(WEEK II) In Which the Author Does More Research

DAY 5 WORKDAY AND THE IDEA OF PRODUCTIVITY 
Deutsch.
I've been listening to German 40s music (that's the link to a "playlist") for an hour.
So Germany didn't really have jazz, but there was definitely a heckin ton of swing.

The music is really good, by the way. It is ideal for studying because you can't understand a word, so you won't get distracted. 

Luckily, not everything is swing. Unfortunately, swing is way too happy for The Book Thief. Also, I would have to learn how to play swing on the piano, and that is not ideal.
There are also a lot of ballads, not necessarily sad, but I can make them sad. I can write sad ballads. Probably. Hopefully. Ideally.
Well, now I guess I have to decide whether I'm leaning more towards actual German music or John Williams or musical-style. The solution will be to  f u s e.
If John Williams wrote Symphonic Suite from Far and Away, and made it sound distinctly Irish, then I can try my very best to make my songs sound somewhat German. Or at least appropriate to the time period. I am having a good time, and not at all crying. I swear.

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FRIDAY NIGHT FEATURING GOOD INTENTIONS
Interview W H O M
Today I essentially had two hours of band, because I was obligated to go to the IE (I am still a tad shook from the one time I didn't go and got Scolded because I'm a weak man) and then block day band. This means I had time to talk to Mr. Hood (the Hoodmeister @ Ellie Z.) about my project a bit. He's willing to give any help and advice I want, so I guess I'm gonna schedule an interview with him! Then, because we had 30 minutes of Nothing, he showed me some songs and played me a bit of a piece he had written. He showed me this group called the Tin Hat Trio, whose music he described as "Sounds like it belongs in a movie, but there's no movie." And yeah, that's about as accurate as it gets. Their music is really mysterious, and the one song with lyrics I found was...........creepy and terrifying.

i'm

someone save them??

The overall feel I'm getting from their aesthetic and music is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
Then, Mr. Hood showed me how he easily came up with a sort of rhythm and then wrote an entire song based around that. I mean, he made it look really easy. This just also demonstrates the interesting part of writing music. Michael Giacchino, composer for Up, writes his songs by starting with a chord. It's a personal thing. Also, you just have to wait for inspiration to hit you. That's why John Williams writes something every day, because only by writing more can you expect to be hit with more inspiration. It's literally like writing a story or a poem. You just have to let it flow, and overthinking will Not Help. Which is unfortunate, because if there's anything I'm a Genius™️️ at, it's Overthinking. So maybe this project will also help me in that regard.

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THE ENTIRE WEEKEND WENT REALLY FAST SOMEONE STOP IT
Progressive Chord Progressions
My dudes, this article is such a blessing. The author, Ryan Leach, is a Good Man. He's a composer, arranger, and producer. He did technical assistance on Bee Movie, which led me to wondering what the soundtrack for Bee Movie even sounds like. So, uh, if you're interested, here it is.
But back to my man Ryan Leach. Well, I thought this would be a quick article and some quick reading and some quick conclusions, but then there was a link to a previous article he mentioned, so of course I thought "Hey, better go check that out," except then

I mean, I am willing to bet all of these articles are going to be really interesting, but I Did Not Sign Up For This. Also, should I just read the entire website?? Because there seems to be a lot I should look at.

this is only such a small portion

That's it. Reading (or at least taking notes on) the ENTIRE WEBSITE will be out of the question, because Ryan's not even the only author, and oh my God there is so much. I'll probably read a bunch of these articles just because they all seem so useful, but I think you and I would both rather die than have me write a novel blog post summarizing everything I learn.
Okay, if your project or interests have anything to do with music, take some time of your day to peruse this blog because holy crap it covers nearly everything and I'm so shook.

JUST KIDDING??

Let's revise that statement. If your project has anything to do with anything you should come to this website. Except for whatever isn't listed on there, I guess. That's right, my pastel friend.

