Rehearsal Blog 8 - Week 11

  Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

- Yours by Ella Henderson

I continued looking at Someone You Loved and Yours during this session. I am starting to feel more confident with playing both of these songs. And my transitions are starting to get smoother.

I have also looked at working on the transitions for both of these songs, and I started to look at smaller sections to ensure that they were sounding good for the show. 

I have been focusing on my pedal work during this session to ensure that the songs are sounding fuller.

I am continuing to listen to the feedback which I am getting from my tutors and my LSA to ensure that everything is sounding ready for the show. 

My tutor decided that I should perform Seven Years which I am going to look at over the weekend with my piano teacher. And I also decided that I would like to perform Hello by Adele which I will also start to learn with my piano teacher over the weekend. 

I spoke to Jayden about the possibility of him preforming Perfect by Ed Sheeran with me. He has agreed to do this and we will start rehearing this next week.  

Things that went well...

- Both songs are starting to come together more now. I feel that they are both starting to sound better and I am feeling more confident with my playing of both of them.

- My feedback from my tutors and LSA are both good for both of these songs. 

Things to Improve on...

- I feel that I need to improve on my timings for Yours - I feel that they could be better. I can work on this with more practice and some more time spent on the song. 

-  I need to spend some more tome working on my transitions for Yours. I can work on this with more practice and more time.  

Further Progress...

- I need to add more songs to my set list which I feel comfortable playing

- I will continue learning Yours for the show 

Rehearsal Blog 7 - Week 11

 Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

- Yours by Ella Henderson

I looked at learning both songs with my piano teacher over the weekend of last week. And I continued to do this during this session.

I worked on timing and transitions for both songs. I needed to ensure that both songs were sounding good for the show. 

I got some feedback from my LSA - they said that both of the songs were starting to sound better. 

Things that went well...

- Both songs are starting to come together now. I feel that they are both starting to sound better

- Starting to feel more confident with my playing. 

Things to Improve on...

- I need to improve on my timings for Yours - I feel they could be better. I can work on this with more practice and more time. 

- I need to spend some more time working on my transitions for Yours. I can work on this with more practice and more time.  

Further Progress...

- Adding more songs to my set list which I feel comfortable playing

- Continue learning Yours 

Rehearsal Blog 6 - Week 10

 Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

- Yours by Ella Henderson

I did a full run through of Someone You Loved using the backing track to help with timings. 

I completed the first section of Yours, to try and get the timings better and ensure that my transitions were smooth. 

Things that went well...

- Did a full run through of Someone You Loved - using the backing track to keep my timings right. 

- Transitions are getting smoother in Yours, things are starting to come together. 

Things to Improve on...

- I need to work on the transitions for Someone You loved - I need to be able to get them smoother to make the song sound better. I can do this with more practice and more rehearsal time. I can also ask my piano teacher to help me improve. 

- I need to work on the transitions for Yours to get them smoother. I can practice these at home and with my piano teacher to ensure that they are smooth and that they sound good. 

Further Progress...

- Continue learning the rest of Yours 

- Add more songs to my set list for the show which I would be comfortable performing. 

Rehearsal Blog 5 - Week 10

Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

- Yours by Ella Henderson

I had spoken to my piano teacher before this session so I have now chosen another song to perform at the show - which is Yours by Ella Henderson. 

I had started practicing this with my piano teacher and I continued to do this in this session. I focused on the beginning section of the song during this session. 

Things that went well...

- The transitions are getting better in Someone You Loved 

- I am starting to be able to match the speed of the original track for Someone You Loved. 

Things to Improve on...

- I need to work on my speed for Yours. This can be improved with more practice and more rehearsal time. 

- And I need to work on the tempo of Yours to ensure that it sounds good for the performance. This can be improved with more practice and rehearsal time - I could also use the original backing track to ensure that I know my timings.

- I need to work on the transitions of Yours to ensure that they are smooth. I can practice this at home or while in college and get feedback from others to ensure that it sounds good.  

Further Progress...

- Learning the rest of the song, Yours 

- Continue learning songs to add to my set list for the show

Rehearsal Blog 4 - Week 9

  Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

I spent this session focusing on the bridge and the ending of Someone You Loved. I also focused on pedal work during the song to ensure that it sounded more full. As I don't have a singer yet, I am able to focus fully on my part to ensure that it sounds good, ready for the show. 

I also tried in this session to have a full run through of the song - Someone You Loved, it went better than expected, but I still made some mistakes, which is to be expected. However I can improve on these mistakes with more practice. 

Things that went well...

- My pedal work is getting better as I have had more practice at this.  

- Full run through

Things to Improve on...

- My pedal work is still something I can improve on

- I should still keep focusing on the bridge of the song to ensure that I have this part down perfectly.

Further Progress...

