Your school is hosting a showcase for parents and governors. You have been asked to provide a 10-15 minute performance appropriate to the event.
Your work: Must be suitable for the audience
If you work as a group each candidate in the group must be able to show their contribution. Each candidate will be assessed individually
TASK 1 Planning
My statement of personal aims:
Through my contribution to the event I would like to achieve the following goals:
I aspire to achieve a number of goals throughout my contribution to this performance, one of which is understanding of how it feels to play in front of people, so I understand the pressure of people watching, and build up confidence. I would also like to develop my repertoire, and be able to play for longer periods of time, I expect my performance will run smoothly, with no equipment failures. also i will have 10 second pauses in between songs, to introduce the upcoming song.
I believe that the for the duration of the performance will feel relaxed but yet engaged. There will be people seated in rows. When i walk on stage i will make sure i have a good posture and look confident, also when i introduce myself i will speak loudly, clearly and confidently. I will also play confidently, so that the audience can see i am confident and feel like i am one with the piano, using my body to create suspension.
I think that I have the following skills which I will use to help me achieve these goals:
My skills are that I am a fast learner when it comes to piano, I also have a good sense of rhythm which can help me or my group. Also I have a range of different songs in different genres, which can be tweaked to fit other people's styles, and used as backing tracks to other songs.
I will know if I’ve achieved it because……
I will know i have achieved my goals and proved my skills once i have performed, after this i will ask for feedback from my colleagues and teachers, they will then compare my performance, to the goals i set myself. Then they tell me if i have achieved them or not, if not then my peers will tell me what to do, and how to improve myself, helping me get closer to my goals. If I have achieved my goals I will feel more confident as a performer and play in front of an audience with very few mistakes, because i will have achieved what i set out to achieve, which overall will give me more confidence, i will know i can do it because one of my goals is to be able to play in front of audiences, which if i know i can, i wont feel as pressured or as worried about performing, leading to me being able to play at a better standard, helping me achieve a better grade overall.
How I will meet the expectations of the audience:
First i will find out what age groups of people are coming, for example parents, usually over the age of 35 like more sophisticated music, in comparison to teenagers. Once I've found out the age groups coming, I will base my genres on theirs preferences, including different genres for different groups of people. This will help me consider what type of repertoire I need, and how long I play for, because some audiences may become bored if it is too long. I my music quality i will very good, i will be able to play without making more than a hand full of mistakes, also having good timing, a sense of rhythm and i will draw the audience in, make them feel as if they are part of the music. I will have a geed stage presence, i know this because i will firstly walk in will a good posture and sit, then introduce myself coherently, with a clear voice, will ensure i seem confident, not nervous or worried, and polite not rude, i will also make sure my piano is placed in a part of the room where i know everyone is completely focused on me, and i am the centre of attention.
Plan of my contribution to the performance
The requirements of the brief and how I will meet them:
the requirements are that you must perform a 10 to 15 minute performance for an introduction to an award ceremony, in front of an audience of local organisations, i will meet these requirements by performing for 15 or more minutes.
What I intend to do:
I intend to perform various songs on the piano, i will play "all of me", the "entertainer", "fur Elise", "let her go" and one short blues song. First i will play let her go then all of me, I believe this will be a good opening song because it suits the majority of the audience's needs, therefore they will instantly become interested. After that i will go on to perform other songs, suiting other types of interests, my songs will all be solo songs.
How I will do it:
Who I will need to involve:
will need to involve my tutor and teacher to help me learn the remainder of my song and the improve on small errors i may not have noticed. I will also involve some of my class mates, to give me feed back from an audiences point of view. This will really help me because i can then change the way i play down to their feedback.
The resources I will need:
All i will need is a piano and a room to play in, with some time from my tutor and teacher.
The time needed for each song/ activity:
Each song will roughly be 3 and a half minutes long, about 15 minutes in total. Therefore i won't need long in the dress rehearsal, and recording won't take any longer than 15 TO 16 minutes.
