14/12/09

Hi Everyone... Yep, still 5 of you.

Oh well.

Anyway, this week had a few bits of interest. First up was band work. It was the last practice before the 'gig' last week and it seems that all the songs are all ready for gig tomorrow (Tuesday), which by the way I have sacrificed a perfectly good sock to make an authentic, genuine, accurate John Lennon-esque costume, sort of. Not a whole lot went down in first study, I just went over my pieces with Kev.

Thursday was the day of graded unit gold. In graded unit class we had a guest speaker (I can't remember her name, but I do know she was a former student of Perth college and she works in the community music sector), who I thought gave an excellent motivational speech about our job prospects. It really put a new light on what careers can become available to me once I have my degree, I left the room with a smile on my face. The key points from Laura's speech (Yes, I remembered her name here) are as follows:

• Use your time at college to network and make contacts, as the people you meet at college know people who know people and so on.
• Prostitute Yourself: Do free gigs ! It can lead to paid work and raises your credibility.
• Reliability, Punctuality and being prepared are turn-ons for employers !
• "If you want to get paid professional prices, be professional !"
• And when selling yourself use examples of your work/skills.

So there you go, GOLD. I can apply all of that to being a session musician. Also on Thursday, we learned how to write for transposed instruments, well Bb ones anyway. Which I had no clue about previously. Again on Thursday in session skills, Gavin first handed us Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder. It was a tricky we bugger ! But great fun nonetheless. We also got Brick House by The Commodores. I must admit I struggled with the reading initially, but we soon cracked that nut. And finally on Thursday, I got asked by another Honors student if I would play guitar for his Red Hot Chili Pepper's project, I accepted the task. He wants me to learn 15 tunes, nice.

Well that's it for another week.

I doubt that I'll post another one for a few weeks, maybe one next week, I don't know.

If not...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY !!!

p.s. Is it me or is there a lack of feedback on this blog...

08/12/09

Hi you five. How do ?

I decided to roll this week AND last week into one 'big', tasty, eye-hunger quenching blog entry, I hope you're already impressed.

Here comes last week: 

Well that WAS a wild ride ! Wait a minute... No it wasn't. Last week nothing really happened at college as everybody (except yours truly) was either away doing something or just having a day off. Despite me phoning the college and asking someone at college to verify that Gavin's class was off, I kept getting the answer "Well, I haven't heard anything about a canceled class. You SHOULD come in." So I came in and low and behold, I was the only one there. Fantastic.

However, I did have a good jam with my mate Dylan.

This week was a bit more eventful. In Kevin's class he assigned me the task of writing my own Solo guitar piece and polishing up my renditions of Yesterday and Octopus' Garden for the start of January. Already undergone some work ! That shows that I am industrious ! Also this week I re-redrafted my Graded Unit planning stage, it's pretty tasty now ! And we also did a theory test, which I feel had it's ups and downs. Kept me on my toes anyway. In Gavin's class we rattled through The Commitment's song, Grit or Gravy, or something to that effect anyway... Despite not knowing the tune, we showed it a good time.

Out of college, not a whole lot has happened. That could be like experience for when you're a session player and there isn't much work sometimes... Maybe ? No ? If you don't like it you can send it back, just putting it out there...

Thanks again people.

23/11/09

Hi guys !

On Saturday my band and I, The Xylophone Race, had a gig. But it wasn't just our average set, it was a special Acoustic set. This required a lot of arranging and thinking on our feet (just like a session musician) plus there was the performance. The gig went really well I thought as it was an 'intimate' gig, so we could really get some banter with the crowd; we played for an hour and there was a good response. The gig actually got filmed, so I can use that as material for my portfolio. Why not check out the videos !

This is our song called Too Late:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obOy92Uc4a4

And this is a cover of the Bill Withers tune Just The Two Of Us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbv5f_lhlyk

This Week, I was only in college on Wednesday... but that was only because I had to go gigging,

which brings me to another skill of a session musician, prioritizing. Anyway, in Kevin's class he

pointed out that I need to work on my fretting technique... Which I have been doing intensively

ever since, It has improved *phew*.

