Live Music Performance

Brief:

Your school is hosting an awards ceremony for local community organisations. You have been asked to provide a 10-15 minute performance appropriate to the event.

Your work: Must be suitable for the audience

If you work as a group each candidate in the group must be able to show their contribution. Each candidate will be assessed individually.

TASK 1 Planning

1.     My statement of personal aims:

Through my contribution to the event I would like to achieve the following goals: 

I want to perform on stage by performing a 10-15 minute set on stage and to develop my collaboration skills by performing with a peer. I also want to improve my technical skills with playing bass, learning more songs and changing smoothly between notes.

I think that I have the following skills which I will use to help me achieve these goals: 

I am a fast learner and worker.

I will know if I’ve achieved it because:

I will know if I’ve achieved it because because i would have performed in front of and audience and got good feedback from them. 

How I will meet the expectations of the audience:

       
      We will be playing pop music so it can appeal to the most people but it is very hard to get a song that everyone likes let alone a few. 

     Plan of my contribution to the performance

         The requirements of the brief and how I will meet them:

We have been asked to provide a 10-15 minute performance to local community organisations. It should be suitable for the audience (which includes no swearing and appropriate kind of music). 

What I intend to do:

 I intend to perform on 22nd February I will play the following songs:

• Lucky-Jason Mraz 3:21
• Poison-Front Porch Step 4:18
• Can't Help Falling in Love-T Ø P 2:57

      First I will play Poison it will be a good opening song because it is the song we are good at The second song will be Lucky as this is the song that we are most unsure of and the third and final song will be Can't Help Falling in Love This will be a ensemble with Naomi, because it is a classic old song I think it will make a good end to my set. 

How I will do it:

      We have been and will continue to work every Wednesday and Friday lunch times to go over songs and get extra practice in.

Who I will need to involve:

            We will have to have Mr Flowers to play guitar and ukulele on our songs as a person in               our group has left so we needed a guitarist.

The resources I will need:

            We need to have chord and lyric sheets for Naomi and I. Also we need equipment which                     includes guitars, amps, a microphone and jack leads.

The time needed for each song/ activity:

• Lucky-Jason Mraz 3:21
• Poison-Front Porch Step 4:18
• Can't Help Falling in Love- T Ø P 2:57
• Boulevard of Broken Dreams-Green Day 4:48 (without Naomi)

Health and safety issues for rehearsals and the performances:

Noise levels could damage hearing of performers and audience
       we could trip on cables so we must make sure that these are taped down and out of the way.
We must be careful of the edge of the stage so we don't fall off and must also do a sound check before playing.

My set list:

• Lucky-Jason Mraz (3:21)
• Poison-Front Porch Step (4:18)
• Can't Help Falling in Love-TØP (2:57)

Style and Image:

We will need to present ourselves smartly and I will wear my uniform to show I am representing the school. We would like to have a laid back image so that people can relax and enjoy our music.

Ideas for the performance:

I will make sure that I have my bass, that it is tuned and be there is plenty of time ready to start. I will make sure that Naomi is ready to go on to and that sir has his guitar. 

Staging and equipment needs:

• Bass for playing 
• Microphone so the singer is louder for the audience 
• Amp so we (and the audience) can hear what I play
• Jack leads to plug in the mic and bass to the amp

We will need enough space for me to sit down and sir too. Naomi will probably be in the middle of the stage with us just behind her.

Rehearsal Schedule

Rehearsal 1: 4^th January (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)

we discussed and listened to a few songs and decided on four which goes over ten minutes so we should be fine. We went through some songs and looked up the chrods to see if it would be too easy or hard for me to play. I think we picked some good songs with relative skill for me to get a good grade from. 

Rehearsal 2: 5^th January (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)

Today we looked up the chords and played through the songs. Naomi is good at singing the songs but i need to practice the chords at home as I am not in time and keep getting the chords wrong.

Rehearsal 3: 12^th January (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)

As i practiced the songs at home I am much better at playing this week. I do get some chords wrong and go out of time but not as much as I practised along a track at home.   

Rehearsal 4: 19^th January (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)
 We listened through all the songs and we decided to cross out Off With Her Head because it would have been way over ten minutes and too long. This was also the song we were worst at so it is good we left that one out.
Rehearsal 5: 26^th January(CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)

We practised 'Cant Help Falling in Love' with Mr Flowers. We went through the whole song and it went really well but I still have room for improvement; I need to learn the chords 'off by heart' and I need to stay in time with Mr Flowers and the track.

Rehearsal 6: 2^nd February (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)
 Today, we practised 'Can't Help Falling in Love' like we did with Mr Flowers.

DRESS REHEARSAL ON STAGE and rehearsal in practice room: 8^th February (2 hours) (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)

Before the dress rehearsal we practiced to get warmed up and refine the songs. I think we could have done better in the rehearsal because in one of the songs Naomi didn't know when to come in and it almost fell apart.

Recording 1:
The first recording is of me playing with off with her  head'  by ghost town. I think  i need to be more in time with the track and remember the chords throughout the  song. I also need to improve the speed as I fall behind with the track and have to catch up. 

