Grade 9 & 10 Music ensemble: Indonesia Traditional Music

In this video, Mr.Herry gathered us all in the 8th floor to rehearse our two traditional songs after school and we rehearsed it with the grade 9 students and even though we only practiced for one time, I think we did really good even though we weren't that syncronized yet but overall, the music sounded really good.

Angklung Ensemble rehearsal

In this video, we all rehearsed one of the traditional songs which is Suwe Ora Jamu and Janger. This was our first practice and from my perspective, we were able catch up pretty quickly but we were not really syncronized yet. We will practice for our part so that we will be syncronized in the next meeting.

Music relaxation composition practice

In this video, I played only the right hand for my music relaxation composition and I think I played it pretty good because I was able to follow the beat and the articulation. I have made the left hand accompaniment for my composition but I was not able to play it really fluent because I did not practice the left hand part, so I will probably practice with the left hand part before the next meeting starts.

Angklung melody #2

In this video, after a long practice, I finally can play the melody fluently and was able to follow the beat.

Angklung melody

In this video, I played the melody for angklung on the grade 12 graduation day and I think I played it too fast and off beat and I was not able to play it fluently because I kind of stopped in the middle of the song. I think I should play it a little bit more slower so that I can play fluently in the next meeting.

16 bars relaxation composition #2

I practiced again my own composition and added some notes so that it wont sound so dull and i have made some arrangements as well.

16 bars relaxation composition

I practiced my own composition and it was quite strange because the sound of the composition was different than the on I played in school but overall I think I did good and did my best.

Extension chords #2

In this video, I played the extension chords; 9th chord, 11th and the 13th chord and I forgot how Mr.Herry taught us but I know what are the 9th, 11th and the 13th chord in any major scale.

Extension chords

Mr. Herry taught us on how to play the extension chords and I couldn't seem to play it because at first it was really hard for me to understand and it will take sometime to understand about it. But now this is the result. I forgot how to do it so this is just a video of me playing the extension chords; 9th chord, 11th chord and 13th chord in C Major.

Twelve tone technique #2

In this video I played the twelve tone technique again but this time I added two notes at the back. At first when I started practicing this technique, I still didn't get the idea of the technique because it looks easy when I look at the person playing, but when it seems abit complicated for me to do it. So, I practiced and this is the result and I am quite satisfied about it.

Twelve tone technique

In this video I played the twelve tone technique and I was able to do it slow but with the correct fingering and positions and I was able to follow through.

Practice Creating Melody Based On Chords

In this video, my friends and I created a melody instantly based on certain chord progression written on the whiteboard. At first, when I was playing I couldn't keep up with it because I was not familiar with the chord progression and I made mistakes where the notes that I played did not match with the chord progression. In the next meeting, I will try to improve it by improvising it again at home.

Major chords modes with left hand technique #1

In this video, I played major chords modes with left hand technique and I think i played it way better than last week's practice in school.

Major chords modes with left hand technique

On April 11 2013, in instrument class Mr. Herry taught us major chords modes with left hand technique. At first i did not know how to play it until Mr. Herry guided me. It was my first time playing this and I was not familiar with this technique, however, I was able to play it quite well. I think I need to practice more on this for the next meeting.

Chords accompaniment + Fly Me To The Moon

chords accompaniment + fly me to the moon

This link above is about me playing the song Fly Me To The Moon and this time I was able to play the part where I had to play the chords for Shavira's intro and continue to the part where all of us had to play the whole song. It sounded great! I don't think I need to put some final touches in the end because that is where all of us are going the improvise (on the spot) on the assessment day.

Fly Me to the Moon full song

Fly Me To The Moon full song

This link above is a video of me practicing Fly Me To The Moon. In this video, I was able to manage playing the song until the end. And it sounded great but I think I need to improve on the dynamic, because even though I played it fluently, I still need to mark the place where I always forgot the dynamic.

Fly Me to the Moon section 1

Fly Me To The Moon section 1

This link above is a video of me playing the first section of the song called Fly Me To The Moon. So far I played it fluently, it's just that I made some mistakes in the middle of the song but that can be fixed in the next video. I need to practice the other half of the song and make a slight difference to it so that it won't have the same structure of the song like the original one.

