REGGAE MUSIC
Reggae originated around the 1960s in Jamaica. It was started as popular and rebellious music in the black ghettos around the main cities of the country, it was symbolizing and representing the oppressed people, especially black. However, it actually became popular around the world in the late ‘70s. The main instruments are bass, guitar, drums and keyboard, obviously together with a singer.
Reggae first started from “Ska”, which is another form of Jamaican music and occurred earlier; it is also connected to a Jamaican religion called Rastafarian faith, as Reggae was based on rights and justice.
The symbol of reggae, as everybody knows, is Bob Marley. He is obviously Jamaican and acted as both singer and composer. He spread reggae music worldwide also thanks to the help of his band Wailers. Later on, this group broke down but, despite this, Bob kept playing reggae. He died of cancer on May 11 1981.
Other important reggae artists are Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear and Bunny Wailer. 
OUR REGGAE UNIT:
"A reggae band gave you a call. On a certain date they have an important gig, but one of the band members is moving abroad and they need someone to replace the lost member. They asked you to fill in and of course you couldn’t say no to that challenge…"
In this unit we are to play two song by Bob Marley: ”No Woman No Cry” and ”I shot the sheriff”. The first one was written and performed by Bob Marley and the Wailers on 1974; the second one was released on 1973. This two reggae songs are to be played on two different instruments; I will play the keyboard for ”I shot the sheriff” and the bass for ”No woman no cry”. I have no experience with the bass nor the keyboard so this will be a nice challenge :) :).
"NO WOMAN NO CRY”
HOW TO PLAY THE BASS?
As I wasn’t able to play the bass at all I had to start to learn everything since the beginning. I got several feedbacks from the teacher and from some classmates who are able to play the bass. Those feedback helped me to build this manual explaining how to play the bass:
1) First of all I had to learn how to hold the instrument. I should always keep the shoulder strap on so that the bass can’t fall. I need to keep it in a vertical position and it can’t lay on my legs; the angle should be more or less 30°. I am practicing on how to play it in a standing position as professional people never play sitting on a chair.
2) Music in my previous school was a bit different compared to this as we were used to play songs using notes and melodies, so I had to learn how to play using chords.
Basically you need to press the string in the right square in order to get different sound for different chord. While you press on the top part of the bass you need to play the chord you are pressing on the body of the instrument keeping your thumb stable. As I am right-handed I press on the string with the left hand and I play it with the right on.
One of the several feedbacks I got from my classmates and teacher is to press hard on the string in order to get a louder and better sound.
HOW TO PLAY "NO WOMAN NO CRY" ON THE BASS?
These are the papers I have been given with all the chords and instructions in order to play the song.
“No woman no cry” starts with an introduction which is the same as the chorus. It starts with C so I press on the third square while I play the second string. Then I have a B, therefore I press on the second square while a play the second string again. To get quicker with this movement I press C with my middle finger and B with my index. When I have an A open string I just play the second string without pressing anything with the left hand, so I have time to move my fingers on the first square to play F while my right hand plays the first string.
Rhythm:
This rhythm has to be played in the verse. The verse is always C, B, AM, F repeating for eight times for each verse. I’ll make here a small diagram to explain this: C – c B – B; AM – am F – F. When there are small letters it means that they are not a whole quarter. When there are lines it is a rest.
This rhythm has to be played in the bridge. The bridge goes C, B, AM, F (like the verse) repeting for four times. The difference between the bridge and the verse is the rhythm that is used. I ’ll make here a small diagram to explain this: C – cc bb – AM – amam ff -- . When letters are written in italics that means they are sixteenth. When they are small letters it means that they are eighth. When there are lines it is a rest. When there are double line it is a quarter rest. The difficult part of playing the bridge is that some instruments play in off beat and kind of confuse the others, so the best thing is to focus on my own part and forget for an instance the others.
CHORD CHART:
As there are some symbols I put here a chart so that it is easier to understand how and when to play each chord.
CHORUS:
C /// G /// A /// F /// C/// F /// C /// G ///
C /// G /// A /// F /// C/// F /// C /// G ///
VERSE:
C /// G /// A /// F /// C /// G /// A /// F ///
C /// G /// A /// F /// C /// G /// A /// F ///
C /// G /// A /// F /// C /// G /// A /// F ///
C /// G /// A /// F /// C /// G /// A /// F ///
BRIDGE:
C /// G /// A /// F /// C /// G /// A /// F ///
C /// G /// A /// F /// C /// G /// A /// F ///
I AM ADDING HERE A CLIP OF THE ACTUAL SONG "NO WOMAN NO CRY" - NOT PERFORMED BY US :) :) -
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- I made the explanations above using feedbacks, advices by teachers and classmates. Pictures are taken from http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Bass and http://photahsiamirabel.squidoo.com/bass-guitar-101 but they are modified by me with Photoshop in order to get chords and material I am using during this unit.
- reggae”. Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.,2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
- ”Bob Marley”. Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
- http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_artists-reggae.html
- ”Bob Marley”. Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
- http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_artists-reggae.html
"I SHOT THE SHERIFF"
-HOW TO PLAY THE KEYBOARD?
I luckily had had a little bit of experience on the keyboard but I still had to start everything since the beginning as I have never been playing with chords before.
