November 25, 2014

This day might be the last that I am going to continue my personal project for this year (maybe during the winter holiday) because next week is going to be exam week so I really have to learn and focus on the exams coming up. I believe that I have already made good progress for my personal project so I think that continuing next year is not going to be much of a problem nor it will interfere with my schedule (timeline). I am almost finished with my first piece.

November 19, 2014

On this date, I continued making my piece from bar 36 until bar 68. I did most parts of the song on this date because on bar 47 until 61, it is just the same as the first part of the song so I just needed to copy it but I also made some modifications so that it will not sound exactly like the first part of the song. Below is the photo of my progress.

November 10, 2014

On this date, I continued my sonatina until bar 35. The next part after bar 35 would be in minor key, just like on the Kuhlau Sonatina that my sonatina is based on and it would be the hardest part of the piece as there are a lot of sixteenth notes that have to be played including the left hand. I enjoyed making this piece as when I continue making it, I could not stop.

November 7, 2014

On this date, I had a progress check with my supervisor so that my supervisor and I can keep track on what I am doing and the progress I am making. So far my supervisor told me that I am doing well and on track. I was quite relieved because I was really busy this whole time so I thought that I would not have time to continue or maybe I am too far behind time but actually I am doing fine. I will continue to post on this blog about the progress of my project.

November 3, 2014

On this date, I continued my first piece of Sonatina and I followed my supervisor's (which is also my music teacher) advice on changing the the chord progressions on bar 12-15 of the piece. After I changed it, what my supervisor said was true, it sounded better and the progression of the chords are not too far from each other. I continued the piece until bar 22.

I think that for the next parts of the song, it has to be much harder than the previous bars because I think that it is quite easy. Next time I will continue making this piece until I have decent progress.

October 26, 2014

On this date, I continued to make my first piece. After the feedback that I got last Thursday from my supervisor, I changed parts of my composition and continue as the feedback that I got from my supervisor was that my format and transition was not correct so I had to change it to become sonata form. Below is my embedded Piece.
Subject A is from Bar 1 to Bar 15
Subject B is from Bar 16 and so on (not finished yet).

This piece that I created is based of from Kuhlau's Sonatina First Movement in C Major. I added in dynamics to the piece as well as slurs and the others. On bar 12 until bar 15, I added in a little bit minor part so the song would be interesting when heard by people. The melody is on the left hand and mostly triplets were used. I was quite challenging for me to make sonatinas but somehow I quite enjoy it as well.

October 20, 2014

On this date, I analysed more about sonatinas and then I chose a motive from a sonatina that inspires me and I started to create my first piece based on that motive. I took the motive from Kuhlau's Sonatina as this inspired me into making this first parts of the piece. The tonality of this 'piece' is Major and more specifically in C Major. The speed of this piece is a little bit above normal speed. The intro of this piece is quite simple but as it goes on it gets harder bit by bit. The challenges that I faced was that I cannot make the piece too easy as it is a sonatina not a normal piece that even an 7th grader can make. However, overall I enjoy making this piece as this can develop my composition skills especially making sonatinas in the future.

Below is my first 10 bars of my first piece. Link is below the embedded score.

http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/e4dfad032681904d8741adbbd59cda6b2b158e56

October 3, 2014

On this date, I did some rechecking about my sonatina analysis that I did a couple of days ago and the feedback that my supervisor gave was that I had to add more details to my analysis as I also think that it is not really detailed. I was feeling a little bit stressed because there were so many assessments that were about to be due in a couple days. I might continue about the week after so that I can complete all my assessments first. Next since it is already near to the mid of October, as according to my time frame, I will start to make my first piece, which it is based on a sample sonatina but I take the motive and change most of it.

September 29, 2014

I research about Sonatinas and I also listened and compared between sonatinas. The sonatina links that I listened and compared to are:

Haydn

Tonality: Major Key
Tempo: Medium speed
In the middle it changed to minor key.

