Aural Perception Skills

First Song: Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"

1. Identify the chords in this song from 1:00 to 1:45.

• C major- A minor - C major - A minor

• F major - G major - C major - G major -C major -F major - G major - A minor - F major - G minor - A minor - F major - A minor - G major - C major

2. Explain how these chords help to convey the meaning of the words of the song.

The reason why the song sounds sad is because it is in a minor key.

3. There is a chord (under the word "composing) that could be named in two different ways. Name both ways and explain which you prefer, giving reasons for your answer.

The chords under the word "composing" are G# or Ab, and the one I prefer is the Ab chord and the reason why is because I'm familiar with that chord or flats chords because I always add flat chords in my songs.

Second Song: Pink Floyd - "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"

1. At 3:56, a 4-note motif is played on the guitar. Name the 4 notes and the 3 intervals formed by them.

Bb - F - G - E

The three intervals formed by them are:

2. The first three notes suggest a chord - What is this?

With the notes G - Bb - D make the minor chord G.

3. After a while, the chord underneath the notes changes. To what?

It changes to C major 

St. Paul's Suite IV.Finale (The Dargasson)

1. What is the time signature?

This piece is in 2/4

2. Notate or describe the rhythm of the main theme (the theme is made up of a rhythmic motif that keeps repeating, you need only describe it once.

It moves quickly to the second beat.

3. Another tune comes in after about a minute. How has the composer combined the different speed/rhythm of the two tunes? (You may describe it or notate it.)

There's not much going on, it's simple yet poise, accompanied by the fast melody.

Business Plan (EP)

Business Plan for releasing an EP

Releasing an EP is not like a full album because it does not have the same amount of tracks, an EP has less tracks than an full album and you will spend less money if you decide release an EP instead of a full album, so that's one of the reasons why I wanna release an EP, because it will costs me less money and because I want people to know about me, to know about my music and the songs I write, to know about my style and to know what I am capable of as an musician.

• Like I said before, an EP has less tracks than a full album, it has a total of 5 songs in it. So the first thing I will do is to write more Pop/R&B songs if I need, pick the best ones that I feel like the audience will connect with them, then get into a recording studio and record the 5 songs I wrote. After recording my 5 five songs as MP3 I will upload them onto Bandcamp, because it is a great worldwide website where you can share all your songs and also because you can make money through Bandcamp.

• The 5 songs I will be picking for my EP will have to connect with the audience, it needs to be songs that people like, that people enjoy listening to and they need to be in different tempos, not just slow songs or fast songs, it need to be in different tempos and styles, for example, the songs I would pick for my EP would be fast tempo such as Electro or Pop/Ballad and it would be good time songs, and and the slow tempo ones would be Pop/R&B. Writing songs in difference styles and tempos will call attention to your music because people will see that you are not stuck in just one music genre.

• Even though releasing an EP will costs less money than a full album, you still need to think how much you are going to spend with it, because if you want your EP to contain good quality then you will have to spend a little more money but it is worth though because releasing an EP is one of the best ways to connect you to the public but the public needs to have a good first impression of your work, so it means the quality of the sound of your music needs to be good by doing that you will show the public you're professional and that you work hard to make your music sound good. If you want to release an EP it means you will need money and to have money you will need a job and if you have a job then you can save up to buy the stuff you need, for example, I'm saving up to buy a Mac book pro so then I can buy from apple store Logic Pro 9. It is good if you know how to use software like 'Logic Pro' because you won't have to spend money booking up a recording studio so you can record your music. As it says on the Logic Pro website 'Whether you’re a professional or play in your garage, Logic Pro 9 gives you everything you need to write, record, edit and mix music.' PLUS if you have friends that are producers like me you won't need to spend any money to edit and mix your music.

• After spending all this time writing songs, picking the best ones, and then recording them in a good quality for the public, you will have to think and focus on the artwork. What you will need for this will be a photographer and a digital designer. Making friends with people who works with music will help you a lot because you won't have to spend to much money, for example, I have have friends that are producers, that have music studio and also some friends that are photographers and for this part of the artwork he would definitely help me and because of that I won't spend much money or maybe I won't spend any money at all and all I need to do is contact my photographer friend and hire him to help me with the EPs artwork.

•  I've already chosen the 5 songs I want for my EP, they are already recorded in a good quality, edited and mixed and the artwork is done, so it means that the final step of releasing an EP will be promoting it. After doing all this you can set a official release date so then people know when your EP is going to be released, a good smart thing do to post onto your social networks the release date such as facebook, twitter, instagram or sharing with friends and asking them to share with other people or what you can also do is to upload on soundcloud or youtube a demo of 15 seconds of your some of the 5 songs you've chosen for your EP. Social networking such as Twitter or instagram where you can hashtag can help you to get to know about you, your music and specially you listen to your EP after the release date. Best places to get people to listen to your stuff are in open mics or live performances at gigs, it is also good people will not just listen to your singing they will also see what you are like as a performer as a musician.

• After releasing your EP a great thing to do is to start uploading videos on youtube of your songs, making music videos or working with other artists that plays the same music as you because their fans you will start listening to your music and you will get more audience and it will purchase your work getting more people to listen to it. After performing in open mics or live performances at gigs, start selling your stuff outside the gig so then people can still listen to your music, also, make an official website where you can put all the links for your social networking, where people can listen to your songs, see photos and videos, merch and performance dates with the time and place of where you're going to be performing, you should also show the performance dates on your facebook, twitter and other social network account to get more poeple to see you and your work.

Finding Faults

The Beatles - Yer Blues

 

• At 2:21 the vocalist sings 'Oh girl you know the reason why' he doesn't come in time.

 

• When listening to this song with a headphones you can notice that the sound of the drums go more to the left ear than the right one.

• The guitar solo at the end is off beat, not playing in time with the drums.

• From 2:29 till the end of the song, the sound of the drums still on the left ear and the guitar solo sound goes more to the right ear while the bass stays in the middle.

• In my opinion the instruments are a bit louder than the vocals.

 

Love - You Set The Scene

 

• You will notice that you can only hear the guitar in one ear which is on the right ear and the sound of the bass and drums goes to the left ear.

• The vocals can be heard in both ears so the sound it is in the middle.

• At 1:56 when the guitar is doing semi quavers there is part of it that sounds like the guitarist forgot to play the last note.

•  In my opinion the vocals are low for this song.

• The drums and bass are a bit loud and it seems tlike they are the main instruments in this piece.

• When listening to this song using the earphones/headphones there is a distortion on the right ear.

I Live In A Dream - Weird War

• In this pieces the vocals harmonies are not in tune.

• The instruments are louder than the vocals and because of that it's a bit hard to hear the vocals.