Here there is a picture illustrating the different chords on a standard keyboard/ piano.
It is pretty easy to understand that in order to play the keyboard what you need to do is to press on the keys, white and black ones. I am playing “I shot the sheriff” on it and we are supposed to use just one hand, that means my left hand is free. However, when I play the melody I get help from the left hand so that I reach an advanced version. In order to play the advanced version of the song we were supposed to rearrange chord and movements to move around as little as possible. For the verse we have to play each chord and hold it until the next one starts; however, for the chorus we need to use the rhythm below when playing chords.
HOW TO PLAY "I SHOT THE SHERIFF" ON THE KEYBOARD?
In this case we have been told to use just one hand (the right one for me). Therefore, I identified the ”main” area on the keyboard so that it is easier for my hand to move around. For the all song I will be playing in the red rectangle expect for the melody at the end of the verse where I need to press A, G and E outside the rectangle.
Here is the paper with the chords for the song.
These are images explaining how to play each chord by pressing on the keyboard.
CHORD CHART:
a
As there are some symbols I put here a chart so that it is easier to understand how and when to play each chord.
For example this symbol means that whatever is in between need to be repeated a second time.
CHOURUS:
Em / / / Am / / / Em / / / Em / / /
Em / / / Am / / / Em / / / Em / / /
VERSE:
C / Bm / Em / / / C / Bm / Em / / /
C / Bm / Em / / / C / Bm / Em / / /
C / Bm / Em / / / MELODY/ / / / / / then Em / / /
I
I AM ADDING HERE A CLIP OF THE ACTUAL "I SHOT THE SHERIFF" SONG!!! -NOT PERFORMED BY US :) :) -
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
-
I made the explanations above using feedbacks, advices by teachers and classmates. Pictures are taken from http://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-Keyboard but they are modified by me in order to get chords and material I am using during this unit.
I made the explanations above using feedbacks, advices by teachers and classmates. Pictures are taken from http://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-Keyboard but they are modified by me in order to get chords and material I am using during this unit.
· ”reggae”. Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.,2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
· ”Bob Marley”. Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
LIVE PERFORMANCES
v First of all, when you are behaving on the stage you should always keep contact with the audience: look at them, use facial expressions and try to make them feel part of the performance.
v Also try to move around a little bit, not to act like a statue. As I am not singing but playing an instrument that is a bit more difficult to do. When I use the keyboard I should try to look at the audience as much as possible and move around my hands a little bit. When I play the bass it is a bit easier as I am standing up and I could move my feet for example, maybe to keep the beat.
v Another important thing is to always smile and do no not seem like upset. Try to hide the panic that you feel considering that you are nervous, it looks weird to see someone too focused while playing (this is going to be hard).
v Remember you are playing as a group. Everyone should listen to each other and do so also on the stage.
v As I am playing with instruments I don´t really have the problem of where to put hands. However, when I play the keyboard I use just one hand (expect for the melody) and a good idea would be either to pretend that I am also using that one or at least try to hide it from the audience and not to leave down not doing anything.
Again here people are moving but the amazing thing is how they are moving slowly, following the beat and the rhythm of the song. The singer sometimes doesn´t face the audience but that is just because he goes over to other member in the band and kind of plays with them.
I obviously don´t expect my band and I to act like this as we are not professional but these two clips could be useful as inspiration.
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LESSON #1: 23/10/2013
I started playing the keyboard for “I shot the sheriff”. I really wanted to play the keyboard or the piano as they are two instruments which I love to listen to. Considering that I had no idea how to play this instrument, my teacher and to teach me everything. Personally I think that I made enormous progress as at the end of the lesson I was able to play something, even if extremely easy, on the keyboard. I’m still really weak and I have many many things to improve, for example the movements that I have to made with my hands to press all the right buttons. Another useful thing that I learnt in this lesson, thanks to a feedback from my teacher, is how to rearrange notes to do less movements as possible. I spent all the lesson trying to get the first line of my paper in a nice way. I can’t really say that now I’m able to play the piano but I made big progresses and, honestly, I’m proud of myself and of the work I’ve made.
LESSON #2: 6/11/2013
During the second lesson I started to practice also on the second line. I rearranged the notes in order to make less movement and, as a consequence, to make everything easier. Overall, it went quite good but I still need the teacher to listen to my work and to give me feedbacks; I can’t really work alone without any help. To improve my work I think that I just need to practice, practice and practice; and this is also a feedback that I got from my teacher. Another useful feedback that I got from a girl in my class who i already able to play the piano, is not to hurry up, I will get better results if I do everything more slowly.
LESSON #3: 13/11/2013
The second lesson went, overall, pretty good. I spent all the lesson practicing all the songs as I understood how to play all my paper. Furthermore, I learned the rhythm that I am supposed to play to get a better result in the song “I shot the sheriff”. Mt teacher listened to my progress and tried to give me some useful feedback, for example he helped me to rearrange notes. Also one girl in my class, who already plays the piano, listened to a part of my “music” and said that I made big progresses even if I have to work more on the rhythm of the music, in order to understand it. Also in this lesson I made several progress, but I still need to practice to get a more musical result, something that seems real music. Probably, to understand where there are my weak areas I should practice with my band but I don’t feel sure about my piano part so I try to avoid it.
