What was your overall goal for this week? To really play smoothly and clearly, and to do so in the least amount of time. I also wanted to control my happiness: Even if I wanted to play faster, or another part again, I wanted to take a second and step back and do it another time, because I know my brain works best on deprivation. I did that with a song I’m writing and it really helped.
Work Tasks
Date
Task Description
Time Spent
Was this a Best Practice?
3/20
Worked on Endless Road and did CI in the morning, DP in the midday, and RP in the nighttime. I also wrote a new song because the chords from Brandy gave me some ideas.
50 minutes
Yes
3/21
Worked on my new song and Endless Road, added a break in the middle, and interleaved with Brandy.
20 minutes
Yes
3/22
Retrieval and DP on Endless Road (making progress!) and work on Brandy Bridge
15 minutes
Yes
3/23
Same kinda deal, but realized I needed to listen to the actual song more for Brandy to get the bridge down and kinda played choppily on Endless Road.
30 minutes
Meh
3/24
Wanted to take a step back from yesterday, so did a little less (or a little more?) with more emphasis on control
5 minutes
Yes
Personal Comments (Optional)
I love this system. My songwriting has really improved and I’m making so much more progress.
Cue How does he mean you need sleep before learning? How does that work?
Brain has 40 percent deficit in making new memories on lack of sleep
Hippocampus has lots of activity on good sleep, next to none in no sleep. Couldn’t effectively commit new experiences to memories.
Is there a difference between getting two 4 hour sleeps versus a single 8 hour sleep?
Sleep gets worse when aging (especially deep sleep)
How does Alzheimers kill?
Why does sleep turn on/off certain genes?
Notes Men who sleep 5 hours a night have smaller testicles than men who sleep more than seven hours Men who sleeps 4 hours or less have a lack of testosterone that of 10 yrs senior Same thing with female reproductive health Need sleep after learning to hit “save” Need sleep before learning, too (brain gets “waterlogged” hasn’t processed the information from the experience before. Brain has 40 percent deficit in making new memories on lack of sleep. Hippocampus has lots of activity on good sleep, next to none in no sleep. Couldn’t effectively commit new experiences to memories. “Sleep spindles” during deep sleep act like a high speed train taking experiences to memories. Sleep gets worse when aging (especially deep sleep) Sleeping pills don’t necessarily improve quality of sleep. When we gain an hour of sleep during daylight savings, 21 percent reduction in heart attack rate the next day (24 percent increase when losing an hour). This effect happens for many daily activities and physical health (car crashes, mental health, etc) Immune cell (natural killer cell) activity reduces massively (70 percent) on one session of reduced sleep by four hours. (link to cancer and other illnesses) Any night shift work is a probable carcinogen. 711 genes activity modified by lack of sleep Half of those genes increased in activity, half decreased Genes that were switched off associated with immune activity Genes turned on associated with tumors, inflammation, stress, cardio disease. Going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time is a very good way to keep good sleep Keeping your body cool is also a way to get good sleep. (65 degrees)
Summary
Sleep is extremely important for general health and mental function, as well as learning and processing. Lack of it is linked heavily to a variety of negative effects on almost every aspect of your physical life.
Learn Better Practicing Techniques from Dr. Molly Gebrian
Spaced practice transfers better to other situations as it takes the skill and isolates it. When giving electrical signals to synapses to trigger potentiation, giving two in a short period gives the same amount of potentiation; when waiting (one and one an hour away) increases it. The electrical stimulation is simulating learning.
In order for synapses to undergo potentiation, they need to have “construction;” this is why they have to wait. The first round of potentiation, you get “better wifi.” but not all of them. Some are still “bad” So wait an hour, let them “be construction workers,” and then the synapses will undergo potentiation.
What’s most beneficial to do during a “break?”
What’s the best way to “shift” a sleep schedule without manhandling your circadian rhythm?
Do the practices and breaks have to be short? Could you study for an hour, then have a break, then an hour to study, as opposed to 15 minutes/15/15? And does the length of time of breaks or practicing matter? Where’s the “perfect point,” the ideal intersection, between studying and taking breaks? is it a ratio of 1/4? an eighth? 1/1?