Otherwise not a whole lot happened this week...

Thanks for reading.

Watch the Videos !

 

16/10/09

Hello individuals,

This week has been brilliant. I got fired from my job.

Then I went for a drink to celebrate my misery.

Awesome.

Ironically, when I was at work that day, I was thinking about how situations at work could relate to my experience for graded unit, such as working with difficult people, having good communication skills and following instructions. Apparently being laid back and honest are not qualities that people look for in bar staff. Great. But at least this gives me experience in being knocked back from work... is that valid ?

Anyway this week at college was partially productive. There was no guitar class, so I made use of the time by practicing my solo versions of the Beatles songs. This week band work went well as the whole group turned up and we ran through the 5 songs we have for the gig, I reckon just a bit tighter and it'll be right as rain (I don't know where that phrase came from). We also got that dates for our presentation on the Beatles. Mine is on the 13th of January, expect a mediocre performance. Nah, I'll put a lot of effort into this one, it's quite an interesting subject. The most interesting class this week was Session Skills, it really showed me that I need to improve my sight reading. The song we were given was Deep Purple's Smoke On the Water, which I know what you're thinking, Is a very straightforward song, which it is. However, we were playing through the song with ease and then we came to the guitar solo...

On the score was Ritchie Blackmore's solo from the original recording, which featured all sorts of quintuplets and crazed phrases. So then I started to sweat trying to read this solo, but it wasn't happening. Sympathy quickly came my way from the other members of the group. So in the meantime I just improvised over the solo section so we could get through the rest of the song. That sounded alright. As soon as Gavin came in I told him he was having a laugh if he thought I was going to be able to read that solo that was notated. He laughed and replied, "You don't have to, you would just improvise over that section anyway as a session player."

I slapped my face into my palm and laughed over this realization. The song got nailed.

And that's about it.

See my words next time.

I need a job (again).

 

09/11/09

It's that time of the week again !

You'll be glad to know I finally got my Bill Withers CD and I'm groovin' like no body's business !

Anyway I'm just back from Inverness where I was doing a photo shoot with my band, I feel it went well. We also got a cheeky wee practice in there for our special acoustic set, quite a bit of arranging got done (another essential musician's skill),  more practice needed I reckon but we're on our way. 

In Kev's class I showed him what I'd done to the Beatles' Yesterday, he seemed to approve and showed me what other techniques and harmonies I could apply to the tune. Another 'highlight' of the week was the talk from Lorenz Cairns. He shared stories of sessions and the related situations, I think it was quite a good insight into what being a session player is like. Here is one of his insightful quotes:

Be all you can be and bring something to the table. - Lorenz Cairns, Perth College, 2009.

Pretty inspirational, eh ?

The final interesting part of college this week was session skills. We had a decent stab at Prince's 1999, which I struggled with the first one or two times through. This called my sight-reading skills into question, I MUST IMPROVE. But once I'd got it, we nailed it down.

Oh I also got a haircut this week.

Yep.

31/10/09

It's Halloween right now ! Pity I am working tonight so I can't get drunk and obnoxious as I usually do...

Oh well. 

*sigh*

I'll entertain myself (and yourself) with my weekly graded unit post... goody...

This week at college First Study was a mild success as I 'performed' my solo arrangement of Octopus' Garden and it was valid, but with a few pointers and insights from Kev, I found out how it could be improved further. I also explained I was really not going anywhere with The solo arrangement of Hard Day's Night, so Kev recommended a solo version of Yesterday which so far is turning out to be more 'supple' to a reworking.

Also this week  I had a Graded Unit meeting with Marlisa which proved to be useful as it gave me an insight into what I should actually be doing. Fortunately she said that I was on the right track, so that's an easy nights rest. Session Skills was once again a very productive class as this week Gavin handed us the score for the classic Temptations track, My Girl. This was a better scored piece as it had notation as well as chord charts which kept me on my toes and gave me a change to practice my sight-reading. Our group rattled through the piece without any qualms or hiccups. Then Gavin asked up to transpose the piece. So we did. And it was successful.

