Nathan Whalley by Nathan Whalley https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f en-us 2018-01-09 20:27:53 UTC 2025-11-11 06:56:14 UTC hello@padlet.com initial plan for the term n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/219967076 My initial plan is to create one original but if i can create more up to a decent  standard i will use these instead of covers.
Currently i have a few ideas for covers which are as follows;
Psycho by Muse or Out of the black by Royal Blood,  both of these are of a fast temp and require accuracy at speed. They are both played in drop D and both have a similar feel. I can also emphasise dynamics fairly in these songs.
Moving to New York by The Wombats or If only by The Kooks. Both of these focus on playing smoothly and not leaving unnecessary gaps between notes. They are both in an indie rock style, again I need to run through both and see which sounds best and which i can play best.
The last cover i was thinking to play was Can't stop by The red hot chilli peppers. This is a good choice as it uses slap bass (showing another style of playing). It requires fairly difficult technical control and should be a strong choice for a cover.
I will keep this updated as too which i choose and why.

I will also need to constantly practice scales to build up speed and accuracy and shall post videos of my progress. I may also use arpageos to practice. I will also play basic riffs and repeat them with the slap bass technique. I will also need to take time to brainstorm to come up with an original song.]]> 2018-01-09 20:32:27 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/219967076 Week 1 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/219976151 I worked with georgia along with others for her solo piece she created, the bass line was largely her instruction but with me giving input as she is unexperienced with the instrument. We then practiced it a few times and it seem to develop nicely. We created a basic structure and made sure we knew the parts and how they fit together.

I then worked with Luke for an ensemble performance of My Hero, We already knew the song so managed to reherse and record in the hour. It ran smoothly as we all knew it well enough so was an easy song to get recorded early on in the term.

I then learnt Johny be good for tobys performance. This should offer me a challenge technically as it is a simple 12 bar blues pattern but at around 170 bpm which i am not use to playing at so i shall use excercises to achieve being able to play this at a solid standard. I really struggled at first so hopefully shall get better as the term progresses.

Finally i worked with Will and Georgia on a ensemble piece called moving to New York which we managed to reherse a few times. We all would like to perform this as an ensemble if we have spare time in the term.

PRACTICE ROUTINE
The below video is a twelve bar blues exercise I used to help me get better at Tobys -Johny be good. It is not the exact song but it has similar stretches and a very similar rhythm.]]> 2018-01-09 20:55:08 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/219976151 new song idea n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/221199403 I have decided to use Juicebox by The Strokes for one of my solo performances as it uses palm muting and picking (I have used picks before but not at this tempo or technicality), both techniques i do not particulary like or use so it will challenge my abilities due to these techniques.]]> 2018-01-13 17:29:48 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/221199403 Week 2 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/225442078 Most of week 2 was a repeat of the first week, I helped toby again with his song and I practiced the quick walking bass part so personally I felt like I had improved. Still not at performance level yet though.

I worked with Georgia again and will on moving to Newyork, still very shaky needs much for practice. I know the song off by heart more and play it often so I helped Guide Georgia and Will through the song best I could.

However one difference was i performed with will and jack on their re subs we, performed Pyscho and Bet you look good on the dance floor in both cases I feel like I performed to a good and solid standard. Will said that my run downs on Pyscho were smooth and I commented saying that his lead guitar part on it flowed and was played extremely smoothly however if we performed it again I would like to practice the intro with him more.

PRACTICE ROUTINE
Basic warm up/finger exercise using the major arpeggio and scale in G


]]> 2018-01-28 22:04:42 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/225442078 Week 3 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/225774352 Firstly i worked with Will on Take me out by Franz Ferdinand, the bass line is fairly simple and very repetitive so i will mainly concentrate on flow and especially on the dynamics. I know I just need to make sure it is played extremely smoothly due to it being fairly simple.

Then I worked on my solo cover which is can't stop by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Luke knew the vocals and Will the guitar so I just had to communicate to Jack the style and tempo but by the end it came together fairly well. I asked for feedback and Will said that my accuracy was good but the dynamics were off, because I was slapping I struggled to get the difference in volume more than standard playing so that will come through practice.

Me and Will helped each other start an original song each just root notes and a very basic draft. Although I may use a song created in my band for my solo original.

worked with Georgia on her original song and it is still developing well we changed some of the bridge and pre chorus and is very close to a decent standard of performance. We just need to run through and see how the song flows as a whole piece.

