Self Reflection

1. I think I'm at a solid P for my senior project so far. I haven't outright gone beyond the limit to include all the extra things that would get me an AE, but I've done everything that's been asked of so far relatively well.
2. I think I've done really well at actually learning about my topic. I learned a lot on what it takes to become a teacher, as well as what needs to be done to fit in the role of teaching others music. Along with that, I've gotten a lot more experienced at music in general, I've researched theory, technique, etc. in order to solidify what I want to teach as a music teacher.
3. I want to improve on finding my service learning. I'm very picky about what who I would work with in order to fill the senior team's definition of "fun". Along with the fact that I'm trying to find someone close and who teaches something I want to teach myself, it's very hard to choose.

Science Proposal

1. If the pitch on an acoustic guitar is increased, then the sound it produces will also increase in amplitude.
2. My dependent variable is the amplitude the sound will reach, my independent variable is the the pitch of the guitar string.  My controls are the strings used (thickness, material)
3. My senior topic EQ is what is the best way to teach music? In order to better understand how to teach it, it would be a good idea to know how music works mathematically. The more familiar I am with how music works, the better I can answer my senior topic question.
4. I have an acoustic guitar I can bring in to conduct the experiment. I will use a Vernier LabQuest, microphone probe, and Logger Pro 3.8 software to analyze the various pitch functions.
5. Physics

What I've Learned So Far

What I've learned to do since I've started the Senior Project is the Circle of Fifths. The Circle of Fifths is a tool used in music to find out what scales and chords sound well together, as well as listing the notes in each scale. It's a very key thing for a musician to know the circle of fifths in order to tell the key signature (the amount of flat notes in a scale) of a song. It's also useful when composing and improvising. It's easier for me to find the key of a song now, and I am able to improvise very well. Improvising is something I believe that every musician should be able to do to some extent, so as a teacher, one of my lessons will be based around the Circle of Fifths and the ability to improvise on the spot. Identifying key is also very important, and it will be linked to what I learned from the circle.

Here is my proof (A youtube video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOvHDYEKsNM



The research that helped me do this was Ricci Adam's music theory website (http://www.musictheory.net/).
This site is full of lessons and tests that helped me memorize the circle of fifths, as well as learn about it's important role in music.

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

For my independent study, I plan on either attending a music class to see how classes are taught, or teach/tutor someone else on my own.

My plan should meet the 30 hours requirement easily, especially if I attend a class. I can go to a lecture weekly and ask the teacher to log my hours. It's a similar situation if I tutor, every time I meet with my student, I will record the amount of time and progress we have made.

It relates to my EQ in that the best way to learn about something is to teach it yourself. If I want to find the most important thing in teaching music, I feel like I need first hand experience. If not, the next best thing would be to attend a class and observe how an actual teacher runs their class.

Defining the Essential Question

What is the most important thing in teaching music?

Teaching is a very complex thing to define, but what I want from my questions is that I want to know the most effective method in getting people to understand what I am trying to teach. Since I couldn't settle down on one single aspect of music to teach, I also added the broad term of music, so that what I teach can cover many subjects, such as theory, performance, composition, etc.

I think one possible answer so far would be 'hands-on' experience. In music especially, I've noticed that people will learn better, and generally have more fun, if they are able to experience music first hand.
Another possible answer could be to allow students to have their own pace. Music is something that is easier for some than others. I think if everyone could work at their own pace, they would see better progress than the pace you normally would take with any other class, usually the teacher's.

So far my most important source has been a site called musictheory.net made by Ricci Adams. It is a great tool for the aspiring music professional to begin learning their basic skills. It's the most impressive gateway I've seen for anyone wanting to learn about how music works in a more advanced level. The reason for it's importance is that I've obviously got to know all these things by heart if I ever hope to teach someone else.

Second Interview Questions

1. What are the benefits and differences from being a private teacher to a public teacher?
2. What do you think are the most important things about teaching music?
3. How would you focus on teaching different mediums of music? Such as theory, composition, performance, etc.
4. What would a music teacher have to do to get students to learn under them?
5. What convinced you to teach music?

Interview 1 & Presentation 1

1. My first interview changed my topic from musical composition to music teaching. I really enjoyed what my interviewee said about why he became a teacher, to be able to teach others the same subject he loves is great. I've always been fond of the idea of teaching others music, because I believe that everyone should have basic knowledge of musical theory. This interview cemented that idea as my new topic, so I can broaden my studies about music. It gave my presentation new things to talk about alongside composition, such as performance, theory or previous experiences with music teachers.
2. What stood out I think was that I was one of the few people who changed their topic because of their interview. I'd say the fact that I'm currently very comfortable with my new topic added some fresh enthusiasm to my presentation.
3. I think the most challenging thing to do in my presentation was the organization of my info, as well as remembering to apply it to your audience. It's easy to know and present a topic that you are very passionate about, however to be able to effectively get your point across while maintaining a sense of direction during the presentation is very hard. Especially when trying to cover every point of the LIA.

Senior Project Presentation 1

For my five minute presentation, I plan on talking about the importance of math in music, since composers deal with math every time they compose. I plan on going over the following:
 1. Inform people on just how much math is involved with musical composition.
 2. Go over a quick history of math's involvement in music.
 3. Try to give an example of a procedure or term that involves math. This may involve my visual.
To check for the audience's understanding, I may ask brief questions or warm-ups involving  what I presented to see if they are not lost during my presentation. My visual will either be a chart explaining my procedures, a musical instrument or possibly even both of these things. I may go over steps 1-3 again as well, but with different information the second time around.

Interview Check

For my first interview, I will be interviewing a music teacher who used to perform live at shows before teaching a music class. His name is Chris Waters, and has been working with music since he was in high school. Eventually he started teaching a class down at The School of Arts and Enterprise in Pomona.
I would also ask him things like how would I better myself as a performing musician? How does someone get started in musical performance? Is there any specific aspect of a musical career that would fit me best?

Why I Chose My Topic

My topic for my senior project is musical composition. Since I was young, I had an interest in all kinds of art; from drawing to playing music, it always gave me great joy to be able to have so much fun and be so expressive at the same time. At some point I realized that I had a lot more fun composing and playing my own music and that I was quite good at it, so I chose it as my topic. After studying my topic, I hope to be at a near professional level of musical understanding, so that I'm able to incorporate what I learned into my own musical compositions. I would also like to have a career as a musician later on, and I definitely need a good understanding of musical composition for that.