Chords accompaniment practice 2

chords accompaniment practice 2 fly me to the moon

This link above is a video of me playing the chords for Shavira's intro for the second time and I think I did pretty well because I added some of the chords at the end to make it sound better, which it did. The reason why I put the intro before the song starts is because my group and I wanted to make a slight difference in this song so that the song won't be boring and even though it has the same rhythm, the articulation and the structure of the song will be different than the original one.

Chords accompaniment practice 1

chords accompaniment for fly me to the moon

This link above is a video of me practicing the chords accompaniment for Shavira's intro. I didn't do quite well in this video because my hands were stiff and I didn't play it smoothly. Next meeting, I will be able to play this chords fluently so that me and Shavira's rhythm of the intro will be the same.

Chords accompaniment practice 1

Fly Me To The Moon practice

In this video I played one of the well known jazz songs named "Fly Me To The Moon"

In the mean time I am just going to play this song with my group. I haven't made any decisions yet about altering the notes but I will, soon. Once I have altered the notes, I might want to add some different patterns for my friends before the assessment starts so that it won't sound so boring. It needs to have a dynamic and some articulation in it.

I played this song a bit slower because I am still confused about the chords. I still need to keep on practicing this song until I get the right chords and once I got it right, I will have to make some changes in this song for my part and also for my other group members with their own musical instruments.

Jazz scale + chords

I am currently practicing the jazz chords that Mr Herry just taught us earlier.

He taught us about the different types of scales and major 7th, m7 and also dominant 7th. Jazz chords are basically chords that we can actually play in any different kinds of jazz songs. In other words, it matches all kinds of jazz songs.

I could've played better but I forgot how to play the chords well so I wasn't able to play it fluently.

12 bar blues improvisation practice #2

In this video, i played my composition again and this time it sounded pretty good.

But when I keep listening to it, I feel like there's something missing and my composition does not match with the actual jazz chords. So in the next video, I will try to change some of the notes for my right hand side so that whenever i play it with the jazz chords, it will sound much better than before.

12 Bar Blues improvisation practice #1

In this video, I was able to combine the jazz chords with my 12 bar blues composition.

At first I find it hard because I didn't know how to play any of the jazz songs and how to improvise. But once I started learning all the jazz chords, scales and others, I finally know how to compose/ improvise a jazz composition. I think I did ok in this video. I made some mistakes but I can practice more so that I can clear out the mistakes that i've done.

12 Bar Blues improvisation practice #1

In this video, I was able to combine the jazz chords with my 12 bar blues composition.

At first I find it hard because I didn't know how to play any of the jazz songs and how to improvise. But once I started learning all the jazz chords, scales and others, I finally know how to compose/ improvise a jazz composition. I think I did ok in this video. I made some mistakes but I can practice more so that I can clear out the mistakes that i've done.

12 bar blues composition 2

This is my second attempt in doing my 12 bar blues composition without the jazz chords.

12 bar blues composition 2

This is my second attempt in doing my 12 bar blues composition without the jazz chords.

12 bar blues composition

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In this video, I am playing my 12 bar blues composition without the jazz chords.

I did pretty good, I feel like it sounded too plain without the jazz chords. Maybe if I add more notes on my right hand side, then it would sound better. I will try to play my own composition again with the jazz chords for my next video.

12 bar blues composition 4 bars with jazz chordz

In this video, I was able to play my 4 bars composition with jazz chords.

I thought I played it ok. I think i just need to add more bars to complete my 12 bar blues composition. I think it would sound way better again if i complete everything and use the jazz chords properly so that it won't sound so plain like the previous video that I have mentioned previously.

12 bar blues (4 bars)

In this video, I played my own composition for only 4 bars.

I think it sounded really plain so if it would sound way better if I add the jazz chords. So in the next video I will be playing my own composition for 4 bars with accompaniment.

Jazz scale

In this video I am playing the jazz scale that Mr Herry taught us earlier during instrument class.

I did well in this practice because it wasn't as hard as i thought it would be. I think if i practice this exercise more, I will be able to compose a 12 bar blues and can apply it for the assessment day.

11 Feb 2013

This is my 2nd attempt in playing my chord progression. I thought i did ok. I think I just have to break it down into some parts and play it slowly so that I can play fluently gradually. I made some careless mistakes so I should practice more to clear out all of the mistakes I've made in this video.

