Year 10 Music Rehearsal Skills

Week 1

How I prepared for today's rehearsal:
Today decided to bring my own guitar as I am more comfortable playing my own instrument.

What I set out to achieve today:
The plan was to come up with a few songs for the set that will be used when we do our fifteen minute performance. We set out to come up with just one or two for today and then add to it next week. We also planned to rehearse them to see if we felt they suited everyone's skills and abilities.

How I was successful today:
The songs that we chose seemed to suit the girls' voices and my guitar playing these included I See Fire-Ed Sheeran, Mr Writer-Stereophonics, Hallelujah-Jeff Buckley Version and Iris-Goo Goo Dolls. However, there are some doubts about whether they contain a significant drum beat which is crucial as they must highlight Ollie's skills as well in order for him to collect a good amount of marks.

Targets for next rehearsal:
Try and finalise what our set list will be.


Week 2


How I prepared for today's rehearsal:
I brought my own guitar, sheet music and lyrics for the songs that have already been chosen as well as effects pedals which will enable us to add effects to our songs if we see fit.


What I set out to achieve today:
To have a final set list that can be performed to the best of our abilities and will highlight all of our efforts in order to ensure we receive the best marks possible.

How I was successful today:
We have made the final the decisions on our set, we have all agreed that Hallelujah isn't the best option for us as We struggled to create any kind of drumming parts in the song and have therefore removed it from our set. The set is now as follows:

Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Mr Writer - Stereophonics (Just me and Ollie)
I See Fire - Ed Sheeran

Targets for next rehearsal:
To start rehearsing the songs in order to get them as good as we can get them.


Week 3


How I prepared for today's rehearsal:
I brought my own guitar, sheet music and lyrics.

What I set out to achieve today:
The aim of today was to start rehearsing the songs that are on our set list and focus on the drum parts. Secondly me and the girls need to learn the lyrics for all the songs.

How I was successful today:
We have started to work out what the drum beat will be for the first two songs (Somewhere only we know and Iris). However, we feel that Ollie has the opportunity to add in some fills and more interesting drumming techniques. Furthermore, I have printed off some lyric sheets for everyone so we can all learn what they are at home.


Targets for next rehearsal: 
Work on the drumming for all the songs and hopefully add some fills as well as divide the verses of all the songs between me and the girls.


Week 4


How I prepared for today's rehearsal:
I brought my own guitar and lyrics.

What I set out to achieve today:
To work on the drumming for all the songs and hopefully add some fills as well as divide the verses of all the songs between me and the girls.

How I was successful today:
We weren't very successful today unfortunately, as there were problems with one of the group member’s behaviour which seriously delayed us. However, we were able to divide the verses between me and the girls

Targets for next rehearsal:
To work on our individual verses as well as adding some more complex drum fills and beats.

Week 5

Unfortunately, today there was a lot of tension in the air after a falling out amongst the group. This is resulting in some harsh feelings towards some members. We are struggling to come to any sort of compromise or agreement which has meant that we are once again not achieving our targets for the lesson.

Week 6
Me and Ollie have tried to leave the group due to a lack of communication and understanding between the group. This means that we have spent all of the lesson arguing and have struggled to achieve anything. However after speaking to the teacher we have decided to stay with the group for the rest of the year in order to help prevent anymore wasted time. This is probably the right thing to do as it is still early on and it will give me time to make up for my misunderstandings as well as giving us all time to try and work together in a more effective and constructive environment.


Week 7
In the lesson today, my group changed our set so it better suit all of the members. Our set now has three songs that involve everyone in the group and then a song for me and Ollie and one for the girls. The set still includes I see fire, somewhere only we know, Iris and Mr writer (for me and Ollie) but now there will a song that the girls will choose and perform on their own.


Week 8
Today there was a slight problem with some of the group members behaviour which has once again seriously delayed our progress which is really starting to get irritating. However, we were all able to run through I see fire once and Iris but it was no where near mastered. I don't think the chords I've learnt for Iris are quite right so I will have to look in to that.

Week 9
The me and the group were a little distracted especially some who once again, spent most of the lesson taking selfies and playing with their phones with the excuse of looking up lyrics. However me and Ollie have been making solid progress with the instrumental parts of all the songs and the timings which I had been slightly struggling with. The structure of I see fire has been slightly so that we can build up the dynamics to make the choruses more impressive.

Week 10
I have considered leaving the group again due to certain members of the group just using their phones and walking off over the course of the lesson. On the plus side me and Ollie have mastered the instrumental parts for somewhere only we know which is really starting to sound good. Hopefully, we will be able to focus on the other song more thoroughly next week.

Week 11
We have worked with our teacher to improve somewhere only we know which is now our strongest song and sounds amazing. Thankfully the whole group seems to have started a clean slate which increases the effort that goes into the set. We have tried to add some harmonies and I have dropped a verse to try and give the girls an opportunity to show off their voices a little more especially as that is all the can do in the performance whereas at least I still have the guitar.

Week 12
Missed lesson due to piano lesson.

Week 13
We ran through I see fire and tried to improve and changed it a little which worked really well. Me and Ollie have altered the dynamics and tempo so that the drumming starts off slow and quiet and then builds up throughout the song. The vocals sound great and seemed to have increased in volume and clarity which has been a previous issue.

Week 14
Today we thought we would work on Iris to try and get it as good as the other two songs. I have discovered a new set of guitar chords that require a different tuning, which makes the song sound more like the original. Ollie has made the drum beat as complex as he can however, the song is quite a simple one so there is only so much we can do to improve it.

Week 15
Missed this lesson due to piano lesson

Week 16
Working on Iris again and have got it as good as it is going to get now. The new tuning and chords work very nicely and Ollie's drumming is very good now. The instrumental parts as a whole sound as good as the can be and the vocals are as equally good. This song is now mastered and will no longer need any more work which will enable us to focus on other songs.

Week 17
Today the aim was to run through set without making a single mistake which after a couple of tries, we succeeded at. This really seemed to boost the enthusiasm and confidence of the whole group which was very useful as there has been some confidence issues previously for all of us. We are all really happy with the set now and are just going to keep practising and improving.

Week 18
This week the me and the group are now just running through the set over and over while trying to improve or add some little things that might sound good for example, Ollie has produced some fantastic fills and drum beats for each song. The girls have come up with some really nice harmonies and vocal arrangements between them which sounds great. Targets for next lesson are to run through the set multiple times and get it perfect each time.

Week 19
Today we set out to play set all the way without a break and not make a single mistake. However, one of the vocalists decided to add some nice vocal techniques to 'somewhere only we know' and another has added an extra vocal line that's sung over the last chorus of 'I see fire' which works really nicely. This meant that the first attempt had a couple small hiccups but once we got used to the alterations, we managed to manage our target.

Week 20
This week was spent just running through the set changing or adding things when necessary but mostly trying to run through the set without making any mistakes. There was a slight issue however as one of the group had a disagreement with another and walked off which made practising quite difficult as we needed to try persuade them to come back. This session wasn't successful at all which was very disappointing.

Week 21
Missed lesson due to piano lesson

Week 22
Today we ran through set to see if anything needed to be added or changed.The rehearsal session was mostly concentrated on making sure we all know our parts and we can perform them to the highest standard. This has pretty much been achieved now the singers know their parts and me and Ollie are able to to play our parts well.


Week 23
In this lesson the girls spent this lesson away from me and Ollie as they needed to discuss the choices for their song which gave me and Ollie a chance to work on our communication skills while performing. We hope that this will help us stay in time with each other and know when to change timing and chords. It also enabled us to rehearse Mr Writer ( the one song that the girls aren't in) which we have now finished with.


Week 24 
Due to my anger with certain members of the group, I left them today and sat on my own rehearsing my parts alone. I shouldn't have done it yes but I am sick with the same old people walking off or mucking around therefore, I walked off before I lost my temper. I felt guilty about leaving Ollie but he soon came to join me and we practised the set alone. Here's hoping it won't happen again!



Week 25
Missed lesson due to piano lesson

Week 26
I have now missed two weeks of lessons from the group so I needed to pick up the slack a little but it has given me a chance to calm down and start afresh. We all came in ready and with the same goal we have been working towards for weeks, to perform our set to the very best of our abilities. The group worked extraordinarily well which meant the first run through of the set was pretty much perfectly performed as was the second and the third, which was brilliant.

Week 27
Unfortunately I was ill this week

Week 28 
Missed lesson due to piano lesson

Week 29
With just three weeks left until the big performances me and the group are just constantly going through the set without break. This is quite tough and stressful but we all felt it was necessary in the pursuit of perfecting the set and all our parts. We finished exhausted but having run through the set without mistake twice.

Week 30
Missed lesson due to piano lesson


Week 31
Today me and the group were just rehearsing the set over and over and over again. This of course was in preparation for the big preparation for the big performance that we have next week and I'm pleased to say that we are ready!!!!! The timings have been nailed, the harmonies are great, the drumming is perfect and I had learnt everything I needed to do to the point I could play it all blindfolded. The songs were played flawlessly each time and we played each one three times. Looking forward t next week!!!!!

Week 32 
Today was the big day!!
We performed our set in front of a different music class while it was recorded by the composers in my class. The first song (Iris) went off without a hitch, the music was played perfectly and timing was fine. The girls sang their verses very well and I did mine just as well which was a relief. The second song (Somewhere Only We Know) was our strongest song and was played impeccably. The vocals were sung perfectly, the harmonies were great and me and Ollie were once again in time throughout the song. The third song  (Mr Writer) was always mine and Ollie's favourite song as it gave us a chance to show off our skills due to the fact that the girls weren't in this one. The son was performed incredibly well in my opinion, there was the smallest of timing issues at the beginning which was sorted out instantly and that was the only fault. The fourth and final song (I See Fire) was the girls' favourite song which meant that they gave it their all and it sounded all the better for it. The audience seemed to enjoy this most as well, which seemed to encourage the whole group as the drumming was great and I didn't mess up once. This song concluded our performance but we all felt it went incredibly well.

Week 33
This week was the week we could finally relax, we had been tasked by our teacher to analyse the recording of our performance but due some technical difficulties, our teacher was unable to find a copy. This gave me and Ollie a good forty-five minutes to just jam together as we plan to form a new group with someone else in our class. This would give us a chance to play some more interesting and challenging songs as well as further our knowledge of different genres and techniques.

Week 34
This week was the last week of the year, none of us had a specific plan so me and Ollie just jammed and tried to think of songs that we could play in next year's group as me and Ollie have agreed that me and him will work together next year. We liked the idea of "Sunshine of your love" by Cream as it is a fairly popular blues song which is a new genre for us and it provides some interesting and challenging instrumental parts for both of us. We also considered some Kings of Leon songs.