—
Good sample practice schedule long term
practice/practice/practice
Practice/break (x3)
Week off
Three day practice
Two week break
Three day practice
—
What counts as practice?
Notes The more breaks you take trying to learn something, the faster you learn it and the longer you maintain it. If you space your studying out, it is maintained better and learned better) Making “breaks” a part of your study time (instead of three hours, 40/20/40/20/40/20) is significantly more effective than studying for three straight. Breaking up skills (for example, practicing the bass pattern of travis picking and THEN adding chords and THEN adding notes) is more effective than “massing” (practicing it all at once). Spaced practice transfers better to other situations as it takes the skill and isolates it. Proficiency is more likely via spaced practice and is reached sooner.
Long term potentiation: the synapse gets “stronger” and neurons can communicate better (better wifi)
When giving electrical signals to synapses to trigger potentiation, giving two in a short period gives the same amount of potentiation; when waiting (one and one an hour away) increases it. The electrical stimulation is simulating learning.
Long term breaks (days, weeks), allow your brain to fully absorb your practice, and reviewing during one of these can help.
The more complex the task, the more spaced out (days/weeks)
Break too short, reconstruction can’t happen. Break too long, you forget. There’s more of a penalty for taking too short breaks.
Expanding schedules are best unless the subject is time-dependent.
three times a day is enough
If you can play it well, don’t practice for a few days.
The key to frustration is often stepping away.
Increase the days off between practices as you get better at a piece.
For this project, we watched Howard Goodall’s “How Bass Works” documentary, and applied what we learned both there and through HookTheory to the guitar in order to create our own bassline.
Notes from Howard Goodall’s “How Bass Works” Video
Cue
Notes
Why was it so hard to make low notes on stringed instruments? My baritone guitar is meant to be tuned very low.
Is there a formula for what “level” of bass will sound good depending on the note?
Hundreds of years ago, people and musicians wanted to recreate the sound of an organ outside of a church, specifically in stringed instruments.
Generally, as the tune or melody goes up, the bass-line might go lower to compensate to create a sense of falling, or higher to create a sense of rising. Especially when in contrast, you can make some interesting and memorable sounds.
Independent bass lines really revolutionized music and offered new ways to create and write.
Summary: Bass is a surprisingly simple mechanism to make music complex, and have become the backbone of what makes lots of musical pieces “catchy.”
LAB
A simple chord and bass progression I made in Hookpad
I like all the bass options it gives you, and the fact you can choose all these presets. I wish you could overlay bass and chords, though.
I think Tomas Michaud’s exercise was good practice, and probably very beneficial for a lot of people, but I realized I had already learned how to strum bass notes on the guitar on my own. Definitely good review, but didn’t necessarily learn anything new.
Profile in Excellence
Screenshot from Polyphonic at YouTube
Profile in Excellence
Image from Wikipedia
OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS
Musings on my walk: I really want to figure out if there is a pattern to what bass notes go to which chords, and that goes further into how I want to learn more music theory. I’d love to be able to hear a chord someone is playing and just be able to… play. That’s a skill I really, really appreciated in both Carol Kayes’ and James Jamerson’s playing: they were both musicians with not only a great deal of creativity and drive, but the knowledge and the genuine forethought to back up what they played. Talent can only take you so far.
STUDIO
I wrote a short three-note bassline on the Low E that I thought was OK. I want more access to more notes, and also realize I really need to practice licks and leads on the guitar in general more. Came out kinda crappy.
CONTROL ROOM
The recording went alright. It was choppy and recorded on my phone, but I was able to send it to my email and run it through an mp3 converter to get it onto the blog. I want to learn how to audio mix really bad. My grandpa knows how to and does it all the time, so I reckon that’s a good start.
WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED
I learned a lot about how bass goes along with notes. Generally, a bass doesn’t JUST have to support, or be the same note as the melody but deeper, or this or that. It can drive the song, and in many ways even be a rhythm or a melody in its own right. I’m learning that music theory isn’t really what I thought, and what’s complex about it isn’t the technical aspect but the creative aspect, if only in that it’s controlled. I ran into a fair amount of technical problems with Hookpad and the like, but at this point into the class I was able to problem solve on my own and figure out where to find basslines, how to export, etc. Fun project!
DAILY ACTIVITY EVALUATION
Give feedback on the class Content and Process
Participation will be part of your leadership project due at the end of the course
This project is about rhythm – that thing that makes you bust a move. It’s about rhythm on guitar, on the drums, on the bass or on the ukulele. It’s about that sort of movement and feeling as a concept; more specifically, how we as musicians can use it in our own work to improve our music.
It’s easiest to envision this as a drumbeat first. That is, after all, what I would argue the vast majority of modern rock music its based on, so that’s where we’ll start. After making a rhythm on the drums via HookTheory, I’ll add it to my previous HookTheory chord progression.
We’ll then take some of my favorite songs and break their rhythm down in an attempt to dissect why they’re just so damn catchy. Rhythm!
My First HookTheory Rhythm (Beat)
Link to a .mp3 file of your first HookTheory melody, chord progression, and rhythm that you exported from hookpad.hooktheory.com
This rhythm was fun to make, and I couldn’t figure out how to change specific parts of the drumbeat (I would’ve liked to remove some of the fills and keep it simple until the really well placed crash at the end of the 8th bar). I liked it because I felt it fit okay with the melody I put in, but honestly? I don’t think my original piece of music needed drums. I wish there were other ways to add rhythm (in fact, I’m sure there are, and I just haven’t learned how to in HookTheory yet) that I could’ve added instead. It made the song move too much, which I don’t think it needed.
Why can’t/isn’t rhythm divided into groups of five or six?
Why have drums always been the premier rhythm instrument? Is it their simplicity, their sound, or a combination? Why didn’t composers find it easier to “hit” their instruments like some musicians do now, or clap or tap?
Beats are divided into groups of two, three, or four.
Syncopation is common in rag time and gives a much more loose and fun feeling. Perfect for adding feeling to the rhythm
Rap uses lots of cross rhythm (the combination of contrasting rhythms)
Summary
Rhythm is a way of “keeping a beat” and really understates the flow of a song. Travis picking, drumming, snapping, tapping your feet – that’s all rhythm.
Rhythm Composition Terms and Definitions
Rhythm comes from natural things
rhythm is even in music when you can’t hear it
most beats are divided by 2,3, or 4
accent, pulse, sub-division
accents can put emphasis on one or two notes to make it sound very different
syncopation is a musical slight of hand that makes it sound more mischievous and playful
the elastication of syncopation became jazz
cross-rhythm is music’s party trick. its the overlay of one pattern over another
in Cuban music, the melody and bass line are ahead
the Latin push has become very common nowadays
One of My Favorite Rhythms (Beats)
This popular song in the key of Em from the early 2000’s is called “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes, and every time I think of rhythm, I think of this song. It’s a classic example of using simple chords, simple chord structure, and simple drumbeats to create something with enough depth to keep you listening and enough repetition to get you listening. The drum beats in the introduction, for example, are literally just kicks. A kick beat every fourth, that’s all. And the melody in the introduction just repeats. Two bars of just the melody, and two bars of the melody and a kick. That’s exactly what makes it catchy! The only complex part of this is really the melody, and even then, it’s just a simple scale with a fair amount of notes. This song showcases the power of rhythm: sometimes, you just have to keep it simple.
Play with Funklet
(Note to self: can’t import file for some reason)
My Second HookTheory Rhythm (Beats)
Link to a .mp3 file of your second rhythm from HookTheory
Write a brief reflection about this rhythm. What do you like about it?
Where did you raise tension or suspense in the rhythm structure?
Where did you resolve tension in the rhythm?
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
What I Learned & Problems I Solved
Write what you LEARNED from the research, analysis, and rhythm (beats) creation parts of this project
Explain how you SOLVED AT LEAST ONE PROBLEM
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
Grammar and Spelling
I didn’t use any tools to check my spelling or grammar. I just read out loud my portions of text slowly.