LESSON #4: 20/11/2013
During my fourth lesson I spent all the time practicing alone. I was supposed to play in band as well but I couldn’t really realize and check the time. Again it went pretty good but I still need more practice. I easily got what I was supposed to play. Actually considering that I’m playing just cords, it is really easy to learn them, also for someone that have never played the piano before. During this lesson I also learnt how to play the last melody that is supposed to be the end of my paper. To improve I probably should practice the rhythm and my velocity, as I go probably too fast without listening to the actual rhythm of the music.
LESSON #5: 27/11/ 2013
During this lesson I had 10 minutes of individual practice then I got ready to play with my band. After have rearranged all cables and stuff, I decided that it was better just to listen to their practice at least once. In this way I could listen to the good rhythm and get the right speed. However, when I started playing with them everything went wrong, I did many many mistakes and I obviously had to stop. I think it went this way because I don’t use to play with other people and with a rhythm so I am not really able to do it. The advice that I got from components of my bad is to practice more and maybe sometimes with someone as well, in order to be able to play with them as soon as possible. My purposes for the next lessons are to play with my band and also to start to take a look to my paper for the bass for “No woman, no cry”.
LESSON #6 : 4/12/2013
At first, this lesson went much better than the previous one. I had ten minutes of completely individual practice where I modified some things in my way of playing it. After this I practiced for half an hour with Melissa, who is playing the guitar. This “band practice” helped me to get the right temple and the right rhythm. We have done parts of the song a couple of time; obviously we made many mistakes but we helped each other to improve and reach a good level. Then, still playing with her, we tried to practice the entire songs; we made many errors and rests but it went pretty well. To improve I need to coordinate my movements on the keyboard with all the others in my band. In this lessons I also started to take a look to my bass part on “No woman, no cry”. I learnt how to play some cords which are in my songs and starts to practice a little bit. It went rather well considering that it was my first time playing the bass! I really need to improve by the way...
LESSON #7: 11/12/2013
My purpose for this lesson was absolutely to practice with my entire band. At first I decided to listen to their practice in order to get the speed, then I joined. The first time went pretty bad as I was not that focused and to slow in my movements; the second time improved terribly as I got the right rhythm. Our practice in band can now be defined as discreet because all of us is able to play their own part, we obviously need more practice together in order to improve but I’m quite satisfied. After the band practice for “ No woman, no cry”, I had individual practice for “ I shot the sheriff” with the bass. My teacher taught me how to play different cords on this instrument which is new for me. I’m now playing the simple version of the paper but I’m practice in order to improve with this instrument as well.
LESSON #8 : 18/12/13
First of all, we had a band practice on “Is shot the sheriff”. I am pretty satisfied about this as all the people in the band did their best to get a nice result, and this is what we got. The first time was quite a mess because I wasn't really able to follow the others with a good rhythm as they are all much better than me. The second try went pretty well and the third one was nearly perfect. Then, I played the bass. I improved as now, when I'm playing, is possible to listen to a kind f melody and recognise the song I'm practising. I' now playing the simple version, therefore I am supposed to hold each cords until the beginning of the other one. Before starting to play the bass I didn't really know this instrument and, as a consequence, I didn't like it; now, after some lessons practising and using it I started to appraise it and its sound. After the practice with the bass I started playing the keyboard with Melissa, who was playing the guitar. Melissa and my teacher helped me to put the final touch on my technique and my rhythm as I was not using the correct melody. Overall, I can actually see progress and improvement lesson by lesson.
LESSON #9 : 15/01/14
As I haven´t been practicing for a couple of weeks since this lesson I had to kind of restart everything in order to remember them well again. I first started practicing with the bass and a classmate so we could share ideas, advices and help each other. We did this practice without connecting the basses to the amplifier so we just studied and analysed hands movement. Then, I connected my bass and I started an individual practice with headphones. After these two trainings I was able to play the all part on my paper which is really good as I have been “wasting” a lot of time practicing just with the keyboard. However, I´m still not able to play in my band and this is my goal for the next lesson. We have also been practicing in band for the song “I shot the sheriff” and it took me a couple of minutes to remember again all the cords, and I need to improve this thing as we will have the performance in a couple of weeks.
LESSON #10: 22/01/2014
We started out this lesson making a plan with our purposes and goals for the lesson. My band and I decided to divide the lesson in two halves: the first one for individual practice and the second one for and practice. However, we wouldn’t have been able to play both the song if we wanted to have an amazing result so we focused on “No woman no cry ”. I had 30 minutes on individual practice with the bass; I focused on the verse and the chorus as they are really similar to each other. For the rest of the lesson we practiced in band and I got different feedbacks. My classmates told me to relax a little bit, not to be too nervous while I play in order to enjoy the music; the teacher told to press harder on strings of the bass so I can get the sound louder. I am pretty satisfied as I practiced on the bass with the all band and this helped me to improve pretty much
LESSON #11: 29/01/2014
Again we started this lesson making I plan, I wrote: learn how to play “No woman no cry” advanced version on the bass, play “I shot the sheriff” with my band, identify weak areas and practice them again and again.
