11MUS-Performance Portfolio

Who inspires you?

Here is a blog post on two people who inspired me to play the piano. It has now become a part of my life!

Well, to give a quick history of my musical life, back when I was a kid, I started to pick up a ‘desire’ towards instruments. I started off with the accordion (which my Grandad taught me), to playing my grandparents acoustic piano. I was only around 5 then, so no real talent there. Then, when I moved into year 9, I started to pick up the piano from a Japanese homestay student (Who could play awesome classical songs!). Ever since then I was inspired by him and decided to take the piano more seriously. Now, at that same time, I was learning the guitar and the ukulele, so I had to choose what to continue with. Nowadays, I play the piano mainly, but play the guitar whenever it is needed or for fun. So there you have it, my Japanese homestay student did truly inspire me to develop skills on the piano.

My second inspiration would be Beethoven. Yes, I know he is long gone, but his music still remains. He inspires me as he was partly deaf, moving on to practically fully deaf and he still composed the best works of all time. His music is a true beauty and I have learned a number of his songs, at least the ones I can play at the moment.

Fur Elise (The first song I learned)  -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mVW8tgGY_w

My instrument

The piano, a truly beautiful instrument that is part of the strings family. The piano has been my go-to instrument to play, to listen, and to stare with amazement at for around 3 years.

11ENG-Creative Writing Practice

Creative Writing Practice

Here is my writing piece based on The Goldfinch by Donna Tart, the first part being from the book, carried on by my personal writing.

“Though we’d been driving a while, there were no landmarks, and it was impossible to say where we were going or in which direction. The skyline was monotonous and unchanging and I was fearful that we might drive through the pastel houses altogether and out into the alkali waste beyond, into some sun-beaten trailer park from the movies.” [Carried on here] The sky was a mountain of rust, blanketing the gloomy city below. The sun barely gleaming through, as if it was only a spec of dust. The car crawled tiredly along the packed road, which carried all of the workers back to their place of rest. The city looked bored as the day reached its pinnacle, showing no vibrant signs of rejuvenating colour. The buildings sat roasting in the swarm of heat that radiated throughout the city. The air tasted dry as it stationarily brushed past my mouth. The cities sounding like a motorway filled to the brim with cars. I felt as if we were going through a crowded desert... A place far from home. Everyone was a racer, passing by all their fellow competitors wanting to crash into their set destination: home.

11MUS-Group Performance

11MUS-Group Performance 2/2/19

Welcome! this is my group performance blog which will be updated weekly, showing the progress that my group develops. I hope you enjoy this process.

In music class, we are planning to perform Shawn Mendes: Lost in Japan. We have 5 members in our group including Alyana (Drummer), Hillary (Singer), Tina (Singer), Braxton (Bassist), and I (Pianist). We are using our own rendition, so here is the link to the original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWzXkV3hHo

This song was inspired by a dream about that the singer (Shawn Mendes) had. In his dream, he was lost in a foreign country and the next day, he woke up and literally went straight into developing a song.

11MUS-Group Performance 19/2/19

So far, our group performance is going great! We all have learned around a third or two of our sections and have actually started to practice as a group to get our dynamics and timing as close to perfect as humanly possible! As of the moment I find the intro timing challenging as it switches between different patterns (The beat is the same though!). My rehearsal goal for this week is to get all of the instruments to play at the same time, and for the singers to attempt to harmonize the song.

11ENG-Similies and Metaphors

Similies and Metaphors

In English, we are studying similies and metaphors and how they can be integrated into creative writing texts. Similies and metaphors are both creative writing features that are used commonly in various formats and situations. To demonstrate this, we all get a light bulb in our brain when we hear: "He eats like a pig", or "They were as brave as a lion". Our task provided was to research and locate two songs containing Metaphors and Similies within the lyrics of them to show that they play a sincere part in songs and these features give the lyrics a relatable twist. I highlighted the obvious similies in red and metaphors in blue text, so keep an eye out for them.


Song No.1: Stitches-Shawn Mendes



I thought that I've been hurt before
But no one's ever left me quite this sore
Your words cut deeper than a knife
Now I need someone to breathe me back to life
Got a feeling that I'm going under
But I know that I'll make it out alive
If I quit calling you my lover
Move on
You watch me bleed until I can't breathe
I'm shaking falling onto my knees
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
I'm tripping over myself
Aching begging you to come help
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
Just like a moth drawn to a flame
Oh you lured me in I couldn't sense the pain
Your bitter heart cold to the touch
Now I'm gonna reap what I sow
I'm left seeing red on my own
Got a feeling that I'm going under
But I know that I'll make it out alive
If I quit calling you my lover
Move on
You watch me bleed until I can't breathe
I'm shaking falling onto my knees
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
I'm tripping over myself
Aching begging you to come help
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
Needle and the thread
Gotta get you out of my head
Needle and the thread
Gonna wind up dead
Needle and the thread
Gotta get you out of my head
Needle and the thread
Gonna wind up dead
Needle and the thread
Gotta get you out of my head
Needle and the thread
Gonna wind up dead
Needle and the thread
Gotta get you out of my head, get you out of my head
You watch me bleed until I can't breathe
I'm shaking falling onto my knees (falling on my knees)
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches (and I'll be needing stitches)
I'm tripping over myself
Aching begging you to come help (begging baby please)
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches


Song No.2: Believer-Imagine Dragons



First things first
I'ma say all the words inside my head
I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh ooh
The way that things have been, oh ooh
Second thing second
Don't you tell me what you think that I can be
I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh ooh
The master of my sea, oh ooh
I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
Write down my poems for the few
That looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
(Pain, pain)
You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
(Pain)
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from
(Pain)
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Third things third
Send a prayer to the ones up above
All the hate that you've heard has turned your spirit to a dove, oh ooh
Your spirit up above, oh ooh
I was choking in the crowd
Building my rain up in the cloud
Falling like ashes to the ground
Hoping my feelings, they would drown
But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing
Inhibited, limited
'Til it broke up and it rained down
It rained down, like
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
(Pain, pain)
You break me down, you built me up, believer, believer
(Pain)
I let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from
(Pain)
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Last things last
By the grace of the fire and the flames
You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh ooh
The blood in my veins, oh ooh
But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing
Inhibited, limited
'Til it broke up and it rained down
It rained down, like
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
(Pain, pain)
You break me down, you built me up, believer, believer
(Pain)
I let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from
(Pain)
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer