20/02-2024 |
This week we learned about adding chords to melodies. It seemed hard at first, but I do not think it’s going to be impossible to learn it. We started with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" but only finished half in class so the rest was homework. I was surprised to find out that there are such clear guidelines for this. It's a very structured and there are lots of rules, but even though it's tough it's fascinating to know there's a plan to help figure it out.
We also did another exercise to learn to identify chords and name the type of cadence. After that, we learned about operas from the classical period. We discussed the operas Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and Orfeo and Eurydice, and read about Gluck and Mozart. In the last few minutes, we discussed our favourite classical arias.
At the final lesson of the week we played together on our instruments. It went a bit slow and rocky, because our pianist was missing most of the lesson, but we still managed to play a little. I still enjoyed it a lot. We also did some further explaining on chords and inversions. I feel like I’m improving a little every day and that it’s become less foreign to me.
27/02-2024 |
This week we received some papers titled “simple musical forms”, “melodic and rhythmic devices”, “signs, symbols and abbreviations”, “ornaments” and “Italian terms”. Then we defined some glossary terms. The words were neo-classicism, new age, opera buffa, opera seria, organum, overture, polka, polonais, polytonality, postlude, prelude, prepared piano and quadruple meter. We were also looking at examples of each of them and listened to the most famous examples online.
We also had a music test. The test was on general vocabulary and listening. We listened to different compositions and had to choose terms like “cadenza” or “basso buffo” if there was any. One of the compositions were Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Up until that lesson I’d always confuse the name with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, for some reason. But after we discussed it in class, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the name now.
Another thing we did this week was play Let it be by The Beatles. We are thinking of adding it to our repertoire. Then we learned about melodic and rhythmic devices illustrated on the opening of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, so I know what that piece sounds like now. The terms we learned were decoration, sequence, imitation, inversion, augmentation, diminution, ostinato and syncopation. When we were looking at a performance of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, while studying examples of imitation, I saw an instrument that I’d seen before but that I could never figure out what it was. We discussed it in class for a while, and I finally got to find out that it’s a continuo organ. Then we got an exercise on what we’d learned as homework. After that we distributed presentation topics and set a due date of two weeks from now, where we have to present them. I’ll be doing a presentation on Christoph Willibald Gluck. We received some more homework, which was to read a paper on the genres of classical music and underline facts that we learned.
06/03-2024 |
An interesting fact that I learned this week is that the modern piano doesn’t sound the same as the classical one because it’s more advanced, and that composers like Chopin actually preferred the older type. We saw a documentary on Mozart as a child and then we looked at simple musical forms. The terms we covered where “binary form”, “ternary form” and “rondo form”. We also looked at some examples: a Minuet by Haydn, Grieg’s Norwegian Dance No. 2 and the Prelude to Bizet’s opera Carmen.
We focused a lot on discussing the main characteristics of classical music. We got some exercises on that as well as on the main characteristics of baroque music as homework. Then we did a small musical quiz. It consisted of fifteen second clips of famous pieces of classical music. Our task was to try and guess what era it was written in, and then for fun what its name was and who the composer could be. It was a lot of fun, especially learning what the really famous melodies we hear every day actually come from. And finally, we played together. We’re now able to play Hey Jude, Yesterday and Let it be. And we have plans to move away from the Beatles and try Fleetwood Mac. We haven’t actually started them, but we plan to play Dreams and The Chain.
12/03-2024 |
This week we covered some important musical terms. In the glossary we made sure we understood every word from page 139-142. Then we started on a new chapter: 19th-century romanticism. We read an introductory paragraph (page 49) and then read about the romantic orchestra form. We also held a discussion on our favourite romantic pieces.
I was also absent for a lesson, but I learned from a classmate that they read about the orchestra, music for piano and music for piano (pages 50-52). And then they did an assignment on time signatures.
19/03-2024 |
Most of this week I was, along with most of the class, on a school trip. Something interestind I did was enter the St. Sebald church in Nürnberg where Johann Pachelbel played. It was an interesting experience.
In the class I did not I miss I gave my presentation on Christoph Willibald Gluck. After that, we listened to some musical compositions and had to choose three terms from a list of musical features. The choices were note cluster, irregular meter, duple meter, distortion, hemiola, falsetto, dodecaphony, pentatonic scale, repeated motifs, muted trumpet, Alberti bass, late motif, expressionism, pizzicato, ground bass, harpsichord, organ, col legno, fugue, homophonic, pedal point and duple time. We finished the lesson by playing together.
09/04-2024 |
In this weeks classes we learned more about romanticism. We discussed the romantic concerto and then learned a bit about Wagner and his music-dramas. We also listened to Sibelius violin concerto, Grieg’s piano concerto, Elgar cello concerto and Dvorak’s cello concerto.
We also started composing variations of our previous projects. The goal is to create four. We used Mozart’s variations on “Ah! vous dirai-je maman” and Paganini’s Caprice 24 as examples to study.