Health and safety issues for rehearsals and the performances:
I If there are too many cables the could become wound up and possibly snap, or the could trip someone over, this could result in injury. Also if the audience are not controlled properly then someone could get hurt, or little children could hurt themselves if left unattended. Also the piano wood could be sharp, or chipped, this could cut or splinter you, also the people who set up the instruments must be organised, we must also ensure that the school is well lit up, because it gets dark early and it could be dangerous. As well as all of that i must check if any of the audience have any hearing problems, if so i will need to lower the noise to prevent damage or increase the sound because some people may have hearing difficulties.
My set list:
All of me- john legend
fur Elise- Beethoven
fur Elise- Beethoven
let her go- passenger
the entertainer- Scott Joplin
Style and Image:
I have various styles so i can suit various interests and types of audiences, such as classical, which appeals to the audience because it relaxes them and is easy on the ears, i also have pop, and blues, which will appeal to a wide range of the audience, engaging them that already know the piece and education those that don't, making sure when everyone leaves they take something with them, education or just an eventful night. Professionally i will present myself as smart but also easy going, to allow all of my audience to feel comfortable, i will act and speak as if I'm a professional, to show everyone i know what I'm doing.
Ideas for the performance:
I will ensure that my piano is moved into the correct position earlier in the day, so that i don't have to worry about not having one. My performance is relatively straight forward as it is all on one instrument, so i wont have to bother will the set up of various instruments or getting from one to another easily and efficiently. However, i will need a microphone so that i can introduce myself and my pieces, and speak to the audience if necessary. I will make sure that the piano is tuned and ready to be played on, check it for any dangers or anything that could effect of prevent my performance, i will also go earlier on in the day so they can have a microphone stand adjusted earlier on to my exact hight, when I'm seated, ensuring no problems at the time of the performance, i will make sure it runs smoothly by having signs informing people of my songs that i will play, so people can decide if what I'm playing is what they want to hear. I will have a small group of people at the side, ready in case anything happens or goes wrong. I will make sure the performance runs smoothly but introducing each song, just before i play it, so the audience know what I'm playing and are not confused.
Staging and equipment needs:
Piano, to play music and a microphone, to introduce myself as a performer, talk to the audience if necessary and to introduce each of my songs, so the audience are always well informed.
I must be placed in a position where the audience can see me and have no trouble seeing me.
Rehearsal Schedule
Own preparation time (I will be practising my music with my instrumental teacher in weekly 30 minute sessions totalling 2.5 hours)
Rehearsal 1: 23rd March CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT TIME (1 hour)
Plan: Start off practising my warm ups and then practise all of my songs, after that i will go into practising my new song, the one im working on now to get more time in my performance. I will also ask my peers and teacher to listen to me play and give me feed back.
Reality: I did almost exactly as i planned to, appart form i added in so extra practising, but i timed myself just so i knew how long i was playing for.
Rehearsal 2: 30th March CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT TIME
Plan
i plan to learn the next part of my song fur Elise, and improve the timing of all my other songs. I had to re learn parts of a couple of my songs, because i had forgotten some small parts of it, i found this a little challenging at first because i had to partly relearn some songs, however once my muscle memory kicked in i found it easier, and my figures started to remember the notes.
EASTER HOLIDAYS (Own preparation time - 7.5 hours)
EASTER HOLIDAYS (Own preparation time - 7.5 hours)
Rehearsal 3: 20th April CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT TIME
Plan:
Today i had a run through of all of my songs, because i was starting to forget a couple of them, for example i couldn't remember the second part of "let her go" so i had to spend some time reminding myself of the chords and learning them again, after this i recorded 3 of my songs that i was going to perform in my live performance, by recording them i can now see my progress from when i last recorded them to now, and listen to them so i can hear if i need to improve any parts of it.
