UES 4

Today we work in our own groups. I went to the IT office to unblock the blogspot in the school internet because we created a blog for UES and there will be no point if no one can view it in school. We also discussed about what we can do with the primary kids. We came out with some game activities that we can involve the primary kids maybe during lunch time and we have decided to give some prizes for the winner so that they will be more motivated and maybe learn something about what we are trying to do. The game will be something related to environmental friendly so the kids will know what we are doing.

Chamber Orchestra 4

Today we went through all the Christmas songs. And now I am playing the drums for all the Christmas songs. I think it is a good experience for me to lead the orchestra as a percussionist and it is also a good opportunity to learn the drumming.
The performance is coming up soon. (I forgot the actual date) so I will have to practice hard.

Extraordinary Sound(20/11)

We had this event called the "Extraordinary Sound". We the IB music students gether together and organized few workshops and introduced some musics that are quite rare to everyone such as ethnic musics, experimental music and so on. We had to organise everything by ourselves including what we are going to do in the workshop and how we are going to do it. I was in the ethnic music workshop and we introduced an African drumming piece and some other ethnic music's instruments. We actually did not really prepare what to talk in the workshop but only what to do, so we were struggling in introducing the instruments. Dispite that, everything went well.
We have gotten some feedbacks from the other years and I heard many good things about us so I felt really good about it. Just that we have to be a littlbe bit more organized next time.

UES 3

Today we got into groups and worked separately. What I did today was to create a website for UES. We created a blog and so that everyone can post their own ideas and suggestions about what we can do for the environment. Everyone as in all the people from around the world, not only us in the UES. I wish many people read our blog and know what we have been doing and get influenced by us. So that there will be more people caring about the environment and all of us may make a difference one day.

Guitar Lesson 4(15/11)

We started off with some new stuffs. We stopped all those finger exercises and now started with improvisations(making up the music on the spot). We played along with some chordal backing accompaniments in different genres such as rock, blues and so on. This is one of the ways that I can improve by getting the feels of the songs and making melodies that suit the whole extract. It is good to improve technically but also to improve mentally.

Musical 5

The musical practices on the 12th, 13th and 14th.

12th:
We practiced a new song called "Dream Dream". I have many different things to do in this song. I have to use my fingers to pluck the chords in the beginning, strum on the chorus and play some lead playing fills on the ending. I will have to memorize all the lead playing parts and also have to get used to the finger plucking as well.

13t:
We had our first practice with the casts(singers) on this day. I felt that the practice went more efficient and we know what we have to do for the songs such as our sound balance and also was easier because we can actually know when to start or stop playing from the singing. We did "Time Warp", "Love Is All You Need" and "Cinderella Fairy Godmother" together. We actually did another song but I was not involved in it. I also practiced a song called "This Is Me" but not with the whole cast, only with few people just to get the feeling.

14th:
We got a new songs score "Consider Yourself" and told to practice at home. And this song was the last song's score, which means we actually finished learning all the songs. From next week on wards, there might be a rehearsal on Monday as well, and I really hope that everyone learn their parts perfectly and let the casts to have an actual whole rehearsal with the live music.

Guitar Lesson 3(8/11)

We practiced the solo of the song "The Final Countdown" by Europe. The solo involves some complicated stuffs so I requested my teacher to teach me. I still cannot play it properly but I will master it sometimes soon. We also looked at some pentatonic phrases that we can use it for our left hand's finger exercises. My coordination of my right and left hands are not good enough so I hope that I will improve by using these exercises.

Rock Band 5

Today our keyboardist and vocalist were absent so we could not practice the piece that we were trying to. We just had some simple jamming and practiced "Hotel California". We discussed how we should end the song. And we were also discussing about some other songs that we can perform. But it was only the boys opinion so we shall involve the girls next week.

Musical 4

The musical practices on 5th, 6th and 7th.

5th:
We learned a new song "Who Will Buy". This song involves finger plucking on the guitar part which I have never done before so it will be touch for me to learn and hopefully I can improve by learning this song.

6th:
We learned a new song "Slow Boat To China". But there's no guitar part in this song so I did nothing.

7th:
We started with another new song "Nothing Like A Dame". I have to play the main tune on the guitar for this song and the teacher gave me the score on standard note form so I have to change it into tab form. This is one of the few songs that I am playing the main tune so I have to make it perfect.

We are going to start with our after school rehearsal from next week and onwards and still have about 20 more songs to learn. I hope we all can cooperate and finish learning all the songs as soon as possible so that we can rehears the whole musical story.

UES 2(5/11)

We discussed about what we can do in school as UES. We came out with some activities that we do by ourselves that will help the environment and also some activities that we can involve the whole school especially primary kids such as some games related to environmental friendly. We also discussed about the lights and air-cons in the class rooms. Some of them are still turned on even though there is no one using the room. We have to tell the whole school not to do this so that our school can be more environmental friendly.

Chamber Orchestra 3(4/11)

We practiced all three songs that we have been practicing. "I Will Follow Him", "O Maria" and "Air On The G String". We didnt practice for about 2 weeks and many people got lost while they were playing. We have to constantly practice at home so that we can play the pieces anytime. We are going to record these three pieces next week so I have to practice.

Rock Band 4

Today we discussed what songs to play. Our choices were:
The Final Countdown - Europe
Hotel California - Eagles
Dear God - Avenged Sevenfold
are the ones that are confirmed, and we still have some songs that we are not sure about them yet. I hope we can get straight away to the songs by next week, which means everyone has to practice their own parts by themselves at home and be ready by next Monday. Hopefully we can play as many songs as we can and improve our skills.