Okay, back to the articles. There was a lot of listening and different chord progressions, and there wasn't really any scientific reasoning as to why some chords sound sadder than others. With the correct tweaking, a major chord could sound sadder than a minor chord. Basically, what I learned is that there is a lot of experimenting to be done, and just bringing one note up or down can change the entire tone of the chord.
Apparently, non-diatonic chords a third apart are Ideal. "Diatonic" really just means notes relating to a specific scale. So, C major to E minor would be diatonic chords, because they're all using notes from C major. C major to E major would be NON-diatonic, because G# is not part of the C major scale. Non-diatonic chord progressions tend to sound more powerful and more intense, either intensely sad or intensely uplifting. The example the website gave was C major to E♭ minor, which is really dark and ominous. Apparently, this technique is used in the Lord of the Rings score and the Rebel Fanfare in Star Wars!
(If you want to read about the basics of music theory because I really didn't explain, this article I reference later sums it up pretty well.)

Source:
Leach, Ryan. "Film Score Harmony: Chords by Thirds." Music & Audio Envato Tuts+. Envato Pty Ltd, 18 June 2014. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

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DAY 6 WORKDAY AND A LOT OF INTERESTING FINDINGS
The Key to Keys
I spent way too much time on that website, and then I came across this gem. 

tag yourself

I mean, I guess C#, E, F#, and Ab just don't exist. 

If you want an easy way to listen to all those keys, just find all fifteen of Bach's Two-Part Inventions (every suffering piano player knows). 

Or, I made this helpful chart of better-known songs (INCLUDING THE MISSING KEYS) you might not even have to go actively find: 

*people can't decide if songs are major or minor, or a half step off, etc.

I don't know what D major did to hurt the writer of that table. HOW were any of the D major songs "cruel and hard, quarrelsome?" Maybe they meant classical music. In fairness, it was 1682. But that was fun research. Also, no one really writes anything in E♭ minor, probably because it has six flats. "Take Five" is just trying to killing you in multiple ways, as it's also written in 5/4. 

The article also mentioned how, if you're writing in a major key, it would do you well to choose a "lower" key to get more of a thought-provoking and "darker" mood. An example of this is "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's (@ jas). I think this is definitely advice I will consider, as I don't plan on ALL the songs being in a minor key. However, they should still be a bit "dark," per se. 

Source:

Bankhead, Dave. "What Key Should My Song Be In?" Music & Audio Envato Tuts+. Envato Pty Ltd, 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

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DAY FIVE WORKDAY AND THE LACK OF PIANOS

if ryan can play piano in a pool then i demand a piano to be permanently placed in the gifted classroom

I've been very aware that I can't exactly wheel a piano into the gifted room during workdays, so I've dedicated those periods to research. Only problem is, a lot of research has me itching to get a piano and try things out. So, I get frustrated. But I found a lot of information, so here goes.

No Hand Left Behind
It's pretty standard (and I don't plan on messing with this) that, when playing piano, melody goes with the right hand and harmony/accompaniment goes with the left hand. The Sort-of-Scientific reason for this is because your brain just has the tendency to hear the higher notes better and clearer, because acoustics or something.
Well, I've established a theme and a bit of a melody for my first song, which is about Hans (that will be up in a post soon!), and I am understandably playing that with my right hand. So I guess the left hand is just ... hanging out? Making shadows?
Pfft.

amazingly enough, i am currently researching left hand accompaniment.

I knew this would be my biggest issue, because I have difficulty going beyond anything than a simple waltz or something the little kids play at piano recitals.
So lo and behold, what does my first source give me?

I sound cocky and annoying, but I know how to do that. To clarify, that is probably the easiest left hand accompaniment save something in 3/4.
Then, another source essentially gave me chord progressions, which I had already toiled through. I mean, maybe I should have specified...?
Worry not, I got myself some Real Information soon enough at this website:

Basically, don't repeat the same thing over and over again (Alberti Bass or Waltz Rhythm etc.) or else your audience might kill themselves.

this, my friends, is Alberti Bass, also known as Too Classical For My Purposes

So to "mix things up," you can
(1) break the pattern up. So, insert a rest or something in between.
(2) only play part of it. The rest is irrelevant in order to preserve sanity.
(3) move it up or down an octave. That can also change the mood and overall atmosphere!
(4) change to a variation. Well, that brings us to variations, which I'm lazy to explain. Basically, change it, but still make it obvious what it is. Or not obvious. There are some crazy variations. Here's the website to a great variation on an entire song, as opposed to a pattern: https://galaxymusicnotes.com/products/twinkle-little-star-variations-advanced.
(5) literally just stop the pattern. Okay.

