31 May 2012 Music Theory: Today is the last day of Music class and we still had to do one final task which was MDW (Music Development Workbook, a compilation of reflections for every criteria in music class.Mr. Herry also gave us an introduction of the things that are going to happen in Grade 9 and Grade 8 in learning the art subject(music,drama, and visual art) we then took pictures from one instrument class to another.

28 May 2012
Music Theory:  Today, some people had to do redoes on their assessment because they either could not complete it or they did not pass. The scores for the manual reflection and the practical assessment were also given to us. I am quite happy with both of them, though I could have done better with the assessment.

Instrument Class: All of our classmates had a score of 8 and above so Mr. Herry is satisfied with the results. Some people wanted to do redoes, though, to get a higher score. My score got mixed up with Sammy's so I had to change them. My final result is a 9, and I'm happy with it.

By: Jessica Koswara Tinor

24 May 2012
The practical assessment was done by everyone today. Overall, I think everyone did well, better than the last play-your-own-composition assessment. Most people were confident and they practiced a lot, giving them very good and satisfying results. I wasn't so good, though. This is because I was very nervous and scared that I will play with many mistakes. I did play with few mistakes and I was very disappointed. I could improve on my confidence and preparation next time.

21 May 2012

Music Theory: Today, everyone had to practice their songs again in front of the audience after Mr. Hary announced that the assessment will be postponed on Thursday this week. This means that we have 3 more days to prepare for the real test.

Instrument Class: We practiced in front of our class today with them giving feedback and scores. Overall, I think everyone is quite good, however, I need to practice more on the ending and part two of the song because it will be very obvious if I make a mistake on it and I will have my score deducted.

May 14 2012
Music Theory: Today, we were given the scores of our written assessment. I was quite disappointed that I got a 7 out of 8 but I think it is reasonable because I wasn't very prepared for it. Then we started to practice memorizing the melodies of the first five notes because some people still forgot about them. The next three notes were memorized afterwards.

Instrument Class: We practiced our songs again in front of the whole class. Mr. Herry recorded it to see our improvement from the first practice until now. When I did it, I had problems with playing in the right octave in the end of the song.

10 May 2012
Music Theory: Today, we practiced our songs again. I did it today but I had a lot of mistakes. Even though there were mistakes, I still continued as if it did not happen. I guess this is because I was very nervous. I should practice more at home so that I can improve.

Instrument Class: Mr. Herry asked us to play our songs in front of him so that he can judge us. It was not perfect when I played my song, however, I still improved from last time.

Music Theory: We started the lesson with Mr. Hary giving us a little quiz on note naming. There were a lot of wrong answers because some of us did not memorize the notes. We then continued practicing our songs in front of the audience for the next assessment. Mr. Hary encouraged people to practice more, though.

Instrument Class: After a 5 minute preparation, we then practiced our songs in front of everyone. The songs are already played well by most of the students although there may be few minor mistakes. I still need to follow the finger numbers and memorize the notes for the final parts.

3 May 2012
Music Theory: Today, we did a mini quiz to support our previous assessment scores which wasn't so good. It was an open book quiz so it was not difficult to answer. We then started our first baroque song practicing in front of the class to prepare for the next assessment.

Instrument Class: We practiced our songs again. I think I improved on my dynamics, however, I still need to prevent stopping and pressing the wrong keys in the final part of my song.

30 April 2012
Music Theory: Mr. Hary is back to school today. He had a car accident that resulted to an injury in his leg and had to go to the emergency room in a hospital. Today, we updated our assessment tests with more information regarding the topic. This gave us a higher chance of getting a better score than before. Next time, I must learn from ALL my sources.

Instrument Class: We practiced our songs again until the very end. I have to work on the dynamics and playing the notes at the ending. Mr. Herry also said that I have to practice using the finger numbers written on the paper.

26 April 2012
Music Theory: Mr. John substituted as Music Theory teacher, for today. The essay assessment was done today, but I didn't do so well in the part where we had to define the terms and music forms used in the Baroque era, because I did not study that topic so well. Other than that, I think I did ok. Next time, I have to study terms and forms too because they are as important as the composers. There was no Instrument class today.

23 April 2012
Music Theory: Today, Mr. Sadrakh substituted for Theory because of an accident that happened with Mr. Hary. We talked about the next assessment (essay) and the requirements. It must be 400-500 words long and must include the things you know about Baroque music, composers, and famous compositions. Some students, again, had to do some redoes for the previous assessment because their scores weren't so good.

Instrument Class: We continued to practice 16 bars of our song. When I practiced, I wasn't so good in the minor notes part near the ending. I need to improve on that by studying all the notes again

19 April 2012
Music Theory:Some people didn't meet the passing score for the solo singing, so they had to do some redo assessments, today. The best students who did had good confidence and posture however, some of the others weren't that serious or focused. Next week, on Thursday, there will be the next assessment, Baroque essay test which I will need to study for.