As I wrote in my plan I started with the bass, I asked the teacher to play for the melody and the rhythm so that I could learn them while repeating. The melody came out pretty well but it took me a bit more in order to get the right rhythm, and I still need to work on it. The advice that I got from my teacher was to start practicing the rhythm on just on chord, then try it with to chords close to each other and finally make the actual rhythm with chords on my paper. Honestly, I think that I could have done more work and better, at least use better my time as it took ages for me to rearrange the bass with all the cables.
Then, I practiced “I shot the sheriff” with the band because on the previous lesson we had “No woman, no cry”. It didn´t go that well as I was struggling making chords perfectly. In order to improve I really need to practice more and more especially with someone or something keeping a beat that helped me.
LESSON #12: 26/02/14
As my school had one week break and I got sick the week earlier I had a lot to catch up during this lesson. First of all, we started with an evaluation process on our own group performance on the song No Woman No Cry. We divided it in parts: chorus, verse and bridge. We practiced it once with the all band in order to identify weak areas. We gave ourselves a 3/3 for the chorus as during that part it is always the same chords repeating and it came out pretty well. We then gave then verse a 2/3 as we all know how to play it but we still need a little bit more of practice all together as a group. In conclusion we identified the bridge as the weakest are as all of the people in the band are trying to get on better on the advanced version.
After the band practice I had 20 minutes by myself to finish the advanced version of No Woman No cry. It took me a bit to be able to repeat the rhythm the teacher was showing me for the bridge. The feedback I got from him was to start practicing the rhythm on the first bar and as soon as I felt ready move on and add also the second one. In order to practice what I had just learned I joined Melissa to do the bridge. It has been a bit difficult as she is on the keyboard and she is playing in between the beats and in the beginning I got a bit confused as I am playing on the beat. However, this helped me to learn how to count the beat by myself without the help of any other instrument such as the drums.
In conclusion, we practiced again as a band but this time focusing on the bridge. I would this has actually been a fruitful lesson as we reached higher goals than the ones we gave ourselves on the previous lesson. We also played at a quite advanced level (especially on the bridge) which makes me glad of the band practice of this lesson.
LESSON #13: 5/03/2014
As it was since some lessons that we hadn’t been practicing the song “I shot the sheriff” we decided to focus on it for a while. All the people in my band were there during this lesson and this allowed us to practice better and go more in depth with our improving process. We finally got the perfect beat and rhythm so the song sounds now slightly more professional. I personally need to improve in the little melody that we play at the end of each verse but the playing in band is helping a lot as I follow what the keyboard does, understand when to start thanks to the singer and get the right rhythm from the bass and the drums. We then decided than we had definitely improved in this song and a little bit more of focused practice will lead as to a nicely performed final song.
We then practiced “No woman No Cry”. We need a bit more of practice on this song as part of the band (especially me) is struggling on the bridge and the advanced version. We also faced another problem with the singing as our singer lost the words of the songs and, taking them from the internet, is not helping at all.
I personally think we could have done way better during this lesson as we wasted so much time looking at each other waiting for someone to decide what to do next. In order to improve our band practice we should show more initiative and also help each other through support and feedbacks.
LESSON #14: 12/03/2014
As the final performance is coming closer and closer we decided to fully practiced both the songs during this lesson, identify weak areas and try to fix them. We started with “No Woman No Cry” and continued with “ I shot the sheriff”. For my personal practice I am quite satisfied as I am now following the beat and rhythm and I am also able to play the advanced versions of both songs. Later on, the teacher came and listen to our performance on“ I shot the sheriff” . The feedback that we got from him was to slightly modify the stylistic aspect of the songs and the drums and the guitar where performing more in a rock style than reggae. We applied this feedback by changing the sound of the drums and limiting rock actions on the guitar.
Again, I think that in this lesson we could have done better. I think that what we are missing in the band is the initiative as nobody in the group ever propose something as he/she maybe thinks it is wrong. We wasted so much time looking at each other waiting for someone to ask something or advice a song to play. During the future lessons we must improve our team work as it is highly needed in order to reach a good and satisfactory level in the final performance.
LESSON #15: 19/03/2014
First of all, this lesson went slightly better then the previous one, as we all got under pressure because of the final performance so we practiced more hardly.
We played both the songs a couple of times and each time was a bit better as an hard practice helped us to identify weak areas. For example, we had to concentrate on the bridge in "No Woman No Cry" because during that bit some instrument play off and some others play on the beat. We finally, started showing initiative as the moment where we were not doing anything became shorter as there was always someone proposing to play again or to focus on a certain part of one of the two songs.
I also focused on my part as an individual because I asked (again) the teacher to repeat the bridge for "No Woman No Cry" as I really want to get it right. He helped me by showing it slowly and after a couple of minutes I managed to repeat it.
I got a feedback from the teacher who suggested to try to use different fingers while I play the bass as it would lead to a more advanced version. I tried to do to but I am still messing around and pressing wrong strings so I will do my best to do that next lesson.
