May 30 – June 2 Weekly Work Log

May 30 – June 2 Weekly Work Log

Session Number	6
Week Number	1
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week	3
What is/was your overall goal for this week?	I’m interested in learning more about rhythm sections, and maybe trying to compose some.

Work Tasks

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why?
5/29	N/A
5/30	I watched some of 8-bit Music Theory’s “How to Write Drum Parts (for non drummers)”.	~30 minutes	Most of the information was stuff I had general knowledge of, but it was explained with better detail why a rhythm is generally structured the way it is, which was nice. I also made a little beat in Online Sequencer that was stuck in my head (inspired by PaRappa the Rapper, haha).
5/31	I continued watching “How to Write Drum Parts (for non drummers)”.	~20 minutes	I learned some interesting things about anticipation and matching the dynamics between a rhythm and melody section. I also heard some pretty neat ideas for rhythm, like having the snare keep the steady beat while the kick accentuates.
6/1	N/A
6/2	We just listened to music today.	30 minutes

May 15 – May 19 Weekly Work Log

May 15 – May 19 Weekly Work Log

Session Number	5
Week Number	9
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week	~1.5 hour
What is/was your overall goal for this week?	To learn more about composing music

Work Tasks

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why?
5/15	I worked on writing my SMART Goal blog post.	~30 minutes	I’m not sure it really counts, since it’s a class assignment. Best Practice in finishing a thing?
5/16	N/A
5/17	I watched some of Guy Michelmore’s “How to write a GREAT melody”	~5 minutes	Not really. I didn’t get far enough in to actually learn much, besides “There Are No Rules”.
5/18	I continued watching the video from yesterday.	~18 minutes	I think so? There was a stronger emphasis placed on the importance of variation in a melody over just repetition, which I think I could work on with my own tunes.
5/19	I finished that composition that I’d been working on last week.	~30 minutes	Maybe. I primarily fiddled with the baseline, since I enjoy doing those, and gave the whole thing an ending. I’m not sure it’s that good, but I kind of like it.

May 8 – May 12 Weekly Work Log

May 8 – May 12 Weekly Work Log

Session Number	5
Week Number	8
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week	~1.5 hours
What is/was your overall goal for this week?	To learn more about music theory

Work Tasks

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why?
5/8	I finished watching “Music Theory in 16 Minutes”. I spent the rest of my time practicing playing bass with a pick, using songs in the “Modern Band Method” booklet.	~6 minutes 10 minutes	Pretty much recapping what I learned last week about the Circle of Fifths, so not really. I think so? Using a pick is weird. It might just be something I have to get used to, but I’m not sure I like the sound that’s made with it either.
5/9	I spent the period watching “The Secret to What Chords Work – Putting Tunes and Chords Together”.	~25 minutes	Most of the video had him going through a song composition, which was pretty cool to watch. I’m not sure how much I learned from it, per se, but I got a bit of inspiration from seeing the process.
5/10	I practiced more with “Modern Band Method”.	~20 minutes	Yes. It’s the first time I’ve tried playing via staff notation, and I think it went well.
5/11	I tried making a little composition in Online Sequencer.	~20 minutes	I think so. I started off with a percussion beat that had been in my head this morning, and worked from there with a tune that just came off the top of my head. I don’t think it’s groundbreaking or anything, but it was pretty invigorating to actually get a musical idea, haha.
5/12	I spent a little bit working on the composition from yesterday.	~8 minutes	Not much. I only tweaked the percussion slightly during a re-listen.

May 1 – May 5 Weekly Work Log

May 1 – May 5 Weekly Work Log

Session Number	5
Week Number	7
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week	2.5 hours
What is/was your overall goal for this week?	To learn a bit more about music theory via different resources

Work Tasks

Date	Task Description	Time Spent	Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why?
5/1	I spent the period reading some of the first chapter of Hooktheory II.	~25 minutes	Yes. I gained a better understanding of scale structures, and learned about seventh chords.
5/2	I continued reading Hooktheory II.	~17 minutes	I think so. I learned a bit more about seventh chords, both major and minor, and the different qualities to each.
5/3	I worked on a composition for Sergio.	25 minutes	Actually, yeah. I’m pretty happy with how it came out (although I’m not sure how well it fits what he wanted…) and I especially had fun playing with the bass line.
5/4	I continued and finished reading Hooktheory II.	32 minutes	Yes. I learned about inversions in seventh chords, and how they can be used to connect the bass notes of different chords.
5/5	I spent a little while tinkering with GarageBand’s pedals. I spent the rest of the period watching “Music Theory in 16 Minutes” by Guy Michelmore.	~15 minutes ~14 minutes	The pedals were interesting, but none of them really suited the song for my SMART goal. They’re fun to play with, but they sort of seem geared more towards guitars than basses. Yes! While there were some things in the video I knew already, I learned a lot more about how scales are organized, and how key signatures work.