Other than those tips, there are some more tangible We-Need-A-Piano-In-The-Gifted-Room type of information that I wouldn't be able to explain well, but you'll be able to hear (hopefully soon!). Worry not, I now know a bit more about what I'm doing!

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See you on the other side of the war ~

Source(s):
Day, Holly. "Great Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns for the Piano or Keyboard."Dummies. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,   n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2017.

Topham, Tim. "The Ultimate Guide to Left Hand Piano Styles & Patterns." Creative Music Education. Top Music     Education PTY LTD, 21 Feb. 2017. Web. 03 Mar. 2017.

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Commented on Allison, Tucker, Jasmine, Amanda, and Olivia's blogs

(TIME OUT) In Which the Author Does a Complete 180

Yep, that's right. I'm turning myself around. Out of the Gifted Program.

Out of the tar-smelling school. Out of Trump's America. I will fulfill my lifelong dream of cutting my hair and joining the Chinese (propagandic) army to defeat...uh...

whom is she

Trump's America????

OKAY, FINE, I WON'T DO THAT. I need to get into college. (Please forgive me I just had a fun time of accidentally starting a bunch of homework that isn't even due tomorrow and I died a little bit.)

By doing a complete 180, I mean that the end product of my project will be a bit different. By a bit, I literally mean a bit.

So this was a result of the research I've done so far. As you know, my original plan was to write three songs, the first being Liesel, then Max, then Hans.

not him, his face makes me genuinely uncomfortable because he looks 5

Well, after watching that Important Video of Pixar making us all cry, I learned about character themes and relationships. That's right. I'm now an expert on relationships.
So then I thought of how to incorporate that information into my compositions, and I thought about musicals such as Less Miserable (no) and Hamilton. And how they use a lot of the same melody in different songs, and that's because that's a theme representing a character or relationship. This is really easy to see in Hamilton. Alexander starts singing "I am not throwing away my shot" about 83197 times throughout the musical in various songs, and these are all moments where he's about to take a new risk or start a new thing and piss off his family and friends even more. It's like his signature thing. Well, I mean, it is his signature thing. That's the point.

Then, I looked at the three amazing characters I chose. And I thought, who affected the other two the most? Okay, that's difficult, but my mind jumped to Hans. He's definitely the driver of the plot, as he literally teaches Liesel how to read, allowing her to steal books, and then literally lets Max live in his house, allowing him to...live in his house (and strike up a friendship with Liesel). Basically, it's Hans' actions that ALLOW the other characters to be important to each other. And thus, it makes no sense to make his song the last one. He should be the first one, and once I come up with a theme for him, it can be repeated in other songs as his presence and influence urges our characters to do...whatever.

And THEN, I wondered why on Earth I didn't make Liesel the final finale, because she's the namesake of the book and the main character and all around center of everything?? So she should be the most important?? And final????

Glad we had this talk.

Basically, here's my new order:

Song #1: Hans 
Song #2: Max
Song #3: Liesel

AND, while we're pausing, let me just adjust my entire schedule a tad. So the research literally took twice as long as I expected, and I'm hoping the actual songwriting should be a Tad Easier because now I have so much information. Or maybe everything will backfire and I'll have to do my TED talk on failure, but that's not an issue. Actually, that is an issue. Very much an issue.
So now it's looking more like

Week I - Research
Week II - Research, the Sequel
Week III - Song #1
Week IV - Song #2
Week V - Song #3
Week VI - more overflow time because it is evident I can't do things according to plan. Also, if I miraculously have extra time, I will try to combine my three songs (or at least their themes) into a culminating song sort of like "One Day More" from Les Mis. 

I think the songwriting will actually be easier than I thought (or this will come back to bite me very, very hard in a few days) because I've sort of come up with little melodies that may turn into themes. They'll be in some future post, so stay tuned (not like every student basing their project on music has used that pun at least once)!

