Music Practical - Guitar

cautioner

So I've picked the practical as my elective, as the majority do, and I'm playing 4 pieces on guitar along with music technology.

So far I know I'm definitely doing:

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin
Cannonball - Damien Rice
Blackbird - The Beatles

I'm a bit stuck trying to think of a fourth piece. I've been playing for about 2 and a half years but I don't practice as much as I should. I can play the above pieces grand though. Anyone else doing the same? What songs are you playing?

Fad

cautioner wrote: »

So I've picked the practical as my elective, as the majority do, and I'm playing 4 pieces on guitar along with music technology.

So far I know I'm definitely doing:

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin
Cannonball - Damien Rice
Blackbird - The Beatles

I'm a bit stuck trying to think of a fourth piece. I've been playing for about 2 and a half years but I don't practice as much as I should. I can play the above pieces grand though. Anyone else doing the same? What songs are you playing?

*This advice is based on the presumption that you're playing acoustic guitar.

TBH Id avoid Stairway, Id say examiners really get sick of hearing every other guitar players, playing that. Maybe, Nothing Else Matters-Metallica, El Scorcho-Weezer, something of the new Thrice album (The Earth disc, not the Air one!), maybe a bit of City and Colour (Woah i just realised Canadians spell colour correctly)


I dunno, my suggestions might seem a bit lacklustre because my taste in acoustic music is more chord orientated (Like Heathers[Check them out, them=AMAZING but anyway]) but my main point is, try and find something different, and the examiner id imagine would appreciate that. Also if you play Stairway and make a mistake, if he's heard that song 100 times before he'll know straight away, rather than being unfamiliar with a piece of music, he probably wouldnt be AS quick to pick up on a minor slip.

Niamh-17

Im not doing guitar for my music practical or am i able to play the guitar, but how about Layla by Eric Clapton? I had been looking into playing this on piano for mine, and its got great stuff for guitar.

Im playing piano and the pieces i have chosen are:

Mongoose Crawl (grade 6)
The Phantom of the Opera
I dont like mondays - Boomtown rats

And im undecided about a fourth, possible a classical piece from grade 5.

K4t

Go Irish: Rory Gallagher - BullFrog blues

insinkerator

Are you just going to be playing them on your own, or do you have support, and also, are ou just playing the music or are you singing too?

xOxSinéadxOx

how good do you have to be at piano? say what grade?

Niamh-17

I would say anything above grade four or five you should be ok. Its not really what grade level you have reached, it really comes down to the type and quality of the pieces you pick.....but thats just what i heard so im not really sure lol

PurpleFistMixer

Fad wrote: »

(Like Heathers[Check them out, them=AMAZING but anyway])

One of them was in my year (and music class... she didn't get an A1 in music, we were all disgusted and angry), but yeah they're ridiculously great.

As far as practical goes, basically
- Avoid boring them to death with pieces everyone does. (Ie to echo other people, don't do Stairway to Heaven, unless you make grown men weep with emotion when you play it)
- Do varied enough pieces; some fast ones, slow ones, classical, modern etc. You're performing for the examiner and want to keep them entertained, and show a range of skills.

As far as grades etc. goes... well, it's more about your performance than technical skill. I did a grade 4 piece and a grade 8 piece, and tbh while the grade 8 piece was... um, ambitious, let's say, I'd say the grade 4 piece came out sounding better because I could play it properly and really give it socks.

Fad

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

One of them was in my year (and music class... she didn't get an A1 in music, we were all disgusted and angry), but yeah they're ridiculously great.

How come i get a year full of Tiesto/Gangster Rap fans, and you got a year with at least one talented musician (possibly more for all i know)

Margie (as gaeilge) was one of the best things ive possibly ever had the pleasure of listening to.

PurpleFistMixer

I assure you, my year was no musical wonder - I spent too many art classes listening to "Get Low" (or not enough one might say)... We just had a freak chance of an amazing musician.

Fad

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

I assure you, my year was no musical wonder - I spent too many art classes listening to "Get Low" (or not enough one might say)... We just had a freak chance of an amazing musician.

Id say a 30 second snippet of that song is more than enough, for one lifetime.

I mean how can anyone listen to a song with such a complex message?

