In my Arts Special (AS) classes, I opted “Band” as my activity, I was both the singer and pianist for my band. In my experience, I could develop my skills as a musician while also trying out different genres and the more. Furthermore, I took part in many events that allowed me to better portray my talents, meet new people, take up challenges and more.
LO1- Working as both the band’s singer and piano player was highly challenging all the while being very rewarding. Through my experience I was able to find which parts of my musical ability were strong and which ones I could improve upon. I could recognise that my basics of music, pitch control, musical knowledge, and ear training were very strong. Nevertheless, I found some areas that I still need to improve on. For instance, multitasking was quite a challenge, as singing and playing at the same time was quite new to me. I did many exercises and practice for the coordination techniques, which in turn helped me in gaining the coordination that I needed. This technique was one of the ways my confidence was built and my performance quality was also developed.
LO4- Participation in the band presented enormous demands for perseverance and commitment on me. As juggling academics, regular rehearsals, and performance preparation became even tougher I tried to keep my commitment to both. Aside from that, there were moments when dealing with challenging pieces or working on difficult songs made me tense, but I showed persistence and practiced during my free time to make sure that I was polished and skilled. Persistence led me to a whole new level of musical skills, and our group always topped the list through diligent rehearsals and sincere performances.
LO5- Playing in a band is a heavily collaborative and group based activity. All songs that we played interdependently had to organize on a team-wide basis. We collaborated by communicating with each other both in and out of school. Being on the same page made us be very frank with the feedback that we gave and the way that we go about areas that may conflict in our interest. It was represented in the fact that every time we had a successful performance we both had the same feeling of self-appreciation. I learned that when each person contributes their unique talents and ideas, the collective effort is much stronger than any individual performance.
My experience in the band during AS not only strengthened my musical abilities but also taught me valuable lessons in commitment, teamwork, and personal growth.
