Music Solo Performance Evaluation - Jump by Van Halen

Picking music as a subject is the best! What other subjects can you perform playing songs, instruments then enjoy it and still get a good grade for it?! Well, music can be stressful at times too when you're only 1 lesson away from recording/performing. But once you get you're desired grade, it all pays off!

For our first solo performance, I performed Jump by Van Halen. The song showcases a whole lot of different skills on the drum kit. Just like anyone, I found it really hard playing it the first time I got the music sheet, but with practise, perseverance and the help of my drum teachers, Joe and Tim.
By the way,  I recommend anyone who is interested in learning how to play instruments to sign up for itinerant lessons in Hornby!! Since Year 10, I signed up for Bass lessons, Vocal lessons, Drum lessons for this year and last year. These lessons are so affordable unlike outside of school lessons where it costs 100s of dollars. 
I gradually learned how to play Jump by heart because of my itinerant music lessons. I even practised at home, but because I don't have a drum set, I practised with my pillows and drum sticks (and it works!)

In the end, I got excellence as a mark and luckily I didn't have to resub. This solo performance made me realise that I shouldn't bother thinking about negative stuff like "Oh, I can't do this because it's really hard", and facing situations that are totally out of your comfort zone can be rewarding sometimes. Now, I have volunteered to Mrs Beer to play this piece at our UC gig that is coming this August, and I am looking forward to it. :)

Whole Performance video <----- link

Animaker: A Hidden Gem

Animaker is a site, where you can do cool 2D animations, presentations and even infographics (just like PowToon but even cooler!!!) The tutorial was quite long and full of info, but watching all of it was worth it. In Animaker, I was able to edit the character's emotion, change its actions like running and such. I can also change the background, and even add music! I've heard Animaker once before but never used it. If I knew this was this cool I would have used it with every presentation we had to do in school!

I really enjoyed learning and playing with it. Hopefully, I could use it for our future internals, homework, and more.

www.animaker.com