However one is better than none

Alas best get back on topic,

You could always try and write a song of your own? (Is that allowed? provided it displays musical ability)

Alanstrainor

Fad wrote: »

You could always try and write a song of your own? (Is that allowed? provided it displays musical ability)

That's what i did back in the day! 6 of my own pieces, basically i went in with a rough idea of 6 songs and jammed with them. They were mostly blues, with a lil bit of jazz influence. Used a loop station to be my own rhythm section. Just varied the tempo a lot, and moved from major to minor etc. Fun times, ended up with a C1, but that was because i didn't have a clue about any of the written part of the exam

cautioner

Woe, I'm nowhere near able write a decent song myself.

I had those very concerns about Stairway but my teacher listened to me playing it and said he couldn't really fault it.

I'm playing solo acoustic, on a nylon stringed guitar. I was considering doing Albatross by Fleetwood Mac (as heard on Marks and Spencer's food porn advertisements) with a mate of mine on bass... but the right hand technique is beyond me. I could likely get it by the time the practical rolls around but I'm all about the laziness. If I have to I probably will.

A bit of Clapton is a nice idea actually. It's a shame I'm not going to guitar lessons anymore... my teacher was brilliant and online tabs tend to be utterly sh!t. I'll look it up anyway.

I can sing... sort of. Only started trying around this time last year, no formal lessons or anything apart from a couple of tips from the guitar teacher. There's a few songs I'd be confident enough to sing and play but none of them are really all that impressive, guitar-wise.

Stev_o

If your doing a acoustic solo personally id go with In Flames Acoustic Melody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeyFrzw2jBQ

Its a very big contrast to what they do with electric guitars but god its brilliant

cautioner

Thanks for the reccommendation, class song but to be honest it's probably too hard for me. I think I may give it a stab anyway, about time I put some real effort into a f*cking hard (by my standards anyway) piece like that. Thanks.

Fad

how about this, its a really nice tune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgHzEqGEywA

insinkerator

Well if you are singing and playing at the same time, you are showing nother skill, so the guitar doesnt have to be amazing... basically what you are aiming for is to show the examiner as many skills as possible, within the range of four songs.

It seems daunting, but its not really that bad when you are in there(bearing in mind i didnt actually do music, but i did play in a friends practical).

Also dont rule out the possibility of playing with support, even if its only for one song, it shos your ability to communicate while playing!

xOxSinéadxOx

Niamh-17 wrote: »

I would say anything above grade four or five you should be ok. Its not really what grade level you have reached, it really comes down to the type and quality of the pieces you pick.....but thats just what i heard so im not really sure lol

thanks for replying, I have grade 5 done, but I haven't played in about a year and I'm gone a bit ****, need to start practising!

highlydebased

Fad.....came across this thread with a smiliar problem, I've just tried title and registration and I love it! ta

Fad

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Fad.....came across this thread with a smiliar problem, I've just tried title and registration and I love it! ta

Glad to hear it, was on my ipod for ages, and i was thought Death Cab are shíte (had heard them a few years ago, not good ), then i had a ridiculously long wait for a train one night on the way home from school, and i thought, feck it i'll give em another go, result loss for words*


*theres probably better, out there i just havent heard it yet

Anyway, i had another thought to contribute, just because you hear a song thats electrically based, doesnt mean you have to limit yourself and not consider that song, a prime example:

Say Anything-Alive With The Glory Of Love [Infectiously catch pop punk, might have heard it before, was in scrubs]:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfptieWXEJA

And a cover of it, that doesnt restrict itself by following the song exactly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VS--sZ6zJM

This girl is amazing btw, check out other stuff by her:D

cautioner

Dear Fad.

You are a legend.

I happen to be passionately in love with Transatlanticism at the moment. I love Title and Registration. Never would have occured to me to play it though.
Also, I'm a bit of a Say Anything fan too With Alive with the Glory of love being on of my favourites of theirs... uncanny, seriously, how you could just pick two songs that I really like that could work well for the practical. Noice one

degausserxo

cautioner wrote: »

Dear Fad.

You are a legend.

