Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your 2-Hour Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I'm most proud of my service learning hours because I actually dedicated my time to something and got a lot out of it. Not only that but it was really interesting and fun.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)? Why?

P- or AP+ because I was really nervous and went through fast through my presentation but I feel I knew my topic well and addressed issues that applied to my EQ.

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)? Why?

AP, because although I feel I did a good job on my components, many of them were turned in late.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project? I liked going to talk to people and do service learning because I got to learn new things.

(4) What didn’t work for you in your senior project? That the hardest components were all bunched up near the end and many of  the components were not explained thoroughly and I hadn't the faintest idea of what to do.  

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples. 

I was made to look for service learning which could help me when going to look for a job or things where I lose the fear of going to places to ask for certain help. I learned much more than what I knew in instruments and repair which might push to try and be something related to music. 

2-hour presentation

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8mc-eCHfGOzRzh2ZExrWnlQNVk

Blog #22: Answer #3

• EQ = What is the best way to become an accomplished guitar player?
• Answer 3 = Making a proper practice routine for yourself
• Evidence 

1. During my time with my service learning instructor he told me that to him practice is what helps a guitar player the most. He told me that nothing else matters if you don't know how to play right thats why practice is the key.
2. My first interview was with the person whom I did my independent component with. He is the leader of the choir that i played in. He always told me that practice was essential and would become frustrated when people wouldn't pay attention during practice. He said that you have to practice if you don't want to make a fool of yourself and the choir when you perform.
3. An article by Tom Hess that shows what to practice it and how. He explains the importance of practicing but also to not over practice and discourage yourself.

• Source = My sources were my service learning instructor, my first interview and and articles from the internet on good practice routines and the importance of it.

Blog #20: 2-Hour Room Creativity

Content:

(1) How do you plan to address the room creativity expectation?
I plan to place guitars that I know laid around the room and cut out music symbols and hang them from the ceiling and place them on walls. I'm going to have a PowerPoint as well.
(2) What activity ideas do you have for answer 1 or 2?
1: Learning how to play alongside other instruments. Bring different materials like paper rolls and tissues boxes and have them build a little band and play to show playing together even tho it will sound nothing like the real thing it's the meaning behind it.
2: Knowing how to properly maintain your guitar. Make small replicas of broken instruments or actual guitars and give them the materials to fix it. I would teach them how to doit during my presentation and then I'd let them try lit themselves.

Blog #19- Answer 2

EQ:
 What is the best way to become an accomplished guitar player?

Answer 2:
 Guitarist don't play along the rules of it's the player not the guitar. There needs to be an equivalent amount of effort required from the two. That's why I believe that learning how to properly maintain your guitar would better allow someone to become a more accomplished guitarist.

Evidence:
• As I did my research I found out about all these things having to do with my guitar that could potentially affect it's playability. I learned about truss rod adjustment and how that can bend your guitar too much or too little. Knowing something like this can really help someone out.
• I think one of the most essential things one needs to know is how to properly remove and put new strings. Seeing as I own both a classical and electric guitar I had to learn how to do both. As I learned I found that it can either be easy or a pain in the neck depending on what tools you use. Knowing what strings and how to place them can end with a much better sound.
• I learned that pieces of guitars have to be replaced such as the nut or saddle of guitars. I learned how to remove nut and sand them down to the right size providing correct string adjustment and maximum playability.

Source:
For my information I used 2 sources mostly. • My main source that I register my information was my service learning. I work under the wing of a guitar repair man you can call him. He has 30 years of guitar playing experience and he is teaching me what he knows. I learned that maintaining your guitar is one of the main things every accomplished guitarist needs to know.
• My second important source was a book I had been using with my service learning mentor. It is a book that explains all about guitar repairs that you can do on your own and how to do it. this book really helped me a lot because it gave step by step and exact measurements.

Conclusion:
Becoming a guitarist isn't all about just knowing how to play chords and sing songs with it. You need to be experienced all around to be at your prime condition. That's why I believe it is essential to know proper guitar maintenance because without a working guitar there is no great guitarist.

Blog #13- Answer 1

Content:
(1) What is answer 1 to your EQ? 
     My answer is that learning to play along with other people will help most to become an accomplished guitarist. Mainly because it helps you broaden your knowledge, make you feel comfortable playing and learn different styles. That would further help you become an accomplished guitarist.(2) What possible evidence do you have to support this answer?

• Mainly because it helps you broaden your knowledge, make you feel comfortable playing and learn different styles. That would further help you become an accomplished guitarist.

(3) What source(s) did you find this evidence and/or answer?

     The source is personal experience after playing 4 years in a choir along with other instruments.

Blog#4- Presentation Reflection

1.   My first interview didn't really help my presentation at all because I presented on something I've know for a while. I presented on tunic a guitar which was one of the first things that I learned. I might have learned how to tune by ear and with another instrument by the person I first interviewed but the interview itself did not help.

2.  I think everything I said during my presentation was important, well maybe not to everyone but to those interested in guitars. It was important because even though it's a small thing it really impacts quite greatly in an end result.

3.  I think the most difficult thing to do was to have to stand up there and talk because I get nervous. At one point I got nervous and got stumped, I just didn't know what to talk about but I regained it. It's hard to focus on what you learned when everyone is looking at you.

Blog #3- Presentation 1

Objective:
 For my 5 minute presentation I will be talking about the importance of tuning a guitar. Many people aren't well acquainted with everything necessary to make a guitar sound good per say. 
 
Procedure:
First Minute:
 I will introduce myself and my topic then right off the bat start by asking all the people in the classroom what is the difference between a tuned guitar and an untuned guitar? Can you play with an untuned guitar? I will receive a few answers then move on.

Second Minute:
 I will begin explaining that there is a standard tuning to guitar but that it can vary according to what the musician needs. I will explain the difference of dropping a tone and just flat out untuning it.

Third Minute:
 I will explain the importance of the pegs which is what is used to tune the guitar, without it you will be unable to tune your guitar. 

Fourth Minute: 
 I will explain the tension in the strings and what too much stress can do too strings or how ineffective loose strings can be and show and tell what a tuner is.

Fifth Minute: 
 I will recap on everything I talked about and check that they know what I taught them by asking them what it is that they learned or specific questions of what I had asked.

Check for Understanding
 I will ask them questions about things that I went over during my presentation. Ask them to point out what is what on the guitar pertaining to my presentation and the need for certain things. 

Resource
 As my visual aid I will have my guitar with a broken peg to show the importance in having a peg to tune the guitar and a tuner. The tuner is a small device that when turned on can allow you to know where it is you want your guitar to be at. Throughout the presentation I will be walking them through how to tune the guitar or point out parts of the guitar.