I started playing the keyboard for “I shot the sheriff”. I really wanted to play the keyboard or the piano as they are two instruments which I love to listen to. Considering that I had no idea how to play this instrument, my teacher and to teach me everything. Personally I think that I made enormous progress as at the end of the lesson I was able to play something, even if extremely easy, on the keyboard. I’m still really weak and I have many many things to improve, for example the movements that I have to made with my hands to press all the right buttons. Another useful thing that I learnt in this lesson, thanks to a feedback from my teacher, is how to rearrange notes to do less movements as possible. I spent all the lesson trying to get the first line of my paper in a nice way. I can’t really say that now I’m able to play the piano but I made big progresses and, honestly, I’m proud of myself and of the work I’ve made.
LESSON #2: 6/11/2013
During the second lesson I started to practice also on the second line. I rearranged the notes in order to make less movement and, as a consequence, to make everything easier. Overall, it went quite good but I still need the teacher to listen to my work and to give me feedbacks; I can’t really work alone without any help. To improve my work I think that I just need to practice, practice and practice; and this is also a feedback that I got from my teacher. Another useful feedback that I got from a girl in my class who i already able to play the piano, is not to hurry up, I will get better results if I do everything more slowly.
LESSON #3: 13/11/2013
The second lesson went, overall, pretty good. I spent all the lesson practicing all the songs as I understood how to play all my paper. Furthermore, I learned the rhythm that I am supposed to play to get a better result in the song “I shot the sheriff”. Mt teacher listened to my progress and tried to give me some useful feedback, for example he helped me to rearrange notes. Also one girl in my class, who already plays the piano, listened to a part of my “music” and said that I made big progresses even if I have to work more on the rhythm of the music, in order to understand it. Also in this lesson I made several progress, but I still need to practice to get a more musical result, something that seems real music. Probably, to understand where there are my weak areas I should practice with my band but I don’t feel sure about my piano part so I try to avoid it.
LESSON #4: 20/11/2013
During my fourth lesson I spent all the time practicing alone. I was supposed to play in band as well but I couldn’t really realize and check the time. Again it went pretty good but I still need more practice. I easily got what I was supposed to play. Actually considering that I’m playing just cords, it is really easy to learn them, also for someone that have never played the piano before. During this lesson I also learnt how to play the last melody that is supposed to be the end of my paper. To improve I probably should practice the rhythm and my velocity, as I go probably too fast without listening to the actual rhythm of the music.
LESSON #5: 27/11/ 2013
During this lesson I had 10 minutes of individual practice then I got ready to play with my band. After have rearranged all cables and stuff, I decided that it was better just to listen to their practice at least once. In this way I could listen to the good rhythm and get the right speed. However, when I started playing with them everything went wrong, I did many many mistakes and I obviously had to stop. I think it went this way because I don’t use to play with other people and with a rhythm so I am not really able to do it. The advice that I got from components of my bad is to practice more and maybe sometimes with someone as well, in order to be able to play with them as soon as possible. My purposes for the next lessons are to play with my band and also to start to take a look to my paper for the bass for “No woman, no cry”.
LESSON #6 : 4/12/2013
At first, this lesson went much better than the previous one. I had ten minutes of completely individual practice where I modified some things in my way of playing it. After this I practiced for half an hour with Melissa, who is playing the guitar. This “band practice” helped me to get the right temple and the right rhythm. We have done parts of the song a couple of time; obviously we made many mistakes but we helped each other to improve and reach a good level. Then, still playing with her, we tried to practice the entire songs; we made many errors and rests but it went pretty well. To improve I need to coordinate my movements on the keyboard with all the others in my band. In this lessons I also started to take a look to my bass part on “No woman, no cry”. I learnt how to play some cords which are in my songs and starts to practice a little bit. It went rather well considering that it was my first time playing the bass! I really need to improve by the way...
LESSON #7: 11/12/2013
My purpose for this lesson was absolutely to practice with my entire band. At first I decided to listen to their practice in order to get the speed, then I joined. The first time went pretty bad as I was not that focused and to slow in my movements; the second time improved terribly as I got the right rhythm. Our practice in band can now be defined as discreet because all of us is able to play their own part, we obviously need more practice together in order to improve but I’m quite satisfied. After the band practice for “ No woman, no cry”, I had individual practice for “ I shot the sheriff” with the bass. My teacher taught me how to play different cords on this instrument which is new for me. I’m now playing the simple version of the paper but I’m practice in order to improve with this instrument as well.
LESSON #8 : 18/12/13
First of all, we had a band practice on “Is shot the sheriff”. I am pretty satisfied about this as all the people in the band did their best to get a nice result, and this is what we got. The first time was quite a mess because I wasn't really able to follow the others with a good rhythm as they are all much better than me. The second try went pretty well and the third one was nearly perfect. Then, I played the bass. I improved as now, when I'm playing, is possible to listen to a kind f melody and recognise the song I'm practising. I' now playing the simple version, therefore I am supposed to hold each cords until the beginning of the other one. Before starting to play the bass I didn't really know this instrument and, as a consequence, I didn't like it; now, after some lessons practising and using it I started to appraise it and its sound. After the practice with the bass I started playing the keyboard with Melissa, who was playing the guitar. Melissa and my teacher helped me to put the final touch on my technique and my rhythm as I was not using the correct melody. Overall, I can actually see progress and improvement lesson by lesson.
