Songs of Summer

Here, in this blog post, I will choose three songs that I think reminds me of summer, or in my opinion what represents summer itself. It was a little hard to choose songs that represent summer, but I tried my best.


1. "Alive" from Krewella

This song is really loose and fun. In the beginning she wants this moment to last forever. Many people don't like it when summer ends because well, school has to begin again. Other things in this song remind me of summer with how it's not so serious. They are having fun and most people make the most out of the summer time. Here is the link to the music video. Krewella - Alive




2. "I Knew You Were Trouble" -Taylor Swift

Some parts in this song kind of remind me of summer. People letting loose but then realizing that it's going to be all over soon, except they are using a person instead of summer itself. Sometimes people don't exactly realize what they are doing and feel like they have all the time in the world. It's a little hard to explain why this makes me think of summer but I hope you get it from my small explanation. Here is a link to the video. I knew you were trouble - Taylor Swift





3. We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus

This is actually a great song, but the music video is a little..well, yeah. This reminds me of summer possibly the most out of the three. In this video Miley simply doesn't care and is having fun, living out things to the fullest and that is one of the things that summer is about in my opinion. Living it out to the fullest, not caring what people says because the summer ends fast before schools starts again.
Here is a link to the song. We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus

Recording Reflection

1. Flight of the Banshee (take 3) by Roland Barrett

The tempo while we were playing seemed fine. I didn't notice anything too odd or out of place in the beat, though some people were playing out of place, too loudly or softly. The rhythm, like the tempo wasn't bad but some people were playing too loudly or softly. I think that the pitch was pretty bad. In some parts, I believe I heard the saxophone and it sounded very high pitched and squeaky. We can improve on our pitch in measure 3 to 8 very dramatically, as in measures 6 and 7 we started playing much lower than normal. The balance isn't very good either. Some parts, like stated before are louder than one another or softer than one another. The professionalism wasn't bad, minus someone yelling something at the beginning of the performance. We can probably get better if we be quiet and pay attention to the music.

2. Star Spangled Banner by Arr. T.J Wolfgram.

Our tempo while playing this was right, nothing seemed wrong here. Same thing with the rhythm. The pitch did seem off, with most of the sections seeming quieter than they should be, but nothing seemed totally off exactly. The balance was okay. At least it was quiet most of the time and not one part being very quiet and the other part being loud. The saxophone in this performance seemed very off and didn't combine well with everyone else's performance. The professionalism in this wasn't bad at all and I didn't really hear anyone say anything.

3. Flight of the Banshee (take 2) by Roland Barrett

Again, the tempo and rhythm was fine. The pitch again was off sometimes, with people playing at wrong spots, playing too loudly/making mistakes (someone made a very loud squeak). The balance wasn't great. I did hear some talking and again, people made mistakes, playing too softly which did make the performance worse. The professionalism here was the worst too in my opinion. I heard people talking during the performance. Improvement could be made by paying attention and being quiet

Year End Reflection and Summer Goal

My last goal was to work on my transitions to produce smoother results in when I would play my music with the clarinet. I think I made good progress in meeting this goal as I can play better and clearer and my transitions aren't as horrid as before. In the school year, we accomplished a lot that was great. At the start I could barely play my clarinet properly but now I'm pretty good at it. We managed to accomplish playing in actual unison earlier in the school year compared to now, which is a little surprising but it's one of the better things we have managed to do.

One challenge we faced during the school year was people talking in the middle of our performances and this was a problem that we faced for such a long time and never stopped which caused in us not being to play instruments anymore. One thing we could have done differently is actually shutting up for once so we could get some actual work done and still be able to play instruments today. As an individual, I don't know what else I could have done differently. During performances I was a pretty quiet person throughout and never made any major disruptions.

I'm not sure what kind of goal I could work on during the summer really..maybe I can try to discover and listen to many types of music, since I do like it a lot and want to further my musical knowledge sometime in the future, so that could be a goal that I will pursue during the summer.

May Goals and Reflection

It has been awhile since I have done anything with this blog, but now here it is..

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Last time in february, my goals were to produce clear sounds with a clarinet and continue trying to properly play eighth notes and since then, I have practiced a lot. State testing though, has set me back a little bit but it hasn't done too much harm in my opinion.

