Task 1

Orchestra as a genre: Orchestra is defined as a group of musicians, especially, but not limited
to, one combining string, woodwind, brass, and percussion sections and playing classical music.
Some types of orchestra include Full orchestra: The largest type of orchestra, which typically
includes string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments
Chamber orchestra: A smaller version of the full orchestra
Pit orchestra: A subset of the full orchestra that plays live music for operas or plays
and concert band: A large wind ensemble.
Orchestras mainly play classical music but can play jazz and symphonic metal, among others.

About Adrenaline Rush by Rob Foster: Adrenaline Rush is a classical song, shown by its
elegance and clarity. The main instruments in classical music, also in adrenaline rush are
orchestral instruments, such as the piano, various strings such as the violin and cello and wind
instruments such as the saxophone and clarinet.
A technique used in classical music and adrenaline rush is minimalism, the idea of taking a
simple idea, such as the melodic or rhythmic patterns many times. This can be clearly seen in
adrenaline rush, as there are many repeated notes or bars.
Adrenaline Rush, and classical music as a whole, are very much connected to the SOI. Unlike
other music, it doesn’t have a specific meaning and is very open to interpretation. It is simple,
yet often has a deeper meaning behind it, beyond the obvious words. It allows people to
communicate through interpretation, with everyone having their own way of understanding the
music.

Aug 5-12th (Week one): I am struggling to remember sight reading. I find it hard to read the
notes well, and I’ve forgotten most of the notes on the clarinet.
What I did well: I still remember blowing techniques and am consistent with that
What I can improve on: I think I can re-learn sight reading much better than I did before. I can
also re-learn all the notes on the clarinet.

Aug 12-17th (Week two): I am able to sight read much better now. Adrenaline rush is very
challenging for me right now. I don’t know how to play even the first line, and I find the 17 D
notes in a row very hard on my breath.
What I did well: I think I'm doing much better on sight reading and I can play the basic notes with
relative fluency.
What I can improve on: I need to improve on my minums and reading symbols on the score
apart from notes. I also need to get better at keeping my tempo steady, as I keep messing up on
the breaks.

Aug 17th-24th (Week three): I’m getting better at everything in general, and we had a formative
for bar 1-24, which I think I did well on.
What I did well: I am getting better at the tempo and timing of my rests, as well as being able to
follow other instruments when I’m getting off track to get me back on track.
What I can improve on: I’m still very bad at tempo, though I’m getting better. I need some help
with this, which is why I’m asking my friends to tell me when I mess up my tempo.

Aug 24-31st (Week 4) I can play up till bar 40, but there is a very difficult part that I just can’t get
right in 42-49. I need to work more on my breathing and taking breaks when possible.
What I did well: I can fluently play up to bar 40
What I can improve on: I need to get better at my breathing techniques while playing long bars. I
also need to count the notes in my head while I’m playing. I feel that I should also start writing
daily reflections in my process journal instead of only weekly.
Special reflections (Formatives, finishing songs etc)

Bar 1-24: I think I did relatively well on this formative. I think I was able to play this very fluently. I
need to get better at breaks and restarting from breaks because this is often when I lose my
tempo. I also didn’t get my recording first try, which means I’m not consistent enough with my
playing and breathing. Recording

End of Aug reflection: At the beginning of this month, I think I was just trying to get back to the
basics and was focusing on relearning everything from before. After we got adrenaline rush, I
struggled a lot to even play the first bar, but I think I’ve improved a lot since then. I still need to
get much better at breathing and keeping tempo, especially during and after long breaks.
Overall, I think I did very well, but I also need to keep updating my process journal, much more
than before and upload recordings.

Task 2 Sep 2

Goals for the next classes:

Plan of action:
Step 1. Work on breathing techniques. This is because I keep running out of breath in the
middle of the long bars 42-49. I

Step 2. Learn the timings and tempos for bar 40 till the end of the song. I need to do this
because I keep losing my timing on the breaks, and then struggle to get back on track.

Step 3. I want to learn the actual playing. I will do this by coming to the practice room twice
during the week in recess.

Step 4. Finish song. I should be able to do this by the end of the week as long as I follow my
steps.

My artistic intention: I am going to show my artistic intention by performing in the concert with
my peers. I will perfect the song, and then perform to the best of my ability. This will connect to
the SOI because it shows my interpretation of classical music through my performance in a
concert/ensemble.

I believe that classical music, and all music in general, is a culture. It’s not just sound, it’s
something that brings people together all around the world, whether it is to celebrate or to
mourn, music brings us together. This can be clearly seen during the concert when all grades
from 1-12 come together to put on a show for people around the city. This is my artistic
intention.
Task 4

1. Analyse or break down your work including all essential elements or structure

Beginning: At the beginning of trying to learn adrenaline rush, I could not read the notes and the
score at all. It took me a long time to learn to read, or even begin to play.
How I solved this: I did very well in learning to solve this problem. I was able to understand the
intention of the song, and I realised I had to take more time out and focus on the task at hand. I
went and did more than what I had to. I think this is something that I need to work on, even for
the rest of my life. I often simply go with the flow and never put in any more effort than is
necessary.
As far as the beginning of adrenaline rush is concerned, I think I did well to learn the beginning
of the song quickly.

Middle: This was by far the most challenging, yet fun and interesting part of the process.
I needed help with keeping my tempo in the breaks a lot, and I kept trying to go too fast. Again,
this is something I do in the rest of my life. I always just focus on the goal, and never on the
journey. I was struggling a lot from bars 23-35. I also didn’t feel that my fellow clarinetists were
focusing, or helping me focus.
How I solved this: I decided to work with people who are very focused and know how to play
their instruments well. They helped me a lot to keep the tempo and learn the song much better
than if I practised alone. I also listened to the song at home to try to understand what it sounds
like and the tempo.

End: I was mainly polishing and finishing learning the songs, and improving small parts of the
song. I found bar 35 difficult even until very late into the semester.
How I solved this: I worked a lot by my own. I was able to listen to the song, the only clarinet
part, and understood the tempo and tune well.