Rehearsal 4: 27th April (ARD COMPLETE 2 HOUR OF REHEARSAL IN MUSIC) CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT TIME
Plan:
Today i started with a warm up, i played my blues octaves in the right hand, then the left, and then combined them. After that i began my brief run through of my repertoire, just reminding myself of all my songs, i found this helpful, because i was struggling to remember one section of "let her go", but by the end of my lesson i was completely fluent on it again. I also started to learn the next part of my song "fur Elise" i found this difficult as i had to incorporate the left hand in, so i would be playing both hands in sync but also at separate times.
This recording were played before miss gave me critical feedback, which once i have changed and adapted to i will have a much better range of songs, even though it was already great before. Firstly miss told me to add more dynamics especially in fur Elise but also in my second song, so i would start quiet and build up tension by increasing how loud it is, also miss helped me to order my list of songs and when they're going to be played, helping me position my songs correctly to add emphasis and effect.
This recording were played before miss gave me critical feedback, which once i have changed and adapted to i will have a much better range of songs, even though it was already great before. Firstly miss told me to add more dynamics especially in fur Elise but also in my second song, so i would start quiet and build up tension by increasing how loud it is, also miss helped me to order my list of songs and when they're going to be played, helping me position my songs correctly to add emphasis and effect.
Rehearsal 5: 3rd May CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT TIME DRESS REHEARSAL PRACTICE AND PERFORMANCE (2 hour)
Plan:
Today i started with a blues warm up, and then started going over my blues pieces, after i was up to date on my blues pieces I started on the new part of fur Elise, this was challenging however after a lot of repetition i finally started to get the hang of it, so when i get home i can practise it, also after that Miss Rochell showed me the next part to the entertainer in the right hand, I will also practise that at home.
Video from DRESS Rehearsal:
DRESS REHEARSAL Evaluation
Strengths Reflection:
Strengths Reflection:
During the performance I think that i was playing very well, and in time, until someone who was doing the sound, decided the volume was too low and he walked over, when i was in the middle of playing "fur Elise" walked over and flipped the sound bar up on the piano, and i struggled to adjust and because of that huge sound increase, it threw me of a little.Apart from that i think my performance was quite good. I believe that i had many strengths, such as a good variety of genres, the ability to learn new songs quickly and also a good left hand, which was a target of mine, i needed to improve my left hand, and i believe i did, i also think i met most if not all of my targets, however i believe i still have some improving to do, but i believe mostly i have met my targets and the brief, believe i was quite technical and my keys and chords were accurately played, as was the use of the pedals. My songs sounded quite similar to the originals, however some improving needs to be done, and i will start to play along to the song so i can hear if they sound the same of different and then correct them. I followed all the health and safety precautions, i checked the wires to see if they were tied up or not, to see if they had been cut or damaged, to also see if they were near anything dangerous like water, but they were not. i think my stage presence was very ok, firstly i had a ok posture and introduced all my songs, however i believe i could have been a little more confident, and i felt a little nervous so i forgot a name of a song, but that wont happen in the actual performance. I believe I sounded and acted quite professionally. Personally i think my set was engaging due to my diversity of song types, however i think i would improve it but firstly using the pedals, which didn't work on the key board i was playing, so i will ask to play on the grand piano next time, and to introduce my songs clearer, also i think i should have played my worst song first and my best last, so i end on a good note, I will change the structure of my songs, and the order of which i play them in, so it pulls the audience in more, i will have it so my songs slowly change in genre not just dramatically change genre and confuse the audience.