LESSON #9 : 15/01/14
As I haven´t been practicing for a couple of weeks since this lesson I had to kind of restart everything in order to remember them well again. I first started practicing with the bass and a classmate so we could share ideas, advices and help each other. We did this practice without connecting the basses to the amplifier so we just studied and analysed hands movement. Then, I connected my bass and I started an individual practice with headphones. After these two trainings I was able to play the all part on my paper which is really good as I have been “wasting” a lot of time practicing just with the keyboard. However, I´m still not able to play in my band and this is my goal for the next lesson. We have also been practicing in band for the song “I shot the sheriff” and it took me a couple of minutes to remember again all the cords, and I need to improve this thing as we will have the performance in a couple of weeks.
LESSON #10: 22/01/2014
We started out this lesson making a plan with our purposes and goals for the lesson. My band and I decided to divide the lesson in two halves: the first one for individual practice and the second one for and practice. However, we wouldn’t have been able to play both the song if we wanted to have an amazing result so we focused on “No woman no cry ”. I had 30 minutes on individual practice with the bass; I focused on the verse and the chorus as they are really similar to each other. For the rest of the lesson we practiced in band and I got different feedbacks. My classmates told me to relax a little bit, not to be too nervous while I play in order to enjoy the music; the teacher told to press harder on strings of the bass so I can get the sound louder. I am pretty satisfied as I practiced on the bass with the all band and this helped me to improve pretty much
LESSON #11: 29/01/2014
Again we started this lesson making I plan, I wrote: learn how to play “No woman no cry” advanced version on the bass, play “I shot the sheriff” with my band, identify weak areas and practice them again and again.
As I wrote in my plan I started with the bass, I asked the teacher to play for the melody and the rhythm so that I could learn them while repeating. The melody came out pretty well but it took me a bit more in order to get the right rhythm, and I still need to work on it. The advice that I got from my teacher was to start practicing the rhythm on just on chord, then try it with to chords close to each other and finally make the actual rhythm with chords on my paper. Honestly, I think that I could have done more work and better, at least use better my time as it took ages for me to rearrange the bass with all the cables.
Then, I practiced “I shot the sheriff” with the band because on the previous lesson we had “No woman, no cry”. It didn´t go that well as I was struggling making chords perfectly. In order to improve I really need to practice more and more especially with someone or something keeping a beat that helped me.
LESSON #12: 26/02/14
As my school had one week break and I got sick the week earlier I had a lot to catch up during this lesson. First of all, we started with an evaluation process on our own group performance on the song No Woman No Cry. We divided it in parts: chorus, verse and bridge. We practiced it once with the all band in order to identify weak areas. We gave ourselves a 3/3 for the chorus as during that part it is always the same chords repeating and it came out pretty well. We then gave then verse a 2/3 as we all know how to play it but we still need a little bit more of practice all together as a group. In conclusion we identified the bridge as the weakest are as all of the people in the band are trying to get on better on the advanced version.
After the band practice I had 20 minutes by myself to finish the advanced version of No Woman No cry. It took me a bit to be able to repeat the rhythm the teacher was showing me for the bridge. The feedback I got from him was to start practicing the rhythm on the first bar and as soon as I felt ready move on and add also the second one. In order to practice what I had just learned I joined Melissa to do the bridge. It has been a bit difficult as she is on the keyboard and she is playing in between the beats and in the beginning I got a bit confused as I am playing on the beat. However, this helped me to learn how to count the beat by myself without the help of any other instrument such as the drums.
In conclusion, we practiced again as a band but this time focusing on the bridge. I would this has actually been a fruitful lesson as we reached higher goals than the ones we gave ourselves on the previous lesson. We also played at a quite advanced level (especially on the bridge) which makes me glad of the band practice of this lesson.
LESSON #13: 5/03/2014
As it was since some lessons that we hadn’t been practicing the song “I shot the sheriff” we decided to focus on it for a while. All the people in my band were there during this lesson and this allowed us to practice better and go more in depth with our improving process. We finally got the perfect beat and rhythm so the song sounds now slightly more professional. I personally need to improve in the little melody that we play at the end of each verse but the playing in band is helping a lot as I follow what the keyboard does, understand when to start thanks to the singer and get the right rhythm from the bass and the drums. We then decided than we had definitely improved in this song and a little bit more of focused practice will lead as to a nicely performed final song.
We then practiced “No woman No Cry”. We need a bit more of practice on this song as part of the band (especially me) is struggling on the bridge and the advanced version. We also faced another problem with the singing as our singer lost the words of the songs and, taking them from the internet, is not helping at all.
I personally think we could have done way better during this lesson as we wasted so much time looking at each other waiting for someone to decide what to do next. In order to improve our band practice we should show more initiative and also help each other through support and feedbacks.
LESSON #14: 12/03/2014
As the final performance is coming closer and closer we decided to fully practiced both the songs during this lesson, identify weak areas and try to fix them. We started with “No Woman No Cry” and continued with “ I shot the sheriff”. For my personal practice I am quite satisfied as I am now following the beat and rhythm and I am also able to play the advanced versions of both songs. Later on, the teacher came and listen to our performance on“ I shot the sheriff” . The feedback that we got from him was to slightly modify the stylistic aspect of the songs and the drums and the guitar where performing more in a rock style than reggae. We applied this feedback by changing the sound of the drums and limiting rock actions on the guitar.
