Introduction
My FSI work shows how far I have progressed on my instrument over the year by positively reacting to feedback and criticism in order to improve my skills and playing ability.
This work also shows how hardworking I am in terms of being a musician as I am constantly pushing myself in order to improve, this is especially seen in my Technical Skills, as I had to put in weeks of work to film all the parts and then put the video together to ensure that I have a decent level of work
Technical Exercises
I have included my technical exercises as it shows my ability to apply theory to my instrument which is important for creating professional music for an EP. It also shows how disciplined I am in terms of practicing and improving my craft as it demonstrates how much work goes in to perfecting my tone and technique for my end of year recital
Recital
I have chosen to include my FSI solo pieces as they are the most important pieces when it comes to demonstrating new techniques and skills that I have learnt throughout the year.
Programme Notes
I have included my programme notes as this piece shows my ability to conduct research but also shows that I am knowledgeable of my instrument and any history that applies to it. I have effectively communicated this through the short condensed piece of writing, which is a skill required for writing descriptions of my own music that I may do in future. Also important for communicating the ideas behind my music which I will have to do for promotion of a funded EP especially since it is being backed by Creative Scotland.
Recital evaluation
My evaluation is included as it shows my ability to reflect on previous work in order to improve my skills for any future work that I may undertake. It also shows that I am capable of taking feedback from others in order to improve my work. These skills are particularly important in order to take any criticism that I may receive for music and use it positively in order to create a successful EP.
HND 1
Technical Exercises
I have included my technical exercises from last year in order to emphasise the improvement in my abilities, as I had learned more specific skills, this year such as classical guitar right hand techniques or slightly more complex scales like the Jazz melodic minor scale, instead of the more standard basic arpeggios and broken chords I did last year
Recital
I have also included my recital from last year, to emphasise the contrast between my pieces from last year and this year, as it shows the development of my playing techniques where I have chosen more technical compositional classical guitar pieces and more improvisational pieces. This has developed my sense of harmony and melody which has furthered my understanding composing music for my instrument. This will be important for arranging and composing music for the EP.
Programme Notes
I have included my programme notes to further emphasise the difference between the types of pieces I learned. As last year I learned more modern compositions which feature modern guitar techniques. This shows my development as an instrumentalist and that I can play a range of genres and styles, an important aspect for creating and producing a range of music.
Recital evaluation
I have included last years recital evaluation to emphasise the new skills I learned and improved on in my recital this year. My ability to improve and reflect on work is important for creating content, especially if I apply this to more specific skills in terms of studio and mixing techniques for the EP
Conclusion
Overall my FSI work shows that I am very knowledgeable of my instrument and that I can apply theory in the form of technical exercises/skills. This enables me to compose and create music that is relevant to my instrument and so that I am able to create performance based compositions.
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The constant practice i undertake in order to improve my skills has been undertaken in my other fields of music, in order to improve different skills or techniques e.g. ear for mixing or my ear for harmony/melody. This is important for enabling me to create music for the EP effectively
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