During the performance I think that i was playing very well, and in time, until someone who was doing the sound, decided the volume was too low and he walked over, when i was in the middle of playing "fur Elise" walked over and flipped the sound bar up on the piano, and i struggled to adjust and because of that huge sound increase, it threw me of a little.Apart from that i think my performance was quite good. I believe that i had many strengths, such as a good variety of genres, the ability to learn new songs quickly and also a good left hand, which was a target of mine, i needed to improve my left hand, and i believe i did, i also think i met most if not all of my targets, however i believe i still have some improving to do, but i believe mostly i have met my targets and the brief, believe i was quite technical and my keys and chords were accurately played, as was the use of the pedals. My songs sounded quite similar to the originals, however some improving needs to be done, and i will start to play along to the song so i can hear if they sound the same of different and then correct them. I followed all the health and safety precautions, i checked the wires to see if they were tied up or not, to see if they had been cut or damaged, to also see if they were near anything dangerous like water, but they were not. i think my stage presence was very ok, firstly i had a ok posture and introduced all my songs, however i believe i could have been a little more confident, and i felt a little nervous so i forgot a name of a song, but that wont happen in the actual performance. I believe I sounded and acted quite professionally. Personally i think my set was engaging due to my diversity of song types, however i think i would improve it but firstly using the pedals, which didn't work on the key board i was playing, so i will ask to play on the grand piano next time, and to introduce my songs clearer, also i think i should have played my worst song first and my best last, so i end on a good note, I will change the structure of my songs, and the order of which i play them in, so it pulls the audience in more, i will have it so my songs slowly change in genre not just dramatically change genre and confuse the audience.
Improvement Reflection:
If i were to perform again, i would request to play on the grand piano so then i could have more control over dynamics because the keys are touch sensitive, If i were to perform again i would have also had some more time to prepare, all i need to do is focus on improving on the fluency of my songs, and the end of a couple of my songs, because i rushed finished them, so I'm not completely fluent yet, however by my next performance i will be, and you will see that when i next perform, i also believe i could have introduced my songs better, i forgot the name of one of them, but I'm my next performance i will have them written down in front of me so i can see them and will not mix them up, because i felt nervous, and i was obviously nervous according to my teacher.
Also i think i should have played my worst song first and my best last, so i end on a good note, I will change the structure of my songs, and the order that i play them in, so it draws the audience in more, i will have it so my songs slowly change in genre not such a fast changing genre that confuses the audience.
I also think i need to communicate clearer with the audience, i need to know my songs of by heart or have them written in front of me, but i also need to sound more confident and less nervous, because it gives off a unprepared feel to the audience, which i don't want them to have.
Improvement #1: I will improve the fluency of my pieces.
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I will practise two times everyday in 30 minute bursts, and focus on my fluency, i will play along to the song so i get the timing right, and record myself playing, then listen back so i can hear and pick up on any minor mistakes, i will also ask my peers to listen to me perform and my teacher as well, and give me critical feedback.
Improvement #2: I need to improve my my tempo and rhythm
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I need to improve my tempo and rhythm by playing whilst listening to the song itself through a pair of headphones. I will achieve this by asking my parent to listen to the song and then me playing it and tell me what was good and similar and what was bad that needed changing, I will also have some practise run with my teacher, so i know and have experienced the feeling of being put under pressure, so I feel completely fine when it comes down to it.
Improvement #3: I need to make my set engaging
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I think I should have played my least best song first and my best last, so I end on my best song, I will change the order of my songs, so it pull the audience off their seats, I will have it so my songs slowly change in genre not such a fast changing genre that confuses the audience. I will also make my set engaging by using all of the pedals, I will use them for different moods, the sustain "damper pedal" to put enthuses on chords and add depth to long bars of music, perhaps for more of a smooth and connected feel, too make it sound as if all the chords are connected and are all at one, giving quite a relaxed and chill mood, this pedal also allows me to make the piano sound sympathetic or upset. I will use the soft pedal to create a "jumpy" feel, like in my song "the entertainer" or one of my blues songs.
Also i think i should have played my worst song first and my best last, so i end on a good note, I will change the structure of my songs, and the order that i play them in, so it draws the audience in more, i will have it so my songs slowly change in genre not such a fast changing genre that confuses the audience.
I also think i need to communicate clearer with the audience, i need to know my songs of by heart or have them written in front of me, but i also need to sound more confident and less nervous, because it gives off a unprepared feel to the audience, which i don't want them to have.