16/04-2024 |
This week we started by listening to music pieces and guess if it had certain techniques or features, as a preparation for the baccalaureate. Our options were madrigal, pedal point, lied, a cappella, baritone, note cluster, piano sonata, cantata, brass band, fugue, ostinato, glissando, neo-classicism, parallel moving chords, chamber music, sequence, scat singing, free jazz, stop time, straight piano, repeated motifs, microtone, swing, and bebop, changing meter, broken chords, binary form, organ, ground bass, col legno, sonata, basso continuo, major tonality, symphony, tremolo, concerto, minor tonality, cadenza, staccato, sequence, chromatic, monophonic, irregular meter, legato, trills, melismatic. . Then we learnt about 19th century choral music, late romanticism and the main characteristics of Romantic music (pages 58-59).
We also continued composing variations on our previous works, with the help and instructions of the teacher.
We also got a chance to play together. We focused mainly on Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.
30/04-2024 |
In this week's lesson we prepared some more for the baccalaureate by looking at this year’s pre-bac performances, as well as some more listening exercises. The words we had to match were drone, tenor, triple time, strophic, lied, pedal note, dotted rhythm, baritone, octave doubling, fugue, triplets, stretto, sequence, dissonance, crescendo and augmentation. We also had to guess the musical period each music example originated from.
We also did a test, which consisted of three listening exercises taken from this year’s baccalaureate. Then we had to describe the orchestra in 19th century romanticism and describe 19th century nationalism in romanticism.
09/05-2024 |
This week we celebrated Europe Day in school, so during our lesson we taught primary children about the musical aspects of Europe Day. So, we planned some activities, prepared a short presentation on Beethoven and then a longer one about Ode to Joy before singing it.
14/05-2024 |
In this week’s class we did some more exercises on for the baccalaureate. The words we covered were homophonic, broken chord, duple meter, triple meter, variation form, fugato, polyphonic, Alberti bass, baritone, rubato, whole tone scale, tremolo, coloratura, sequence, lied, rondo, polytonal, chromatic, monophonic, ornament, ternary, atonal, classical, anacrusis, pizzicato, syncopation, pedal note, romantic, canon, countertenor, aria, stretto, sequence, dissonance, recitative, chorus.
We also got a chance to play together. We get to organise ourselves and plan everything without the help of the teacher. I think we’re really making advancements every time we get to do it. We played our Beatles-repertoire and then put extra focus on Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.
29/05-2024 |
This week we listened to a classmate’s presentation on gospel music and then we saw a documentary on R&B, as an introduction to our next course topic.
We also had a had a small test to revise romanticism. It was the same one we had a few weeks ago, just to see if we could use the feedback from last time and use it this time. Then we also received personal feedback on our composed variations that we’ve recently turned. After we learnt how the classical concerto has changed through the different periods of music. In the end we played together. We played Let it be by the Beatles and made great progress. It turned out that we had a guest for the last ten minutes that watched us perform, and as he was a pianist himself, he even played with us.
04/06-2024 |
In this week’s classes we were revising some key terms for the compo. We revised rhythmic devices, musical forms, variations and chamber music. And on the final lesson of the year we revised the main topics we would go over next year for the Baccalaureate.
03/09-2024 |
We took this week to plan the year ahead of us and chose three songs we would like to perform for the baccalaureate: Viva la vida, Million years ago and Mad about you.
We also looked over the syllabus to remind ourselves of our musical portfolios. Then we started talking about planning our research projects and the pre-bac.
09/09-2024 |
This week we played Viva la vida and Die with a smile, and after that we started on an introduction for using the music program Bandlab. Apparently we're going to use it for future compositions.
We also we did exercises for the baccalaureate, by listening to classical music and associating correct words.
15/09-2024 |
This week we played together and covered the evolution of rhythm and blues, identified their characteristics and listened to the artists Sam Cooke, Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Boyz II Men, TLC, Usher and Lauryn Hill.
23/09-2024 |
In this week's classes played together. And we started a new piece called Black Leaves, by Kirby. We, the students, also held presentations about the most popular RNB artists: Bryson Tyler, Chris Brown, John Legend, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige and Rihanna. Then we covered popular RNB characteristics and vocal techniques and also we practised some more.
08/10-2024 |
Today, we finished the presentations by covering Alicia Keys, Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé, Daniel Caesar, Bruno Mars and The Weeknd. Then we covered popular RNB characteristics and vocal techniques and then we practised some more.
14/10-2024 |
This week we started by played together and then planning and organising all the pieces we have in our repertoire and which we would consider performing. We also had a test
22/10-2024 |
In today's class we received a listening guide for characteristics for RNB music, and then we started a documentary on Japan as an introduction to our next topic: Japanese Music.
04/11-2024 |
This week we finished the documentary about Japan and had a discussion about it, and then we practised White Christmas for the Christmas concert which will be held in a few weeks.
11/11-2024 |
This week we went all in on practicing our arrangement of White Christmas.
18/11-2024 |
This week we continued to practice for the concert, but we also worked on exercises about Japanese instruments.
