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/ Prepping for sending in prescreenings 

 

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. To also become proficient in the jazz standard Star Eyes. 

  • 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. I am also using resources provided by the schools such as the sheet music and tips. 

  • 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. Star Eyes sheet music. 

 

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 recording and videotaping a prescreened audition of Star Eyes. This audition will then be sent to DePaul and NYU. With NYU, I have to choose one more jazz standard or song to use along with Star eyes. 

 

Step 7

Evaluation

  • What specifically will make your project a success?

- Making a good recording and run through of my prescreening auditions for schools.