You know what's coming now...

www.myspace.com/thexylophoneraceuk 

...

Thanks guys !

26/10/09

And yet again, not a whole lot has went down.

However, I'll try and squeeze out some information. First study went well, I feel that I got a better idea of developing a solo guitar piece. Me and Kevin also chatted about one of his gigs that I saw him play. I was quite impressed by his Gypsy Jazz musings. Also this week was a theory test, everyone had a mutual feeling of pessimism afterwards but I feel it went alright, however I feel I could have done better in the first section. We'll just need to wait and find out. I really enjoyed Session Skills again, as it is a very beneficial class. This time we rattled through What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted and then we aced Jackie Wilson's Higher and Higher, the world's most uplifting tune - as featured in Ghostbusters 2...

Erm... Anyway, outside of college I was very inspired by a band I saw. The band were The Paul Rose Band. I have never seen or heard a guitarist so technically and musically amazing. Stunning player. Check him out.

Also this week The Xylophone Race Myspace got a makeover.

Check it out.

www.myspace.com/thexylophoneraceuk

I'm not going to stop doing it so just go and look at it.

Laterz, eh ?

Daryl Hockin

12/10/09

Hey guys, another short post coming your way !

This week I was overjoyed to hand out CVs all of Friday morning and then get a job in the afternoon. Yeah... it's that easy, apparently. Maybe they were impressed in my HNC in music... The job's in a pub by the way.

Anyway this week at college, I found myself really enjoying session skills ! Which coincidentally will help me gain experience with becoming a SESSION MUSICIAN, can't get more relevant than that ! In the class, Gavin gave us our individual parts from the Motown classic, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted. The piece was fairly straightforward, with the odd stop-time and dynamics, but it was grand ! It helped me brush up on my sight-reading (even though it was just a chord chart) and working with musicians I had not played with before. We also 'chatted' with a representative of the Scottish Arts Council. Very insightful. I probably would apply for funding if I wasn't busy with college and whatnot, maybe in the future... 

Also this week I put up FULL LENGTH SONGS on my band's Myspace, THE XYLOPHONE RACE. You should CHECK IT OUT !

www.myspace.com/thexylophoneraceuk

And no, I won't stop plugging my band ! People on Facebook must be getting pissed off...

But that doesn't matter, because publicity is everything !

Bye guys !

05/10/09

Hey you guys !

Not so much stuff happened this week, sort of. My band, The Xylophone Race played a gig in Mad Hatters in Inverness. It was very well received and we had a great time. College-wise, Kevin encouraged me to 'better my practice time' and gave me ideas on how to develop solo guitar pieces. Also this week I started my planning stage for the Session Musician module of Graded unit, this has helped me reflect and analyse what aspects of my playing I am happy with and what needs to be improved. And that's pretty much it...

Why not check out The Xylophone Race Myspace Page ?!

www.myspace.com/thexylophoneraceuk

Thanks again.

Daryl Hockin

26/09/09

Hi again. This week has been 'jam-packed' with various musical activities. Last Saturday my band, The Xylophone Race, had a gig in the not-so quaint town of Invergordon. The band played really well and got a good response. We also played Grover Washington's Just the Two of Us, which went down well with the crowd. This was a good networking experience too as we chatted with other bands that were on that night and we talked about doing more gigs together. We have another gig booked for the 3rd in Inverness by the way...

This week at college Kevin set me the task of arranging a solo guitar version of the Beatles' Hard Day's Night. This will be a good experience in song analysis and harmonic awareness. In band work we were given lyrics to an obscure Beatles song and we had to write a new song with those lyrics in the style of the Beatles. I feel that we accomplished this task and it is good songwriting experience for all of us. However, I feel that some ideas were overshadowed and that some of us could have been more involved with the process. Also in the band work class, some tend not to listen and get distracted from the task at hand. This shows that I can work with difficult people. This week in graded unit we had another guest speaker, Pete Honeymoon. He shared his knowledge and stories of his experiences as a Session Musician. I found this very helpful and interesting. Marlisa also told us to be more reflective in our blogs. I feel that my reflectiveness has increased since writing this blog. This will help me when I need to look back at something in a critical sense...