Again, I think that in this lesson we could have done better. I think that what we are missing in the band is the initiative as nobody in the group ever propose something as he/she maybe thinks it is wrong. We wasted so much time looking at each other waiting for someone to ask something or advice a song to play. During the future lessons we must improve our team work as it is highly needed in order to reach a good and satisfactory level in the final performance.
LESSON #15: 19/03/2014
We played both the songs a couple of times and each time was a bit better as an hard practice helped us to identify weak areas. For example, we had to concentrate on the bridge in "No Woman No Cry" because during that bit some instrument play off and some others play on the beat. We finally, started showing initiative as the moment where we were not doing anything became shorter as there was always someone proposing to play again or to focus on a certain part of one of the two songs.
I also focused on my part as an individual because I asked (again) the teacher to repeat the bridge for "No Woman No Cry" as I really want to get it right. He helped me by showing it slowly and after a couple of minutes I managed to repeat it.
I got a feedback from the teacher who suggested to try to use different fingers while I play the bass as it would lead to a more advanced version. I tried to do to but I am still messing around and pressing wrong strings so I will do my best to do that next lesson.
LESSON #16: 26/03/2014
During this lesson we kept practicing for the final performance on both songs. We started by playing “I shot the sheriff”. My teacher said it is very good that I rearranged the chords so that they are closer to each other and easier to play as it leads me to a more advanced level. As a band we found out that we need to work a bit more on the moment where we start playing the chorus after the melody. As a matter of fact, we should technically be able to start without the help of the other, in other words count the beats. In fact, when we tried once without the singer we struggled and changed speed in a way that was terribly wrong. I also got some feedback from my teacher who told me to practice more on the melody that I do in the chorus as sometimes I get it wrong.
We also practiced on “No Woman No Cry” and I keep struggling to the bridge when we play it as a band even though it comes perfect when I do that by myself. I will keep practicing and practicing until I don´t get confused by the other people in the band playing off-beat. The teacher said that our performance on “No Woman No Cry” is pretty good and even though we go slightly faster than it should be it is a good and original version of the song.
During the next lesson we must agree on a small part to do after the end of the song as an outro so that everybody does it and it will sound better.
LESSON #17: 2/ 04/ 2014
At the beginning of this lesson we have been told that we were to choose a song to perform on the stage in order to learn how to behave up there. Our band and I chose to do “I shot the sheriff”. We practiced for around half an hour so that we revised the song. After that we went on the stage. It was extremely weird to be standing up there looking at the class while waiting for the teacher to give us the start. I struggled a little bit because the sound of the keyboard had been changed on purpose by the teacher on a sound which was more like an organ. When I got used to the sound I found difficult following other people in the band as the drums where really loud and you nearly couldn’t hear the singer.
Overall, it went pretty good and I am happy and satisfied with the performance. We haven’t got feedback yet about our behavior on the stage but I am really looking forward to them so that I can improve.
LESSON #18: 30/04/2014
LESSON #18: 30/04/2014
We started the lesson by practicing as usual. The song we chose was “No Woman No Cry” as we still had some weak areas performing it. We finally fixed the bridge which is now coming pretty well and also improved the song overall. We did it once without the drums so that we would learn to recognize the beat and the rhythm by ourselves. It was also useful because I learnt where to start playing the different bits without the drums telling me.
We then simulated a stage performance. We decided to play “I Shot The Sheriff” , though. We had to work and agree on an arrangement which would make everyone visible and able to play. We pretended the audience was in the middle and but the drums at the very back, keyboard and bass at the two corners and guitar in the middle making sure it was not covering the drummer. The teacher decided to take off the sound so that the feedback would have been focused on the stage performance on the stage. I think it went pretty good but next week we are going the get feedback from teacher and classmates.
LESSON #19: 7/05/2014
The lesson began with the teacher showing us some videos. They were videos of people performing on a stage so that we could get inspiration from them. We then continued with the sharing of feedback from the previous time. To our band was said that we should look at the audience a bit more as eye contact makes the overall impression nicer. Furthermore, especially for the singer it would be convenient to move a bit more; I was playing the keyboard so I couldn’t really do that but I am going to try when I get to play the bass. In conclusion, another good thing we got out of this, is to actually make yourself part of the band by looking at each other and “play together” and not to act as if everyone was doing individual practice on their own.
We spent the rest of the lesson practicing as a band on both the song, putting the final touch and practicing for the last time. Melissa and I spent the last half an hour practicing on our own especially focusing on the bridge. We also asked for the teacher’s help as we found useful to let him do it once in order to memorize the perfect rhythm and beat.
The songs should be now perfect and next time is performance!!!
LESSON #20: 14/05/2014 FINAL PERFORMANCE!!!!!
