Know How to Choose Appropriate Pieces for an Exstended Program of Music
P1 identify appropriate and contrasting pieces for an extended programme of music [IE]
M1 describe appropriate and contrasting pieces for an extended programme of music
D1 justify appropriate and contrasting pieces for an extended programme of music
M1 describe appropriate and contrasting pieces for an extended programme of music
D1 justify appropriate and contrasting pieces for an extended programme of music
The picture above is a picture of the piece of paper that we went over in class. On this piece of paper I have written some of the main thing that I think I should do to achieve a successful over all performance. There are 10 different columns witch each are important parts of preparing a successful 20 minute performance. The columns are: Balancing the program, choosing pieces appropriate for the performance, the venue, the audience, performer stamina levels – the technical and the musical difficulty of the pieces in your set, amount of preparation time needed before the performance, availability of printed music and the recordings, type of accompaniment required, availability of suitable equipment and personal to work the mixing desk during the performance. The column next to all of the title is called the Activity column. In this column I have written in all of the things that I am going to do to make sure I achieve the target. On the column to the right of this one there is a title that says ‘date complete’.
Ballancing the Program
-My ideas
Balancing the program is all about the song that you choose to put into your set and thinking about the different ways the songs might or might not suit the venue and the audience you are performing to. So it is basically making sure you play set of songs that have variety in them and that are technically advanced so that you do not lose the interest of the audience. The way that I am going to balance my program is by mixing in some original songs with some covers. I am also going to balance my program by performing both songs that include finger picking on the guitar and songs that I play with a guitar pick.
-What have I done to Ballance my program?
In the preparation for my performance there were a lot of things I did to make sure that I had a balanced program. One example of me balancing the program was me playing a mixture of my covers and originals. I though very hard about making sure I had a good mix of covers too. I made sure I had a good mix of covers by playing a mixture of covers some of which are very famous songs like ‘Dream Catch Me’ by Newton Falkner and ‘Hey Ya’ by ‘Outasts’ and then playing some covers that the majority of people will not have hear of like ‘All I Want’ by ‘Kodaline’ and ‘Pictures’ by Benjamin Frances Leftich. I also made sure that there was some variety in the tunings on the guitars to make sure that my songs were not all very samey. I also made sure my program was balanced by having all of my songs showing a wide variety of vocal ranges. Some of the songs were very low in my range and some of them were very high and had a lot of falsetto in them.
Choosing Pieces Appropriate to the Performance
-My ideas
When you are trying to choose pieces that are appropriate to the audience that you are performing to it is important that you think of it from the audience’s point of view. So when choosing the songs thinking about the styles of music that the people in the audience might be more into is very important.
We have to have at least 3 songs in our 20 minute set and I think that I will end up with more songs than that. I am going to make sure that the pieces that I choose are appropriate for the performance by making sure that I play a set that shows variety and fusing together different genres. An example of that is how I intend to play a Neil Young song called Heart of Gold. This song is very much a folk song and it has very meaningful lyrics, whilst at the same time I intend to play a song called Pictures and the genre of this song is quite different to the folky origin of Heart of Gold by Neil young. I also intend to play some songs that include guitar procession in them and that is a very different way of playing the guitar all together. That shows a variety in my choice and the reason I want to show a variety of different genres in my set is that it will show that I can play more than one style and that I am open to lots of different types of music. It is important to know what kind of audience you will be playing to.
-How have I chosen appropriate pieces to perform in my 20 minue solo?
I have chosen appropriate pieces for my performance in a few ways. One of those ways is by using more than one genre within my performance so that my music appeals to more of the audience members. I used a song by a band called outcasts which is a pop song called ‘Hey Ya’ and at the other end of the scale I played a song my version of a song called ‘Dream Catch Me’ which is a song written by a singer song writer called Newton Falkner. I thought very had choosing some songs that are appropriate to the audiences I will be playing to. I made sure that I played some songs that they would already know so that they would enjoy my version of the song. ‘Hey Ya’ is a very famous song and I’m sure that most of the audience members will have heard it at least once. I knew that my audience would mostly be my age so I chose songs that would keep them entertained. Another way that I have chosen songs that were appropriate to my performance in the record shop is that I have only chosen to play acoustic songs. If I chose loud rock and roll song they would be a problem when i came to perform them in the record shop because it is such a small intimate venue.