Since then, I figured out the reason why my clarinet wasn't making very good sounds, and that was because of my reed. It was pretty cracked due to some accidents that happened. It also took a lot of my breath and didn't allow me to play properly, it also stopped making sound during the middle of a performance.

Getting a new reed has helped me a ton and now it doesn't require much breath to play at all. Now I can produce clear sounds and the several new songs that we have been playing has helped me a ton with playing eighth notes. Now it doesn't take much at all for me to play them.

I feel that the new songs we are doing are pretty helpful. Some have hard parts in them, but that just helps us with getting better and also introduces us to new notes and vocabulary that helps the process of playing music easier than usual. I like how some sections of the songs have a nice sound or rhythm to them which makes me enjoy playing them instead of it being like a chore instead.

A new goal that I could possibly work on is smoother transitions and playing quickly. Playing quickly causes me to stumble, but it is necessary in some songs to keep a regular and fast tempo/BPM. I also think I need smoother transitions which will keep me from messing up. Playing slowly will also help me with the notes that I need to play which is key.

February Goals and Reflection

February Goals and Reflection
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1. My last goal was to keep my focus up during class and continue to practice in producing clear sounds with the clarinet. Another goal was to focus on producing eighth notes properly. The new music we are practicing slightly helps with pronouncing eighth notes.

2. I think I am doing much better on meeting these goals. I feel that I am still not there yet, as things like these still take some time. I am playing more often now and working on my professionalism. Sometimes the clarinet does not seem to cooperate with me, but I'm trying my best. My sounds are becoming clearer and my eighth notes are improving now with this new music we are using.

3. I like the new music we are working on, but sometimes I would like a break from it and practice whatever we feel is necessary for at least one class period, such as playing songs in our instrument books. I think the challenging part is playing the new notes properly and following the patterns of the music. Playing Flight of the Banshee requires us to learn new vocabulary and practice doing those things, such as slurs and accents. It's enjoyable learning music on a higher level though, compared to what we were playing before. Sometimes though, playing the same thing over and over again gets a little annoying and boring without at least some variety.

4. There aren't really any new goals I would like to make. because I would still like to focus on my old ones. I would like to, however, make sure that I am proficient in playing the difficult parts in Flight of the Banshee. How I would do this is obvious. Practice, practice, and more practice so I can move my fingers properly and play on time. Starting out slow will be best for me, then moving faster with how I play the notes should help me improve.

New Years Goals

1. Are you happy with your current grade in this class? Do you think it is fair? Why or why not?

I feel that I am satisfied with my current grade in my class. I think that it's fair because I have been doing my work to the best of my ability, and I have been behaving and acting appropriate during class time.

2. Restate your last goal.

My last goal was to manage both my breathing control so I don't produce any squeaking within my instrument, and correctly being able to play eighth notes so I can play more advanced music quickly. 

3. Tell if you feel that you have met this goal, are almost there, or are not making progress.

I think that I still need a little while to go, but I am slowly making progress to meet that goal.

4. Explain why: what have you been doing to meet this goal?

To meet this goal, I have been practicing in class whenever I can, moving on to more advanced songs and practices to increase my fluency and how I can play eighth notes. I feel as if I need to do more to improve my fluency and not squeaking on the clarinet, such as practicing at home.

5. Make a new goal!

A new goal that I could possibly have is to keep my focus during class. Sometimes I may space out, or stop playing all together which is probably not a professional trait to have, and a bad habit to get into so I will put my main focus on that, along with continuing to practice having a clear sound and producing the sound of a eighth note properly. I will try to meet this goal in maybe around a month or two, because it is something that will require practice and focus. To meet this, I need to practice, focus in class, take my instrument home and do a variety of other things to come close to perfecting these things.

December 14th Goals

My goal last time was to practice so I don't produce squeaking, or any other unnecessary sounds and noises to make a clear, nice sound that wont distract from the performance others could be listening to.

I think I am almost there. There is still a ton of progress I need to make to control my breath and volume, factors that could come into play with why I, or my clarinet makes noise other than music.

One new goal I could focus on is learning how to correctly play eighth notes, while still practicing on my breathing control. To meet this goal, the best thing I can do is to practice, practice, and practice to manage my control and breathing. I think i can make a lot of progress in around 2 weeks time.