Hopelessly Devoted to You - Music Solo Performance Evaluation

I really enjoy music ever since I first held a microphone as a kid, it played a very big role in my life and in my family! This year's music class is one of my favourite subjects because this class helps me develop myself as a musician and a student. The classroom just casually became my natural habitat, I didn't mind showing what I really and what potentials I can show in terms of music. The performances I've delivered two times this year helped me develop my skills more and had a little realisation about my own abilities.
For my first solo performance, I performed Hopeless Devoted To You by Olivia Newton-John from Grease. This piece was recommended by my itinerant vocal teacher, Barb. I haven't watched the musical but this song is one of my grandmum's favourite songs and the lyrics of the songs was something I used to relate to, being hopelessly devoted to someone I didn't have, someone who had me deciding whether to continue admiring them or to just give it up. It was a fond memory of mine, so it helped me to deliver the song well.
There were a few struggles while during practice. The song was familiar to me but I never got to listen to it as a whole. Memorising the lyrics took me a while because I had so many things to do that I didn't have enough time to know the whole words. The technique I used to deliver the song was a bit... off. Barb had pointed out some of my weak points in singing and she helped me to improve those areas which were successful after a few sessions of practices.  I used to think that being a good singer was all about having powerful performances, having a strong stage presence and ability to reach very high notes. In my case, it became a mindset to me which didn't help me improve at all. Hearing the same feedback about my singing being strong used to give me a confidence boost because of that wrong mindset I've sunk in my brain. That changed when we had our practice performance and read Mr Sloan's feedback.  It made me realised that even a few practices, I still perform but having difficulties enjoying the actual performance. It had me thinking that I perform because I want to achieve a certain technique, but not finding myself in the song even though it was a song that helped me relate to someone and myself in the past.  I'm thankful for Mr Sloan for his honest feedback because it was something I've been looking for in my past performances other than hearing the same response over again. After that, I want more honest feedback and point out my weaknesses because I know it will help me to become a better singer. I would also like to thank Barb for helping me to improve and I'm still improving so I'm becoming more welcome to receive more honest criticisms!
I got excellence for this performance and I felt relieved because the reflections I've made and the help from my teachers' efforts to help me were all paid off. This performance really helped me to find what were the things I lacked and still lacking. It was really worth it after all the hard work.
I don't really have songs to choose yet because I'm thinking of a concept of songs that are different from the songs I usually sing. It's better to keep it a secret first because who knows? I might surprise you next time. :)

ORIGINAL PIECE:

MR. SLOAN'S FEEDBACK!

PERFORMANCE LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dQ2kM-PeDYAZBTYJr52yUgTep5_-jjOo/view

The South Island Robin research reflection.

I started to do my research on Monday in preparation for my research reflection in ESOL.

I've looked at two websites to gather information about the South Island Robin, Notornis and Nzbirdsonline. I found out that the South Island Robin is a native bird in New Zealand with the size of a sparrow, they are 18 centimetres in length and 35 grams in weight. They have a few differences in their appearances by gender: the male robin is a dark-grey black over their head, neck, mantle and upper chest. Their flight feathers are brownish black.  Their lower chests and bellies' colour is white to yellow with a sharp differentiation between black and white on the chest part. Meanwhile, the females are light to grey in the upper body. Their bellies and chest area are smaller, having less distinction between grey and white feathering.
They use specific hunting methods at different times of the year. They use scanning, hawking (hunt on the wing for food) and flycatching (the method of catching flies) during late November and December. They use hawking and flycatching during January to mid-March and hawking during the late summer. During this part of the research, it was my first time encountering the words hawking and flycatching.
The robins live in mature forests, scrubs and exotic plantations. They also prefer moist areas with plants growing underneath forest canopies.
South Island Robins are monogamous, having only one partner in breeding. Their breeding seasons starts from July to March and they lay their eggs from July to December.
They are decreasing in population due to predators like rats, stoats and feral cats and loss of habitat. The robins have been tried to translocate where there are no predators, the translocation caused the inbreeding, cause problems to reproduction and have genetical consequences.

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

 It was the 4th of June; we, the students of 11 ESOL went to the Willowbank Wildlife Resort to prepare for our reading assessment.

After our first period class, we went to our classroom in B-block to assemble. Miss Briggs started a headcount to check our attendance and we made our way to Willowbank.
Upon arriving, we were divided in three groups with different teachers leading us, our group went inside and saw the eels. After that, we went to the deer yard where the fallow deer are, we saw some swans on our way.
Next, we saw different birds; the geese, pukeko and the emus and shortly after we went to see the wallabies and many more animals.
We all met in one place after that, we went inside the kea enclosure to study about the kea. We met Rachel who taught us what the keas are, what they eat and about their peaking orders. Some keas even flew and rested on top of my classmates' heads. Afterwards, we went to the nocturnal house to see the kiwis, we gathered in one spot because we saw two walking. They look really small.

We all finished our tour by answering the questions in our booklet, we went around more time and spent the rest of our time in the cafe to eat and answer. The bus arrived and we all went back feeling very satisfied with our trip.

The Kea

   The Kea is a type of parrot found in the South Island of New Zealand. They are known for being one of the most intelligent birds.