Choosing the Venue
-My Ideas
The venue is important in a lot of ways because different venues attract different crowds and if you find the right kind of crowd for the set that you’re going to play or even adapt the set slightly so that it fits in a bit better with the music taste in the audiences the venue.
I am unsure about what venue I want to play my set in. I am definitely going to play my set out busking and I will try it on deferent locations like Oxford and Windsor to see what sort of different receptions that I get. I might also get in touch with some small venues like pubs and bars. Pubs and bars often hold open mic night and an open mic night would be exactly the right sort of environment to get up onstage a play a 20 minute set of songs on an acoustic guitar.
-How did Choose my venue?
When I was choosing my venue the most important thing that I thought about was how easy it would be for me to bring a good amount of people to come and watch the performances. I thought a lot about playing in a pub/bar in maidenhead and I also looked at a bar in reading but it didn’t take long for me to realise that the best place and the most convenient location for me to hold my gig is in Henley. The reason that the best place for me to hold my gig is Henley is because all of my friends who attend the Henley College would be able to attend and that is a very good thing in regards to having a suited audience to my style of music. I had a think about playing at some of the pubs in Henley but since I am 16 years old and the majority of my friends are the same age as me, I decided against playing anywhere that serves alcohol so that there are no issues in regards to underage drinking. I looked at a few venues in Henley but the best and the most continent venue for us is the record shop in Henley. This is a great venue for a small collage performance because it can easily be turned into a very nice venue in which you can hold very nice little intimate gigs in which you can interact with you audience and get them involved with the music that you are playing.
The Audiance
-My Ideas
It is important what kind of audience you have at you’re gig because if the audience are being lively and interactive then that is going to help you get a better outcome of the gig and a overall more successful night. It is important that you chose a good selection of songs that people will recognise and that people can relate to. If youre choice of song keeps the audience entertained and they show that they are enjoying it then that is already positive feedback in you’re performance.
How have I thought about my audience?
I have thought a lot about the audience and what kind of songs I will play to make sure that I keep my audience interested in what I am playing. I had my performance at the record shop in Henley and I put up posters around the Collage so that we bring a big crowd of college students to come and see us play. I have made sure that I have invited all of my friends who live in Henley and told them to bring their friends because it’s free and they will have a good time with some enjoyable music. Because of this the majority of my audience was collage students aged around 16 to 18. There was a few middle aged people there two who I believe to be there parents and other relatives like that.
Performer Stamina Levels
-My Ideas
It is important to take into account you performance stamina levels when you are selecting a balanced program because it would not be good if you were to tire yourself out within the first five minutes of your twenty minute performance and then have no energy for the next fifteen minutes. For example if you were playing a lot of very fast jazz or funk songs that are very hard on your wrist it might be a good idea to balance your program by butting in a song that is not straining on your wrist and that is easier to play to give yourself a brake between the challenging songs. So basically it is important to have a variety of different difficulty levels in you’re pieces.
-How have I thought about my stamina levles in this performance?
I have put a lot of thought into my stamina levels during my performance. In the build up the my performance I realised that the picking in my song called Pretty Scares is very challenging and takes a lot of effort to keep it up for the whole of the song. I also realised that the picking in pictures is very challenging. I find the picking parts of song harder that the fingering part of songs because I have only just started playing with my fingers and I am not used to it yet and I am jet to build up my stamina in my fingers on my right hand. Because of all of this I made sure that I put in some songs that are less challenging so that I don’t wear myself out before the last few songs of my performance. I have also put a lot of thought in to the stamina needed for the singing part of my set. I have some song that requires some very hard singing parts. One song is practically challenging. That song is called ‘All I Want’ by Kodaline. In that song there is a lot of long help falsetto notes that are very hard to sing. Because of this I put in some lower songs like ‘Hey Ya’ by Outcasts into my set to make sure that I didn’t strain my voice and to make sure that my singing was as good as it could be.
