The Brain, Learning, and Creativity Notes

Coming Soon!

Sleep is your Superpower

Matt Walker: Sleep is your Superpower

Cue: Notes: testosterone levels are affected by the amount of sleep you are getting regularly

Summary

Sleep is the most one of the most important things to do if you’re learning something new

Learn Better Practicing Techniques from Dr. Molly Gebrian

Dr. Gebrian’s Videos about Learning and Music

Cue:Notes: The more breaks you take the better you can learn something

Summary

you can master something and understand it way faster if you take breaks in between learning the material

Bass Research, Analysis, and Recording Project

SUMMARY

CLASSROOM

Watch How Bass Works (47 minutes)

LAB

Step 1: Watch How to write Chromatic Notes in Hookpad (some bass lines are based on chromatic scale)

screenshot from HookTab

Step 2: Watch 3 ways to use Hookpad’s MIDI drag-drop feature (you can create basslines and more and export to Soundtrap and other DAW – digital audio workstations)

Step 3: Try making a bassline to a chord progression or melody line.

Screenshot from HookLab

PRACTICE ROOM

Step 1: Watch How To Add Bass Notes Guitar Strumming Lessons by Tomas Michaud

Screenshot from Tomas Michaud video

Step 2: Download the guitar TABS for his exercise (PDF)

Step 3: Practice one of the exercises

Bonus Resource!

Explore Mr. Le Duc’s YouTube Bass Playlists

Write a brief reflection on how Tomas Michaud’s exercise worked for you. DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS DETAILED ABOVE AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Profile in Excellence

Screenshot from Polyphonic at YouTube

Check out these two videos about amazing bass player Carol Kaye

Interview with CAROL KAYE 

Carol Kaye: Rock’s Most Prolific Session Musician

Profile in Excellence

Image from Wikipedia

Check out these videos about the best bass player, ever, James Jamerson

What really made James Jamerson so great?

Visual of James Jamerson’s bass line for the Stevie Wonder song –For Once In My LifeScreenshot from Vulf at YouTube

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

Choice 1: Explore Carol Kaye and James Jamerson’s Profiles in Excellent.  These are two bass players are credited with creating some of the best bass lines!  Then go for a walk and think of the funky work they created.

Choice 2: Flip through the Quizlet on Bass Composition Techniques flashcards a couple times.

After playing with Quizlet, go for a walk and think about bass lines.  Think of songs that have great basslines.  When you are back from your walk, you might want to research more about the notes that make those basslines stand out?

Screenshot from Quizlet Bass Composition Techniques

Write a brief reflection on your mental meanderings. DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS DETAILED ABOVE AFTER COMPLETING THEM

STUDIO

Play around with playing the low E string (6th string on the top of the neck) on your guitar. Create a simple three note-ish bassline. Get funky with it.  Try different plucking tempos to great the groove. You can even try playing Smoke on the Water

Screenshot from Kidsguitarzone.com

What did you compose? Write a reflection on what you did. DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS DETAILED ABOVE AFTER COMPLETING THEM

CONTROL ROOM

Record the bass line you developed in the studio.

How did the recording go? Write a short reflection. DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS DETAILED ABOVE AFTER COMPLETING THEM

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

Tell your daily story here!  Highlight what you learned and enjoyed most and at least one problem you solved. Problem-solving is one of the most important skills you need in life. Employers want to know HOW you get stuff done as much as WHAT you got done. DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS DETAILED ABOVE AFTER COMPLETING THEM

DAILY ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Give feedback on the class Content and Process

Participation will be part of your leadership project due at the end of the course

Fill in the Daily Activity Evaluation

Rhythm Research, Analysis, and Recording Project

Summary

This project is about learning how to make a rhythm

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

My First HookTheory Rhythm (Beat)

HookTheory Drum Tutorial

Watch these HookTheory Drumming Tutorials

Part 1 – Drum Arrangements Made Simple

Part 2 – Arranging Drums in Hookpad

Part 3 – Advanced Drum Arrangements in Hookpad

Add drums to your 8-measure melody and chord progression combination

Place a screenshot of your 8-measure rhythm from hookpad.hooktheory.com

Link to a .mp3 file of your first HookTheory melody, chord progression, and  rhythm that you exported from hookpad.hooktheory.com

Write a brief reflection about this rhythm.

What do you like about it?

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Notes from Howard Goodall’s Rhythm Video

Watch How Rhythm Works (47 minutes)

CueNotes
Write your questions here…
every step is 2 beats or 4 or 8 and so on
quavers English word for notes
The accent has a big change to the rhythm
syncopation is when you play ahead or before they expect you to play

Summary

Summarize what you learned from the video here..

