Evaluative Commentary

Following the requirements of the module a solo piece had to be written and performed. My solo piece was based on a novel, Jane Eyre, and was recorded with a backing track I made myself using notation software.

My aim for this piece was to create a storyline that brought the themes presented in the novel into the modern times. Jane Eyre is set between 1760 and 1820, but the issue of gender equality that the character of Jane feels particularly troubled by, is still prevalent in modern times. I chose this issue rather than the more predominant issue presented in the novel, which is whether to marry for love or wealth is it is not very relevant nowadays. . In October 2014, George Arnett said “It will take 81 years for the worldwide gender gap to close if progress continues at the current rate” which got me thinking about how terrible it is that such a gap still exists around 200 years later. I am happy with the way my storyline developed yet still linked to the novel.

It was new for me to write an entire score, but I wanted to challenge myself and I believed I could do it. I wrote parts for the piano, flute, drums, electric bass and a violin section. I used echos within the flute and piano line, so that they played similar notes to what I have just sung. I originally wrote the song with just vocals and piano, but felt that the emotional storyline would benefit from a bigger piece being written. Something I could have improved on here is to have live or recorded instruments rather than a synthesized sound from my computer, as the artificial sounds may have taken away from the emotional meaning of the song.

An extremely famous song based on a novel is ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Kate Bush. She used several quotations from the novel in her lyrics, which was something I drew influence from. I prefer to write with a stimulus so it was very easy to fit the quotes into my song. I originally wrote the song with different lyrics, and then transferred the quotes in and around the storyline I created. I wrote in a minor key to represent the sadness of the story, and the part of the story I based my piece upon, which is toward the beginning where Jane feels tortured and bullied by her family. Blogger Tricialo said about ‘Wuthering Heights’: “Intense, romantic, passionate, it’s a brilliant attempt to distill the essence of the Bronte novel into four and a half minutes of music.” That was what I wanted to do, capture the spirit of Jane Eyre in my song. I am confident that I did this, whilst still making it relevant and relatable.

To really signify the main issue within the novel, I firstly decided to use feminism as a character reference for my storyline. I used the words “I’ll be there for my sisters” as a way to show that females have stuck together to fight gender inequality. I changed the lyrics for the last chorus, singing “I’ll be there for you, my sister” to add a personal touch for the audience and listeners. I believe that helped the song to connect with the audience.



Bibliography

George Arnett (2014). Gender equalirt report: not one country has fully closed the gap yet. The Guardian, 28 October 2014.

Mumford, M (2010). Interview with Skip Matheny. 21 December. Tennessee.

Tricialo (2012). The Best Debut SIngle Ever - Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. 13 Hune 2012. Tricialo [online]. [Accessed 13/01/2016]. Available from: <https://tricialo.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/the-best-debut-single-ever-wuthering-heights-by-kate-bush/>.

Bibliography

Furler, S 2013, ‘My Anti-Fame Manifesto’, Billboard, 125, 42, pp. 21-22, Business Source Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 November 2014

Gallo, P 2013, ‘THE INVISIBLE POP STAR’, Billboard, 125, 42, p.21 Business Source Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 November 2014

Daniel J.Levitin (2007). This Is Your Brain On Music. New York: Penguin.

David Raposa (2005). Imogen Heap Speak For Yourself. Pitchfork [online]. 31^st October 2005. Available from: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4025-speak-for-yourself/ [Accessed 01/10/2014]

Mark Richardson (2009). The Beatles. Pitchfork [online]. 10^th September 2009. Available from: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13431-abbey-road/ [Accessed 01/10/2014]

Neil McCormick (2009). The Beatles – The Beatles, Review. The Telegraph [online]. 8^th September 2009. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/the-beatles/6138860/The-Beatles-Abbey-Road-review.html [Accessed 01/10/2014]

Carl E.Seashore (1938). Psychology of Music. 1st. ed. New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.

Roy Shuker (2001). Understanding Popular Music. Second. ed. London: Routledge.

Soliloquy (2013). Les Miserables Review: New Cast 2013-4. 25^th August 2013. Soliloquy’s Blog [online]. [Accessed 01/10/2014]. Available from: http://soliloquyblog.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/les-miserables-review-new-cast-2013-4/

Understanding Popular Music

Shuker said ‘composition is at the heart of discourses surrounding authorship in popular music’. I agree to an extent, but if an artist releases a song, the artist is the main name associated with the song, not the writer. Obviously the song wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the writer, but the writer doesn’t always get much recognition. For example, the other day a pupil of mine was singing ‘Breakaway’ by Kelly Clarkson, a song that I have known for many years. When I looked up the lyrics I noticed that the song was written by Avril Lavigne. She is very famous, but I was totally unaware that she had written songs for other artists.

Shuker also said that ‘little use is made of sheet music’. I agree with this, certainly with my own writing style. I usually start by writing the chords and melody, then add lyrics. After this I put those things onto sheet music and build up other instruments on top. Obviously it depends on the writer, but in most cases, writing comes from improvisation, and once that becomes practised improvisation, it is written up onto sheet music. If I was to have people play the instruments in my song, then sheet music would be vital, but in composition, it is certainly not the first thing I use.

‘Cover bands […] are generally accorded little critical artistic weight’. Again, I agree with this to an extent. Obviously when you are performing a song that someone else wrote, you don’t always feel the lyrics as much if they are not personal. However, you can relate to a song very much and feel that the lyrics do represent you or something that has happened to you. Also, when performing and making a name for yourself, pubs tend to be a good place to start. However, if you play a lot of original material in a pub, people may lose interest in the songs. If you play a lot of well-known cover songs, people can sing along and recognise songs.

When I have written songs in the past, they always seem to relate to a personal feeling I have, or something that has happened to me. ‘Those involved in making music clearly exercise varying degrees of personal autonomy’ (Shuker 1994). I have never a written a song that hasn’t had some degree of personal feelings in it. Usually I have a strong feeling about something, and then decide to write about it. My composition I have written recently is based on Jane Eyre, but the themes of equality are very important to me, so I found it easy to write about. I am aware of songs such as ‘I Am The Walrus’ by The Beatles, which may not necessarily have a personal meaning, but it is written with the artist’s personal flair and writing style. This can be a problem, as a lot of current singers do not write their own songs, so the songs may not be personal to them.








Roy Shuker (2001). Understanding Popular Music. Second. ed. London: Routledge.

Chandelier

Earlier today I found myself watching this video of Sia performing her hit song, Chandelier.
I found it extremely bizarre yet very interesting that she stands at the back of the stage to sing facing the wall, and lets the young dancer, Madison, take centre stage. Could this be seen as a performance or not? Some could argue that it is not a performance, as on shows such as 'Strictly Come Dancing, the singers are hardly shown, as they are merely backing up the dancers. This seems to be the way the song is presented, however this is Sia's song, not Madison's. It is quite clear that Sia is the artist and Madison is the dancer from the music video of this song. Does this mean the song is also Madisons? It is Sia's choice as an artist to not show her face, and it is an extremely interesting decision. Artists nowadays are constantly judged by their appearances, and a lot of artists will be turned down by record labels simply because they don't look the part. Sia is clearly trying to beat that idea, by not presenting herself physically very much. I appreciate this, as I myself have been turned down parts before for not having the right look. Sia Furler (2013) herself said that the media 'questions everything there is to question. Even things I had never thought to question. Things I had never dreamed of feeling insecure about'. She has made a conscious decision not to be a part of the media. In Gallo's article (2013) Sia said 'I don't care about commercial success, I get to do what I love and communicate whatever I want'.
As much as her ideas are intrinsically good, does this mean that her performance lacks in some ways? I feel that it is very important for the audience to connect with an artist. This can be achieved by the artist simply performing to their audience, and evoking emotions within them. Can Sia do this with her back turned? Obviously the dancer is there to turn the song into a performance, however it is almost like she is leaving it up to other people to perform.
After some research, I discovered that Sia co-wrote this song, which means she was fully involved with the production and performance of this piece.
In terms of my own musical performance, I would love to have a dancer to help tell my story. I think it is an excellent way of communicating a message, and adds some vibrancy and interest. 

Darkness

Today we performed our compositions, and we also critiqued each others songs. This was really helpful to see what others had to say about it. We got generally positive feedback, such as:
- Fantastic melody
- Lovely harmonies
- Great use of dynamics.
- Good improvisation techniques.
- Haunting but in a good way.
- Well structured and put together.

The only negative feedback we received was that our lyrics were unclear when we sang. This was useful to hear as we hadn't noticed! Hopefully our song structure and writing style helped everyone to understand what the song was about, and I will definitely work on my clarity of words in future performances. Because of this, I want to force myself to improve on this, so I have decided to perform my solo live rather than record the vocals. This means that I will have to focus a lot on singing clearly, and I have plenty of time to work on that.

I was happy to receive the feedback that our song was haunting, as that was one of our aims. The lyric 'I know I am a passing image, caught in an immortal circle' gave us the idea to make the song slow and minor, creating this 'haunting' effect. This encouraged me to continue working on my solo piece, as it is also in a minor key, and has a quite dramatic and tragic story to it. This song has some relevance to me, so I will be able to feel the lyrics as I am performing it, but the dramatic writing style also will help me to connect to the piece.

One thing I wish we had included was more sound and effects. We had decided to record it in one take rather than record it in bits and pieces, as I feel that I perform better when I am playing the piano at the same time. Another group included a twinkly sound which was relevant to their song, as it was whimsical. That sound would not fit into our song, however, we could have added some strings using my keyboard, or a flute, as these instruments would have added depth and interest. Having said this, one piece of feedback we received said 'simple but beautiful', so perhaps it was a good thing that we kept it simple! For my solo piece, I would like to make my own backing track using Sibelius, and then I can add effects and emotive sounds.

It's never nice to receive negative feedback, but we received constructive advice, and the positive feedback made us feel quite proud of our work.

Jane.

I have written my song! I went with the idea of composing using quotes and ideas from Jane Eyre. I really found the idea of gender equality to be so important, even nowadays. It is such a huge issue that even in this day and age still affects all women and their rights. Although we have significantly more rights now than women did when the novel was written, I feel that the world still has such a long way to go before equality is achieved, especially in other countries.  In the novel, Jane demands to be treated as equal to Mr Rochester, as she says

"I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh - it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave and we stood at God's feet, equal - as we are!"

I love this about Jane's character, but not all characters are like this. I wanted to explore a character who was not able to stand up to this mistreatment.

I found that a lot of the novel was not entirely relevant to modern times, so I was faced with the decision of writing based in the 1700-1800's or to bring it up to date. I decided to make it modern by adding a sub story to the 'plot' of the song. I used the idea of equality presented in Jane Eyre, and used quotes from the novel to create a story about a girl who is being mistreated by a male in her life. The reason I felt that a sub story was needed is because the story of a girl not marrying someone of higher importance despite her love for him is not completely relevant to modern times.


The idea for my sub plot came from the earlier parts of the novel, where Jane is treated like a burden by her aunt. She is sent off to school where she isn't treated much better, and then is surrounded by death when a typhus epidemic strikes. Despite all of this, Jane goes on to have a successful career, and eventually is reunited with her love. I decided to explore a darker ending to my character's story, as Jane's story could have easily ended in a totally different way. Seashore also said 'A musician not only hears the music but often lives it out so realistically in his imagination'. I had to imagine this story before I could write about it. I also believe that the listener benefits from having a story to relate and react to. ‘Lyric analysis also tends to valorise certain forms of popular music, most notably blues, soul, country, and some varieties of rock and pop, notably those featuring singer-songwriters, such as Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, and Tracey Chapman. These are seen as ‘the authentic expression of popular experiences and needs’, whereas mainstream popular music song lyrics are largely seen in terms of mass culture arguments, and criticised for their banality and lack of depth.’ (Shuker 2001).