See you on the other side of the war~

(WEEK I) In Which the Author Learns a Thing or...Seven

Because I am an absolute degenerate piece of trash who can't manage her time wisely, this is going to be some ~live~ updates as I learn Things. Hopefully it will motivate me to try and establish a work ethic.

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AFTER THE SS QUIZ BECAUSE TIME IS A VALUABLE THING
John William's Tips and Tricks for Being John Williams
I have found a cool and froody New York Times interview with John Williams, also known as the composer John Williams, who writes pieces for films under the name of John Williams. (I reference him so much I probably give off the impression that I'm trying to become just as good as John Williams, but that's impossible. Lower your standards a bit right now while I still have time.)
Anyway, the interviewer was asking our man John Williams (take a shot every time I say John Williams) how he gets inspiration, how he works, blah blah blah.

Here's what I learned about his creative process:
(1) Write something musical every day, good or bad. Okay, John. Just. That's cool. I mean. Now I have to attempt that. THANKS, John.
(2) Work in the morning, never at night. Imma have to stop you there, John. Obviously you're not a suffering student. Did I ever tell you about the time we had a snow day and I came downstairs the time school normally ENDS? No, of course not. I've never met you in my life. My bad, John.
(3) There is no such thing as a writer's block in music. That's IT, I have HAD IT with you, JOHN. No such thing??? Writer's block??? Well, eXPLAIN THIS:

100% photo of me, writing

Haha, just kidding. His response with that was actually quite motivational. Here's the whole thing:

So that was uplifting, and wow, time to Go To The Piano (in maybe a few hours).
(4) Uh, DON'T listen to that much music for inspiration. Well, his rationale is that music BETTER than his is not encouraging and music WORSE than his will distract him and force him to pick out the issues. I think this is more of a personal thing, and since I'm a complete amateur, I wouldn't be that offended to hear music better than mine (which is already every song, ever™). I'm also not well-versed enough to criticize any music. So...imma just casually ignore that piece of advice. Or, I'll follow that advice and ignore YOU, John, because you ARE one of my musical inspirations.

BONUS:
So as a sort of tribute to John Williams and being my ~Daily Musical Thing~, here's my mashup of "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter with "Greensleeves", which works really well.

Source:
     McKinley, James C., Jr. "John Williams Lets His Muses Carry Him Along." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Aug. 2011. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

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ON SATURDAY DURING A SPUR OF PRODUCTIVITY

Making Lyrics Lyrical

Ah, lyrics. The one part of writing a song I feel a bit more confident about. The one aspect I don't really suck at - 

Okay, never mind. It turns out I actually can't do anything correctly and I should just stop.

(I'm kidding, I gotta go through with this now.)

Well, that bit of advice just lowkey denounced every pop star on the radio right now. That sure sucks. 

I found a variety of sources, a good deal of them just Common People, by which I mean people who don't have a Ph.D in Songwriting (is that even a thing?). I'm not too concerned about that, even though that would get me a 0 for an Annotated Bibliography (which we're not doing HALLELUJAH), because I feel that music isn't 100% theory or science. A good deal is just audience response, and what's better than the Literal Audience giving feedback on what type of lyrics they like and don't like? These are the people you're trying to appease, anyway. But I did manage to find an interview with Stephen Schwartz, who, y'know, wrote Wicked, no big deal. 

i apologize for this

Basically, it really depends. Everything depends. Nothing is certain. Music is an illusion. 

But for real, it doesn't really matter whether you write the lyrics or the instrumental first, because success has come both ways.

Additionally, writing lyrics is really just writing a poem (omg what). I've had at least 2 people in the past say my poetry doesn't suck, and I genuinely enjoy writing in that style. Frankly, this was the part of the project I looked forward to in the most. The Book Thief in itself is such a poetic book!

Like Mr. Perlman has told us at least once, show, don't tell.

That's the most important tip about writing lyrics. Then, the collection of sources collectively say:

(1) Tell a story.

(2) Buy a....rhyming dictionary (or, welcome to the Internet)

(3) Start with a title.