And now for the best part of the week.

On Friday night my band and I, The Xylophone Race, embarked on a journey into a recording studio in Dingwall. This was not the first time that we had been in the studio, but it had been a while and we were excited to record new material. We set out to record and mix four songs in 8 hours. We recorded all the songs, but we didn't get them all mixed. They should be finished later in the week. I received a rough mix of one of the songs which I will use for the song-writing competition. I really enjoyed the time in the studio and I feel it was excellent experience for becoming a session player.

There's a nice picture of me in action too !

Bye Guys.

Daryl Hockin

19/09/09

Hi guys, time for another post.

This week was a bundle of joy. I FINALLY moved into my new flat, which was good as now I can get to college easily ! Also this week I had a band practice for a gig tonight, we added a cover to the set : an arrangement of Grover Washington's Just the Two of Us, and I must admit that it's sounding pretty groovy. I was also very excited about a songwriting competition that was announced in college. I've submitted a pop song I wrote in the summer, I hope it's worthy...

But anyway this week in college I discussed with Kevin about learning some slide guitar, which I look forward to doing. Also he explained that I have to come up with a solo guitar arrangement of a Beatles tune, should be interesting.
In Graded Unit we had a guest speaker by the name of Fiona Mackenzie (I think). She spoke to us about working in most fields of the music industry and I thought her speech was very inspirational.

Quite a short post, but who cares ?

Bye guys.

Daryl Hockin.

First Post

Well, this is my first 'weekly' post for the blog that I need to do for Graded Unit. So, here goes...

Hi ! My name is Daryl Hockin and this week I started my HND in Music at Perth College. It was good to see everyone back at college and some 'fresh-faces' too. I had the flu but I didn't let that stop me! I also had nowhere to stay because my flat got delayed again !! I ended up staying in a B&B, which was actually very nice. Anyway, I found out mainly what this year's work will entail this week plus I learned some stuff too.

I will go through the classes to summarise my week (It was really only two days). First up was Creative Musicianship with Mary Leaver. This is where the classes got put into bands to work on songs by The Beatles. There was confusion with the bands first off, which lead to slow start, but our group got on well afterwards and we did a bit of jamming. It was good to work with people I hadn't played with before.

Next up was First Study with Kevin Murray. Apparently this was big news because the college hadn't done one-to-one instrumental tuition before. I feel that the college made the right decision to change the teaching format as last year there about 15,089 guitarists in a room with one lecturer which wasn't really practical or that productive. So I was pretty keen to start my lesson. Kevin asked me to start off by playing a 12 bar blues, which I immediately made an arse of, with the flu and all. He then told me that I had to 'think like a bass player' and embellish the bass parts of the chords with 'my ears'. I found that lesson very useful as it made me think about how I can improve my improvisation skills.

Creative Musicianship again with Marlisa Ross, but this time in the classroom. Marlisa outlined in detail what Creative Musicianship was all about. I found out that it involves: A presentation, 2 band compositions, 5 of The Beatles' songs, Music Analysis tasks, Composition Exercises and a Cuddly Toy! It's quite similar to last year but 'more in-depth'. I look forward to it.

Music Theory 2 with Marlisa. Going over the basics of Rhythm, easy stuff. Also finding out that the theory test is in blocks rather than 1 massive test. I think more people will do better this way.

Graded Unit 2 we had Marlisa again and she told me I had to write a blog (thanks Marlisa, *sigh*) instead of a logbook for a portfolio, which is fair enough. I also have to prepare some questions for a guest speaker who I can't remember her name and choose which 'career-path' I want to do in the game of life. Think I might go for Session Musician (Like anyone else will pick that) because it's pretty much the same as the West-end Musician job. I'm sure there's some leeway.

Session Skills with Gavin Spowart sounds like a class that should be excellent fun, I can't wait for it to start properly.

And finally DAW/ICT Promo with Scott Donald. Looks like an interesting class. We found out what the class entailed and some key commands for Cubase, which I found pretty handy.

So, I guess that's it for a week.

Bye guys !

Daryl Hockin