I wrote this in two sittings, one sitting where I wrote the musical lines and a second sitting where I completed the lyrics. I am what Seashore (1938) would call the 'Impulsive Type' of musician 'in which the drive or urge of emotion flares up'. This is because I will either write nothing, or write an entire song in one go.

I know what my flaws are by now, and there are a few thing I really need to focus on for this and my group performance. Firstly, I have been informed a few times that my words are not particularly clear when singing ballads, rock or pop. I have done a lot of Musical Theatre, and within that genre it is extremely important to make your words clear to tell the story. In pop music, this isn't always the case, and I am forever searching song lyrics online to see what the singers are saying. I think this part of pop music must have made an impact on me, as I don't focus on making the lyrics clear at all. I need to work on this as my song contains really strong, emotive lyrics, and the story must be heard to be understood.

Another flaw with my performance is communication. When I sing musical theatre I am great at portraying a story and communicating a message to the audience, but when I sing anything else, I really struggle, Especially when I play piano and sing, i'm scared of losing my place so I tend to focus on the music in front of me, rather than the audience. This is why I have chosen to create my own backing track, and sing with that. This way I can work on my communication, as well as spending time developing my backing music.‘The search for fidelity in sound recording reprised the concerns expressed during the development of formats, especially in debates over whether the authenticity, or sound ‘aura’, of the recording was comparable to hearing the piece in live performance’ (Shuker 2001). I agree that it would be more authentic to perform live, but because of the song's need for communication, my music will be recorded.

I'm really happy that our solo performance must be a composition, as I rarely get a chance to show my own written work. 'In comparison with the writing on other roles in the music industry, and the nature of the creative process in popular music, the role of the songwriter has received only limited attention.’ I do enjoy writing songs but don't always feel confident showcasing them, so i'm really happy that the composition is important within our module. 

Making Music

Today we did some improvisation as a big group. We all picked up instruments we may not have played before, such as drums and tambourines. We based it on the idea of a storm, so we used the sound of the rain gently starting, then building up to become thunderous. Then we stopped all the instruments suddenly, to show how the rain can simply stop.
I found it interesting to interpret things this way, and use instruments to create real life sounds.
I think improvisation is hard, because you need to have confidence in yourself, and the ability to rectify mistakes and make them sound like you meant them.

Because we all played percussion instruments, we didn't necessarily have to learn to play them. We simply had a chance to try them out and make sounds that we thought were interesting. Anyone who had a sense of rhythm could have participated. Seashore (1938) describes how 'a person who has only an average sense of pitch can never become a good violinist or a great singer; but, with the other three skills well developed, he may become a pianist or a composer of great distinction'. The other three skills being dynamic, temporal and qualitative. With just one of these skills, any person can make music somehow. I think this is really interesting to say that a person with only one of those skills can become a musician somehow.

I did find this exercise useful, however, I am aware of my skills and flaws when it comes to song writing, and I would like to spend some time working on them.
I watch a show called Whose Line Is It Anyway? where they improvise skits and scenes on the spot. They regularly improvise a song within the show, and I love to watch how they are given different genres and can sing something that fits the music. This is an example of a song the actors have improvised on the show. They must improvise lyrics and melody within a given song style. I find it very interesting to watch the actors come up with these songs and I think they are very clever and thoughtful. I don't think I am particularly good at improvisation to this level but it is something I would love to be able to do.

When I'm at home I like to play the ukulele, but as I can't play a lot of chords I am limited for songs to play. I like to do 'The Four Chord Song' which contains popular songs all written using the same chord progression. This is easy to play and covers lots of different ranges and styles of singing.I decided that I haven't practiced improvisation enough to do it well, so I decided to use the Four Chord song as a way of using quick thought and not planning. I had a good look through the list of applicable songs and then put the list away and spent a while just playing the chords and singing some of the songs. After a while I had worked out a good order to sing them in so it became practiced. This song was also helpful for me to practice playing the ukulele, which is a skill I am new to and would like to improve. Because I am not good at or used to improvising, this is a good way of improvising to my ability.