(4) Establish a time and location to be cool.

(5) Add details.

(6) Establish brand names to be cooler.

(7) Action.

(8) Imagery.

(9) Extended metaphors are beautiful.

(10) Irony is ideal.

(11) Have a point.

(12) Don't forget that grammar is a thing. 

millennials love proper grammar

Now, before I read all these articles, I decided to just see where my abilities lie by writing a song parody to "7 Years" by Lukas Graham. It can be found on the About Me page. I already knew it was 180% trash, but let's just judge it according to the aforementioned guidelines I gathered from my resources.

(1) Tell a story. Check.

(2) Buy a....rhyming dictionary No, I refuse. But I did use the Internet. 

(3) Start with a title. Technically, I did.

(4) Establish a time and location to be cool. Alas. No, I did not. 

(5) Add details. I'm not sure if I had enough, but there was at least one (1).

(6) Establish brand names to be cooler. Whoops. 

(7) Action. Probably not enough. 

(8) Imagery. Okay, definitely not enough.

(9) Extended metaphors are beautiful. My lyrics were not beautiful.

(10) Irony is ideal. My lyrics were not ideal.

(11) Have a point. I mean...I just kind of...it was like...an introduction to myself??

(12) Don't forget that grammar is a thing. Luckily, I did not forget grammar was a thing.

Obviously, there's room for improvement. Welp.

Sources: 

Blume, Jason. "Show—Don’t Tell: 3 Steps to Writing Better Lyrics." BMI.com. Broadcast Music, Inc., 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

Schindler, David. "How Anyone Can Write Better Lyrics." The Muse's Muse. The Muse's Muse Songwriting Resource, 1996. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

"Stephen Schwartz on Writing Music and Lyrics for Musicals." MusicalWriters.com. Scene 1 Arts LLC, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

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SUNDAY NIGHT AFTER A MOMENT OF PANIC
Being an Emotional Wreck
Hey, so thanks to Pope Gregory XIII's calendar, the first week ends? 
T o d a y ? ? 
(Maybe I'm incorrect and this week ends when the cycle ends, but a little panic never hurt nobody.)
Well, all I can say is THANK GOD I left myself about an entire week of overflow time, just in case something like this would happen.  Because I'm?? Already behind? Wow, I sure am ama-Zhang.

Alright. So, anyway, I focused a bit more on emotions in my research today.

I watched this really great video.

too soon.

Aside from the odd capitalization choices, it was amazing and extremely informative!
I took some quality notes, and now I'll just sum up some main points like I always do.

First, it is time to throw all (okay, some) of the concepts of "minor=sad" and "major=happy" out the window.
(That's right, Christmas Tree Group. I never forget.)
(Please don't hurt me, I love all of you.)
Okay, so it's easy to prove that idea is prevalent in...everything, so what on Earth am I talking about? Well, sure, if you only listen to WESTERN MUSIC. 

The video gave an example of a Zuni lullaby, which doesn't sound anything like Brahms' lullaby or any previous notions we have about a lullaby. So, basically, you can't trust your audience to just understand that major=happy and minor=sad, because it's not actually built into the human condition. Which is why a lot of film music can be minor but be played over a happy scene. Or vice versa, such as in that-super-sad-series-of-montages-in-Up-you-know-what-I'm-talking-about.
The true key to winning over your audience and making them cry is NOT to play sad music over a sad scene, but to have

Play happy music over a sad scene. Or the other way around. And this can be done by developing a

Wow. I bet you haven't heard that before.
A theme in music is basically a really recognizable melody, used by filmwriters to be played at strategic points in the film to induce emotion. Famous ones are Hedwig's Theme and Ellie's Theme, which is the name of that lovely repeated melody in Up. Now, let's look at Monsters Inc.

So, there's this melody being played when Sully first reassures Boo not to be afraid of him. Then, later on when he accidentally scares her, the same theme is played. And this is sad, because the theme is representing Sully and Boo's relationship. Now, Sully has to repair it. The theme is also played when Sully thinks he's never gonna see Boo again. And then it's played at the end when Sully DOES see Boo again. The theme evokes memories of their relationship, and makes us all cry a little bit inside.

