Christina+Z

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//Yes, I did draw that.// media type="custom" key="12701678"

I'm not the biggest fan of music. I quit piano when I was 12.

I haven't picked up a single instrument since then, and I was content with myself.

I couldn't even picture myself with a guitar in my arms until I looked at my spring semester schedule...

//Introductory Guitar 11.// And here I am, typing myself a biography that probably won't win me marks because I sound like a whiny little girl who didn't get what she wanted. And in a way, I am. But then I thought of all the songs I could play with a guitar. My musical taste? I don't think it can be defined by a genre, as sometimes I listen to the most mellow songs and other times I go all out on screaming rock songs. (The other part I don't do often.)

I find that I like acoustic music more often than not. Rock music that can't even carry a tune? Not so much. (Three Day's Grace's "Animal I Have Become" is probably the one exception.)

I'm one of those people who doesn't listen to music much. I like working in a completely silent atmosphere, but that's not easily obtainable. Instead I drown out the sounds with something incoherent on television. Occasionally I do go on YouTube and listen to something like "Memory" (the acoustic version. That's important for you to know.) Or "Rhythm of Love."

But there's that old saying; "Nobody's good at everything; but everybody's good at something!"

Well, if I'm not the most musical person, What kind of person am I?

I'd like to say that I am artistic, but not in the musical sense. Visual arts is my kind of art.

A Graphic Arts student - with a page this bland? I can explain. I believe in simplicity. I don't want anybody reading this to get distracted by the flashy colours and sparkles. Bright pink font is supposed to be striking, to catch your attention, but making your entire page that colour kind of defeats the purpose... it ends up as a bright pink blob in my eyes. I can't focus on anything too long, but I can draw for hours on end. My record? Probably six to seven hours. It's rare that I get that kind of time nowadays.

When I do have the chance to set my imagination free, I usually post it on my deviantartor on my blog.

Why would this busy high school student have a blog? I'm part of a program called TALONS - or The Academy of Learning for Outstanding Notable Students. Actually, one of my teachers is Mr. Jackson, who is also a guitar teacher. It's a pretty nice program for gifted (identified category "P." That kind of makes us sound like secret spies, though.) students like me.

I've kind of gone off too much on things that are unrelated to music, but I'd like to believe you are interested in not only the things I learn this semester in guitar.

Speaking of guitar - my main goal is probably to learn to //play// guitar. To specify, I want to be able to play tablature and chords. I want to learn, to the best of my ability, everything this course has to offer, even though it may sound mushy and cliche. This is the end of my bio. The rest of this will be about my progress in guitar.

=Week 1=

**Informal Performance**
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 * Song Title:** "Rhythm of Love" by Plain White T's
 * Group Members:** SOLO ALL THE WAY MAN
 * Chords:** G, Em, D, C

Individual Test

 * Song Title:** Sweet Home Alabama
 * Chords:** G, C, D

This week will be a shortened week so our test will be on a song that we learned last week. Next week there is a group test and honestly I don't know what I'm doing.

Why?

Because all my friends have Guitar in third block and P.E. in fourth. I have P.E. in third and Guitar in fourth. Fun.

I see myself as a lonely, awkward kid in this class because the people in this class either speak specifically in another language I'm not familiar with or there is an age gap. Here I am again, that whiny kid who didn't get what she wanted. I'm feeling angsty because we have a group performance next week and I'd much rather do it with my friends in third block.

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=Week 3=

Group Song (2 - 4 People)
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 * Song Name:** Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People)
 * Group Members:** Tara, Christina, Ivy
 * Chords:** Em, G, D, A

Individual Performance - Guitar Tablature

 * Song Name:** Blackbird (The Beatles)
 * Group Members:** Myself
 * Chords:** It's tab... what do I write here? ^^"

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T.V. or Movie Show Performance

 * Song Name:** How I Met Your Mother Theme by the Solids (For the T.V. Show //How I Met Your Mother//)
 * Group Members:** Myself

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(Assigned) Group Performance
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 * Song Name:** Tonari no Totoro (From the Hayao Miyazaki film //My Neighbour Totoro//)
 * Group Members:** Christina and Tara

Songwriting

 * Song Name:** I'm Hungry
 * Group Members:** Me! (Christina)
 * Chords:** G, D, Em, C

//The day that I wrote this I didn't get a chance to eat lunch...// G Woke up this morning D I was late for school Em No time for cereal C No time for food
 * Strumming Pattern:**
 * Verses/Bridge: UDDD
 * Chorus: DUDUDD
 * Verse 1:**

G Oh, I'm so hungry D I need something to eat Em I'm so hungry C I feel it in my feet
 * Chorus:**

G I've sat through two hours worth D It's finally time for lunch Em But alas - my locker is empty C There's nothing for me to munch...
 * Verse 2:**

G Oh, I'm so hungry D I need something to eat C I'm so hungry G I feel it in my feet
 * Chorus:**

G A sandwich, apple, spaghetti, anything Em I need food in my mouth C Cookies, tacos, donuts, bagels D I'll even eat brussel sprouts
 * Bridge**

D Oh, I'm so hungry Em I need something to eat C I'm so hungry G I feel it in my feet
 * Chorus:**

Week 9
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 * Song Name:** Mean - Taylor Swift
 * Group Members:** Myself
 * Chords:** G, Am, C, F (With Capo on 4th fre)

Week 10 - 11
This week, we learned to change sheet music into tab or something like that. Because I already learned piano, it was quite easy for me learn "Skip to My Lou" and transpose it.
 * Song Name:** Skip to My Lou
 * Group Members:** Me!
 * Chords:** Transposed from sheet music

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Music Video
media type="youtube" key="opRCS4I53co" height="315" width="560" Featuring the wonderful Cassidy Stahr on vocals and Clayton Dowdell's footage from the adventure trip! Oh, and don't forget me on the guitar and piano.
 * Song name:** Home by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes
 * Chords:** Bm, D, G

The trumpet part (the part where that funny guy is playing the ukulele) was supposed to have guitar accompaniment, but unfortunately the mic on my laptop can't handle high notes, which is weird because it used to be able to... anyway, enjoy the PIANO SOLO.

Self Evaluation
//1. What performance was your strongest? Why? What song was it? Who did you work with?//

I think my strongest performance was of "Mean" by Taylor Swift. Because it was a song I could actually connect with it personally and that I was able to work on it for two weeks made me more confident in my performance, even though I was performing by myself.

//2. What performance was your weakest? Why? What song was it? Who did you work with?//

My weakest performance was definitely the first one, which, thank goodness, was informal and not for marks. It was because I hadn't touched a guitar in more than a year and wasn't comfortable in front of all my new peers. I made lots of mistakes the first time around, and I didn't know anybody in my class, so I was alone.

//3. What songs did you learn in class that were your favourite?//

I really liked learning "I'm Yours" and "Good Feeling" because of the strumming patterns we learned to make it sound like the real song, and I was familiar with the songs beforehand so it was also easier to build a personal connection the song.

//4. What was your favourite part of Guitar 11? (projects, performances, classroom experience) What did you enjoy the most about this course?//

My favourite part of this course was being able to choose songs that we wanted to do for our performances as long as it stuck with the theme, it let us put a little bit of ourselves into each performance! I also liked the last project, a music video because if you mess up you can just re-record it and nobody will know ;)