Played bass for Jess's song is very easy same four notes all the way through only real change is dynamics. We just need to work out the niches of the song.

I also asked Georgia for feedback on the projects and she said that I have good organisational and management skills within bands and usually take a leadership role. Which is useful when I am doing my own pieces.

PRACTICE ROUTINE 
A descending and ascending stretching exercise I use to warm up my hands before practices, it also helps to practice achieving a smooth tone while your hand is in a stretched position.

]]> 2018-01-29 18:13:40 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/225774352 Week 4 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/228209309 Firstly we practiced my solo, Can't stop, it came together well, Luke struggled with vocals but as it is a challenging song for him, the rest will come with practice, I still need to work on slapping and pulling off as I'm not use to it and sometimes fail to play notes to a audible standard or miss them completely.

I Then practiced with Will for take me out we both find the structure challenging to remember but actual performance wise we came together well as an ensemble after we reminded jack of the intro.

Me and Luke then presented our solo pieces. I was happy with feed back and had to just adjust a note as me and Will played contrasting notes I was playing C# and Will D. However I was happy I got positive feedback as a solo performer and will continue to practice the piece.

Finally I rehearsed with Georgia for her piece which is coming along well, we just all need practice to get the song concrete, also practiced take me out with will again to try and help learn the structure more. Practice in both was okay but we still need more time.

PRACTICE ROUTINE 
This is another twelve bar blues exercise I use to help with stretches in order to practice for Toby's song.
]]> 2018-02-05 16:40:09 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/228209309 Week 5 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/231854478 My solo piece is still developing and coming on, initially at first I wanted two guitars like how we play it in my band  but have decided it sounds better with just one using a harmonic melody. The bass line fits in very well with it and Luke said he likes the overall sound of the piece. Next time I work on it my goal is to develop the drums more and write some lyrics for the bridge as I am not happy with the vocals for it currently. George says the guitar is very catchy and I believe he approves of it.

We worked on jacks original it is fairly hard for me as it is a heavier style that I'm not use to playing but repetitive practice and exercises will allow me to perform it to an acceptable standard.

Luke wanted a bass for his original so we worked together to create a simple bass line to give his piece another layer and in general more depth.

Worked with Toby on his ensemble of Johny be good again it is developing nicely and I am competent at playing bass to it now I am rehearsed in it.

PRACTICE ROUTINE
Repeated twelve bar blues exercisesto help develop my skills for Toby's piece.


]]> 2018-02-15 11:58:11 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/231854478 Week 6 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/237451558 Firstly we recorded my solo original we did it in one take and I was very pleased with the end product, the ensemble played well and I couldn't spot any major issues with it. My playing was decent I focused on dynamics and think it was clearly audible. Even though I focused on my dynamics the rest of my playing was still solid. I seemed to get positive feedback from piers about the performance and song so I am happy with it altogether. 

We then recorded with Will for take me out, the first run through was shaky but on the second attempt everyone did much better, I still managed to slip up slightly as on one section of the verse I messed up the rhythm with a double play of a note. However the rest of it seemed to go well sticking to the rhythm in a much more precise way.

We practiced Georgia's original again and it is getting there  slowly we just need to finalise the structure but the song is very well written and should sound very nice when completed.

Jack then took his turn to organise his song the structure is fairly simple I'm just not use to playing a heavier genre so it is hard for me to put forward any decent suggestions for the bass part as I do not know if it will fit.

PRACTICE ROUTINE 
This was me rehearsing the flow of the verse for Take Me Out as although very simple I sometimes got confused on what passing notes should be used.


]]> 2018-03-02 15:42:13 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/237451558 Week 7 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/243260562
We ran through Jacks original and it was fairly unsuccessful as we confused about structure as it had an odd amount of bars in each part and me and will we fairly confused over when we should be playing what.

Georgia's piece is fairly straight forward structure and performance wise it is just about making tweaks to make it as best as we can, for example I kept experimenting what rhythm in the chorus but ultimately believe less is more and will probably play in a standard 4/4 pattern for it.

Started an original piece with George but by the end of the hour he decided he didn't really like it so will either change it and try it again with us or do a different solo by himself.

We took a deep look at Jess's cover song, the actual performing part is easier but yet again we didn't really get told in depth the structure and I ended having to guess the little niches of the song and when they occurred, it didn't sound bad just unpolished.

Will tried to guide us through the idea of his song which I think we all genuinely liked but by the end of the hour decided he would rather use a backing track rather than live accompaniment. 