Technical/musical Difficulty of you're Pieces
-My Ideas
When choosing you’re pieces for your performances it is important that you choose some more technically challenging pieces to prevent you’re set from being too boring and too samey. Technically difficult pieces will give you a chance to show off your skill and catch the audience’s attention by playing something difficult that they will find impressive. When choosing you technically difficult peaces you must remember that you have to make sure that your performing stamina levels can keep up with the songs you want to play. This is because more often than not a technically difficult song is going to be more tiring to play than an easy song.
-How have I thought about the technical/musical difficulty of my pieces?
I have thought a lot about the musical and the technical difficulty of my pieces and I have made sure that some of my songs are not as challenging to play and to sings the other songs. I have one song in particular that has a very challenging falsetto part in it that I sometimes struggle to sing if I have not warmed my voice up well and if I have staind my voice. To counter this very hard singing song I have put in a song that is a lot easier for me to sing in my range. This song is called Hey Ya by Outcasts. I have also though very hard about how hard the guitar parts are to play and I have put in some songs that have guitar parts that are very easy and that don’t require finger picking so that I can give my hands a chance to rest before I play more challenging finger picking songs.
Amount of Preparation Time Needed Before the Concert
-My Ideas
The amount of preparation time that is needed before a gig all depends on the amount of time you are going to be playing for because obviously a longer set will take longer to prepare that a shorter set. It is important that you have a good amount of time so that when the time of the performance dose come you don’t find yourself going on stage worried because you’re under prepared.
-How have I thought about the time needed in preparation for this gig?
I had to think a lot about the amount of time I needed to prepare each of the songs before the performance. I had a slight miss judgement of peroration time because I was trying to learn two finger picking songs and I ran out of time to learn then at the time of the performance so I decided that it would be better to play a slightly less challenging song at the performance and to play it well than to play a really hard song that I have rushed when I was learning so the song would not be as good as it could have been if I had more time to do it. I think that I should have put more though into how long it was going to take me to perfect these new songs than I did in the build up to this performance.
Availability of Printed Music and/or Recordings
-My Ideas
When you are choosing the songs for a set it can be very important that you can get access to the printed music so that you can learn the song. Depending on what instrument you play it is usually very easy to get sheet music using the internet. If sheet music is not available then another option you have when learning your songs for your performance is to simply listen to the recordings of the song. Unless the song you are performing is one that you have written yourself it is most lightly that you will easily be able to hear a recording of the song if you look for one.
-How have I thought about the availability of printed music and/or reordings
I haven’t had to think much about the availability of printed sheet music and of recordings of these songs because I know that there is sheet music and that there are recordings for all of the songs that I performed because they are all songs that have been recorded by bands and by performers in the past.
Type of Accompaniment Required (if Any)
-My Ideas
It is totally up to you what kind of accompaniment you require for your performance. You can have all sorts of accompaniment if you want it. Things like: another guitar, bass, piano and extra vocals can be added. When adding accompaniment to your solo performance it is very important to remember that you are the main act and that you are the soloist and your accompaniment is only there to back you up and make you sound even better. If you are adding some kind of accompaniment then it is important that you take into account that they are going to have to be at you’re rehearsal session. This means that you will have to arrange a slot once or twice a week and always be there to do it.
-How did I arrange the accompaniment for the performance?
For my performance I had a variety of different people helping me out by backing me and by playing along with me. All of the acompliment for me set was arranged near the gig at the latter stages of the planning process for the gig but i had a bass synth in three of my songs. The bass synth was played by my house mate (will). I also had Teddy play guitar in one of my songs and I had jasper play guitar in the last one of my songs. I had to put a lot of thought into the parts that I wanted them to play in the songs and I had to teach them both the guitar parts that I wanted them to plays so bearing that in mind I am very happy with the overall outcome and what the accompaniment added to ply performance. I also had some backing vocals done by will. The backing vocals were not as good as they could have been because we had not practiced the singing parts together and will is not the strongest singer.