What was your overall goal for this week? Create an understandable organizational system that works for me.
Work Tasks
Date
Task Description
Time Spent
Was this a Best Practice?
2/27
Created hyperlinks for organization Worked on SMART goal
1 hour
Yes
2/28
Took notes on Bass project
1 hour
I think so
3/1
Notes on Bass project/working on SMART goal
50 minutes
Mmm… still getting organized. I think for the most part – I put my mind fully to the tasks I was doing, just did a lot of little ones.
3/2
Work on Bass project/recording SMART goal evidence
1 hour
Yes
3/3
Worked on Rhythm project/practiced SMART goal
55 mins 5 minutes SMART goal
Meh. Had a lot of technical issues with exporting and formatting, so, no, but mentally I felt plenty locked in. Really hammered out some of the out-of-class stuff – I just realized I needed to be recording that in the workload. Oops. Note to self for next week.
Personal Comments (Optional)
Are there any other comments you would like to include? If so, please enter them here:
What was your overall goal for this week? Figuring out what the heck I’m doing/getting organized.
Work Tasks
Date
Task Description
Time Spent
Was this a Best Practice?
Monday 2/13
Harmony Research Project
One hour
2/14
Harmony Research Project
One hour
2/15
Harmony Research Project
One hour
2/16
Absent (at Biology at SPSCC)
Zero (Bio)
Friday 2/17
Weekly Log/Smart Goal
One hour
Personal Comments (Optional)
Are there any other comments you would like to include? If so, please enter them here:
Ahh! Just starting to get organized. Going one step at a time. Didn’t even know this existed until today (Friday) so hopefully going into next week I’ll be a bit more on top of things.
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS DETAILED BELOW AFTER COMPLETING THEM
SUMMARY
Focus / Instrument
Guitar
Intention (SMART Goal)
Play through “Song for a Rainy Morning” perfectly. I started Februarys SMART goal late, so I’m setting it small: just perfecting a song I love.
PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY
Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)
Tommy Emmanuel is the writer of this “Song for a Rainy Morning” and one of my biggest inspirations in both the broad world of music and the narrower world of the guitar. He is just exceptional. His ability to almost make a band out of the guitar just blows me away every time. There’s fingerstyle guitar, then there’s solo fingerstyle guitar, and there’s this. Many composers will make unnecessarily complex arrangements or do some really flashy things, which isn’t bad in and of itself, but Emmanuel creates songs catchy enough to appeal to even an audience that doesn’t enjoy instrumental music, complex and flashy enough to appeal to those who do, and with a wide enough range to be palpable to the wider world. He’s also just really passionate about what he does! He’s said that he doesn’t consider a song finished until he loves playing every part of it, and it shows.
Training Source(s)
SMART Goal Schedule
Pretty consistently spend half an hour working on my Smart Goal every day. I created this very late as I’m still organized, so I’m not going to be too specific, but I know the entire song and just need to practice it very slowly and carefully, with special emphasis on getting the transition to the ending smoother.
PRODUCTION
SMART Goal Starting Point Evidence
SMART Goal Ending Point Evidence
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION
21st Century Skills
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
This project is a brief introduction to my introduction to music theory, via Hooktheory. I create and break down some basic melodies, and explore one of my favorite chord progressions in music.
A drone is a single, usually “droning” note you can sing any melody above. Harmony is two notes playing at the same time. The drone copies the melody – it is “parallel.” A Triad is when three notes play together There are hidden notes in a single note called harmonics. Humans can only really pick out three or four harmonics. Harmonics help build hierarchies in chords. Harmonics like the “colors” in white light; chords like those colors (red and blue) making yellow. A minor triad/chord is a chord where the middle note is a half-step lower. Polyphony is when you have many chords under the melody. Tonic-Dominant relationship (1 and 5) (C and G) (got too complicated, tried to absorb with just my brain for a bit)
Summary: Music theory seems built like a pyramid, and a lot easier to learn than I initially thought. It makes sense; it’s just a lot. I feel like once I understand the rules, I’ll be okay.