Instrument Class: We started to practice 8 bars of our chosen song. Next week, we must be able to do 16 bars of it. Mr. Herry said I have to practice using the finger numbers stated in the paper so that My fingers would be more flexible.

16 April 2012 (Assessment Day)
Today is the day of the solo singing music assessment. I am very nervous about this because I think that singing in front of an audience alone is stepping outside my comfort zone. I did it today but I knew I did not do so well due to my bad pitch. I got an 8 as my final score, which isn't so good because I did not improve from the singing assessment last term.

12 April 2012
Music Theory: Next week, on Monday, we will do the solo singing assessment on the song "Santa Lucia". Because of that, we practiced singing the song and doing voice warm ups. Mr. Hary said that if we would like to sing with a partner, then we will have to do double voices(alto and soprano). I'm quite nervous for next week because, it will be a SOLO singing assessment, unlike last term, when we could sing with a partner.

Instrument Class: In Instrument Class, we were informed about the third assessment; playing a Baroque composition. Mr. Herry discussed about the songs of J.S Bach and a bit of the history of each of them. He played three songs; Minuet in G, Prelude in C Major, and Gavotte. I think I will choose Prelude because I am familiar with this song. We then played a game of stating triads and notes.

9 April 2012 (First Day of Term 4)
Music Theory: Today is the first day of term 4, which means that it is a start to more tasks and assessments. Mr. Hary introduced the upcoming tasks that we needed to do for the next few weeks and months. He gave back the booklets to practice for a written test essay and a new song("Santa Lucia") sheet for the solo singing assessment. This song is written in Italian, making it the more harder to sing.

29 March 2012(No Instrument Class- Checking of Written Reflections)
Some students from woodwind and violin class had to redo their performances today, which was also the day when Mr. Hary checks our reflections written in the journal and music book. This was for the Personal Engagement Criteria where it assesses a student's responsibility, discipline, and commitment in doing his or her work.

26 March 2012 (No Instrument Class- Continuation of Music Assessment)
We continued to do the music assessment with the violin, woodwind group, and some students from guitar who had to redo their assessment or have not done it. Some students from each group were very good at playing their melody, thus, receiving perfect scores in this assessment. However, other students who were not very good at handling their instrument(posture, sound, etc.) needed to redo their work.

22 March 2012 (No Instrument Class because of Assessment)
The Music Class practical assessment of playing your creation melody was today. The guitar and piano students were the first to perform today so the violin and flute/saxophone students had to do it tomorrow. I think I did quite well today, because I only had few minor mistakes that happen in the end. I felt very nervous in the beginning, but in the end I felt relieved. I should improve on my confidence so that I can get a better score.

19 March 2012
Music Theory: Today we, again, practiced playing our compositions, and it was my turn to do it. I had many mistakes in it so I had to start again a few times because I got very nervous and stopped many times in the process of playing. Next time I should practice more at home in my spare time so that I can be better.

Instrument Class: In Instrument Class, we did our final rehearsal with Mr. Herry recording us. I had a few minor mistakes that I have to fix and I should keep a steady tempo while playing.

15 March 2012
Music Theory: Today, we continued to practice playing our music composition in front of the class for the assessment next week. It was only a practice, so the students who forgot how to play their music played the scale. Mr. Hary recommended us to memorize the composition so that we would be more confident in performing it in the assessment.

Instrument Class: In Instrument class, we practiced our melodies one by one while our friends give feedbacks with scores (ABCD). I needed to improve on my performance a lot because I got the worst score. Mr. Herry said I needed to eliminate the stopping in the melody. We had to also improve on bowing (beginning and end of performance) and to practice more to build confidence.

12 March 2012 ( No Instrument Class)
Today, we started the lesson with the teacher checking all student's blogs. Mr. Herry recommended the class to create reflections with the contents of what did we do, how did we do, and how can I improve this. We then practiced our movement compositions for tomorrow's PE assessment with the music that we made. I have to improve on the energy in moving and expression when doing it. I think that the synchronization between music and movement is good enough but the whole performance would be nice if we work on these mistakes.

8 March 2012 (No Instrument Class)
Music Theory: Today, we practiced our movement compositions with music (samples from other grade 7 students). Our group, when performing, was not as expressive or energetic as the other groups because we focused too much on how the sections of the whole composition would fit to the music. I think we had to improve on that factor to make the movements better.

5 March 2012
Music Theory: Today, some of us started to practice our melodies in the front according to instrument group. We had representatives from each group such as: Piano: Tristan, Flute: Jasmine, etc. When practicing, the students used different types of instruments so they were very interesting to listen to.

Instrument Class: During our Piano class, we practiced one by one with the teacher, practicing with the accompanying music that guided us with the beat. Mr. Herry said I had to be more synchronized with the tempo given in the music.