Availability of Suitable Equipment and Personnel to Operate it... eg, Sound System, Technical Crew/Oporator
-My Ideas
When you are making sure that you have suitable equipment for whatever venue it might be available to you. You can avoid any problem with this simply by organising everything in advance. Doing things like talking to the venue that you are going to be playing at about whether they have a good enough PA system and if they do who is going to operate it whilst you are performing. Once you have dealt with any problem that could have come about to do with kit and crew you will be much more prepared for your performance.
-Useing my Kit
Fortunately I did not have to worry about the kit not being available because I decided to use my own PA system. I decided that it would be best to use my own kit because I know how it works and I know that there won’t be and technical issues with it on the night of the performance. Steve offerd to do the sound for the eavning or at least help me with the sound.
-My ideas
Balancing the program is all about the song that you choose to put into your set and thinking about the different ways the songs might or might not suit the venue and the audience you are performing to. So it is basically making sure you play set of songs that have variety in them and that are technically advanced so that you do not lose the interest of the audience. The way that I am going to balance my program is by mixing in some original songs with some covers. I am also going to balance my program by performing both songs that include finger picking on the guitar and songs that I play with a guitar pick.
-What have I done to Ballance my program?
In the preparation for my performance there were a lot of things I did to make sure that I had a balanced program. One example of me balancing the program was me playing a mixture of my covers and originals. I though very hard about making sure I had a good mix of covers too. I made sure I had a good mix of covers by playing a mixture of covers some of which are very famous songs like ‘Dream Catch Me’ by Newton Falkner and ‘Hey Ya’ by ‘Outasts’ and then playing some covers that the majority of people will not have hear of like ‘All I Want’ by ‘Kodaline’ and ‘Pictures’ by Benjamin Frances Leftich. I also made sure that there was some variety in the tunings on the guitars to make sure that my songs were not all very samey. I also made sure my program was balanced by having all of my songs showing a wide variety of vocal ranges. Some of the songs were very low in my range and some of them were very high and had a lot of falsetto in them.
Choosing Pieces Appropriate to the Performance
-My ideas
When you are trying to choose pieces that are appropriate to the audience that you are performing to it is important that you think of it from the audience’s point of view. So when choosing the songs thinking about the styles of music that the people in the audience might be more into is very important.
We have to have at least 3 songs in our 20 minute set and I think that I will end up with more songs than that. I am going to make sure that the pieces that I choose are appropriate for the performance by making sure that I play a set that shows variety and fusing together different genres. An example of that is how I intend to play a Neil Young song called Heart of Gold. This song is very much a folk song and it has very meaningful lyrics, whilst at the same time I intend to play a song called Pictures and the genre of this song is quite different to the folky origin of Heart of Gold by Neil young. I also intend to play some songs that include guitar procession in them and that is a very different way of playing the guitar all together. That shows a variety in my choice and the reason I want to show a variety of different genres in my set is that it will show that I can play more than one style and that I am open to lots of different types of music. It is important to know what kind of audience you will be playing to.
-How have I chosen appropriate pieces to perform in my 20 minue solo?
I have chosen appropriate pieces for my performance in a few ways. One of those ways is by using more than one genre within my performance so that my music appeals to more of the audience members. I used a song by a band called outcasts which is a pop song called ‘Hey Ya’ and at the other end of the scale I played a song my version of a song called ‘Dream Catch Me’ which is a song written by a singer song writer called Newton Falkner. I thought very had choosing some songs that are appropriate to the audiences I will be playing to. I made sure that I played some songs that they would already know so that they would enjoy my version of the song. ‘Hey Ya’ is a very famous song and I’m sure that most of the audience members will have heard it at least once. I knew that my audience would mostly be my age so I chose songs that would keep them entertained. Another way that I have chosen songs that were appropriate to my performance in the record shop is that I have only chosen to play acoustic songs. If I chose loud rock and roll song they would be a problem when i came to perform them in the record shop because it is such a small intimate venue.
Choosing the Venue
-My Ideas
The venue is important in a lot of ways because different venues attract different crowds and if you find the right kind of crowd for the set that you’re going to play or even adapt the set slightly so that it fits in a bit better with the music taste in the audiences the venue.