Improvement #1: I will improve the fluency of my pieces.
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I will practise two times everyday in 30 minute bursts, and focus on my fluency, i will play along to the song so i get the timing right, and record myself playing, then listen back so i can hear and pick up on any minor mistakes, i will also ask my peers to listen to me perform and my teacher as well, and give me critical feedback.
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I need to improve my tempo and rhythm by playing whilst listening to the song itself through a pair of headphones. I will achieve this by asking my parent to listen to the song and then me playing it and tell me what was good and similar and what was bad that needed changing, I will also have some practise run with my teacher, so i know and have experienced the feeling of being put under pressure, so I feel completely fine when it comes down to it.
Improvement #3: I need to make my set engaging
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I think I should have played my least best song first and my best last, so I end on my best song, I will change the order of my songs, so it pull the audience off their seats, I will have it so my songs slowly change in genre not such a fast changing genre that confuses the audience. I will also make my set engaging by using all of the pedals, I will use them for different moods, the sustain "damper pedal" to put enthuses on chords and add depth to long bars of music, perhaps for more of a smooth and connected feel, too make it sound as if all the chords are connected and are all at one, giving quite a relaxed and chill mood, this pedal also allows me to make the piano sound sympathetic or upset. I will use the soft pedal to create a "jumpy" feel, like in my song "the entertainer" or one of my blues songs.
Feedback from others:
I received lots of helpful feedback from my teacher and audience members, firstly that i needed to use the pedals, but because on that specific keyboard they were not working so i could not, however i will have the grand piano in my actual performance. Also my teacher said "that i could have improved my rhythm and tempo a little but it was still very good", and i will change this in my next performance.
This feedback helped me with my evaluation because, firstly i didn't realise it was noticeable that i was making tempo issues and rhythm issues, so my teacher telling me this was not unexpected but i was still surprised, and that helped me later on evaluate myself, and begin to work towards becoming fluent and a better tempo. Also some of the audience members commented about how at certain parts i was out of timing, i had later then noticed the same thing when i listened to the recording of myself playing, so i later made this point clear in my evaluation, and the fact that they pointed it out helped me later evaluate it. Further more a member of the audience said to me that my introduction was a little quiet, and they couldn't quite understand me because the microphone was not loud enough for people to hear at the back ends of then room, so next time i perform i will ask the set up guys the make it loud enough so that someone sitting at the back can hear me clearly, this helped me with me evaluation because i was able to talk about how i have many things i need to improve, and this was just a test run, to find out all the small mistakes i would make, and fix them before the real thing.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, i believe that my performance was good, it had lots of good parts, however i also had quite a few problems, only minor, but now Ive found them, i can make sure they don't reoccur during the actual performance, for example i will have all the songs written down in front of me, so i know the order I'm playing in and the name of each song, so even under pressure i cant get it wrong. Also I now know its necessary that i play on the grand piano now, because the key are touch sensitive and all three pedals work, which is essential for me to play a well synchronised piece of music. but apart from a few mistakes, that wont happen in the real performance, i believe i performed well, and had a good range of songs that well met the audiences requirements, and also met the specifications of the mark scheme.
Plan:
Today i started with various warm ups, using blues scales and other scales, then i started playing through my repertoire, after that i focused on learning the most recent part of my song fur Elise, which i found difficult because i had barely started the new part, so i was not used to it, but after some repetition and concentration i started to find it getting easier and easier, until i started becoming fluent with it.
Rehearsal 7: 9th May CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT TIME (1 hours)
Plan:
Today I went over the second part of fur elise which in my opinion was quite challenging, and stressful because i have my dress rehearsal next week, but i found it get easier the more i practised, also i spoke to some of my peers and asked them to listen to me play and give me feed back, and they did, one said that i played very well but i need to work on when i use the pedals a little more, so after that i did and i recorded myself and kept playing it back until it sounded right.
