FOCUS
It is amazing what a little focus and can do. I have completed the song. Take a listen:
Full Song: "The Christmas Song" (take 1)
Over the next week I am going to sharpen it up and memorize the lyrics in preparation for the great unveiling:
Let's look at the data. Here are the chords in the song by section
The Intro: C6, Bb9, Am, Am7, F#m7, Fm7, Em7, Eb9, Dm7, C#9, C6
Verse (part 1): C6, Dm7, Em7, Fm7, C6, Gm7, C7, Fm7, Bb9
Verse (part 2): C6, Bb9, Am, Am7, F#m7, Fm7, Em7, Fm7, Bb9, Ebm7, Dm7, C#9
The Bridge: Gm7, Gm7/C, Fm9, Fm7, Bb7, Ebm7, D7, G7
The Ending: C6, Bb9, aM, aM7, f#M7, Fm7, Em7, Eb9, Dm7, G7, C6
Here they are again by frequency
| Unique Chords | Times in Song |
| C6 | 6 |
| Bb9 | 4 |
| Am | 2 |
| Am7 | 4 |
| F#m7 | 3 |
| Fm7 | 7 |
| Em7 | 4 |
| Eb9 | 2 |
| Dm7 | 4 |
| C#9 | 2 |
| Gm7 | 2 |
| C7 | 1 |
| Bb9 | 1 |
| Ebm7 | 2 |
| Gm7/C | 1 |
| Fm9 | 1 |
| Bb7 | 1 |
| D7 | 1 |
| G7 | 1 |
19 unique chords is a lot for a song but great for my learning.
By forcing myself to see this through (only possible because of this blog) I have learned something about scheduling projects: I tend to think about scheduling things like this as "how will I fit practicing in everyday" when in reality it is more practical to do deep practice 2 times a week. Taking the pressure to find a little time everyday off the table made everything easier. Days are not created equal and so now I am practicing only 2 nights a week but for longer sessions. It's like block scheduling and that worked for me.
Next week I will have my final version and next steps for my journey back into piano...
Bravo Luke! I am so impressed at how much you've done since the last blog. I'm curious whether or not you'll keep it up and learn to do another song next.
ReplyDeleteOoooops! I saw a message when I clicked the play button, it said there were some problems to open the file because of virus! oh my.. I can't open it now. I will try it tomorrow again.
ReplyDeleteYes, I learned that google drive will only play audio up to 25mbs. So, I uploaded a video with a static image instead. It looks nicer :)
DeleteThank you! Finally, I listened to the beautiful music!
DeleteWow! Great job! Practice can be daunting sometimes. I know I always dreaded practicing at home when I was band elementary through high school. I like the idea of just deep twice a week. I think that might be a good idea for me and my workout schedule instead of going 5 times a week. Just go twice with a full body workout and a nice walk on the weekends. Thanks for the segmenting idea (kind of reminds me what John Eick said different subjects can help each other with ideas)
ReplyDeleteWow. I just closed my eyes while I were listening to this video. It's amazing! The minor key let me feel the coming Christmas will be very peaceful.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more - trying to fit everything into our busy schedules is hard at times - sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day - but you did it :) Congrats! Your family is gong to be very impressed!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I used to enjoy playing the keyboard but I lost interest as I got older. I definitely wouldn't be ale to do anything like this now. I'm not exactly musically gifted :) Great job! Your family is going to love it.
ReplyDelete