I am unsure about what venue I want to play my set in. I am definitely going to play my set out busking and I will try it on deferent locations like Oxford and Windsor to see what sort of different receptions that I get. I might also get in touch with some small venues like pubs and bars. Pubs and bars often hold open mic night and an open mic night would be exactly the right sort of environment to get up onstage a play a 20 minute set of songs on an acoustic guitar.
-How did Choose my venue?
When I was choosing my venue the most important thing that I thought about was how easy it would be for me to bring a good amount of people to come and watch the performances. I thought a lot about playing in a pub/bar in maidenhead and I also looked at a bar in reading but it didn’t take long for me to realise that the best place and the most convenient location for me to hold my gig is in Henley. The reason that the best place for me to hold my gig is Henley is because all of my friends who attend the Henley College would be able to attend and that is a very good thing in regards to having a suited audience to my style of music. I had a think about playing at some of the pubs in Henley but since I am 16 years old and the majority of my friends are the same age as me, I decided against playing anywhere that serves alcohol so that there are no issues in regards to underage drinking. I looked at a few venues in Henley but the best and the most continent venue for us is the record shop in Henley. This is a great venue for a small collage performance because it can easily be turned into a very nice venue in which you can hold very nice little intimate gigs in which you can interact with you audience and get them involved with the music that you are playing.
The Audiance
-My Ideas
It is important what kind of audience you have at you’re gig because if the audience are being lively and interactive then that is going to help you get a better outcome of the gig and a overall more successful night. It is important that you chose a good selection of songs that people will recognise and that people can relate to. If youre choice of song keeps the audience entertained and they show that they are enjoying it then that is already positive feedback in you’re performance.
How have I thought about my audience?
I have thought a lot about the audience and what kind of songs I will play to make sure that I keep my audience interested in what I am playing. I had my performance at the record shop in Henley and I put up posters around the Collage so that we bring a big crowd of college students to come and see us play. I have made sure that I have invited all of my friends who live in Henley and told them to bring their friends because it’s free and they will have a good time with some enjoyable music. Because of this the majority of my audience was collage students aged around 16 to 18. There was a few middle aged people there two who I believe to be there parents and other relatives like that.
Performer Stamina Levels
-My Ideas
It is important to take into account you performance stamina levels when you are selecting a balanced program because it would not be good if you were to tire yourself out within the first five minutes of your twenty minute performance and then have no energy for the next fifteen minutes. For example if you were playing a lot of very fast jazz or funk songs that are very hard on your wrist it might be a good idea to balance your program by butting in a song that is not straining on your wrist and that is easier to play to give yourself a brake between the challenging songs. So basically it is important to have a variety of different difficulty levels in you’re pieces.
-How have I thought about my stamina levles in this performance?
I have put a lot of thought into my stamina levels during my performance. In the build up the my performance I realised that the picking in my song called Pretty Scares is very challenging and takes a lot of effort to keep it up for the whole of the song. I also realised that the picking in pictures is very challenging. I find the picking parts of song harder that the fingering part of songs because I have only just started playing with my fingers and I am not used to it yet and I am jet to build up my stamina in my fingers on my right hand. Because of all of this I made sure that I put in some songs that are less challenging so that I don’t wear myself out before the last few songs of my performance. I have also put a lot of thought in to the stamina needed for the singing part of my set. I have some song that requires some very hard singing parts. One song is practically challenging. That song is called ‘All I Want’ by Kodaline. In that song there is a lot of long help falsetto notes that are very hard to sing. Because of this I put in some lower songs like ‘Hey Ya’ by Outcasts into my set to make sure that I didn’t strain my voice and to make sure that my singing was as good as it could be.
Technical/musical Difficulty of you're Pieces
-My Ideas
When choosing you’re pieces for your performances it is important that you choose some more technically challenging pieces to prevent you’re set from being too boring and too samey. Technically difficult pieces will give you a chance to show off your skill and catch the audience’s attention by playing something difficult that they will find impressive. When choosing you technically difficult peaces you must remember that you have to make sure that your performing stamina levels can keep up with the songs you want to play. This is because more often than not a technically difficult song is going to be more tiring to play than an easy song.
-How have I thought about the technical/musical difficulty of my pieces?
