Pick up a Guitar! Save the Music!

Final Project Timeline

I think I have a plan that will allow me to get this all done in two weeks. I just need to put in the work. I need to use all my class and lunch time to make sure I get at least one good song recorded that can be used as an example in the final product. I recorded a drumline and outro today, and I'm super stoked about it. After school I can get the interviews I need from random people around town. I should take just one day to get some words from people here at school. It might be a good idea to get some words from Sugano and the band teacher. I might even ask Sugano to let me capture portions of his guitar class and music production class on video. The blog can be created and designed in two hours' time, probably less. I might do that after posting this to my course blog. I can take 15 minutes after this to think out some good questions to ask at school and on the road tomorrow. Once I have all that, I can finish editing the presentation together. That can be done in a night. I might need to spend an hour tonight planning text for the presentation and figuring out what music to use. "Pick up a Guitar! Save the Music!" is a sort of movement against the awful "music" being played on our radio stations, and against the diminishing number of music and all art programs in schools. When pirate radio tells me they play all the greatest classic rock hits, I do NOT want to hear Taylor Swift. Unfortunately, that's the world we live in. I think if I can show people how easy it is to pick up a guitar and start learning on their own, it might encourage people to make music and stomp out the noise pollution. It's just something fun to do, and it stimulates the mind in a way that formal education doesn't. It makes people happier; I've seen it. I think I'm rambling a bit now. I'll leave the rest to be seen. =P

Final Project Progress

My project is coming along nicely so far. I've decided to title it, "Pick Up a Guitar. Save the Music". I've already shot some footage for the final presentation, and written three songs since last week, hopefully one of which will be recorded in time to make it onto the final presentation. I still have some footage to shoot, and I have to get at least one of my songs recorded. Then, I have to put the presentation together, and that's a one night job. I can get the footage I need in two days. I should use all my class time to work on recording my song, since I won't have access to the recording equipment after the two weeks is up. I'm sure I can do it. I'm also considering creating a blog to go along with this...movement? Depending on how well the rest of the shooting process goes, and if I can get other people to follow through. I just want to show people how easy it can be to just pick up a guitar or whatever it may be and start learning. I think music is extremely important, and learning to play an instrument can be beneficial. Then there's the increasing number of art programs being cut in schools to make more room for remedial learning classes. Not to mention the awful music being produced these days. That's my opinion anyways. I thought it would be a nice idea to encourage people that share my opinion to do a little something about it. Learn to play, and make music that you like to listen to. I thought if people took it seriously, and after I show them how easy it can be after teaching a few chord progressions to a few different people, it would be cool to have a place where we could share our progress and keep in touch. That's something I'm really excited about. =D

Project Plan

So, during this last month of school, I'll mostly be focusing on my music and lyrics, preparing to start recording as soon as I move to Arizona. I just love doing it, and my only real goal is to create music I like that's representative of who I am. It would be a bonus if along the way, I could make someone smile or laugh or just think differenly. Eventually I'm going to need more than the equipment I have now. I still need an amp, my own mic, a pedal or two, ya know, things to record with. For now, I'm getting by with Vera, a pencil and some paper, and the equipment i use at school. As of now, I have one recorded song, and seven written songs all with chord progressions under my belt. I would like to have two songs written by the end of every week at least, and by the end of the year, have at least two more songs recorded. Not quite sure how I'll be able to present the finished product. The obvious answer would be some sort of multi-media presentation. Maybe a quick look at the creative process and footage of the work that goes into the recording process, and if I can figure it out, maybe a sample of my work. Oh, this is going to be fun. ^^

April 25 Journal Entry

So, today after school I looked through some essay prompts and wrote two different essays to practice for the exam. It's what I struggle with the most- writing essays under pressure. One thing I did find is that I do much better if I take the time to do a pre-write before writing the essay. I never took the time to do one before because I was already stressed about having the time to write the essay on it's own. But, I took five minutes for the prewrite, and it helped me gather my thoughts, stay on topic, and I was able to get my ideas into the essay way quicker. I'm just starting to get better at writing essays of decent length in a specific amount of time, and now I need to work on writing quality essays, and to do that, I need to get out of the habit of just giving plot summaries. They warn you at the end of every prompt to avoid plot-summary, but I never seem to be able to provide enough textual evidence or examples of literary techniques in my essays. Personally, I think my inability to do that comes from my inability to analyze a piece of literature to begin with. I've never been good at it, and I'm not sure how to get better at it. -.-'

Open Essay Prompts Applicable to Macbeth.

• 1973
• An effective literarywork does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require to the reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay discuss the end of a novel or play of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.
• 1979
• Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might, on the basis of the character's actions alone, be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.
• 1995
• Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a play or novel in which such a character plays a significant role, and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding society's assumptions and moral values.

AP Exam Study Plan

Step 1) Memorize all lit terms by the end of this week.
Step 2) Do some practice essays over the weekend.
Step 3) Use next week to re-memorize vocab from last semester and take some practice tests.
Step 4) Use next weekend to practice analyzing poetry.

Hopefully, if I keep to this schedule, I'll be ready in perfect time for the big test.