25/11-2024 |
Today we played together and organised our entire repertoire. We also watched a few minutes of a movie adaptation of Puccinis opera Madame Butterfly, as it fit the topic of Japanese music.
19/11-2024 |
Today we went through Gagaku and some historical context to Japanese musical theatre.
02/12-2024 |
Today we played together, and we actually settled on a few songs we want to perform. Among them: End of Beginning by Djo and He Won’t Go by Adele.
09/12-2024 |
This week we held some student presentations on J-pop and musical scales in traditional Japanese music. In the second lesson we practised playing together.
17/12-2024 |
In today’s lesson we discussed western classical music in Japan, and looked at some famous Japanese musicians that were also some my favourite: Seiji Ozawa and Midori Goto.
06/01-2025 |
In this weeks lessons we prepared and had a mini-test on Japan. It was on Japan's history, culture, theatre and instruments. After the test, we discussed the difficult parts and which topics will show up in the baccalaureate.
13/01-2025 |
This week we brainstormed the origins of Jazz, and learned about some keywords, dates and key characteristics of genres such as Ragitme, Swing, Bebop, Cool Jazz and Free Jazz. We also discussed and planned our next performances as a class and went through important information about or prebacs. Then, we discussed the origins of Jazz some more and looked at examples of pieces, some structure and then some helpful resources online for studying early jazz.
03/02-2025 |
In our classes this week we watched a documentary called “Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue” from 2004. This was to get us into the different subgenres of contemporary fusion of jazz. We learnt and took notes on influential people (mainly Miles Davis), famous musical pieces and albums (mostly Bitches Brew (1970)) and the new technology and stylistic influences that together shaped jazz. We also discussed and analysed Herbie Hancocks ‘Chameleon’, so that we would know some jazz standards for the baccalaureate. We looked at its structure and instrumentation and then some of the historical context.
10/02-2025 |
This week we continued to look at jazz fusion. We then watched and discussed a documentary on Weather Report. We learnt about some of their albums and songs as well as the direction in music they had and its influence on many other musicians. We also got the chance to play together. We only have one event left, the proclamation, and we started practising the song '74–'75 by The Connells. We’re hoping it’ll be a good choice because it’s catchy and might be nostalgic for some of the parents.
24/02-2025 |
This week's lesson consisted of finishing the topic of Jazz Fusion by looking at a documentary and analysing Chick Corea. We looked at his influence, his life achievements, his music style and some pieces by him.
03/03-2025 |
The lessons this week was an introduction to the basics of chords. We looked at major, minor, augmented and then diminished chords. Then we analysed and took turns playing more advanced chords, like C7sus (omit5) and E11♭13.
We also did an exercise where we wrote out chords based on their names, to get us more familiar with difficult jazz chords. We also got a few to complete at home as homework. We also got some time leftover to organise our performances and practise.
10/03-2025 |
This week we covered what professional jazz musicians have to know when improvising. We familiarised ourselves with the Circle of Fifth and Modal Scales. After that, we quickly covered a typical form for a jazz song. In the end we had fifteen minutes over, so we practised “'74–'75”.
17/03-2025 |
Today we analysed the music piece Birdland, and went through how we should do it when we’re writing the baccalaureate. We also discussed a homework we had to had: to write about the influence of jazz fusion on contemporary music.
We also listened to and identified characteristics, elements and instruments in Louis Armstrong's “Hotter Than That” as well as James Browns “I Feel Good”. We decided that we would have a test next week on traditional jazz vs fusion.
24/03-2025 |
This week we started learning about serialism and the twelve-note-system. We discussed famous composers and then focused on their composition techniques. We also got assigned some pages from a history book to read as homework so that we'll become more familiar with serialism.
31/03-2025 |
Today’s focus was on understanding serialism better. We discussed serial techniques and the Second Viennese School, and then started breaking down how to write serialist music. We’re set to continue tomorrow.
01/04-2025 |
Today’s lesson focused on preparing our own serialist compositions, so we worked on some serialist matrixes that will allow us to write compositions.
07/04-2025 |
In our classes this week we started reading about the origins of serialism and the twelve-tone system as well about the life of Schoenberg and other major composers. We also listened to some of his works. Then we tried an exercise in improvisation: we all played sequences of improvisational notes on xylophones in different ways. The point was to hear and imitate the sort of pointillist effect Schoenberg and other impressionist composers incorporated into their musical works. Lastly, we discussed and planned out an arrangement of Alkyone’s song ‘Rivers’, because we’re considering playing it for the proclamation instead of “’74-’75”.
28/04-2025 |
This week's classes consisted of getting an overview of the baccalaureate. We discussed project deadlines and what questions to expect. We also started preparing the song 'Metamorphosis', for an upcoming concert on the 20th.
05/05-2025 |
This week we analysed Schoenberg's Präludium. Then we looked at the previous year's baccalaureate to get an idea of some good study tips. After that we played "Metamorphosis".
12/05-2025 |
This week we discussed the contents of the Baccalaureate and practised Metamorphosis.
19/05-2025 |