Advanced Melodic Ukulele is an elective for students who want to push the boundaries of what can be played on the ukulele. We explore music from Bach to Metallica and try to transfer those songs to the ukulele. Please listen to a few remote recordings we produced during quarantine.
Wipeout - The Surfaris: Original solos by Clary, Kory, and Rhys
Amie - Pure Prairie League: Solo transcriptions by Clary, Kory, and Rhys
In Beginning Ukulele we study the basic chords and strumming patterns used for most popular music. Students also learn to read TAB and follow a basic chord chart. Please watch the WIPEOUT! video above. The video is a collaboration with the Advanced Melodic Ukulele class and an example of the type of music a beginning ukulele player is capable of!
(photos supplied by Rey and Lorien)
Listening to Music is a class that teaches genre, instrumentation, form, style, appreciation, and a number of other musical concepts through a project called the SONGWEB. Every student (and every songweb) starts with the same nucleus song. This term, the song was “Sweet Home Chicago” as performed by the Blues Brothers. This song then would connect to a myriad of other songs via it’s specific musical traits. In the case of “Sweet Home Chicago”, a student could connect to another 12-bar blues, or another song with a saxophone solo, or another song that uses call and response. Within the web, students need to complete 3 objectives. 1) Use a song from each decade since 1920. 2) Use a song from each genre we study. 3) Choose and complete a personal objective. Please visit and explore our SONGWEBS by clicking on “So-and-so’s Songweb”! Once you’re in the MURAL app, there is a link attached to each song so that you can listen while you learn.
This term in the Music Theory elective, students started studying and writing counterpoint. In this particular exercise, the students wrote a “cantus firmus” for each other. They then completed a 3-voice counterpoint. Please look and listen below!
Singing at Meridian is typically a communal activity. This class was especially difficult to navigate in an online world, but the students at Meridian are resilient! We worked around the speed of light issue that plagues all performers in this coronavirus era by making long-distance recordings. Each singer learned and recorded their parts separately. Here is an approximation of what we might have sounded like singing together!
Leaving on a Jet Plane - John Denver : Featuring Jesse, Rhys, and Didi
Water Fountain - tUnE-yArDs : Featuring Amos
Bite the Hand - boygenius : Featuring Rose and Dom
What started as a one-on-one piano elective quickly changed shape as we were forced into quarantine by the coronavirus. Stephen began an EP composition project to tell a story with the musical skills he has developed in his time at Meridian Academy. In addition to his new piano playing skills, Stephen also learned a lot about digital sounds and sound editing software. Please enjoy two tracks from his project and read his artist statement below.
“With You” and “4.Love” are two songs from a work in progress. They’re pieces of a story I want to tell. “With You” is about finding love that isn’t good and is often misconstrued. This love can only lead to something bad. “4. Love” is the continuation; being blinded by this affection.
Musically, “With You” is constructed out of echoey sounds, implying a state of dreaming. Throughout the song, you travel from dreams to nightmares and enter the mind of the narrator. Similarly, “4.Love” is dreamlike in quality, but based in reality. The “scatting” vocals represent the inability to properly explain love. These songs are true samples of a tragic story.
My goal is to finish this EP over this summer of quarantine.
- Stephen Mondesir ‘20
Weird Instruments is a class to explore the stranger members of the instrument family. We learn about all the different families of musical instruments and their own unique sound production styles. Evan and Sam even invented their own string and percussion instruments (see videos below).
One of our projects was to create a map of percussion instruments and organize it in a variety of ways. Please visit our Percussion Map MURAL page to learn more about the percussion family! You can click on a link to hear and see examples of each instrument. You can also share your thoughts and comments by control clicking anywhere on the map.
