Choosing Your Repertoire

You need to be careful when doing a performance of an hour set, and what I mean by being careful is because of the songs you are going to have in your set. Is very important when choosing the songs for your set because they need to be songs with different tempos, different genres and varieties or if most of them are the same genre, make them sound different. When choosing the songs make sure they are songs you know and songs you enjoy playing.

1. BGryff - Caged Bird (5:00) - A Capella

(https://soundcloud.com/bgryffmusic/bianca-santos-ft-donavon-king)

I've chosen this song to be the first one because it is an original song composed by me and a friend and because I know the song very well. I am guitar player but this is the first song I learnt on the piano. For this song I wouldn't use a full band, a backing track or a accompanist because it is a piano song and having all this, I wouldn't have the audience attention on me, so I would definitely do an A Capella performance.

For being the first full song I know how to play on the piano, 'Caged bird' is the best song choice for me to show off my piano skills, because there is a lot going on the piano, specially if I am doing an A Capella performance because I would have to play the chords and also make the piano sing the melody of the song as I don't have a accompanist with me because this would make the audience focus on the singer and not on the piano.

Caged Bird is about 5 minutes.

2. Bon Jovi - Living On A Prayer (4:10) - Backing Track

For my second performance I would perform on the electric guitar 'Living On a Prayer'. For being my favourite 80s song, 'Livin' On A Prayer' would be the best song to show off my guitar skills because there's so much going on in this piece, specially with the guitar because there is the picking solo in the begging, then the use of power chords in the verses  and  then when comes to the middle 8 of this piece there's a guitar solo. Different from the first track, in this song I would use a backing track because like I said there's so much going on in this piece that if I decided to do an A Capella or have a accompanist would sound boring, special because it is a rock song. Everybody knows this songs so it is impossible to listen to it and not enjoy it.

Living on a prayer is 4 minutes and 10 seconds.

3. Dar Williams - I Want You Here With Me (3:20) - Backing Track

(https://soundcloud.com/dar-abbi/i-want-you-here-with)

For my third performance I decided to perform of one my friend's song, and that is because this is the only song from my list where there's no strumming going on on the guitar and the reason why is because there's so much going on already with the other instruments (synthesizer, the keytar and the drums kit) so I will be doing something to show off my guitar skills and I will be using a backing track for this song. To understand the song and know what to do on stage so I can perform it with confidence, was to just listen to it and create some melodic passages, some improvisations on the guitar. This piece is different from the other songs because this is a electronic song, fast tempo and performing it would be good and that's because I would get people's attention with the improvisation on the guitar through the whole song.

I want you here with me is about 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

4. BGryff - Heart Attack (4:00) - Backing track

(https://soundcloud.com/bgryffmusic/bgryff-ft-danielle-grant-heart)

This is another original song composed by me and a friend and it is another piece where I will be playing the piano. For this song I will be using a backing track which contains electric guitar, drums kit, bass guitar. This is not a piano song but on my performance I will be playing piano and that's because the piano is the main instrument in this piece. Different from the other songs 'Heart Attack' is an Pop Ballad song. Because I will be using a backing track, I will make sure people are focused on me and on the piano because I can't just play the chords of the song, I will also make the piano sing the melody of the song and also do some improvisations to show off my piano skills.

Heart attack is about 4 minutes.

5. One Republic - Counting Starts (4:43) - Backing Track

For my fifth performance I've chosen to play 'Counting starts' and the reason why is because this song is fun specially if I'm using a backing track which will contain electric guitar, synthesizer  drums kit and bass guitar and that's because of the fast tempo of it and the good feeling when listening to it. Songs like this definitely entertain people.
The beginning of the song starts with the chorus in a slow tempo but then after few seconds comes the intro but in the original tempo of the piece. As a rhythm guitarist, pop rock songs are my favourites and for being my favourite genre it makes me feel comfortable on stage when playing then, specially this one with the easy chords it gives me space in between to show off my guitar skills.
Counting starts is 4 minutes and 44 seconds.

6. Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River (4:51) - Accompanist

Because I've performed 'Cry Me A River' before but in a band, being confident on stage, learning the structure and the chords for this song wouldn't be a problem because I know all the major, minor and seventh chords of it and for knowing the song very well, it gives space to add some more picking/plucking to give more effect to the piece, for example, using different sounds on the amp or using a looper effect pedals on the guitar. For this song I will be having an accompanist playing the piano for me. Something I will be doing on this performance is to make the guitar sing the melody of the verse or the chorus so I wouldn't just be playing chords and I would have people focused on me and entertained with what I am doing. This is song is different from the others because it is the only song from my list where I am playing seventh chords. Cry me a river is 4 minutes and 51 seconds.

