THE FORCES OF MUSIC
For this project we were given 2.5 months to learn an instrument of our choice. We performed original songs and cover songs at Village Fest as well as the Freshman Festival (Yes, that is me in the cape with a backwards conductors hat on the piano in the picture above.) I studied the physics of sound and constructed my own fully tuneable guitar (below.) I learned about how music has impact on people in places such as Sierra Leone, Cuba, Paraguay, and how it affected the apartheid revolution in South Africa. HERE is a link to my essay that I wrote about how music impacts people around the world. Durring this project I learned piano and now I have been inspired to start playing guitar.
BUILDING A GUITAR
This project was a great learning experience for me because I had to overcome setbacks and adapt to situations that were thrown at me in the process of creating the guitar. To make my instrument, I studied the physics of sound and how instruments like the guitar resonates sound. The main things that our guitar was graded on was aesthetics, playability, and effort. My partner and I decided that we would try to do something different from the normal shape of the guitar so we went for a rustic picasso look. Because of the unusual shape of the guitar we had to went through many struggles to make the final product. HERE we wrote an essay on how we built it and how it works.
LEARNING INSTRUMENTS
I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to learn music. Not only did I learn songs but I learned how to structure music and write songs. I can break down a song into chords and play it on piano and guitar. This project has really given me the chance to go in depth on music and how it works.
Here is my freshman festival performance of Float On. I practiced this song with my group members for about two weeks and was very excited to perform it. Singing this song really increased my confidence and improved my self esteem. Going from being tone deaf and knowing nothing about the piano to playing this song really showed how much that I have improved. Click on the youtube video to the left to listen to the song. |
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MUSIC HISTORY PROJECT
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Along with a partner, I studied the history of the reed instrument (specifically the saxophone.) We split up the research into two sections. My partner Davis, focused on the physical change of the instrument over time as I focused more on the geographic change and how it shifted from country to country over the years. I started out with the saxophone and then found instruments that it originated from and where they came from geographically.
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MUSIC ESSAY
I learned about how music has impact on people in places such as Sierra Leone, Cuba, Paraguay, and how it affected the apartheid revolution in South Africa. HERE is a link to my essay that I wrote about how music impacts people around the world.
Intro to Essay
"The people of South Africa found strength to fight against the pro apartheid government by rallying together to sing and dance. Their unified voice was a real threat to the government and intimidated the police officers that were sent out to squash the rebellion. Musicians and songwriters were even killed because of how their songs were able to impact the moral of the South African people. The apartheid revolution was lit aflame by music that was able to empower people to stand up for themselves."
Intro to Essay
"The people of South Africa found strength to fight against the pro apartheid government by rallying together to sing and dance. Their unified voice was a real threat to the government and intimidated the police officers that were sent out to squash the rebellion. Musicians and songwriters were even killed because of how their songs were able to impact the moral of the South African people. The apartheid revolution was lit aflame by music that was able to empower people to stand up for themselves."