Unit 2 parts A&B Arts Leadership and Unit 2 Parts C&D, Delivery and Evidence - SONGWRITING WORKSHOP
My Song-writing Workshop
Leadership skills I hope to acquire:
My Preparation and Planning
Step One
Before creating a plan of action for my workshop I did some research online about running
a workshop, specifically a music workshop. I also discussed my ideas with friends and family.
I decided to focus on specific areas of composition.
These areas of composition would be simple yet easy to build on so that workshop participants of various musical abilities would all have a chance to get invloved. This was important to me as I wanted everyone to feel included and to gain value from the workshop regardless of their previous musical experience.
Step two
I drew up some notes which I condensed into a spider diagram detailing the key focus points of the workshop.
These focus points would be:
Step three
I wrote and printed out some prompt cards (example in bullet points below) with a step by step break down of the workshop to keep me on track through the workshop itself. They helped me manage the time frames we had to work within by keeping me focused on what we had to do next.
I will split each part of the workshop into separate parts.
A run through of how I implemented my plan during the workshop: Unit 2C/D
I made time for brief introductions so that everyone could share their own musical expertise. explained to everyone the process and the way we would decide on specific ideas to make sure we would get it all done within the timescale. - This took approximately 10 minutes.
I thought it would be a good idea if we picked the theme of the song first so we could work around it and use it as a base for the melody and the lyrics. My idea was for each of us to write a theme on a slip of paper such as 'love', 'loneliness' or 'adventure' and pick one out of a hat. - This took approximately 10 minutes.
Then we decided on the right instruments and who would be playing them discussing different types of instruments (woodwind, strings, percussion etc...) and how they are used in different genres of music.
- This took approximately 10 minutes.
We listened to some basic chords in different keys using both major, minor and bar chords with a capo. During this time we discussed how harmonics work. We also discussed the effects of major and minor key changes and the concept of suspension in music. We then voted on our favourite chord combination - This took approximately 30 minutes.
After that, we chose vocal parts by audition and democratic vote. - This took approximately 15 minutes.
Next we worked on lyrics. Sticking to the theme we had picked earlier each participant wrote a verse or chorus. I thought this would be the fairest way for everyone to feel included. During this time we discussed the idea of beats in a bar, rhyme scheme and syllable count to ensure the lyrics would be written in the same rhythmic structure as the melody. - This took approximately 20 minutes.
After a few rehearsals and a lunch break, we got on to recording the song.
- This took about an hour.
Delivery
For my Unit 2 Arts leadership project, I decided to plan and organise a song-writing workshop with my friends.
I thought it would be a good idea to start out with explaining the idea of the challenge, and how we will split each part of the process into sections so we could finish everything in time.
After that, I handed everyone a slip of paper and asked them each to write down a theme for the song. We then put all the pieces of paper into a hat and picked one out at random.
After we had chosen our theme for the song, we decided on which instruments we would be using for it. We had a choice of violin, guitar, ukulele, piano, xylophone, recorder and harp. We had some fun trying out different instruments before deciding!
We decided it would be best if me and one of my friends both played the guitar, one of my sisters played the violin and another played the drum.
We then heard some different chords played on the guitar, and voted on the ones we liked best for the song.
After deciding on how the verse and chorus of the guitar should go, we thought it would be a good idea to make a music break for the end of the song.
We experimented with a few ideas until we made our decision. After that, I wanted to let everyone have a go at singing a short melody to the guitar and recording it so we could listen back and vote on our favourite one.
After everyone had recorded, we all anonymously voted for our favourite tune, at which point I decided on who would be best at the singing for each part. I then handed everyone another piece of paper each and assigned everyone to their own part of the song so they could write some rhyming lyrics for it, based on the theme we had picked out earlier.
We worked on the lyrics until everyone was happy and decided that it would be best to have two people sing each part of the song together so everyone could have a turn.
I taught everyone the chords and wrote the notes down for them on paper. We all practised and rehearsed a few times before recording so that it would be perfect. Well nearly haha!
Leadership skills I hope to acquire:
- Improve my time management skills.
- Planning/organising skills
- Communication skills
- Leadership skills
- Teaching music skills
My Preparation and Planning
Step One
Before creating a plan of action for my workshop I did some research online about running
a workshop, specifically a music workshop. I also discussed my ideas with friends and family.