I have thought a lot about the musical and the technical difficulty of my pieces and I have made sure that some of my songs are not as challenging to play and to sings the other songs. I have one song in particular that has a very challenging falsetto part in it that I sometimes struggle to sing if I have not warmed my voice up well and if I have staind my voice. To counter this very hard singing song I have put in a song that is a lot easier for me to sing in my range. This song is called Hey Ya by Outcasts. I have also though very hard about how hard the guitar parts are to play and I have put in some songs that have guitar parts that are very easy and that don’t require finger picking so that I can give my hands a chance to rest before I play more challenging finger picking songs.
Amount of Preparation Time Needed Before the Concert
-My Ideas
The amount of preparation time that is needed before a gig all depends on the amount of time you are going to be playing for because obviously a longer set will take longer to prepare that a shorter set. It is important that you have a good amount of time so that when the time of the performance dose come you don’t find yourself going on stage worried because you’re under prepared.
-How have I thought about the time needed in preparation for this gig?
I had to think a lot about the amount of time I needed to prepare each of the songs before the performance. I had a slight miss judgement of peroration time because I was trying to learn two finger picking songs and I ran out of time to learn then at the time of the performance so I decided that it would be better to play a slightly less challenging song at the performance and to play it well than to play a really hard song that I have rushed when I was learning so the song would not be as good as it could have been if I had more time to do it. I think that I should have put more though into how long it was going to take me to perfect these new songs than I did in the build up to this performance.
Availability of Printed Music and/or Recordings
-My Ideas
When you are choosing the songs for a set it can be very important that you can get access to the printed music so that you can learn the song. Depending on what instrument you play it is usually very easy to get sheet music using the internet. If sheet music is not available then another option you have when learning your songs for your performance is to simply listen to the recordings of the song. Unless the song you are performing is one that you have written yourself it is most lightly that you will easily be able to hear a recording of the song if you look for one.
-How have I thought about the availability of printed music and/or reordings
I haven’t had to think much about the availability of printed sheet music and of recordings of these songs because I know that there is sheet music and that there are recordings for all of the songs that I performed because they are all songs that have been recorded by bands and by performers in the past.
Type of Accompaniment Required (if Any)
-My Ideas
It is totally up to you what kind of accompaniment you require for your performance. You can have all sorts of accompaniment if you want it. Things like: another guitar, bass, piano and extra vocals can be added. When adding accompaniment to your solo performance it is very important to remember that you are the main act and that you are the soloist and your accompaniment is only there to back you up and make you sound even better. If you are adding some kind of accompaniment then it is important that you take into account that they are going to have to be at you’re rehearsal session. This means that you will have to arrange a slot once or twice a week and always be there to do it.
-How did I arrange the accompaniment for the performance?
For my performance I had a variety of different people helping me out by backing me and by playing along with me. All of the acompliment for me set was arranged near the gig at the latter stages of the planning process for the gig but i had a bass synth in three of my songs. The bass synth was played by my house mate (will). I also had Teddy play guitar in one of my songs and I had jasper play guitar in the last one of my songs. I had to put a lot of thought into the parts that I wanted them to play in the songs and I had to teach them both the guitar parts that I wanted them to plays so bearing that in mind I am very happy with the overall outcome and what the accompaniment added to ply performance. I also had some backing vocals done by will. The backing vocals were not as good as they could have been because we had not practiced the singing parts together and will is not the strongest singer.
Availability of Suitable Equipment and Personnel to Operate it... eg, Sound System, Technical Crew/Oporator
-My Ideas
When you are making sure that you have suitable equipment for whatever venue it might be available to you. You can avoid any problem with this simply by organising everything in advance. Doing things like talking to the venue that you are going to be playing at about whether they have a good enough PA system and if they do who is going to operate it whilst you are performing. Once you have dealt with any problem that could have come about to do with kit and crew you will be much more prepared for your performance.
-Useing my Kit
Fortunately I did not have to worry about the kit not being available because I decided to use my own PA system. I decided that it would be best to use my own kit because I know how it works and I know that there won’t be and technical issues with it on the night of the performance. Steve offerd to do the sound for the eavning or at least help me with the sound.