Proposal A
 
Independent Research Project

To have the freedom to guide your own learning into areas that are of interest to you is empowering and a privilege.

Use this opportunity to begin brainstorming in regards to an area or topic that is of special interest to you
In order to ensure success, a few guidelines are being offered to assist you in the process:

1. The project must be music related. i.e. Music History, Genres, Song Writing, Audition Preparation, Music Business,  etc.

2. The project must involve a degree of research to push your knowledge of the subject

3. The project must be measurable and well documented

 

Step 1

Project Title

  • What is the name of your project?

- Jazz guitar and Preparing for Auditions 

 

Step 2

Project Description

  • What topic do you want to know more about?

- Soloing in jazz and sight reading; perfecting arpeggios and sight reading jazz songs. 

  • What information is relevant to what you want to know?  

- How to follow chords and accurately read with precision 

  • What information is irrelevant to what you want to know?  

- Information such as classical style and anything deviating from audition practicing.

  • How will you know the difference?  

- I will know the difference when my soloing improves in jazz band and when my auditions are prepared 

 

Step 3

Project Rationale

  • Why did you choose this particular topic?

- To become proficient at Jazz soloing to be prepared for auditions for schools such as Berklee, DePaul, Columbia College of Chicago, Hart School of music, NYU 

  • How will this topic strengthen your goals as a musician?

- Learning this topic will expand my abilities on guitar as I feel like much of my playing lately has been stagnant. For a while now I have been relying on scales and my ear, but now its time to properly learn and perfect guitar through proper exercises and daily practicing. 

  • Do you anticipate Project A & Project B to be related or separate?

 - Project a and be will be the same because they will both be helping me prepare for both auditions and improve on my playing (hopefully) exponentially. 

 

Step 4

Resources

  • What kinds of places might hold interesting knowledge about your questions?  

- Places such as real books that have songs in them and websites such as the sight reading factory that could assist in my reading. 

  • Whom might you want to access to better understand your interests?

- Lessons from my guitar teacher, Eric Despard, down in Bennington. I could also use Neil for any other questions I have with soloing. In terms of physical work, I could use the Berklee method sight reading book to work on my reading and also use the resources given to me by my guitar teacher. 

  • Provide 3 preliminary resources you have discovered through initial exploration

- Sight Reading Factory, Jazz Books/real/fake books, Guitar teacher Eric Despard for other resources such as scales and other practice exercises.

 

Step 5

Process

  • Fill in specific goals to accomplish by creating a weekly time line using the following Project Due Dates(i.e. memorize five major scales, create lyrics to original composition, memorize the bridge to Tears in Heaven, etc.)

 By the 22nd: Have down 4 arpeggios, sight read well with 8th notes in the key of C major 

By the 29th: Have down another 4 major arpeggios, sight read more difficult rhythms such like 16th notes and sight read in a few other major keys

By the 6th: Have down most 4 minor arpeggios, be able to sight read in harder major keys  

By the 13th: Have down another 4 minor Arpeggios, be able to sight read in minor keys

By the 20th: Have down major and minor arpeggios, be able to sight read a jazz piece.

 

Schedule  

 

Step 6

Creative Work and Presentation

  • Describe how you are going to present your project (oral, written, multimedia presentation, artifacts, performance, etc.)

- I present this by doing a mock audition with the requirements of a real audition. This real audition would include a sight reading portion; where I have to read a piece put in front of me, a jazz chart portion; where I have to sight read a song and melody, soloing; where I have to follow the correct arpeggios, and a listening portion; where I'm required to identify intervals and other music theory requirements

 

Step 7

Evaluation

  • What specifically will make your project a success?

- Getting accepted into a music college!!