LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
LO3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
LO4: Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences
As the rehearsal sessions progressed, I have familiarised myself with the numbers we will be covering; however, I was faced with more challenges after I was appointed musical director (MD) of the band. This meant that I had to find a balance between playing my individual piano part as an ensemble member and keeping the band together as MD. Initially, I found it difficult to play and conduct at the same time as I had never experienced anything like this before and therefore was not used to having to consistently look at different members of the band rather than the keyboard/at my hands, give cues and move my body back and forth to maintain the tempo of a piece. However, with the assistance and guidance from my music teacher, I realised the importance of simplifying my parts or altering them to allow me to conduct more efficiently, while establishing clarity on the down beats, time signature (this often changed), and other vital bass lines or melodic parts that act as cues for other instrumental sections. Furthermore, as MD, I also had the responsibility to fill in the space by adding in new parts that were appropriate to the different numbers, which gave me the opportunity to be creative and develop this skill: Creative in terms of 1) Filling in space with additional notes/bringing in motifs 2) Playing other instrumental parts such as the other keyboard parts or horn etc. since this time we were working with a reduced band to add additional colour to the music 3) Understanding the different instrumental parts and making adjustments to my part in order to achieve a balance in sound – doubling up on melodic lines for emphasis, playing heavy chords if other instruments are generally playing higher in pitch and require bass support, playing in harmony with another instrument, playing at higher octaves to gain a balance amongst the instruments and so forth. In addition, in order to consolidate numbers with the band and make sure everyone was on the same page, I often planned and organised additional rehearsal sessions; during these sessions I could also clarify cues, tempos etc. with everyone.
Therefore, all in all, through this experience, I have been able to enhance my leadership skill as I had the opportunity to conduct, organise and lead rehearsals, ensuring that all the musicians were connected – keeping the band together. Apart from the challenges that the music itself brought (in terms of learning it, understanding the various parts, connection with vocals etc.), the environment (set up) in which we were rehearsing and ultimately performing added to the challenges. 1) Not all the band members were visible from where I was sitting, meaning there was a lot of reliance through headphones (through solely listening to one another) 2) We had to play under various kinds of lighting, which made it different from regular practice sessions down in the music department 3) Ensuring that the band was in sync with the singers was difficult, hard to predict the fluctuation of tempo etc. However, I believe constant communication and feedback from the band and singers and the very collaborative environment we were all in made enabled me to remain persevering and patient, ultimately allowing me to overcome the various challenges with my peers.
(could not be more grateful for this experience :’)