VIDEO FROM REHEARSAL: 

https://youtu.be/7z9MeqiHMXk

Dress Rehearsal Evaluation 

Strengths Reflection:

We made few mistakes in the terms of missing chords or going out of time. However, I hardly missed any chords during the performance and stayed in time mostly. the few times i did make mistakes i stopped and caught up quickly.

Improvement Reflection:

I could have practiced more and went through everything right before.

Improvement #1: Know the chords and when and how to play them.

Strategy: How could you make that improvement?:

I will practice at home through the tracks and I will work hard in the lunch times with Mr Flowers

Feedback from others:

Miss Rotchell said that i needed to practice my chords in my own time so I can fully know the timing, etc.

Following this feedback, I will rehearse with the tracks and also on my own slowly, gradually taking up the speed so that I can get the chord changes accurate.

Conclusion:

Overall I think that it went well but there are major improvements that i need to make; these include remembering chords and remembering when/how to play them.there was a small mistake in the song Poison were we missed out a chorus or verse. This will be corrected by us practising with Mr Flowers.

Rehearsal 8: 9^th February (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)

We went over Cant Help Falling In Love and we agreed that we didn't need to go over that and we need to focus on other songs as that is the best song that we are doing. however we will go over it at the end of each lesson so we still know the song and get a refresher every week.

PERFORMANCE: WEDNESDAY 22^nd February (CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT)

We went through all the songs over and over again; particularly the harder bits and the bits we are worst at and improved them.
We practised the songs thoroughly through period 1 and 2 to fix any mistakes we have. i think that it went well overall even though there was a few mistakes with timing and starting a particular song. 

ROSS TUCKER FINAL PERFORMANCE

Now – BLOG AND REHEARSE! Your blog needs to be extremely detailed. You must make sure that any changes to your plan are written down on your blog with reasons e.g. when you rehearse, something may not work and you may need to change it so explain this!

EVALUATION GRADING CRITERIA:

PASS - Evidence understanding of the degree of success of the performance as a whole and of their role with it. As part of this, learners are expected to assess their strengths and areas for development are defined clearly.

MERIT - Evidence clear understanding of the degree of success of the performance as a whole and of their role with it. Strengths and areas for development are defined clearly.

DISTINCTION Evidence clarity and realism in evaluating the degree of success of the performance as a whole and of their role with it. Strengths and areas for development are defined clearly, Strategies for the ongoing refinement of their skills as a live performer will be in place.

Performers External Assessment Task 3 (Feb 2017)

TASK 3 Evaluation – RECOMMENDED TIME TO SPEND ON THIS – 2 HOURS. 

After the dress rehearsal performance and the final performance, you need to think about what went well and what you could improve on in your future work. Answer the following in full sentences:

Consider the following in all of your answers:

·         accuracy and technique in your musical skills

·         how typical of your chosen musical style was your performance e.g. did it sound like the original? Did you follow suitable health and safety precautions?

·         How was your stage presence e.g. did you look like a professional performer?

·         Did you communicate with the audience – introduce yourself and your music?

·         Was your set list engaging and were pieces performed in a good order

TASK 3 Evaluation 

Strengths Reflection:

We corrected the missing chorus or verse that we missed by changing some of the song when we mix up some of the verses. I improved the chords to better fit Naomi's singing and made fewer mistakes in the performance than in the dress rehearsal and i will keep practising over and over again to perfect this for future performances. We are mostly in time and i know the chords well enough to properly play and more or less when to play them in line with the lyrics in the song. 

Improvement Reflection:

We could have practiced right before the performance so it was very fresh in our memories and i spent too much time setting up so i lost focus. I could also practice more to perfect my timing in the performance.

Improvement #1: My placement on stage was bad.

Strategy: How could you make that improvement?:

I was sitting in a chair right behind Naomi so the camera could hardly see me and communication with Naomi when performing was not great. I can improve by getting a longer jack lead so i can move around more and make eye contact with Naomi which would help me make sure that I am changing chords in the right place and coordinating my part with Naomi.

Improvement #2: Accuracy - playing the right notes at the right time with the guitar and voice
Strategy: Firstly, as a I mentioned before, changing my placement on stage so that I can better see Naomi would help with this. I also need to practice more along with the tracks and do slow practicing, making sure I know where changes happen so that I am more smooth into the changes in the future.  

Feedback from others:

Other people fed back that I was generally accurate in my placement of notes on the bass and made few mistakes. However, several people fed back that sometimes my timing with the rest the guitar and Naomi's singing was not quite right. I could improve by making sure I'm in time with Naomi by practising the note changes with the track to help improve timing and help with learning the chords. i could be more "in sync" with the guitarist. I could do this by practising more with the guitarist and properly communicating with him when I get out of time or get the chords wrong. I need to learn to listen more to the people around me when I am playing.

Conclusion:

Overall I think that it went well. I made few mistakes and the singing was okay although Naomi had a sore throat. We had to restart as it went wrong the first time but the second time we went through all the songs with not many mistakes. The performance went better in rehearsals but I still think we got the songs across to the audience. In the future I am going to continue to work on playing with other people so that my timing becomes stronger and I am able to listen and catch up when I get out of time.