11 Feb 2013

This is my 2nd attempt in playing my chord progression. I thought i did ok. I think I just have to break it down into some parts and play it slowly so that I can play fluently gradually. I made some careless mistakes so I should practice more to clear out all of the mistakes I've made in this video.

11 Feb 2013

In this video I am practicing on the chord progression given in class. It was I, IV, II, IV, IV, I, IV, V IV I V blues chord progression. I played it really bad because it was my first attempt doing this. I will try and practice again until I can play it fluently.

Roles of Jazz To The Society

I suppose Jazz is not going to be all about improvisation but because it’s a way to convey and share your talent and emoticon with or without using words; but with instruments which leads to improvisation, which I prefer another word of saying it which is a universal language, to be exact. Jazz can cheer us up when we’re down or maybe even help us to express anguish. This explains why Jazz was born around the 1890s. And at that period of time, Jazz began to spread different styles and it kept changing and until now, Jazz is still alive. And it has a modern style of Jazz. It is of course, defined as a style of music, native to America, and characterized by a strong flexible rhythmic with solo and improvisations on basic tunes, chord patterns and etc. At first, jazz music wasn’t only popular to Americans, but Europeans too. Jazz singers also released acapella records. And not to mention they also produced and shipped V-Discs all around the world. World War II made an impact on jazz. It has increased the confidence of the soldiers who were fighting and also the families of these soldiers. A lot of jazz musicians were soldiers and entertainers as well for the U.S troops. As far as I have been taught, there are 5 different styles of music, which are Ragtime, Blues, Dixieland, Swing/Big band and Bebop.

The Second World War had an enormous effect on the development of jazz music, which had a role to play in the American war effort. Jazz and jazz-influenced popular music were a rallying cry for U.S. Jazz musicians also worked throughout the war on patriotic films. The effects that the Second World War had on jazz music and the contributions that jazz musicians made to the war effort. Gathering together excerpts of important works by both jazz historians and jazz musicians, the culminating activity helps students develop a broader historical perspective on the effects that World War II had on the course of jazz music.

Ragtime was developed in African-American communities around 1890’s until 1910’s. It combines rhythms that were brought to this country by salves, with musical forms brought over to the United States from Europe. Ragtime uses syncopated rhythms. By syncopated, It means the accents in the melody are shifted away from the strong beats in the bass line underneath. It Is a multi-theme music and it is usually grouped either ABACD or ABCD. At this period of style, they don’t use any other instruments except the piano. So basically, ragtime is actually a piano music and is usually hard, bright or cheerful. It depends on the period of time and also on the right situation. It is rarely rhythmically complicated.

The end of the American Civil War brought emancipation to the slaves, but not true economic or political freedom. Efforts by former slaves after the war to improve their own lives were met with strong resistance from many whites who did not want to deal with them on an equal basis. Laws were passed legalizing racial discrimination and making it practically impossible for many non-whites to vote. The only types of jobs made available to them were poor-paying menial labor, with three exceptions: teacher, preacher, and musician.

A style of music that is based around using “blue notes” is called Blues. Again, it started in African-American communities in the US but it emerged on a different period of time, which was on 1910’s until the 1920’s, which is about 10 years of being prominent. And was influenced by various things, like spirituals, church music and chants. This genre was born along the North Mississippi Delta after the Civil War.

Blues came into its own as an important part of the country's relatively new national popular culture in the 1920s with the recording, first, of the great female classic blues singers and, then, of the country folk blues singers of the Mississippi Delta, the Piedmont of the Carolinas, and Texas. As huge numbers of African Americans left the South (driven by dismal socio-economic conditions and the hope of a better life above the Mason-Dixon line) between 1915 and the 1940s, the blues went with them and took root in the urban centers of the North, particularly Chicago. The more urban, electric blues that developed and eclipsed the rural blues of the '30s fed directly into both rock and roll and what would become known as rhythm and blues. With the folk revival of the 1950s and '60s, white audiences "rediscovered" and breathed new commercial life into the folk blues (and some of the remaining Delta bluesmen who had languished in obscurity since the 1930s) and made it the cornerstone of the tremendously popular British and American blues rock of the next decade.

