I had assigned an hour on Monday and Wednesday(each week for 5 months) to prepare for the Trinity College Examinations in Music that I give in the first week of January of 2019. My goal for this activity was mainly to polish my drumming skills which include learning new rudiments, exploring new genres and forms of music such as Bossa Nova, Grooving Swing, Boogaloo, Funky, Flamacue, and etcetera. I have been playing the drum kit since 2011 but I started reading notations only since 2015, so wanted to test my reading skills. Apart from reading, exploring new genres and rudiments; I also improved my improvisation and Aural skills as a requirement for the Exam.

LO1 & LO2:

I identified a huge weakness of mine; Anxiety. A few days before the exam Anxiety had started taking over my mind and was adversely affecting my performance. Recognising and later working on my Anxiety, was vital to an excellent performance, I got this obstacle eliminated early in the process. Playing any instrument requires you to be aware of all the features of the song; from its tempo to mood to dynamics etc. As I was anxious and was not able to “get in the groove” I was unable to play a song perfectly, this left a major chunk of my practice obsolete.

Sight-Reading, the stuff of nightmares! I have always been poor at reading notations. while preparing the songs for this exam I have needed constant aid from my Music Teacher, this had no noticeable ramifications when preparing the songs, but Sight-reading was a part of the exam where I had to read the notation provided. Despite of the initial challenge faced, with extreme dedication and perseverance, I was able to reach a point where I could read almost all the notations that were a part of the curriculum.

LO4:

Music requires discipline and dedication. I had assigned at least two hours a week for practice, and I was very strict about it. I never paused my practice and almost every week exceeded my expected weekly practice time. I extensively practised for better clarity, uniform tempo, and dynamics. The results were apparent, an upward graph in my performance.

Playing Drums was my way being Balanced, as well as showcasing the attitudes Enthusiasm(Playing Drums is something I have always loved), Creativity(As a part of my Improvisation Exercise) and finally Commitment. 

The journey was highly pleasurable and exciting, it was not perfect. The one thing I would change about the activity would be: “Have fun and play as many quirky Music genres and forms” It is something I loved the most about the activity but I massively regret limiting myself to exploring only a handful of genres.