Rhythm Composition Terms and Definitions

Rhythm comes from natural things

rhythm is even in music when you can’t hear it

most beats are divided by 2,3, or 4

accent, pulse, sub-division

accents can put emphasis on one or two notes to make it sound very different

syncopation is a musical slight of hand that makes it sound more mischievous and playful

the elastication of syncopation became jazz

cross-rhythm is music’s party trick. its the overlay of one pattern over another

in Cuban music, the melody and bass line are ahead

the Latin push has become very common nowadays

One of My Favorite Rhythms (Beats)

I like this progression because I learned to play the drum part

the 1st to the 4th measures are exactly the same

Play with Funklet

funklet.com

Export a MIDI File from Funklet

Explore Expanded DAW Drumming Options

GarageBand – How To Use Drummer

If you are ready to really learn more about Garageband, watch these GarageBand 10 Tutorials

My Second HookTheory Rhythm (Beats)

Place a screenshot of the chords from HookTheory

Link to a .mp3 file of your second rhythm from HookTheory

Write a brief reflection about this rhythm. What do you like about it?

Where did you raise tension or suspense in the rhythm structure?

Where did you resolve tension in the rhythm?

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

Write what you LEARNED from the research, analysis, and rhythm (beats) creation parts of this project

Explain how you SOLVED AT LEAST ONE PROBLEM

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Grammar and Spelling

Write what tool(s) did you use to check your spelling and grammar?

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Editor

Who was your editor?

Write their first name only

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Resources

Watch Mr. Le Duc’s Tutorial for Exporting and Importing MIDI Files with Funklet, HookLab, and Soundtrap, if you get stuck with any of these steps.

Harmony Research, Analysis, and Recording Project TEMPLATE

Harmony Research, Analysis, and Recording Project

TITLE THIS BLOG POST: Harmony Research, Analysis, and Recording Project

PLACE A CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGE RELATED TO THE PROJECT FROM wordpress.org/openverse AT THE TOP OF THE POST

WATCH MR. LE DUC IMAGE PLACEMENT TUTORIAL

FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THIS BLOG POST TEMPLATE

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Summary

This project is about making a harmony

My First HookTheory Chord Progression  (Harmony)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ReY3PiVLXYg%3Ffeature%3Doembed

I liked that it sounds like an uplifting song

Notes from Howard Goodall’s Harmony Video

How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Harmony

CueNotes
how much trial and error goes into making songspeople had chords and notes and they put them together to make a harmony so it started changing into what it is today discord is when you put two notes together that don’t go together but some types we’ve gotten used to over the years

SummarySummarize what you learned from the video here..

Harmony Composition Terms and Definitions

Harmony was not originally part of music until the middle ages and the renaissance

Harmony sounds like it comes from some other plane of existence (to exaggerate a bit)

Harmony in its simplest and oldest form in two notes playing at the same time

A drone is a single note that you can sing any melody above. Bagpipes are an instrument that plays a drone.

A drone is usually the tonic

When people started to move the drone around, it was like the melody and the harmony were parallel lines. As the melody moved up, the drone moved up

Triad – 3 notes that come together and create a chord

Chord progressions are the backbone of western harmony

People discovered the “hierarchy” of chords and created rules to go with these

In one note, there are other hidden notes called harmonics

Humans can only really pick out three or four harmonics

Using the harmonics humans were able to make chords by finding the notes hidden in the harmonics

In minor chords, the middle note is a half-step lower than in a major chord

Polyphony is when you have a bunch of chords under the melody

Polyphony – many “voices”

Progression – a certain series of chords or notes that “work together” and sound good

Tonic – the first note of a scale “home”

Dominant – the fifth note of a scale that raises tension

Passimezzo Antico – A chord progression that’s a variation of a double tonic. It was popular during the Italian Renaissance

Passimezzo Moderno – “Modern half step” A chord progression that’s a variation of Passimezzo Antico. It divides the section in two and often uses a contrasting progression or section known as ripresi

Dischord – a deliberate collision of notes that are meant not to sound “pretty”

Dissonance – lack of harmony between notes “a clash”

Passing Notes – notes that don’t sound “pretty” but are used a small number of times like they are just “passing through”

Suspended Notes – dissonant notes being held for as long as possible and then finally moving at the last second

7th Chords – A regular triad chord plus the note seven steps above the first note

Diminished Chords – A regular triad chord with the bottom note being moved up a step

Augmented Chords – A regular triad chord with the last note being moved up a step

Tonic (1 and 8 chords)

Root note creates a feeling of resolution and stability 

Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant (2, 3, 6 chords)

Moderate tension, useful for transitions 

Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone (4, 5, 7 chords)

Create lots of tension to get to the tonic 

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

One of My Favorite (Chord Progressions) Harmonies

Bohemian Rhapsody

In writing, describe why you like this chord progression, and identify the musical key, tonic chord, and tension chords

What do you notice about the chord structure/pattern of the theme of the progression?