Harmony Composition Terms and Definitions
Harmony was not originally part of music until the middle ages and the renaissance
Harmony sounds like it comes from some other plane of existence (to exaggerate a bit)
Harmony in its simplest and oldest form in two notes playing at the same time
A drone is a single note that you can sing any melody above. Bagpipes are an instrument that plays a drone.
A drone is usually the tonic
When people started to move the drone around, it was like the melody and the harmony were parallel lines. As the melody moved up, the drone moved up
Triad – 3 notes that come together and create a chord
Chord progressions are the backbone of western harmony
People discovered the “hierarchy” of chords and created rules to go with these
In one note, there are other hidden notes called harmonics
Humans can only really pick out three or four harmonics
Using the harmonics humans were able to make chords by finding the notes hidden in the harmonics
In minor chords, the middle note is a half-step lower than in a major chord
Polyphony is when you have a bunch of chords under the melody
Polyphony – many “voices”
Progression – a certain series of chords or notes that “work together” and sound good
Tonic – the first note of a scale “home”
Dominant – the fifth note of a scale that raises tension
Passimezzo Antico – A chord progression that’s a variation of a double tonic. It was popular during the Italian Renaissance
Passimezzo Moderno – “Modern half step” A chord progression that’s a variation of Passimezzo Antico. It divides the section in two and often uses a contrasting progression or section known as ripresi
Dischord – a deliberate collision of notes that are meant not to sound “pretty”
Dissonance – lack of harmony between notes “a clash”
Passing Notes – notes that don’t sound “pretty” but are used a small number of times like they are just “passing through”
Suspended Notes – dissonant notes being held for as long as possible and then finally moving at the last second
7th Chords – A regular triad chord plus the note seven steps above the first note
Diminished Chords – A regular triad chord with the bottom note being moved up a step
Augmented Chords – A regular triad chord with the last note being moved up a step
Tonic (1 and 8 chords)
Root note creates a feeling of resolution and stability
Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant (2, 3, 6 chords)
Moderate tension, useful for transitions
Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone (4, 5, 7 chords)
In writing, describe why you like this chord progression, and identify the musical key, tonic chord, and tension chords
What do you notice about the chord structure/pattern of the theme of the progression?
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
I really like this chord progression, because (and maybe this is just how she performs the melody) it’s complex enough to hold your attention and simple enough to be immediately catchy. It keeps the relative “feel” of the song by maintaining the sort of IV-V rhythm while adding a little in between to keep the whole sequence spicy. The key is a little unusual – B major – but in a good way. It’s very pleasant, just not something we hear a lot (I wonder why?).
My Second HookTheory Chord Progression (Harmonies)
Place a screenshot of the chords from HookTheory
Link to a .mp3 file of your second harmony from HookTheory
Write a brief reflection about this chord progression (harmony). What do you like about it?
Where did you raise tension or suspense in the chord progression (harmony)?
Where did you resolve tension in the chord progression (harmony)?
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
What I Learned & Problems I Solved
Write what you LEARNED from the research, analysis, and chord progression (harmonies) creation parts of this project
Explain how you SOLVED AT LEAST ONE PROBLEM
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
Grammar and Spelling
Write what tool(s) did you use to check your spelling and grammar?
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
Editor
Who was your editor?
Write their first name only
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
I wonder if Raid is more based on skill, luck, or a combination?
Everything is synergized, it feels like. Important to note.
Gearing out your champions is just as important as having the champion itself.
Notes
Raid is a tactical game.
Main way to get champions is to use shards at the portal.
Each champion has unique skills, and can be upgraded via the Tavern.
Masteries give champions more buffs and bonuses.
Can equip armor and bonuses.
Synergy is very important – champions take turns to attack.
It’s a good idea to join a clan, or create one yourself – help progress through campaign.
Many ways to progress – there’s even PVP!
Summary
Raid Shadow Legends is a complex and dynamic game, requiring thoughtful adaptation to the current circumstance and preparation before the fact, with a special focus on synergy and player cooperation.