I remember that when we first started this unit the skills I had on playing the two instruments I have been assigned were equal to zero. In my previous school music was unluckily considered to be a minor subject so we had been doing just history of it and no actual practice at all. As a consequence my individual practice in the beginning has been really hard and the teacher played a big role in it as I needed his help every two minutes. I started out with the keyboard which seemed to me the easiest instrument to begin. Pressing on the chord wasn´t indeed too hard but the problems came when I started using the melody form the advanced version of the sheet of paper I had been given. As it is kind of obvious I am not a professional musician the part I struggled the most was keeping the right beat and using the rhythm properly. I then passed on to bass which was a bit more difficult and completely new to me. Also the beginning had been really hard for me as I apparently had a bad connection between my hands and my brain which led to many mistakes. I actually worked a lot on it, also at home, pretending the guitar we have was a bass, ignoring the sound but focusing on the movement. I did the same thing also when it came to the advanced version.
I am actually extremely surprised of the progresses I made individually. I might not be the best musician and I definitely need more practice in order to improve; but considering how bad I was in the beginning and how I found the courage to go up on a stage and play in front of the all class, I feel extremely satisfied of myself.
I would say that also as a band we improved quite a lot. In the beginning it was just the boys practicing as a band as Melissa and I preferred to keep of doing individual practice. However, it came the time also for us when a practice as a band was needed. I perfectly remember how we were all playing on our own without caring too much about the overall outcome; the rhythm was wrong and we were all offbeat. We then left tout individual practice to focus on improving as a group and we must say that we managed. In the beginning communications was absent, boys and girls and were split and no one dared to take initiative. We were actually still working on the initiative part but communication became much better and we represented and actual serious band, it was all a matter of time. Talking about the skills we kind of helped each other and the final outcome improved lesson by lesson until the final performance which I think everyone in the band is really happy about.
Evaluating the final performance
I followed the instructions on the song paper according to:
n o
Advanced Basic
Advanced Basic
Evaluate your performance and rate yourself on these aspects:
Very limited
|
Limited
|
Satisfactory
|
Good
|
Excellent
| |
Accuracy in rhythm and timing
|
o
|
o
|
o
|
n
|
o
|
Accuracy in melody/chords
|
o
|
o
|
o
|
n
|
o
|
Keeping track of different parts of the song
|
o
|
o
|
n
|
o
|
o
|
Communication within the band during the performance
|
o
|
o
|
o
|
n
|
o
|
Ability to get back on track if you made mistakes or got lost
|
o
|
o
|
o
|
o
|
n
|
In order to have a nice final performance which at least would have sound good I practiced a lot to play the advanced version. I tried so hard to do that as I think that in a stage performance it would be much better to hear rather than a plane version where chords are hold until the next one starts. It was kind of hard but I am therefore happy with my performance.
I also practiced a lot with rhythm and timing. We did this as a band by trying the song without some instruments such as the drums to work on the perfect moment to start with the chorus for example. In the performance on the stage I took benefit from the drums and the singer to make rhythm and timing sound good and I am honestly kind of happy with it. What I could have done better is on the second chorus of “I shot the sheriff” I got the rhythm wrong once probably because I got distracted by something or I just lost myself somehow. I also thing I had a good level on accuracy and melody/chords as, as far as I know, I did all of them correct without mistakes neither in the chorus nor in the verse. However, I did a huge mistake which I regret so much: on the first chorus in “No Woman No Cry”, when the singer starts singing, I played the verse and its rhythm instead of the chorus. It is something really easy to notice when you are sitting in the audience and I have been so stupid as I do not remember me doing such a stupid mistake when I was sitting with the band in our corner. It must have been the emotion that tricked me. Anyway, a part of this this stupid error, I gave myself a satisfactory level as the rest went pretty good.
I am also proud of us as a band. As I said before, communication was almost absent in the beginning but for this final performance we all showed a good level as we looked at each other to help us with the timing and the starting point. I am also really happy that when I did that big mistake by confusing the chorus with the verse no one looked at me or stopped but they just helped me covering the error. This leads to another point: the ability to get back in track. This is probably the point where I showed the best skills in, as I didn´t worry too much about the mistake and just kept on playing, honestly, trying to cover the mistake as much as possible.
Overall, I am extremely happy with my performance. First of all because when they told me that we were to go up on a stage at the beginning of the unit I started worrying so much that I almost wasted time worrying. I then found that it was a stupid reason to worry about because I have been helped by teachers and classmates who helped me to go up on the stage. I am really happy about it.
and finally here we have the songs performed by us:
and finally here we have the songs performed by us:
there is "I shot the sheriff"
I
am kind of happy with this performance as the overall outcome was pretty good. What
I could have done better is the very first chorus. I actually did every chords
correctly but I had the feeling it was kind of not on beat. I personally think that
the thing I had done the best is the melody at the end of the verse: it was
easy to hear and also precise.
For
the stage performance I could have done better, I looked at the audience as
much as possible but I was standing still like a statue. The communication in
the band was good we kind of looked at each other a bit and helped to get back
to track if we did any mistakes.
and "No Woman No Cry"
At
the beginning of “No Woman No Cry” I was kind of confused as the sound of the
bass was really loud and I was not used to it. As I already said before I did a
mistake and played the verse instead of the chorus. I am really mad because I
have never done such a stupid mistake during the practice but I have been
tricked on the stage. Again, I looked at the audience as much as possible and the
stage performance was not too bad. I am grateful to my classmates as they
helped me getting back in track after my mistake and it was just really really
helpful.
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