Dixieland; originated in New Orleans, Louisiana. Started to emerge around 1920s until 1930s. Improvisation and the playing back and forth of the cornet, trumpet, clarinet, and trombone characterize it. The piano, bass, and percussion instrument players, who also have their turns to solo, supply the background beat. It is usually played by bands of 4-8 members. Early Dixieland and Ragtime developed from the last decade of the 19th Century until the end of World War One along the Mississippi River. Jazz development and Jazz artists centered on New Orleans at this time. Musical styles from religious services blended with popular styles played by pianists, small bands, and street bands in the Storyville district of this city.1

The typical instrumentation of an early Dixieland group was a six member group, consisting of the usual front 3 horns, clarinet, trumpet and trombone, backed up by the rhythm section consisting of the tuba, banjo, and drums. Such an instrumentation could easily adapt to performing in street parades as well as indoor settings.

  

To sum up all this, there are a lot of jazz styles, but the most famous ones are Ragtime, Swing, Be-bop and Blues. And each style has it’s own characteristics which makes it special and also which makes people fall in love with different styles of music and I realized that jazz music is still alive at this generation and it never gets old because jazz music started from an old generation and they usually have more power than the modern pop song. The music has a good contour, good rhythm, some sort of a motif (which a lot of jazz lacks), and good energy in it.

I think the improvisation aspect of Jazz is the key. I know that when I playing an instrument completely spontaneously sometimes we hit a groove that just seems to begin a life of it’s own. Time and space expand, things seem to be perfectly clear, and totally “in the moment” and it’s almost like having an orgasm, the feeling is so powerful.

Since jazz music I mostly improvised, melody is one of the most interesting elements for a jazz musician and listener. In a typical jazz group the musicians first play the main melody or theme, then one or more musicians (piano, trumpet, sax, bass, etc.) take turns improvising variations based on the main melody. That’s why there’s no other musician with more knowledge and command of their instrument than a jazz musician. A jazz musician is creating art every time he or she plays. In jazz the same piece of music sound different even if is played by the same musicians. In popular music, like r&b, rap, hip hop, country, etc. The same melody is repeated constantly with little or no variations.

There’s also the fact that most people can’t listen to music if there’s no lyrics to it. That’s why almost all famous artists in popular music are singers. In popular music the singer is the star, the one that sings the melody, and the other instruments are just a background. Words also provide a welcome memory aid for the musically undeveloped mind. Audiences of art music (classical, jazz) don't expect much from words.

Early Jazz

World War II made an impact on jazz. This music has increased the confidence of the soldiers who were fighting and also the families of these soldiers. A lot of jazz musicians were soldiers and entertainers for the US troops. Bing Crosby, Artie Shaw and Benny Carter were one of them. 

Jazz wasn't only popular to Americans, but Europeans too. Jazz singers also released acapella records. Jazz singers produced and shipped V-Discs all around the world.

21 January 2013, Monday

Today in theory class, Mr. Herry gave us a task to do which is either making a group slide presentation about the impact of wars to Jazz development or a individual report on roles of Jazz to the society. We also had the chance to play the violin as well and since everyone in the class was able to do the basics last week, now he taught us some new exercises so that we can improve our skills in playing the violin.

We didn't have much time during instrument class so all of us only played the jazz exercise that Mr. Herry gave us last week and I'm glad that i was able to play it well even though it wasn't that fluent. But it was better than last week. I have to practice again until I can play it fluently.

14 January 2013, Monday

Today during theory class we learned the basics in playing the violin. I've ever had a violin lesson when i was at a young age so it wasn't that hard to play the violin. But before that, Mr. Sadrakh explained us about what is the rosin used for and he taught us on how to hold the bow correctly and apply the rosin on the bow and also he taught us on how to hold the violin correctly at a right position and a correct posture. We started playing the basics such as playing the A string, G, D and E. I was able to play that since its only the basics. Basically, I think the technical knowledge will come quickly (if i practice) but the physicality and connection between my hands and brain and what's on the page is going to take a long time to master.

During instrument class, since this semester's topic is about jazz, Mr. Herry taught us a new jazz exercise so that it would be easy for us to create a jazz song and also it wouldn't be that difficult for us to improvise. I wasn't able to play it fluently since it was my first time playing this exercise and I think this exercise is abit difficult for me. Maybe it's because I haven't learned any of these jazz exercises before. I will try to practice again at home so that I can play fluently in the next meeting.