Month: May 2022

This week we have been tasked with trying out a new app or tool. The tool I chose to experiment with is called “Canva.”

canva.com

Canva is a web based tool, it has many different templates you can create such as slideshows, videos, resumes, logos, flyers and more. I decided to try out the presentation tool and create a presentation as a way to document the progress of my learning project.

The program seems very user friendly, it is easy to navigate, the basic program is free to use, and it even has a guide when you first open it. After entering the site, it prompts you to create an account, after this you are ready to start creating. To create a presentation getting started is simple. After clicking on the presentation icon it opens a blank presentation, on the side it gives you options of premade templates and layouts available for you to use.

Below is a quick walkthrough of some of the features you can use while making a presentation.

Making lessons using the presentation tool would be a great time saver, it is so simple and fast to use. Anything you need to add to your lesson such as images, audio, and videos can easily be added. This tool could be used to substitute programs like Microsoft powerpoint. I found it to be easier to use and a lot more user friendly than powerpoint. It would enhance the planning experience for the teacher as well as the learning experience for the student.

I started using the presentation as a way to track my progress for my learning project. Each slide represents what I have worked on for the week and includes images and videos of my progress. This week I managed to practice everyday for at least ten minutes, and I have also started to work on the song “I See Fire,” by Ed Sheeran.

Next week I will post a video of my progress of “I See Fire,” stay tuned!

This week I wanted to dive right in to reading music, as memory is not my strongest skill, this was an interesting week. The online source I chose is youtube. Thinking back to when I took piano lessons as a child I remember using the mnemonics FACE and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge to remember the notes on sheet music. While searching through youtube I found this video, the mnemonics in it were very similar to the ones I had previously used and found this to be helpful.

This video was easy to follow and had a lot of helpful information in it. I now needed to put this knowledge to practice.

This week I chose a new song to practice, “Beauty and the Beast.” The progress is slow, but it almost sounds recognizable! Even though I know the song really well, it has been a hard one to learn. I am still finding reading music to be really hard, I can do it, but not fast enough to keep up with the tempo of the songs I am attempting to play. In the video below you can really tell how much a struggle to read music fast enough to get the tempo in the song.

As much as I wanted to practice everyday this week life just got in the way and it did not happen. My goal for next week is to practice once a day for at least ten minutes. I figure starting with a smaller amount of time is more manageable and I should be able to fit in ten minutes each day. I plan to continue practicing “Beauty and the Beast,” and start to learn “I see Fire,” by Ed Sheeran.

I am excited to start this song as I am a huge Ed Sheeran fan and love “The Hobbit.” Wish me luck!

This week I started using the piano app I installed on my phone called “Simply Piano.” The app is actually pretty cool, I just open it up and put it as close to my keyboard speaker as I can and then play away! The app guides you along introducing you to each of the notes one at a time and has you play them. The app is able to listen to you play and can help you along as you go. So far it has guided me through proper posture at the piano as well as the first five notes starting at middle C.

As for reading sheet music I do not believe I have made a lot of progress. I have played a couple songs so far using the app to guide me, but all of the songs have been songs that I already know. This means I have gone back to playing by ear. Which I guess does not have to be seen as a bad thing, but makes it hard to learn new songs by reading sheet music. This week I will be searching youtube to find more resources to help me with reading sheet music. Anyone have any tips or tricks to share with me?

This week I learned to play “Ode to Joy”, listen to it on my youtube channel here:

When thinking of an idea for my learning project, my mind instantly went to playing piano. I love music and being able to play my own music is something I have always loved doing, but for years have not had the time to actually sit down and do it. I even went as far as to download an app on my phone called “Simply Piano,” but have not even opened it. I have also bought sheet music that sits in my piano bench having never been played.

I have a bit of background knowledge of piano, as I took lessons as a child, it has been over twenty years since I have played, so at this point I am starting back at square one. Reading music was something I never really learned to do as I always played by ear, so this will also be a big part of my learning journey.

My plan for my project is to start simple with labeling the keys on my keyboard,

(apparently I also need to dust it off) and then begin to learn the names of the notes on sheet music.

Once I get more comfortable with reading music, I will start to play simple songs and then work my way up to a more complicated song. I will start with the basics and work my way up to playing one of my favourite songs “I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran. My end goal of this project is to be able to play music I enjoy and have something fun to do in my spare time.

Now that I have all of the materials I need organized and ready to go I can start working on my learning. My plan for this week is to open up my app and get to know my keyboard. I will use the app as my guide, and we will see where it goes from there!