PRACTICE ROUTINE
At home I added a new part to bass rift foe Georgia's song (shown below).]]> 2018-03-18 21:44:48 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/243260562 Week 8 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/244078874 We performed Georgia's original and ultimately it was a below par run through compared to some others for a multitude of reasons. So we have decided to have another 20-30 minutes practice next week and then record again and hopefully it will fall into place better, I will also put in practice at home for it.

My recording of Can't stop will need to be re done as Luke struggled with vocals and I messed up the Bridge by hitting notes in the wrong order and stopped for a few beats. I will put a lot more practice into the song over half term and hopefully just drill the bridge into my muscle memory.

We performed Toby's Johny be good cover and added Troy on lead guitar last minute but it worked well in the practices. I feel like id di fairly well but the song is a fast tempo and I have to stretch virtually all the way through which was a major challenge as this combination kept cramping my hand but i held it together best I could and was fairly pleased with the outcome]]> 2018-03-20 15:20:41 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/244078874 Week 9 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/246202527 We performed Jess's song but unfortunately the time through her singing was brilliant me and Georgia got confused on the pre chorus structure. This was frustrating as we thought the structure problem but evidently more rehearsal was needed.

We practiced Georgia's song and recorded, we have spent a lot of time on it so was pleased when the rehearsals were going well after all the structure and rhythm issues were ironed out. The recording was also very good and we sounded solid as an ensemble i think Georgia thought she could do better however we thought the combination of her rhythm guitar playing and singing was well practiced and sounded great with the ensemble.

We practiced Feel good inc as it needs recording next week, it went well and seems like its one of those songs that will fall into place easily on the day.

PRACTICE ROUTINE
This is the verse rift for Can't Stop and this is me practicing the slap style of it which I shall be using in my performance.


]]> 2018-03-26 17:25:54 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/246202527 Week 10 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/253033554 Me, Luke, Will and Jack performed Feel Good inc for Jacks solo on a personal level I feel like I performed well keeping a steady rhythm and adding decoration to it when appropriate. It didn't take much time to practice and altogether was happy with the ensemble outcome. I feel like Jack kept changing tempo a little in practice but did a much better job on the final recording.

I re-recorded Can't stop as last time I completely messed up the bridge hitting wrong notes and losing track of it. I still struggled a little with it just because of the fact the starting pattern of notes and ending pattern are similar so sometimes nearly played the wrong thing like last time. But in all I was much happier with it, even though the bass I used was probably less suitable for slap it sounded well rounded. Luke also did a better job of the tricky vocals keeping it together more which helped with the flow of the song overall.

Jack decided to do his original with just him and Will as I still didn't really know when we were playing what and in general confused about the lay out of the song and it was an easier fix with just two people performing.

PRACTICE ROUTINE 
This is the turn around at the end of the verse section it is quite tricky to play just after the verse so I practiced that one specific bit before the final recording.