1 March 2012 ( Beginning of a new month!)
Music Theory: Today we discussed about the scores of the music booklet. Most of the students got an 8 which is the highest score. Then we wrote a reflection about the previous assessment, making the melody in the finale program.

Instrument Class: Today, we continued on practicing our melodies on the piano. I still need to improve on my finger posture.

27 February 2012
Music Theory: Today, we repeated learning the process on how to put chords into the finale program because some of the students have not submitted the hard copy of the note sheet due to lack of knowledge on using the program. Mr. Hary also told us to practice our melody for the assessment on March.

Instrument Class: Today, we practiced playing our 32 bar melodies with the left hand while the teacher supervises us. Mr. Herry said I had to improve on my finger posture (specifically the pinky), by doing finger exercises.

23 February 2012
Music Theory: Today, we had to submit our 32 bar creation melody. Some people didn't know how to use the FINALE program and we had to discuss about it again. We had to send Mr. Hary the soft copy of our work too.

Instrument Class: Today, we practiced our melodies, played with the accompaniment or chords. Mr. Herry recommended me to play the chords with different patterns during the beginning, middle, and end of the composition.

20 February 2012
Music Theory: Today, was our submission for the baroque era music booklet. We discussed its requirements and criteria with our substitute teacher, Mr. Sadrakh and about the next assessment which is submitting a 32 bar melody, printed in the Finale program, on Thursday this week.

Instrument Class: We did not have enough time for the practical activities so we discussed about installing the Finale program in Instrument class. Mr. Herry also checked the melodies to make sure that they are correct.

16 February 2012
Music Theory: Today, we discussed about our booklet assessment work progress and installing a music sheet making software called Finale. The teacher showed us how to set up new documents and putting the notes on the bars. This software will be for future use.

Instrument Class: After discussing about making 32 bar melodies in Music Theory, we decided to practice our written melodies out loud. When I did it, I had a lot of mistakes because I could not keep up with the beat. I wasn't balanced with the reading the notes and focusing on the beat at the same time. I focused on the beat too much, I forgot about the notes. Next time, I should be better in being balanced in playing the melody.

13 February 2012
Music Theory: Today, the class discussed about the music booklet assessment. Earlier, the requirement for the booklet was only 10 pages, but it is supposed to be 20. The submission date was postponed and we had to clarify the contents again. Later, we reviewed on making the melodies and checked on how we did in doing so.

Instrument Class: Today, we finished making a 32 bar melody. The teacher played it in the piano to check on how it sounds like. I think I have to improve on listening to instructions because I missed one bar.

9 February 2012
Music Theory: Today, on Thursday, we started the lesson by reviewing on note values such as the whole note, half note, and quarter note. We talked about the two things we must remember in making melodies which are;
1. Make melodies based on note values
2. Do not make the notes have far intervals between each other
We then practiced writing 16 bar melodies together with our instrument group

Instrument Class: Today, I learned how to make melodies according to their chords. We did not practiced playing them on the piano, though. But the teacher showed us how it would sound like.

6 February 2012
Music Theory: Today, we practiced writing 4 by 4 melodies and reviewed in learning notations. The music requirements for the IDU assessment involving English, Music, and Technology was discussed as a class. From making the melodies, I think I have to improve on making better melodies.

Instrument Class: Today, we focused on writing major scales with flats in bass clef and treble clef. One by one, we practiced playing the scales on the piano. I have to make my fingers stronger to maintain a good posture in playing the piano.

2 Feb 2012
Music Theory: Today, we discussed about note values(how many beats in each type of note) and rest values. We also learned about how we can use them in making melodies, which would be an upcoming assessment for Grade 7 students. Handouts were given today to give us more information about the assessments in music class.

Instrument Class: Today, we practiced writing scales in F clef and playing them in the piano. The teacher said I need to work on my hand posture when I practice the piano so that it will be easier for me to move my fingers when practicing piano

First Instrument (Piano) Class Reflection

 30 January 2012 (Auditions)
Today, we had to do an audition for piano class to see if we know the basics of piano such as reading notes. On Thursday, we must do a second audition to verify our instrument.

After Assessment Reflections

30 January 2012
After the assessments were done, we reviewed on reading notations and making scales and treble clefs. Some students had to redo on singing the national song.

Music Class: Theory and Instrument Reflections

16 January 2012 (First Music Class, Introduction and Orientation Day)
Today, at music theory class, we learned about major scales (notations) and formulas/rules that each note in the scales must follow (1-1-1/2-1-1-1-1/2), which is basically how scales are formed. An upcoming assessment of singing an Indonesian national song was discussed so that we can prepared for it. I would like to learn more about other types of scales.

19 January 2012
Today, we continued on learning scales, notations, and making treble clefs. The formulas are being reviewed and we learned about natural scales, which are scales that follow the rule without having a note changed. Then, students practiced on singing for the assessment.