- Add more songs to my set list 

- After I have spoken to my piano teacher about the list of songs, I can use their input to help me choose some for the performance 

Rehearsal Blog 3 - Week 9

 Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi 

In this rehearsal session I focused on completing Someone You Loved. And took into consideration adding other songs to my repertoire to do with Aimee as she was going to join me as the singer. Aimee joined me in this session to help decide which songs we could do together. 

We looked at several songs to preform together: the songs we looked at together were - Hello by Adele, Yours by Ella Henderson, Go Easy on Me by Adele and Someone Like You by Adele. We listened to the tracks together to see which one would be more suitable for us both.

My LSA was present as well during this session and helped us to decide which song we would be preforming together. She made a good point about what the audience would probably favour, as she would be listening from the audience perspective. I decided that I would sit with my piano teacher and we could discuss which song would be the best for us to perform together, as I would be able to go through a little bit of each track to help me decide. 

Things that went well...

- I collaborated with Aimee and I managed to narrow down my song choices. This meant that I was able to go to my piano teacher with a smaller list of song suggestions. 

- I feel that the timing of my playing is getting better and better. I feel that I am finding it easier to stay in time during the song now. 

Things to Improve on...

- I need to spend some time focusing on the bridge of Someone You Loved. As I had been struggling with the transitions in this part of the song. I feel that focusing on this small section will make my performance run more smoothly. Having more practice of this small part will ensure that I have this part down perfectly which will make the song sound better overall. 

- I should now have Aimee with me during my rehearsal to sing one of the chosen songs (listed above) alongside me. I feel that having a singer with me will help me to improve my performance overall. Having a singer in with me during rehearsals will help to ensure that the song sounds good overall - it will also mean that we know our timings and the structure of the song properly. 

Further Progress...

- After I have spoken to my piano teacher about the list of songs, I can use their input to help me choose some for the performance 

- I could consider different songs to add to my repertoire for the performance. This would also help me to develop as a musician. 

GOAL SETTING

 

Rehearsal Blog 2 - Week 8

 Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi 

In this rehearsal session, I practiced by myself (however my LSA was present in the room).  However, this time I had the backing track of Someone You Loved which I was playing alongside. It was useful to play against a backing track as it means that I was prepared for when the singer joins me in rehearsals, as I would know when they needed to come in during the song. Using a backing track is also useful as it means that I am able to keep the correct tempo of the song.

During this rehearsal I started to use my sustain pedal more - this makes the song sound more full. Using the sustain pedal is now becoming more natural to me while I am playing. I am starting to feel more comfortable. Using a sustain pedal incorrectly could lead to the notes blending together. This means that the song would not sound as clean. Not using a sustain pedal would mean that the song would sound flat and would not be enjoyable to listen to. 

I consulted with my LSA for feedback on my rehearsal session, I asked how my playing sounded and if there was anything they thought that I could improve on. The feedback was good - however they said that I could be better at using the sustain pedal. Using this would help to enhance my performance.

Things that went well...

- I used a backing track during this rehearsal session to help improve my timing.  

- I used my sustain pedal more during this rehearsal - I notice that this made the song sound fuller. 

Things to Improve on...

- I could get better at the timing by playing against a backing track during my rehearsals. Which ensures that I will be prepared for when the singer joins me in rehearsals. I can improve on my timing by listening and using the backing track, and more rehearsals. 

- Using the sustain pedal more frequently to make the song sound more full. This would ensure that the audience would enjoy my performance more. I can improve on this with more practice with my piano teacher and rehearsal in college. 

Further Progress...

- Learning the second half of the song - I can do this, by learning it with my piano teacher.

- I can also add more songs into my repertoire - with plans to preform them during the performance. 

Rehearsal Blog 1 - week 8

Song List

- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi 

I started to lean Someone You Loved in the summer with my piano teacher. I picked to perform this song as I really enjoy listening to it. It is also not too hard to play, it also doesn't sound too hard to play.

I rehearsed by myself, as I was focusing on the first part of the song. I wanted to ensure that I was getting the timing right - before moving on to the rest of the song.

During my rehearsal session my tutor Jane came in to see how I was doing during practice. While she was here - I played a small section of my song for her to hear. She gave me feedback on this and suggested that I could use a backing track to get the timing right. She also said that I could use my sustain pedal more during my performance to make it sound better.  

Things that went well…

- My hand placement for this song is getting better - more practice will help with this. 

- I feel like my timing is improving with practice. 

Things to improve on…

- I could get better at the timing by playing against a backing track during my rehearsals. Which ensures that I will be prepared for when the singer joins me in rehearsals. I can play against the backing track in future rehearsals to get my timings correct. 

- Using the sustain pedal more frequently to make the song sound more full. This would ensure that the audience would enjoy my performance more. why do we use a sustain pedal? 

- As a whole these things can both be improved with more practice and more time. 

Further progress…

- Learning the second half of the song - I can do this, by learning it with my piano teacher.

- I can also add more songs into my repertoire - with plans to preform them during the performance.