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On Monday, March 8, I got to see something that I have never experienced in my life. I got to see a live performance in the St Paul's chapel in New York. The church was so old because George Washington has been there and it is the oldest building still in use in New York. The show included songs by Telemann and Bach and even a newer song by Led Zeppelin. I have never been to a live performance and it sounded very different than listening to music from a speaker.

Something that I noticed is that the musicians played nicely together even though there was no conductor. The ways that I noticed they did this was by looking and listening to each other. If they look at each other they could see when to start so they could always start at the same time. If they listen to each other they could always try to sound good together and not lose track of where they are. I enjoyed this experience and I will remember it for the rest of my life.

New York "Bach at One" Trinity Church Blog

Yesterday, at St. Paul's Church in New York at 1 O' Clock in the afternoon. I experienced a lot about vocals and instruments working together in one to create amazing sounds and patterns. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 and died around 65 years later in 1750, but his and Telemann's musical work still inspire music and is still performed today. Their music still sounds great. Most of the instruments were old-like so it also gave me a real emphasis on what Bachs and Telemanns music would of sounded back then aswell. It was a new experience for me because I have never gone to see music in the way I saw it on March 9th. I am very thankful for what I experienced.

Option 1:

In the performance it seemed as if the musicians and vocalist read each others minds and decided on when to begin a certain piece of music, but that isn't possible. So looking closer and paying more attention you can realize something that the musicians do, which requires teamwork and focus. I noticed that the musicians as well as the vocalist would look at each other and make a counting motion for when to begin. Also around 33:54 minutes the Viola player raised his Stick (Bow) and everyone looked and stopped playing the music quickly. To sum it up, lots of eye contact and counting motions allow the musicians to start and stop playing together.

The New York Trip

   I am a guy who dosent have alot of oppontunitys to go out and look at the world. But when Dr. Lansang gave me the chance to see real orchestra, I agreeded and saw something diffrenet. First of all we went to New York and we took the train. And I never took the train in my life. The weird part was that the  orchestra was held in a church named St.Paul's Chapel. This church is the oldest building in New York and it is still being used till now.
   When I was sitting down and waiting for the performance to begain I talked to Dr. Lansang. He told me that the two styles that was used was Bach and Telemann. This is so diffrent from listin to music from your headphones or from a speaker. Like you could feel the energy of the music flowing threw you like water going out from a fountain. It was so relaxing and exciting. Especially the four singers in the show, their voices was filled with so much energy. Plus you could tell that they put alot of energy and time and money into this program. I really appreicate what happend to me on that trip.

What I learned May 02, 2017

As a fan of Hip-hop music, I am not surprised to hear reoccurring beats in music because artists have a tendency to sample various soundbites and sounds. However, today I was surprised to learn about that many hit songs utilized the four-chord progression. I thought artists made original beats, but I assume that everything in music is influenced by earlier origins.

Today, I also learned that playing the right and left hand simultaneously on a piano is not an easy task, nor reading sheet music. Despite being able to read and decipher the notes that are in Swans on the Lake, my left and right hand still struggle to play with each other.

In the book, How Music Works, I learned what it means to be pitch perfect, and I found it interesting to learn that Mandarin is a language where vocal inflection is crucial. How Music Works, also taught me it is crucial that music is standardized.

Keyboard Orchestra Class Day 2

In keyboard orchestra I further expanded my knowledge on reading notes. Although it was frustrating at first, I was able to get the hang of it later on. I also went over playing on my weaker hand, which is my left. I practiced the song "Swans on a Lake", which required for me to use both of my hand. Again t was quite a struggle,but nevertheless I got the hang of it.

What I learned today

Today in Keyboard Orchestra class I learned about musical symbols and identifying keys on a keyboard. I learned the symbols that represent a rest, and about the Whole, Half, Quarter, Eighth, and Sixteenth notes, and the pattern they carry. I also realized how crazy it is, that over 5,200 songs use the same Four Chords and still manage to be successful. I was challenged today when I had to identify certain keys to play a song. As I progressed playing songs became easier, until I had to use both hands, then I had a hard time.

What Happened Today in Keyboard Orchestra

May 2, 2017

Today in Keyboard Orchestra we divided ourselves into beginner and advanced groups depending on those who can and cannot read music that well. I was put into the advance group where we reviewed the TKO music sheet and played some measures from there. Personally while playing the keyboard it was confusing for me to read the Bass Clef part because I'm used to reading the Treble Clef parts. I also learned about how most famous songs use the same four chords which are the I-V-vi-IV chords. It was quite interesting and we watched a video on how they actually used the same chords by the Axis of Awesome. They are a comedy band that wrote a comedy song about the four chords.

Class

Today in class we learned and did many interesting things. First we read and I learned something that I didn't know which was perfect pitch and then we answered questions about what we read. Later we saw a video about a chord progression that was in a piece that we are learning on the piano and is used in many famous songs. The chord progression was I-V-vi-IV and I didn't know that some songs use the same chords. Then we worked on the piece and we learned a hard part. I practiced, and now I know how to play the song.