Rehearsal 8: 10th May
I used my blues songs as warm ups to get the blood flowing in my fingers so i could play properly, then i set a stop watch on my phone and played my whole repertoire making sure i got the correct amount of time each time i played, i did this for the whole lesson, also i think it went very well i did not make a lot of mistakes and the only ones i made were "not noticeable" according to my peers and teachers watching.I managed to play all of my songs (all of me, somewhere only we know, blues song, entertainer, fur Eloise)
I didn't need a microphone for my performances as I did a test and could be heard by the audience when speaking without the mic.
TASK 2 – THE PERFORMANCE
Final performance
BEST REPRESENTATION OF STANDARD.
HOWEVER, THE CANDIDATE REQUESTED THAT THE VIDEO BELOW BE ASSESSED iF THE LENGTH OF THE PERFORMANCE WAS AN ISSUE TO THE ASSESSOR.
Performers External Assessment
TASK 3 Evaluation.
Strengths Reflection:
Improvement Reflection:
i think overall the performance would be better if I played "let her go" a little bit better, because i feel that it could have been better, just a couple of timing issues and a few chord mistakes, but besides that i don't think there was that much wrong with my performance.
Improvement #1: improve my song "let her go" and my sense of pulse and timing.
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I will ask my music teacher to help me expand my song, and learn the next parts to it, making it longer and more interesting, but also to help me incorporate the pedals and add dynamics to my set, to add mood into my piece to interest the audience and make it different, I will also ask my music teacher to help me correct my timing or look out for any other mistakes that i might make so i could avoid them when it comes to the next real performance. When I practice at home, I need to practice along with the track or with a metronome so that I can improve my timing, this is the same for all of my songs that I play although I have improved my overall timing a lot since the start of the course.
Improvement #2: expand my repertoires range of genres.
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I could either change and add in a song i already know, this would be easier and i could spend more time perfecting the set as a whole thing, rather than trying to learn a completely knew song, which will be time consuming, however i could learn a song that might go better with me repertoire, and with the audiences needs, even though it may require a bit of extra effort, i will also expand on the songs I'm already using and make them slightly longer to add the overall timing, this could benefit me very greatly.
Improvement #3: improve my endings, so I can flow into the next song.
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: First I will start practising the ending of my songs more frequently, until they get up to a good and acceptable point, then i will start practising going from one song to another, so in my next performance i would be confident in changing songs without messing up, also i would practise the chords at the end of the songs, because its not so much the notes it more the chords, so i would practise them individually, until they get better.
Feedback from others:
My teacher said "very well performed with no major mistakes" she also said " he looked very professional and focused on his music". Consider your overall sense of timing and pulse.
one of my peers also said
one of my peers also said
- "piece accurately displayed musical ability"
- "no health and safety issues"
- "Almost no mistakes made- and the only ones made where almost unnoticeable".
- "stayed in time"
- "sounded like the original"
- "introductions were clear and well announced"
- "using piano to replace for voice was an interesting changes"
This helped me with my evaluation because firstly they noticed that i had stopped a little early on one of my songs and that i got confused on others and stopped in the incorrect place, which helped me to evaluate my performance much better.
Also i have a comment that the majority of my pieces were the same kind of genre or tempo.
I was also made evident that some of my pieces sounded a little slower than the original, however "it did not make much of a difference" and "wasn't noticeable".
Conclusion:
Over all i think that this performance was hugely better than the previous one, firstly i felt more confident, also when i listened back i could hear the use of the pedals, changing the mood and creating good dynamics that were not there before, i could also hear the improvement in fluency, you could tell i had been practising because the chords were all a lot more fluent as well as everything else, the piece in general was a much better piece of music as opposed to before. Also my stage presence was better, i clearly had a straight posture the entire time, i also spoke clearly and loudly to the audience so everyone could hear me, i introduced each song before i played them, and unlike in my mock, i got the names of the songs right, because i was more confident than before, i also think my set was a lot more engaging than before and suitable for the audience with the mixture of types of pieces.
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