I decided to focus on specific areas of composition.
These areas of composition would be simple yet easy to build on so that workshop participants of various musical abilities would all have a chance to get invloved. This was important to me as I wanted everyone to feel included and to gain value from the workshop regardless of their previous musical experience.
Step two
I drew up some notes which I condensed into a spider diagram detailing the key focus points of the workshop.
These focus points would be:
- Melody ( harmonics
Step three
I wrote and printed out some prompt cards (example in bullet points below) with a step by step break down of the workshop to keep me on track through the workshop itself. They helped me manage the time frames we had to work within by keeping me focused on what we had to do next.
I will split each part of the workshop into separate parts.
- Introduction and explanation of the workshop objective - 10 minutes
- Contribution of ideas and vote for theme of the song - 10 minutes
- Instrument selection and allocation - 10 minutes
- Vote on melody from a randomly selected range of chords - 30 minutes
- Vote on vocals - 15 minutes
- Individual lyric contributions for different verses based on the chosen theme - 20 minutes
- Practice - 45 minutes
- Recording - 15 minutes
A run through of how I implemented my plan during the workshop: Unit 2C/D
I made time for brief introductions so that everyone could share their own musical expertise. explained to everyone the process and the way we would decide on specific ideas to make sure we would get it all done within the timescale. - This took approximately 10 minutes.
I thought it would be a good idea if we picked the theme of the song first so we could work around it and use it as a base for the melody and the lyrics. My idea was for each of us to write a theme on a slip of paper such as 'love', 'loneliness' or 'adventure' and pick one out of a hat. - This took approximately 10 minutes.
Then we decided on the right instruments and who would be playing them discussing different types of instruments (woodwind, strings, percussion etc...) and how they are used in different genres of music.
- This took approximately 10 minutes.
We listened to some basic chords in different keys using both major, minor and bar chords with a capo. During this time we discussed how harmonics work. We also discussed the effects of major and minor key changes and the concept of suspension in music. We then voted on our favourite chord combination - This took approximately 30 minutes.
After that, we chose vocal parts by audition and democratic vote. - This took approximately 15 minutes.
Next we worked on lyrics. Sticking to the theme we had picked earlier each participant wrote a verse or chorus. I thought this would be the fairest way for everyone to feel included. During this time we discussed the idea of beats in a bar, rhyme scheme and syllable count to ensure the lyrics would be written in the same rhythmic structure as the melody. - This took approximately 20 minutes.
After a few rehearsals and a lunch break, we got on to recording the song.
- This took about an hour.
Delivery
For my Unit 2 Arts leadership project, I decided to plan and organise a song-writing workshop with my friends.
I thought it would be a good idea to start out with explaining the idea of the challenge, and how we will split each part of the process into sections so we could finish everything in time.
After that, I handed everyone a slip of paper and asked them each to write down a theme for the song. We then put all the pieces of paper into a hat and picked one out at random.
After we had chosen our theme for the song, we decided on which instruments we would be using for it. We had a choice of violin, guitar, ukulele, piano, xylophone, recorder and harp. We had some fun trying out different instruments before deciding!
We decided it would be best if me and one of my friends both played the guitar, one of my sisters played the violin and another played the drum.
We then heard some different chords played on the guitar, and voted on the ones we liked best for the song.
After deciding on how the verse and chorus of the guitar should go, we thought it would be a good idea to make a music break for the end of the song.
We experimented with a few ideas until we made our decision. After that, I wanted to let everyone have a go at singing a short melody to the guitar and recording it so we could listen back and vote on our favourite one.
After everyone had recorded, we all anonymously voted for our favourite tune, at which point I decided on who would be best at the singing for each part. I then handed everyone another piece of paper each and assigned everyone to their own part of the song so they could write some rhyming lyrics for it, based on the theme we had picked out earlier.
We worked on the lyrics until everyone was happy and decided that it would be best to have two people sing each part of the song together so everyone could have a turn.
I taught everyone the chords and wrote the notes down for them on paper. We all practised and rehearsed a few times before recording so that it would be perfect. Well nearly haha!
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