 Their name was based on their in-flight call "Keee ah." Keas are medium fast flyers, they fly 40 kilometres per hour. They weigh 800 grams but they can lift more than a kilogram. Their lifespans differ depending on their environment and lifestyle. Keas living in the wild live from approximately 5 to 25 years, keas living in captivity can live up to 50 years.
   No one knows why they are intelligent, it can somehow be explained because they are part of the parrot genealogy. They test things with their beak and they are the most aggressive when they are being fed. Keas don't hunt for food however they are after bugs.
  Males keas act tough on other males and they like to play with female keas. They don't migrate to other countries, they usually live in the lower part of the South Island mountains. Their natural predators are hawks.

solo performance research.

Group Performance Evaluation

Shareable link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jcvdxBB2K22QLqD2WHGpvzN-Q6gICU6f
- What was your given grade? Were you happy with it?
  My group's grade is still on moderation, but in my very honest opinion, I might get merit.
- What were the challenges of working in a group?
  I am a person who would prefer working solo because I don't really think that there is something I could contribute other than my voice. We also had a hard time picking for a song, the song we have performed wasn't the song we had originally planned and I just agreed because they just started working on it. As the vocalist, I had a hard time trying to feel the song due to some personal experience.
- What did you enjoy most about this task?
  We didn't really stress much about this performance but that didn't mean we didn't dedicate ourselves to this performance. I also enjoyed how I learned a bit about working in a group. I also liked how the stage was set up during the performances in the auditorium.

soundtrack of my life.

Group Performance Blog

1. Song Choice

 Our song of choice is Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur, this song is one of our three options that would be suitable for a performance group of three.

2. Person working with

 I will be working on the vocal, Mathyis will work on the piano and Josiah will be on the guitar tabs.

3. Meaning and Composers 

Arthur personally said that "it literally relates to a lot of people as it tells a story." he also said, "The inspiration was to look at someone's life and the path through it with a partner. Some of it is personal and some of it is inspired by people around me as well as imagining what life is in the other peoples' relationships."

The song was written by James Arthur himself, along with Neil Ormandy and Steve Solomon.

18 February 2019

- We had a few conflicts with our choice of song, I am a vocalist who is struggling with the lower notes. Arthur's song is a bit low for my range and I think trying to adjust to the song's pitch would ruin the song overall. The two have decided to transpose the range higher that would fit for my range.

- For this week, I want us to have progress on the instrumental of the song in terms of transposing it. It's a bit difficult for Mathyis but we will work hard on that. 

English Learning Goals

For this school year 2019, I've made a list of goals for the whole year as time progresses.
I'm aiming to improve my spelling and vocabulary in terms of writing. I also hope that I'll be able to improve more in my writing skills.
I also want to improve in speaking, I want to be able to speak in front of an audience without feeling scared.
I also want to open myself more to more topics for the year and I want to explore more about myself as a try to aim for improvement and excellence.

annotations

Places in books.

 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, and based many of his autobiographical novels, including Sons and Lovers, on his experiences here and in nearby towns. He went to school in Nottingham, and worked as a clerk in a factory that created surgical appliances, an experience that he also related in the novel.

From the book: “She looked at her roses. They were white, some incurved and holy, others expanded in an ecstacy. The tree was dark as a shadow. She lifted her hand impulsively to the flowers; she went forward and touched them in worship.”

______

And there she looked around to see many more of the flowers that had seemed to be in shame with her face more beautiful than there are. The beauty she had obtained is incomparable to any flower in the field. She knelt down, placed her hands together and looked up in agony with the sky so gloomy and looked like it was about to cry. Her loneliness has been lingering just like her beauty, and she still can't seem to comprehend why was she all by herself. The skies looked like it's about to take her, and looked like she's obliged to the skies' request to be part of its beauty. And she knows it dearly. She has prayed to the entity above, telling Him her woes; telling Him how her beauty gave her loneliness.

similes and metaphors in songs.

LENKA - EVERYTHING AT ONCE

As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox
As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear
As free as a bird, as neat as a word
As quiet as a mouse, as big as a house

All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

As mean as a wolf, as sharp as a tooth
As deep as a bite, as dark as the night
As sweet as a song, as right as a wrong
As long as a road, as ugly as a toad

As pretty as a picture hanging from a fixture
Strong like a family, strong as I wanna be
Bright as day, as light as play
As hard as nails, as grand as a whale

All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

As warm as the sun, as silly as fun
As cool as a tree, as scary as the sea
As hot as fire, cold as ice
Sweet as sugar and everything nice

As old as time, as straight as a line
As royal as a queen, as buzzed as a bee
Stealth as a tiger, smooth as a glider
Pure as a melody, pure as I wanna be

All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything at once

EVERYTIME WE TOUCH - CASCADA

Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky
They wipe away tears that I cry
The good and the bad times we've been through them all
You make me rise when I fall

'Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling
And every time we kiss I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last
Need you by my side

'Cause every time we touch, I feel the static
And every time we kiss I reach for the sky
Can't you hear my heart beat so I can't let you go
Want you in my life

_________

SIMILES - is a language feature where a subject is compared to another object. This is used to compare an object in a more interesting way. The subject must be followed by the words "as" or "like" otherwise it won't be considered as a simile.

METAPHOR - is another language feature where one is described and sometimes compared in a non-literal way.