I happen to be passionately in love with Transatlanticism at the moment. I love Title and Registration. Never would have occured to me to play it though.
Also, I'm a bit of a Say Anything fan too With Alive with the Glory of love being on of my favourites of theirs... uncanny, seriously, how you could just pick two songs that I really like that could work well for the practical. Noice one

+1

highlydebased

Fad wrote: »

Glad to hear it, was on my ipod for ages, and i was thought Death Cab are shíte (had heard them a few years ago, not good ), then i had a ridiculously long wait for a train one night on the way home from school, and i thought, feck it i'll give em another go, result loss for words*


*theres probably better, out there i just havent heard it yet



This girl is amazing btw, check out other stuff by her

Same here, had the album but never took a liking to them

I agree! her covers rock ;D

Fad

cautioner wrote: »

Dear Fad.

You are a legend.

I am :pac:

cautioner wrote: »

I happen to be passionately in love with Transatlanticism at the moment. I love Title and Registration. Never would have occured to me to play it though.
Also, I'm a bit of a Say Anything fan too With Alive with the Glory of love being on of my favourites of theirs... uncanny, seriously, how you could just pick two songs that I really like that could work well for the practical. Noice one

However dont get your hopes up too soon, clear it with your teacher first to see if theyre ok.

-ME-

Okay, this is slightly off- topic but ties in with the overall topic of the music practical:

I was planning on playing 6 piano pieces for my LC practical (fairly mediocre grade 5/ 6 / 7 pieces) but my piano teacher recently told me that they mark you far more easily if you play 8 pieces on two different instruments (4 and 4). Is there any truth in this? Fretting a bit now as the music practical is only a few months away.. wish she'd told me this earlier!

Fad

-ME- wrote: »

Okay, this is slightly off- topic but ties in with the overall topic of the music practical:

I was planning on playing 6 piano pieces for my LC practical (fairly mediocre grade 5/ 6 / 7 pieces) but my piano teacher recently told me that they mark you far more easily if you play 8 pieces on two different instruments (4 and 4). Is there any truth in this? Fretting a bit now as the music practical is only a few months away.. wish she'd told me this earlier!

1 you do have a good bit of time between now and the practical, relax
2 you dont have to play grade pieces, you could find something else you like, a bit of a cliché but Lux Aeterna maybe? play something you'd like to play, something you might listen to yourself?
3 while i dont know your piano teacher, does she teach leaving cert music, does she examine it (now, not 5 years ago) is what she's saying based on anything or is it just speculation?

[On a note unrelated to this, that episode of scrubs was on today ]

cautioner

My teacher tells us it's marked at Ordinary Level if we choose to do Music Technology... I wonder if that's equivalent to doing the two instruments?
I'd never seen that Death Cab video before, it's class

-ME-

cautioner wrote: »

My teacher tells us it's marked at Ordinary Level if we choose to do Music Technology... I wonder if that's equivalent to doing the two instruments?
I'd never seen that Death Cab video before, it's class

Yeah Music technology and an instrument also apparently count for the easy marking scheme. She's not a LC music teacher but apparently she was told by an LC music teacher that it's marked at Ordinary Level if you do two instruments/ technology.

Is anyone definite whether this is true or just speculation?

Hope it's not true. I really can't be bothered to take up music technology at this stage. Maybe I can attempt singing or something.

cautioner

Well my teacher is an examiner for the practical so I'm definite about the technology/Ordinary Level marking, and if you're definite that it's the same for 2 instruments, then we've got ourselves some definitiveness

Also, I really can't stress enough how easy the music technology is. If you're a member of boards, chances are you're not a technophobe, and if you're not a technophobe, it's absolute childsplay.

PurpleFistMixer

Well, considering if you do 4 on each instrument, you're doing 8 in total, it could be reasonable to expect a slightly lower standard than if you were just doing 6 pieces. Probably doesn't make much of a difference though.
The main advantage, IMO, to doing 2 instruments is incase you're having a bad day in one of them on the day. (Like if your voice goes or whatever.)

Also music technology is supposedly mad easy, and it counts, as someone said, as an instrument, so that could be handy.

Drodan

I had been looking for that song for AGES!!

Then i realise it was in the random stuff from Say Anything i already had but never bothered going through, god dammit.

On the acoustic note, look ANYTHING to do with Ace Enders, he is an unreal song writer.