7. Nickelback - Someday (3:27) - Backing track or accompanist

For my seventh performance I will be playing 'Someday' by Nickelback. That is a lot gong on in this piece with the instruments because it has electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums kit and the vocals. For this song  would use a backing track which will have to contain the same instruments from the original piece or I could also instead of using a backing track I would have a accompanist, and I would probably do an acoustic version of it using a piano and a acoustic guitar. For either options I would use a acoustic guitar, if I am playing it with a accompanist the  while the piano is playing the chords of the song I would make the guitar sing the melody of it and for the backing tracking, I would have to use an amplifier and in some parts of the song I would change the sound of the acoustic guitar, for example  in the beginning of the song which is the verse I would use an clean sound on the guitar, and when it's the chorus and the middle 8 of the song I would use a rocky sound on it. Because it is a rock song and because I like the song, I can't just be standing on stage I need to show the audience how much I enjoy the song. This piece is 3 minutes and 27 seconds.

8. Roxette - Listen To Your Heart (4:44) - Accompanist

For the next performance I will be playing on the guitar and singing 'Listen to your heart' with a accompanist on the piano. In this piece, the vocals and the piano are the main instruments, I will be playing the guitar just to give some support to me and to the piano by just playing the bass chords the piano is playing. Because this is the first song from my set where I will be singing I need to make sure my voice is ready for it, doing some warm ups before the performance and making sure I don't forget what key the song is in are helpful. This song is 4 minutes and 44 seconds.

9. Bonnie McKee - American Girl (4:00) - Accompanist/Vocals

For the next performance I will be doing an acoustic version of 'American Girl' and again I will be playing the acoustic guitar but I would also have two accompanists, one playing the piano and another one singing the song with me. This song is different from the others because people wouldn't just be focused on the instrumentation, they would be focused on the vocals too. Because it is my performance I will be singing most of the song and I will also doing a guitar solo after the middle 8 before coming back into the final chorus. The acoustic version of American girl with the guitar solo will about 4 minutes.

10. Nickelback - Photograph (4:22) - Accompanist

For my next performance I will be doing Photograph by Nickelback which is another alternative rock song by them. For this song I will be using an Accompanist playing the piano for me and I will be playing the acoustic guitar so I will be the an acoustic version of this song changing the arranging of it, using the the chords and key of the song but changing the tempo of it to a slower version. This is another song by Nickelback which is very popular so people are familiar with it and because the song played many times on the radio and other places people know the song, so having the people's attention won't be a problem. This is another song from my set list where I will just have the piano there to give me support because I will doing a lot on the acoustic guitar, for example, using the amplifier to give some effect to the song on the chorus and with the clean sound I will be playing the melody of the song because the use of the accompanist will be just to play the bass chords and to give me support.

this song is 4 minutes and 22 seconds.

11. Zedd - Clarity (5:00) - Accompanist

Different from the original version on this song I will be doing an acoustic version of it, having me on the acoustic guitar and singing and having another guitarist but on the electric guitar and someone to play the piano for me. The idea of having another guitar which is the electric, is just to play the same chords the piano will be playing in the chorus just to give more power when playing the chorus because there will be the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the piano and vocal.

Because I will be singing the song, I will have the audience's attention on me and also in the end of the song there is going to be a guitar solo, while the piano and the electric guitar is just playing the chords I will be doing some improvisation on the acoustic guitar to show off my guitar skills.

The acoustic version will be around 5 minutes.

12. Nickelback - Savin' Me (3:39)

13.The Calling - Wherever You Will go (3:27)

Because this two songs are very similar but in different genres, I will be doing an A Capella performance, just me and the guitar supporting each other. The intro of both songs has the guitar picking in the beginning so after doing that, for the verse and chorus of the songs I will just be making the guitar singing the melody of the songs. Because the chords are not hard, I can do some improvisations in the middle 8 instead of just playing the simple chords.

I know both songs very well, the chords, the structure and I know what I will be doing. The are great songs to show off my guitar skills, because the chords are not hard so doing some improvisations wouldn't be a problem.

Because I will be doing some improvisations change the song a bit, they would be around 3 minutes and 50 seconds for 'Savin Me' and 3 minutes 40/50 minutes for 'Wherever you will go'.

Photo References

Photo Shoot

I'd like to do a sunset photoshoot like the pictures below where there are trees, with a cloudy sky or something like that and the reason why is because I think it suits my music and my style and because it looks really nice, specially if It's taken with a high quality camera and a good photographer. But I'd have a acoustic guitar with me to show that my main instrument is the acoustic guitar.

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.

 



Term 3 - Song Analysis

The Veronicas - Untouched

This is the song I will be talking about which is Untouched by The Veronicas and in my opinion this song is all about the instruments and what each of them are doing.

Instrumentation:

• Cellos
• Violins
• Electric Guitar
• Electric Bass
• Drums Kit
• Vocals

About the Song

The Instruments opening the song are the Cellos and the Violins, both instruments are playing the same thing at the same time. The chords they are playing lasts for 2 seconds but then when they play the chords there are a reverberation going on which lasts for 3 seconds till they repeat the chords again.

Then the instruments joining the intro are the Electric Drums kit and the Synth and they come in in the intro at the same time. What the Synth is doing is just playing single notes which are:

C#-G-G#-G-C#

C-G-G#-G-C

D#-G-G#-G-C#

C#-G-G#-G-G#-G-C#

The synth keep playing that same counter melody in some of the parts of the song, for example, in the intro, verses and middle 8. In the middle 8, the Synth gains a solo part which lasts for few seconds and what it is doing is just playing the same counter melody till the end of the middle 8.

The beats of the drums and the counter melody of the Synth gives the intro a different feel to it because before when there were just the strings (Cellos and Violins) playing you feel like it's going to be a goth song because of the style of the music video, but after the Drums and Synth joins it, the song starts changing and sounding more Electropop specially seconds later when the electric instruments such as Electric guitar and Electric bass joins it to give more feel to it.

At 0:33 the vocals are added to the song and that's when the verse starts. Listening to the vocals you will notice that there's a bit of echo in it which makes the song sound more interesting, specially because it is a Electropop song because in Electro songs most of the artists and bands add effect to their vocals to fit with the music they are playing.

In the end of the verse they add a effect to it which I can't explain what it is but it makes the vocals and the instruments sound more clear and the effect focus more on the vocals which puts it in the front of the instruments.

In chorus of the song there is not much to say because there isn't any effect in the vocals or in the instruments.

Things you will notice in the song are: 
• from the Intro of the song to the last chorus the electric drums kit does not change what he is playing, so he keeps playing the same things all the way through.

• The Electric guitar and the Electric don't change what the playing, they just keep repeating the same chords in the chorus the only time they change is in the Outro which is just the instruments.

In my opinion the song is more about the instrumentation than the lyrics and that is because of the counter melody coming from the Synth which is really important in the song because if they didn't have it, the song would just sound boring so it makes a difference, also the Cellos and Violins are very important in this music piece because of the melody phrase in the intro, they keep repeating it in some parts of they song which fills in the empty spaces.

Royalties

 What are Royalties?

Royalties are how most of the Artist, composers and songwriters get most of their money. Royalties are paid when a artist's track or composer's track are played on TV, commercials, films, public performances, played on the radio, broadcast, etc.

There are some people that believe that if you have re-mixed another artist's track you will be paid the same amount as the others but it is not true, what happen is, if you have re-mixed another artist's track you will just be paid a pre-arranged one-off sum.

The only way you find to collect your royalties is by signing up to a collection agency. In the music industry there are three different types of collection agencies and they are called PPL, PRS and MCPS.

Phonographic Performance Limited - PPL

What PPL does is to collect royalties from performances/broadcast of recordings, for example, if you have a guitar/piano/bass session in a song which means you will have to play something on the recording of that song they're working on, will get royalties from the PPL because you had a session player on that recording, but if you do not perform on the recording then you won't get anything from PLL.

If you wan to join PPL, just go on the website http://www.ppluk.com/, you don't need to worry if you have to pay for it because it is free. PPL also collect royalties from other countries in can be in America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Performing Right Society - PRS

What PRS does is to collect royalties from the performance of the music to the writer of music best known as songwriter.

If you perform on a piece of music written by someone else, you won't be paid any royalties by PRS because you only performed on the song you didn't help with the lyrics giving ideas etc, so only the person who wrote the song will get paid because he/she is the actual writer of the song.

Different from PPL, you will have to pay if you want to join PRS and it only costs £10 for life and the money £10 you will spend joinning PRS will be deduced from your first payment.

On this collection agency the payments are made in April, July, October and December but that is only going to happen if you have made a minimum of £30 with PRS and this rule by PRS was introduced in the music industry in October 2006 and that is because they want to save administration costs which lowered payments.

License

If places like concert venues, pubs, clubs, bars, or any other place where live music is played, play live music to get people to come to their place, they'll have to pay the PRS for the license to play the songs they are using.

Mechanical Copyright Protection Society - MCPS

What MCPS does is to collect royalties from the sales of recordings to the owners of the copyright for that recording.

Unpublished composers can also get MCPS royalties.

If you have a publishing deal working for you, your publisher will collect it for you if you only perform on a recording you can't have royalties from MCPS.

What about TV & Films?

When any of your songs are used in a film, or on TV (commercials, novels, adverts etc), it earns you money and you will be paid for that because people are using your stuff.

the publishers will allow the other company which is the company who wants to use your stuff, to license your song for a synchronisation fee.

Bibliography:

• https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8F-sfxQHEyCSTMxczFObnJGbUk/edit?usp=sharing
• http://www.venturenavigator.co.uk/content/499
• http://www.ppluk.com/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/music-rights