone/computer set up on a good angle to film them

Context: Hi Mom & Dad, In our music unit is Music for others so i was inspired to play The Final Countdown, the song i have been spending all my class time practicing, for you.

When: *This weekend* Subject to Change

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May 29th - Criteria A: 'The Final Countdown'

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May 29th - Criteria A: 'The Final Countdown'

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- What is the genre/style?
It is a glam metal/hard rock song
- Who is the artist?
It was written by the Swedish rock band named 'Europe'
- When was it written/released?
It was released on the 14th of February, 1986
- Where it is from?
'The final countdown' was produced by a Swedish band. The song is from Sweden
- What are the key features of the style you had to get right?
I had to get the rock feel and sound of the chords right while practicing which was tough at first but I figured it out.

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Thu 27 April: What does music mean to ME? Why is it important to ME?

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Thu 27 April: What does music mean to ME? Why is it important to ME?

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This music is important to me because I feel free while listening to my music and the music that I listen to has a lot of memories linked to them. It makes me feel sane. When I turn on my playlist I can just let go of everything and chill. The music resonates with me on a personal level. The music reminds me of fond memories that I look back on.

Some other parts of my playlist/the music I listen to motivate me/hype me up/remind me to enjoy things/have fun and remind me of Basketball and the feeling of playing basketball if that makes sense. They link to when I would practice for hours working on my skills and trying to be better/improve. The music reminds me to stay on the grind of trying to keep getting better no matter what.

Some examples of songs I particularly enjoy more than others would be "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas because I love the Instrumentation and the Dynamics of the song, and "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-z because of overall just how the song sounds to me is really good, and "Highest in the Room" by Travis Scott sounds really trippy and it sounds really good with the instruments and the vocals, Plus many more songs that I haven't included give me the same feeling and I like them because of mostly the same reasons, I have 200+ songs so I only included 3. My playlist varies in a lot of genres but they are all connected and I like them all.

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Good start with the descriptive statement. It would be even more detailed if you were to go into the sound of the instruments. Discussing the elements of "articulation," "timbre" and "dynamics" will be a particularly effective way to describe how the song sounds.

Your investigation into the style/genre could be more detailed in order to belong firmly within the highest grade boundary for crit A:

ii. critiques an artwork or performance including elements, techniques and context.

Can you comment on even more techniques (such as the use of voice or how the guitars are played, for example) another element you think is important to the style, and the context. The context is the style/genre itself. A good question to ask to address the context is:
does this song fall very comfortably into the style or does it bring something new/different?

Also, what's the album?

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- Investigate a genre: What, when, who, where
- Critique an artwork

The song I have been working on is "Let It Be" by The Beatles. "Let It Be" is a Rock/Pop song released on May 8th, 1970 in London, England. The Beatles use lots of similar techniques from early rock in the 1930s and 1940s from other bands. ------

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Today's objective is to listen to my song/analyze it and if theres time also try to do my first recording of Let it be. (what, how, why)
The song I am covering is Let it be by The Beatles, Let it be is a rock song that was released on the 6th of march in 1970. (genre/style, where, when, who)
The (voice/instrument) is expressing... (and how)

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"Let It Be" the 1970 release song is a pop rock song that uses a variety of instruments in the performance. "Let It Be" opens with a calm peaceful piano followed by the start of the lyrics while the piano softens. About a minute in, after the first chorus, drums also start to play in the background.