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

My Second HookTheory Chord Progression (Harmonies)

I like that it sounds good

I raised the tension/suspense in the middle

I resolve the tension at the end

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

Write what you LEARNED from the research, analysis, and chord progression (harmonies) creation parts of this project

I didn’t know how to raise tension/suspense

Grammar and Spelling

Grammarly

Editor

Nadia

Resources

Assessment a Feedback

General Music Composition Rubric (Google Doc)

Hook Theory Tools and Tutorials

hooktheory.com/theorytab/index (Analyzing Songs)

hookpad.hooktheory.com (Creating Songs)

Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 1: User Interface (YouTube)

Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 2: Melodies (YouTube)

All HookTheory video tutorials

Music Theory

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

Music Works with Howard Goodall – Harmony

Free MIDI files midiworld.com/files/

MIDI file of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from his 9th symphony

Coldplay Talk sample midi file

The musical notation interactive sheet music for Talk by Coldplay

MIDI and Music Notation Editors

onlinesequencer.net – online

flat.io – online

noteflight.com – online

MuseScore downloadable program

GarageBand

How to View and Print Sheet Music: Garageband X Tutorial

GarageBand Basics Screencast Video Tutorial

Melody Research, Analysis, and Recording Project

Summary

This project is about researching how to write a melody and then writing one.

My First HookTheory Melody

I liked that I put random things and it came out okay.

Notes from Howard Goodall’s Melody Video

How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Melody

CueNotes
how did people figure out how music can be made by anythingyou can pick random notes and still have a melody
every culture shares 5 notes

Summary: music has many forms around the world and it all comes from these 5 specific notes

Melody Composition Terms and Definitions

The terms and definitions below are from the Basic Concepts of Music Theory podcast by Jamie Henke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Her Basic Concepts of Music Theory video on YouTube

Theme: A long, flowing melodic idea.

Motive: A short, rhythmic idea (Beethoven’s 5th).

Period: 8-12 measures or a musical sentence.

Phrase: Usually 4 measures.

Antecedent (Question) Phrase: First 4 measures of a period.

Consequent (Answer) Phrase: Second 4 measures of a period.

Scale Degrees (C Major Scale)

Tonic: C (1, 8) – Stability and resolve.

Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant: D, E, A (2, 3, 6) – Moderate tension, useful for transitions and carrying on an idea.

Subdominant, Dominant, Leading Tone: F, G, B (4, 5, 7) – Causes the most tension, and leads to the tonic.

Steps: Any movement using half or whole steps.

Leaps: Any movement using intervals larger than a whole step.

Conjunct motion: Melody is built primarily out of steps.

Disjunct motion: Melody is built primarily out of leaps.

Repetition: Repeated material (i.e. motive) used to create a link between two phrases of the period.

Contrast: Two phrases that contain contrasting material to create tension and interest.

Variation: Halfway between contrast and repetition. The two phrases include some recognizable material and some varied material (i.e. taking ideas up an octave).

One of My Favorite Melodies

Dont Stop Believing

I like this melody because it makes me feel confident. the tonic was in the beginning and the tension in the middle

it gradually goes up and down then sometimes it jumps

My Second HookTheory Melody

I like how it sounds

I had it in the middle

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

I learned how to put together a melody

One problem I solved was figuring out how to make said melody

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Grammar and Spelling

Grammarly

Editor

Nadia

Resources

Assessment a Feedback

General Music Composition Rubric (Google Doc)

Period Melody Composition Rubric (PDF)

Hook Theory Tools and Tutorials

hooktheory.com/theorytab/index (Analyzing Songs)

hookpad.hooktheory.com (Creating Songs)

Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 1: User Interface (YouTube)

Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 2: Melodies (YouTube)

All HookTheory video tutorials

Music Theory

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Melody

Melody defined at Wikipedia

iTunesU – Basic Concepts of Music Theory by Jamie Henke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Her Basic Concepts of Music Theory video on YouTube

Michael New

The 4 Critical Parts of Writing a Melody

How Basic Chords Work – Music Theory Lesson 1

Art of Composing

Last two minutes of How to Compose Music – Lesson 1 – How to Write a Melody by Art of Composing

Inversion, etc.