What we learned in Class 5/02/17

Today in class we watch a video and learned that there are a lot of song that where made that all use the same 4 chores in it. And we read the first and second chapters in our new book and for me I didn't learn anything new YET (just restated things I know already). But in the future of me reading the book I look for to learning something new. Lastly, the advance side of the class learned the ending of all three parts of the new song we were given and I am going to go home and practice all of them singly and then put them all together and see how it come out, so i can show the class.

Reading in Music Class

Today in class we read our book called HOW MUSIC WORKS and answered questions for about an hour. After that we watched a video called "4 Chords" and I thought it was really interesting. After watching the video I learned that many hit songs use a 4 chord pattern (I-V-vi-IV). After watching this video the class was split in to two groups, the groups were separated by who knew how to read notes and who didn't. Each group was given their own song to practice and at the end some people from each group volunteered to play out loud for the class. The hardest part for me was playing with both hands at the same time.

May 2 ,2017

May 2, 2017

        Today in class, learned and did many things. We learned about the four chords, Rhythm, how to play most of the first song we learned,  some information from the music works, and how to start blogging in class. Nothing today was too tough. It was simpleWe watched a video on the 4 chords, and pretty much, it was showing how so many hit songs were pretty much the same thing with jus a little spin and different lyrics/tempo. For learning the song, Doc.F, was teaching how Rhythm works so that we can be ready for learning the whole song. We played the song so much that, the song started to get annoying

What I learned in this class

I learned how to spot a whole note, half note, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes. I also learned all the beginner keys and all the black keys. For example A,A#,Ab. I learned how to play the basic part of two songs there names were Swans on the Lake, and Student. I learned that some people can acquire a thing called perfect pitch which is common in some areas but really rare in places in North America. It not something every music player needs. It useful for only things like tuning or other things. If it was really necessary all the music players would practice it. It is also difficult to practice if your older that six(6) years old.

Second Day of Keyboard Class

Today in keyboard orchestra, we, as a class, watched a video showing us how most of the popular songs come from four simple chords. The chord progression, the four simple chords, are I-V-vi-IV. It turns out most new songs aren't as original as thought to be. The part I enjoyed the most was when we got to put our headphones in and practice the "TKO" parts. As we had our headphones, Johnathan and I were improvising the parts and playing off each other. Today was good.

Jaden in Music Class

Today what I learned in music class was how many songs use the same 4 court pattern. Also I am learning how to read notes and I had a partner who helped me to show me when I made mistakes. It was pretty hard but we are still practicing but we will get it, I know it. I'm pretty happy with  my partner. We also have read a book which is pretty cool and we had got a sheet to answer questions. This is Jaden, out with a BANG.

Second Day of Music Class

Today we learned that most of the hit songs we know of is made of using only 4 cord pattern, it is wide range artist who made hits using only 4 keys from the piano (I-V-vi-IV). The group that reveled this to us Axis of Awesome. Later on we broke up into two groups where one side was getting better at reading notes, while the other was playing songs. Although i've learned  how to read music, I need to get better at read music, so that I don't struggle.

Learning new things in Music class

Today in class I learned a lot of new things one of them was how to read music, sometimes i get confused at the time to combine my two hands, and another thing that I also learned is  the values of the notes.

May 2, 2017

          The things I have done in class was going over the questions on chapter 1 and 2 on a book called "How Music Works", and continuing reading on chapter 3 of the book.  Even though I knew all of this, we talked the notes and the measure of it, like a whole note, a half note, a quarter note, 1/8 notes and 1/16 notes. When we split into two groups, I was with the advance group and Dr. Fletcher taught me how to use my fingers on the piano, because I am really not a pianist and don't know how to play the piano that much. After I played the part on keyboard 1,2, or 3, I was getting a hang of the notes and trying to play the piano without looking at the keys. It's very difficult, but the more I don't look at the keys, the better I can get the hang of the piano better.

What Learned Today

Today's class enabled me to learn numerous things. For example, I learned that with the simple 4 chord pattern (I-V-vi-IV) you can play various hit songs from the past. I also learned a new way of playing the piano, with two hands. I learned a new song called "Swans on the Lake" which was very difficult. It was difficult because of the sudden transitions between my right and left hand. Overall, today's class was very interesting.

The struggle Part 1

Today I learned that the 4 main cords are used in a lot of song of today. Plus I learned that I need to have patience with my self and trust my hands. I have to let up on my self and trust my progress. I have also begun to learn about the notes and how to play them. Another thing is that when I was trying to practice the music on my own, I was struggling with my fingers. But I guess its down to muscle memory.

What we did today was very interesting. We had an experience on a new song and I really love it even though some people were not more experience in the piano. We learned several cords and  notes. for example the whole note, half notes, quarter notes, eight notes, and sixteenth notes. After that,  we had a little free time and went to lunch. In lunch, I met my friends and we had some fun.

Yours truly, Johnathan Groomes

What I learned in this class is that mostly every song uses the same chords. As the video had showed us.  I know the difference between notes and other stuff. Most of the stuff was easy because I learned how to master these aspects. I like this class it's interesting. ps. Dr. Fletcher talks too much he needs to be quiet more often and let us play the piano more.