What happened?
What were you thinking and feeling?
I was feeling prepared for the assessment as the band and I had practised a moderate amount and we were all confident with our performing and the performance we were putting on. We were constantly thinking about exchanging looks so that we could communicate during the performance as any band should so that the performance was smoother. If there was one concern for me it would be staying in time as I had been practising with several other bands prior to the performance all doing different and similar songs at different tempos however after I laid down a solid tempo to the original I knew that it was good for the song and could maintain it.
What was good and bad about the experience?
One of the best parts about this performance in comparison to the previous one, and I believe that this was a thing that made it a lot better than the previous assessment, was how comfortable I felt with the band due to that extra practise time and that we all got along really well. It made everyone play better as we could really trust one and other to know the parts. However, there was a fill which sounded sloppy due to me not playing it confident enough so it does not sound as powerful and nice as it could have done. There were other minor details however that one sticks in my mind the most - I am awaiting feedback from the assessor. Overall I think the performance went well from the entire band I need to look at my fill placement during rehearsals so that they don't sound as sloppy in the performance. This can also be looked at during my individual practise sessions so that I can avoid this in the future with other bands.
What sense can I make of the situation?
Although I increased the amount of bands I performed and practised with I will only be assessed on one performance. I now know that I need to get the band I will be assessed to do more 'set practises' (practises which resemble the entire performance; transitions from song to song and how the frontmen address the audience). This way the next performance will be fluent in all aspects, not just the playing. I have made sense out of the fact that I need to make the band perform like it's the assessment more as it felt a bit stiff at times.
What else could I have done?
As previously stated with what I made of the situation: I need to do more actual performances of the set with the bands. I could also get some other bands (or maybe lecturers) to sit in to dual as an audience and a source of constructive criticism. This way we can emulate playing in front of others as well as gaining instant feedback.
What would I do differently next time?
I would perform more to people in practice so that we could gather feedback which wasn't from us and also use the tutors in the lesson more so that they can correct us resulting in a better performance. Despite us making use of a lot of ACM's resources next time I would aim to use more including people to learn what needs improving so that the performance is polished.
What was good and bad about the experience?
One of the best parts about this performance in comparison to the previous one, and I believe that this was a thing that made it a lot better than the previous assessment, was how comfortable I felt with the band due to that extra practise time and that we all got along really well. It made everyone play better as we could really trust one and other to know the parts. However, there was a fill which sounded sloppy due to me not playing it confident enough so it does not sound as powerful and nice as it could have done. There were other minor details however that one sticks in my mind the most - I am awaiting feedback from the assessor. Overall I think the performance went well from the entire band I need to look at my fill placement during rehearsals so that they don't sound as sloppy in the performance. This can also be looked at during my individual practise sessions so that I can avoid this in the future with other bands.
What sense can I make of the situation?
Although I increased the amount of bands I performed and practised with I will only be assessed on one performance. I now know that I need to get the band I will be assessed to do more 'set practises' (practises which resemble the entire performance; transitions from song to song and how the frontmen address the audience). This way the next performance will be fluent in all aspects, not just the playing. I have made sense out of the fact that I need to make the band perform like it's the assessment more as it felt a bit stiff at times.
What else could I have done?
As previously stated with what I made of the situation: I need to do more actual performances of the set with the bands. I could also get some other bands (or maybe lecturers) to sit in to dual as an audience and a source of constructive criticism. This way we can emulate playing in front of others as well as gaining instant feedback.
What would I do differently next time?
I would perform more to people in practice so that we could gather feedback which wasn't from us and also use the tutors in the lesson more so that they can correct us resulting in a better performance. Despite us making use of a lot of ACM's resources next time I would aim to use more including people to learn what needs improving so that the performance is polished.
