Project by: Katie (10th Grade)
Faculty Advisor: Susan Glass
Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?
I would like to write a song. I have always wanted to be a song writer when I grow up.I think it would prepare me for pursuing my career and motivate me to practice more.
UPDATES:
10/30/17: Today we worked more on writing down the first verse and the chorus. I also learned how to use the pedal. I have been just holding it down while I play but what you actually have to do is let it go quickly then step back on it for the next chord. I’m not very good yet but I’m getting better with practice. We also wrote down the melody for the first verse and chorus. Susan and I talked about what the theme and goal of my song. We discovered that it is about being independent and yourself even if it hurts someone close to you. It’s about stop pretending to be someone you’re not too make your family members or close friends see you differently. The song is really starting to come along. I need to figure out the lyrics. I only have the lyrics for part of the chorus and the rest I need to figure out.
11/6/17: Today we realized we finally finished writing down this song so we started working on a new one. I think I finally started to correctly use the piano pedal. I really think I’m starting to get the hang of it! I also have started to try and mix up the way I play the chords. I have started out playing the chords choppy because it’s much easier but now I am trying to play the chords smoothly which is much more difficult but it sounds better and once I get the hang of it, it should be easier because I don’t have to move my hands so far away to get to the next chord. I am continually writing more songs and recording them so I don’t forget. Instead of every chord being in root position (1,3,5), some of them are in inversions. The next step for my first song is to figure out the lyrics. So far the only lyrics I have are for the first part of the chorus. The rest is yet to be discovered but at least I know what I want to portray through the lyrics and the theme/timeline of the song.
11/13/17: Today I worked on inversions with Susan. They are still a bit tricky but i think I’m starting to get the hang of it. It’s official; the first song is written down with all it needs I’m pretty sure. The only thing that’s missing is the bridge. We also started writing down my second piece. All that’s written so far is the chorus chords and the inversions that I am going to practice the rest of the week. I am also going to start finding out what the lyrics should be for my first piece. As I have mentioned before I believe, I know the theme and the goal of what the song is trying to say but I’m not sure about the actual words and rhymes yet. Later on in the trimester, I will attempt to write the songs that have been written on a staff. I don’t really know how to do that or even read that type of sheet music but I have a device that should be able to help me with that and I can also ask susan or Camille for help if I have any trouble with it.
11/27/17: Today I played my song through and I put in the inversions. It was a little difficult but I really think I’m starting to get the hang of it. We also practiced the inversions for my second song. I’m still trying to figure out the chords for the verses for that one and the lyrics and melody. I’m also trying to work out the inversions as well, like which inversion is easier and sounds best. I also realized today that the reason some of the inversions sound so bad was because I forgot to play the original note with my left hand. It makes all the difference! Then I introduced Susan to a new song I wrote with a lot of help from Camille. So far it is only the chorus, but it has melody, chords, and lyrics. When I played it for Susan she mentioned that the chords don’t really go with the melody. I agreed but the thing is this song needs to have edge and the piano part the Camille came up with gives it that perfect edge that I wanted. I’m going to work on fixing that and maybe try and add other instruments and see how much of a difference that makes. The lyrics I unfortunately did not come up with. This is a very cheesy way to come up with this idea but bare with me. One day in morning meeting, they played an animation of one of Obama’s speeches “Fired Up” and it just came to me. I wrote the melody based off of the feel I got from that video and I used the words from the last part of his speech as lyrics and it’s incredibly powerful. I love the message and all I need to do now is fix the bass of this song to give it that perfect edge and feel.
1/22/18: Today was my first lesson back from break. Over break, I worked more on the lyrics. I now have the first verse finished and the first part of the chorus finished. My assignment for this week is to finish all of the lyrics for the entire song! So far, I have been doing really well with my inversions and I have been using them on other songs as well. I have also started to play around with recording my song. I am holding back on really focusing on the recording until I finish the lyrics because all of the chords-melody and accompany-are definitely finished. Next week, hopefully I will have finished it completely.
1/29/18: Today was the due day for my assignment to finish writing up the lyrics for my first official original song. I was very stressed about it t first but I completed the assignment. I finished writing the lyrics for the second verse, post-chorus, and bridge. It is not the smoothest transition wise but it’s not too bad for a first draft. Now, I have the lyrics, melody, inversions, and chords all done and ready to be recorded. That’s all I have to do next; record the piano and voice and play around with the background of the song. After I show Susan the first part of the recording, we are going to work on the next song!
Lyrics
Verse 1: I was afraid that you wouldn’t understand that this was my choice,
Are you listening, know how I’m feeling, you don’t even hear my voice.
I always try to please you, do what you want me to, but it’s never enough,
Trying to be perfect but it’s never worth it, I’m tired of living a bluff
Chorus: So I’m running, running, running, my own life as I know it, know it,
So I’m running, running, running, my own life gonna show it, show it,
Verse 2: I never meant to hurt you, I’m sorry if I did, I know things didn’t go the way you planned
I’m someone with passion, freedom, and spirit, I won’t apologize for who I am
Now that I’m standing, stronger and bolder, I know who I can be,
I’m not gonna sit here and cry on your shoulder, it’s time for you to see the real me.
(Chorus)
Post-Chorus: I’ve always tried to change who I am only just to please you, just to please you,
I’ve always hid my true self behind you, but now it’s my turn, now it’s my turn, to be myself.
Bridge: I’m not so different , I’m still the same girl I always was and… ,
I just couldn’t handle you and all of your buzzing,
Around, pushing me to the ground, my true colors started seeping through,
It’s nothing new, I just grew, but I still love you and I hope that you still love me too.
(Chorus)
(Post-Chorus-no lyrics)
End song
2/5/18: Today I played susan the recording of my song. All it had was the piano recording and my voice recording (I played around with the recording a little bit). I created a tiny echo and played around with distorting. It was so much fun. I played it to her and she loved! There are parts that still need a lot of work but I plan work on fixing them. I am going to add some violins now, more vocals, and maybe guitar. Basically the song is officially done!– writing wise. The recording I plan to do with Camille mostly and just give susan reports. My next assignment is to start writing a new song for me to work on!
2/26/18: Today we decided the only thing left to do for my first song is to finish the recording and work on dynamics. For the second song I have to write a different kind of accompaniment with broken chords. To do that, I have to practice octave stretches on the piano which is my assignment for this week along with working on the recording and trying to find new ideas for my next song.
PROPOSAL
Project by: Katie (10th Grade)
Faculty Advisor: Susan Glass
Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?
I would like to write a song. I have always wanted to be a song writer when I grow up.I think it would prepare me for pursuing my career and motivate me to practice more.
What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project?
I plan to record the song and download it. I will meet weekly, with Susan and report what progress I have made on songwriting. Together, we will write up the progress each week: we will look at where I am with the composition, and see what I can learn from the weekly progress, in terms of musical concepts that can generalize to other music. I will do a journal each week to record the progress, and thus be able to see the trajectory of my work at the end of the trimester.