How to Compose Music – Lesson 3 – The Musical Period by Art of Composing

artofcomposing.com/creativity-importance-melody

Free MIDI files midiworld.com/files/

MIDI file of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from his 9th symphony

Coldplay Talk sample midi file

The musical notation interactive sheet music for Talk by Coldplay

MIDI and Music Notation Editors

onlinesequencer.net – online

flat.io – online

noteflight.com – online

MuseScore downloadable program

GarageBand

How to View and Print Sheet Music: Garageband X Tutorial

GarageBand Basics Screencast Video Tutorial

Melody Research, Analysis, and Recording Project Feedback Form (PDF)

Microphone Auditions Project

blue-microphone-2740

Summary

Talking into different high-end microphones and seeing which works best for me.

Microphone Audition Podcast

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jPj_R7nbcynokCsY7wAnrrcP0_GIz5Nw/view?usp=share_link

My Favorite Microphone

AKG C1000S

Terms and Concepts

  •  Microphones
    • Dynamic – The sound waves themselves create the electrical signal by moving the membrane diaphragm of the microphone. Very popular and very well known. It is good for the low and middle range, NOT the high range.
    • Condenser – The membrane has an electrical current that waits for sound. When the sound waves hit it, it responds instantly. They are all over the place, but they need an electrical charge {amplifier} from something {battery}.
  • Polar Patterns
    • Omni – Picks sound up from all directions equally. This is used for interviews because it can pick up more than one person, without having to have two separate mics.
    • Cardioid – Picks up one half of the microphone, also known as a ‘directional mic’. Most sensitive in the front, about 180 degrees. Shaped like a heart.
    • Bi-directional – ‘Figure of 8’, picks the front and behind of the mic, but the 90-degree angle on both sides does not get picked up.
  • Transduction – Converts one form of energy to another.
  • Voltage – An electric force or a potential difference shown in volts.
  • Phantom Power – Activates the condenser in a microphone. DC powered mostly between 12 and 48 DC voltages.
  • Sensitivity – Voltage at its known sound level. Can be called by its voltage or decibels. A higher number means more sensitivity, everything is mostly in negatives. Sound pressure.
  • Frequency Response – The range of sound the microphone can produce and how sensitive it is within the range. You want it nice and flat.
  • Transient – A variation in current, voltage, or frequency.
  • Placement – Placement of the microphone is key, depending on the sounds you want, it can just be the distance from you or the instrument from the microphone. This part of the microphone can affect others emotionally in a way to connect with the audience.
  • Proximity Effect – Decreased sensitivity to low mics, which reduces background noise and vibration and counteracts when used very close to the source.
  • Output – A place where the sound leaves the system.
  • Characteristics – This is the Relative Response and Frequency measured in a Hertz graph to show how good or bad the microphone is. This can show the quality of the mic.
  • Noise Rating – The signal (sound source) to noise ratio measured in decibels (dB). Noise is any sound in the background you don’t want. Electricity vibrates at 60dB so you want the ratio of the signal and noise to be higher than that. Preferably 90dB or higher.
  • Hardware
    • Clips – A clip is something that you use to hold a microphone on something {for example – stand }, but, using the wrong kind of clips can affect the performance, make sure it is tight so it has the correct effect.
    • Stands – This ties in with a clip, this is what the clip will connect to. This keeps the microphone towards the object you want to hear without having to hold it or keep it still.
    • Windscreen – Something that covers and protects the microphone, mostly a foamy material.
    • Direct Box – A device used to connect an instrument directly into the audio mixer.

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

I learned that different microphones can sound substantially different.

The problem i solved was editing in soundtrap

October 2022 SMART Goal Project

Role:

Guitarist

Smart Goal:

By Oct 14th i will learn how play the guitar with JustinGuitar Beginner Course

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader in the field

JustinGuitar

Training Source(s)

nh

Smart Goal Schedule

practice guitar

Production

playing guitar

Smart Goal Starting Point Evidence

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XAhl2C4JB1yteDXygRdQ1pg3aqvo3g35/view?usp=sharing

Smart Goal Ending Point Evidence

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u5W76u73r88JxjpCoT9rdyd1fXiRLcvB/view?usp=share_link

POST-PRODUCTION-REFLECTION

i am doing better than i started

21st Century Skills

i used the imac to help me learn the guitar because i watch the tutorials and used garage band to record my progress.

Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)

i learned how to play multiple chords no the guitar

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

i worked alone and asked for help if i needed it

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

imac, guitar, guitar tutorial

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

you could be a guitarist or play in a band or play on the street

Reactions to the Final Version

“it’s kinda mid tbh”

Self-evaluation of Final Version

it’s alright

Grammar and Spelling

auto correct


Blog Post Editor


Nadia W.