Kuhlau

Tonality: Major Key
Theme: Use of tension notes
Tempo: Fast

Beethoven

Tonality: Major Key
In the middle it changed to minor key.
Tempo: Fast

Clementi

Tonality: Major Key
Tempo: Fast

Mozart

Tonality: Major Key
Tempo: Medium

Sonatinas usually start with the Tonic key, then the development part starts with Dominant key and then it goes back to Tonic key again.

The challenges that I faced was that I had to analyse each piece carefully and spot out any major differences and simple differences.

Most of the Sonatinas' tonality is in Major key(happy). The character from each piece is shorter and lighter and also it is more suited for a beginner to learn Sonatinas as sonatinas is the smaller form of sonatas and Sonatinas are more technical to train the pianist's skills. The tempo is varied on the sonatina. A sonatina has at least one characteristic in each one, which is either brevity (fewer movements than the four of the late classical  sonata), technical simplicity (a lighter, less serious character) and a neo-classical style or a reference to earlier music.

Next, I will discuss the progress of my work with my supervisor.

September 25, 2014

I discussed with my supervisor about the progress of my research which is that I added more information into my research, but I didn't put a lot AND, I changed my goal into creating Sonatinas not Sonatas because sonatinas are more suitable for developing a beginner pianist's skill. I also showed my time frame and KW chart for the project. The time frame is for showing what to do in a certain period and the KW chart is for showing my understanding and inquiries. The challenges I faced is that if I stated the period for doing a certain task in my time frame, I would have to do the certain task exactly on that period of time. Another challenge was that I had to answer my questions that I stated. Next, I will change the format of my current time frame into a gantt chart and I will research about Sonatinas and the difference of Sonatinas between composers.

September 23, 2014

I discussed with my supervisor about what progress I made, however I haven't create the time frame, the KW chart and also I had to make my initial sources of primary research 5 so I postponed the meeting which should be written in the academic honesty paper to Thursday, and also I got my supervisor's signature for the assigned dates. So before this Thursday, I will make the time frame and KW chart. The source I consulted with:

Alvira, J. Rodriguez. "Musical Forms." Sonata Form. N.p., 2011. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.

September 18, 2014

Today is the date I had to meet my supervisor, however my supervisor had a meeting to attend so it was postponed to next Tuesday which is September 23, 2014.

September 15, 2014

I continued to research more about my topic and I am thinking to add more information, because the information that I researched and discussed with my supervisor before is a little and not really detailed. The challenges that I faced was that I had to make my research as detailed as possible so that the information is accurate, because if I get the information wrong, my whole personal project that is making sonata compositions will be wrong. Next, I will be meeting my supervisor to discuss about my research. The resources that I consulted are:

"StudySpace: The Enjoyment of Music: Essential Listening Edition." W. W. Norton & Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.

September 11, 2014

So this is my second meeting with my supervisor. I explained and discussed about my research about the types of compositions and my decision to make sonatas and I also explained the reason why. My supervisor gave me feedback for my research and he said that my research has to be more detailed as I could not answer some of the questions that he asked me for example: "What is the difference between classical sonata and romantic sonata? Why did you choose sonata out of the other types of compositions? (As my answer to this question is not really that specific and detailed) This shows that I have to research more about my topic. Over the following week, I will be researching more about Sonatas and I will be sure that whatever question my supervisor asks me I would be ready and with the answer in my mind.

September 7, 2014

I researched about the types of compositions and I decided that I chose to be making Sonatas since out of all the types of compositions, I am more familiar and more understanding on Sonatas. I will be making 2 books of Sonatas for my personal project which each consists of 8 Pieces. The difficulties that I faced are that I had to understand a lot about Sonatas so that I can apply that to my compositions but this takes time so I will keep on researching about it. The resources that I consulted with are:

"Classical Piano Music Styles." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

"The Sonata in the Classical Period." Http://www.bbc.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

"MusicAnthology." MusicAnthology RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

September 5, 2014

I showed my proposal to my intended supervisor which is Mr. Herry, and he accepted my proposal to be my supervisor for the personal project. I met my supervisor and talked about what I will be doing for the personal project which are making compositions. I planned what to do until my next meeting with my supervisor and decided that to start off I will research about information there is to know about music compositions including their types and everything else.