Month: June 2023

June 12 – June 16 Weekly Work Log

June 12 – June 16 Weekly Work Log

Session Number 6
Week Number 3
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week
What is/was your overall goal for this week? I’d like to work on an original composition.

Work Tasks

Date Task Description Time Spent  Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why? 
6/12 After I finished my basic LinkedIn profile, I worked on a small composition in Online Sequencer. ~20 minutes I’m not sure, but I’m having fun with it so far. I’m going for a mellower vibe with a piano and drum section, and I’m trying to apply what I’ve learned about good rhythm sections and having it support what’s happening in the melody, instead of just being flashy.
6/13 I continued working on my composition. ~20 minutes I had a bass line in it yesterday, but I got rid of it because it was feeling off. I might put a new one in, but I’ll have to think about it. I do like how the rhythm is going especially–it’s pretty groovy.
6/14 Continued working on my composition. 10 minutes I added these little rhythmic claves yesterday, which were on the onbeat. I switched them over to the offbeat, and I think it sounds more interesting musically. I also added a grand piano to act as bass notes. I think it’s going pretty well!
6/15 N/A I spent the class working on my LinkedIn recommendation, so I didn’t have time to work on anything.
6/16 I finished my composition! ~20 minutes This was my third-or-so try making an original piece, and I’m a lot happier with it this time around. Enough that I’m gonna stick it here at the bottom. I don’t think it’s a showstopper, but I had fun experimenting with rhythm and chords.

June 5 – June 9 Weekly Work Log

June 5 – June 9 Weekly Work Log

Session Number 6
Week Number 2
Total Estimated Hours Contributed this Week 2
What is/was your overall goal for this week? I’m a bit aimless this week… maybe to learn more rhythm theory?

Work Tasks

Date Task Description Time Spent  Was / Were your choices and work Best Practices? Why? 
6/5 At first I messed around with chords in Online Sequencer.

Afterwards, I watched some of Guy Michelmore’s “How to Write Music – Keeping It Simple”.

 ~20 minutes

11 minutes

 Not really. I was pretty much just messing around because I wasn’t sure what else to do. I guess I tried applying some of the things I learned about chord progressions from Hooktheory, like tying root notes together.

Not really with this, either. It just kind of makes me wish I had a keyboard, because they look easier to mess around with for coming up with tunes.
6/6 I read some of the “Modern Band Method” book on drums. ~30 minutes Not sure, since I still don’t play drums, but I did learn that in staff notation, the “notes” with bars that go down represent parts of a drum kit that’s played specifically with your foot. It’s not very important, but the more you know.

I’d say I’m already pretty good at understanding staff notation + sheet music, but there’s always something to learn.
6/7 I tried practicing the first 2 measures of “Distant Early Warning” on bass. ~14 minutes It’s a fun bass line, but it feels pretty out of my league… I would probably have an easier time playing it on my bass at home. I did a bit of tweaking to what the Songsterr tabs said to make it easier for me to play.
6/8 I practiced the same thing for a bit.

I skimmed through “Modern Band Method”‘s drum book, and then watched “What is the ‘Offbeat’?” by Andi Rohde.

 ~12 minutes

~20 minutes

 Not really. It was a “just for fun” thing.

Yes. I’ve heard the term “offbeat” and other variations a few times, but I wasn’t really sure what it meant. I tried going though MBM to see if it was mentioned anywhere, but found nothing, so I looked on YouTube for something.
6/9 I watched “What is a Downbeat, What is an Upbeat, What is an On-Beat, What is an Off-Beat, What is a Backbeat?” by Mike Barnes Drums. ~13 minutes Yes. It was very informative and thorough for what I was looking for. It also went over triplets, which is something I previously struggled to comprehend. Though, it makes me curious on how triplets manifest in something like a quarter or sixteenth note.