]]> 2018-04-18 14:58:08 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/253033554 Pop music week 1 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/255397478 I was grouped with Troy, Will, kurstan, Jade and Toby. We decided on Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet for our cover. It was a number 1 hit from 2003. I put the suggestion forward and everyone was fine with that being the cover. Most of the time was sorting out the instrumental side, we still need to work on the last chorus and on which parts to pause as there are a lot of segments in the verse in which the ensemble stops and only vocals are audible. Kurstan and Jade agreed to sing thw Chorus together and have a verse each. We need to fit Toby in first thing next week as je was absent. Overall a good start to the project as we were decisive on song and structure quickly.]]> 2018-04-25 18:50:22 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/255397478 Pop music week 2 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/259550199 We were in the same grouping again and this time Toby was in and Jade wasnt so again we did not have a full group. We worked on Jet again with Toby on verse vocals and kirstan on chorus. It's still a far way off being ready but a few more hours and it should be pretty much nailed. The rest of the time we worked on the inatrumental part of our pop original which is inspired by 70s funk/disco. We also worked on another cover for about half an hour but realised with only one lesson left it would be too tight to get all three done to a professional standard.]]> 2018-05-10 09:09:55 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/259550199 Pop music week 3 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/261300448 It was the final week with this group and we filmed both original song and cover song. The cover only needed small adjustment to who was doing what vocal lines and then we were ready to record after a few times playing through together. We overhauled the original song slightly a bit from last week making it more structured. I suggested that we simplify the chorus slightly so it fit the feel/genre of the song more, everyone agreed to try it and I believe it sounded better. I got feedback from Troy saying the rhythm fit the part well and that it matched his drum beat better than the previous chorus. Will also agreed saying it fit the style of song better. We recorded and it went well but vocals were fairly inaudible so we ran through it and recorded again. It still sounded good even though instrumental wise I believe as a collective we did better on  the first run but it still sounded great and the overall flow of the song not disrupted. The song was inspired by 70's Funk and is represented by the walking funky sounding bass and guitar chops.]]> 2018-05-16 16:53:13 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/261300448 Pop music week 4 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/265860108 We had one lesson to do a pop cover so we chose a pretty modern cover. We performed Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars (2010). It didn't take too long to sort out the parts so most of the session was just rehearsal and sorting it small parts in the vocals and guitar. I was very happy with the performance as the bass part gets fairly tricky toward the end but I kept it together and performed it well. We got some good pier feedback as it was quite tightly performed even if it wasn't the most technically challenging song. I got positive feedback on the use of 5ths on the last run through of the chorus although not my idea as that's how it goes in the song I though my execution of it was good. Runaway Baby represents the era as solo artists like Bruno ruled the mid to late 2000's.]]> 2018-06-06 12:28:28 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/265860108 Pop music week 5 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/265861616 Me, Troy, George and Will came up with a simple but well constructed pop song. We used harmonics to give it a bit of depth and overall we were happy with the piece. It was inspired by 90's rock and had a darker feel to it that a lot of the rock songs in the era but we were very happy with it overall. Our performance went really well especially toward the end with the tempo change, I was worried we would get lost after that but we managed to keep it together. Room two delivered a nice piece with great vocal harmonies but the drums were very basic with only a snare keeping the rhythm. Room 3 had a lot of energy but the bass slipped out of time and the guitar solo was improvised but not to a great standard. Toby is getting better, his vocals were out of time at the start but his piece had great energy and good dynamics.]]> 2018-06-06 12:36:16 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/265861616 Pop music week 6 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/267350024 Me, Jess, Jade, Will, Jack and Fraser covered a late 70's song by The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love. Although simple to play the structure was very tricky at first with different lengths of verse and chorus that seem to change fairly constantly through the piece. We were happy with our performance and got feed back on the energy and general feel of the song as we presented it in it's original form and managed to maintain the energy throughout. I especially thought in that week though that Connor had a great performance and showed a lot of confidence which definitely showed in his performance. The piece is early punk and represents the era well as in the 70's social change was occurring and this was supported by genres such as punk.]]> 2018-06-15 10:37:39 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/267350024 Pop music week 7 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/268992235 Me, Troy, Ed, Fraser, Jess and Jade covered a Beatles song and did a Beatles inspired original. We covered I Saw Her Standing There (1963) and it was probably the song I have struggled with the most from the term. The structure was very complex for a short song and I didn't know the song off by heart so I had to read the structure off the white board whilst playing. It went fine in practices but when we performed in front of the class I was very unsure on when I needed to paly what and was just a bit all over the place. I was fairly unhappy with me and I think Fraser had issues with the structure too. The original faired much better and was a very simple verse to chorus structure but it represented the 60's well. I was much happier with mine and everyone else's performance of this. Luke commented on how he thought the bass sounded fairly melodic whilst still keeping the rhythm well. The song is a prime example of pop music of the time due to its heavy blues influence still but is the basis of modern rock.]]> 2018-06-29 18:12:15 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/268992235 Pop music week 8 n_whalley12 https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/268993569 We had to run sets and in total I performed six songs. I was happy with the majority but will pick out my main flaws. In the Buzzcocks cover as a collective we were a little unsure on structure as we hadn't played it through in a while but altogether was pretty good but not as good as the first time through. On Runaway Baby I forgot the 5ths at the end of the last chorus which didn't ruin the rhythm or anything it just didn't sound as good as it should have. I also forgot the last chorus of Are you Gonna Be My girl changed which disrupted the ending slightly but nothing too terrible. Overall I was happy with how it went after not playing the songs for a few weeks and it could have gone much worse. Troy said that the run through of Underwater, our funk song, was the best he had heard it. I thought that Jess and Georgia did a really good job of vocal harmonies live again and that Toby's original was some of the best I had heard from him.]]> 2018-06-29 18:32:03 UTC https://padlet.com/n_whalley12/h9zwbbxliv0f/wish/268993569