Alright, now let's talk about Up, the movie that literally never fails to make me cry. (I'm a weak man; do not hurt me.)

The composer of the soundtrack, one Michael Giacchino, said some really insightful things. To start, he first tries to "sum up all the emotions and feelings into one chord." For Up, that chord was an Fmaj7.

The notes are FACE. Yep. FACE. I didn't even realize until now.
That chord seems to  f u s e  an F major chord and a C major chord into something that has a tinge of sadness. And yet, it's undoubtedly major. (Major=happy WHOM?)
And now that he has his main chord, he just composes around that. The theme is called Ellie's Theme and it represents her sense of adventure.

this movie was beautiful and you can fight me on that

That's why it was so prevalent during the "Married Life" scene(s), and then it kinda disappears when she.......dies.
BuT THEN bUT tHEn it comes back later, once when Carl is about to leave his house but then he finds The Adventure Book, once when he's about to give up because Paradise Falls is not what it seems,

same, Carl, same

and then lastly when he gives Russell his badge. These are all important because they're reminding all of us that Ellie never truly left, and her spirit is pushing Carl forward. The last scene is especially interesting because the badge ceremony is a HAPPY occasion, so why are we all dying a little? Because the theme is being played and we're being reminded of everything else that happened to get to this point. And this is how Pixar toys with our feelings.
The same thing happens in Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo, but I won't bother explaining that.
So, I'm not entirely sure how I'll utilize this new info into my own compositions, especially since I'm not actually writing a soundtrack but ... three (3) songs. And they're all supposed to be pretty different from each other. I'll think about that, but since the three characters are so intertwined with each other, I'll probably have a small melody that's repeated in all three. Like how "Red and Black" from Les Mis has that "on my own" tune (it's three notes) in the middle, and Hamilton is honestly just a mess of repeated melodies. For example, the beginning of "Burn" and the beginning of "Wait For It" have the same chord progression, although "Burn" makes it sharper and minor-er. Thanks, Genius Annotations.

Sources:

Miranda, Lin-Manuel. "Burn." Genius. Genius Media Group, Inc., 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
Sideways. "How Pixar uses Music to make you Cry." Online video clip. YouTube, 30 July 2016. Web. 19 February 2017. 

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Alright, that was a ride. Well, up until this section, this entire blog post was 2,035 words, so I think I'll just stop here. Obviously my research is not complete, and there's a workday tomorrow, so expect more (in another blog post; you and I are both dying at this point).

See you on the other side of the war~

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commented on Amanda's, Jasmine's, Emma's, Olivia's, and Ellie (Z.)'s blogs.  
they're all cool kids, go love them!

(PROLOGUE) In Which the Author Begins Her Tale

Ah, yes. The Genius Project. The Project for Geniuses. The Genius of Projects. The Pronius Geject. The Gepro Jectnius. Or, more aptly, The Project Where You Learn You Need 10,000 Hours To Master Anything But You Only Have 6 Weeks.

First off, I have never felt more personally attacked in my entire life than when I was asked what my passion was, and my immediate response was

I have at least 17 interests, but none of them are really passions. The three instruments I play at varying degrees of skill are great and all, but like....Passion?? Also, art is a wonderful time, especially pencil sketching and painting. But again... P A S S I O N???

But then I thought about it more, and I realized that my passion doesn't have to be that specific. (Or maybe it technically does, but whatever.) I could easily say my passion is just Music In Its Entirety, or Writing, or Art. So now I've established some areas in which I would like to genius... uh, become a genius.

Since I would actually rather die than pick up another instrument, I decided to venture into a territory I've not taken too seriously before: Singing.

MY FIRST IDEA WAS SIGHT-SINGING.
Well...that idea stemmed from the idea of somehow developing perfect pitch, but that was realistically not going to happen. So, sight-singing. I was pretty set on that idea for a while, and there was actually no real reason that wasn't going to work, except that I came up with a better idea. Haha. Fooled.

THAT "BETTER" IDEA WAS SONGWRITING.
I've written songs before. And by songs, I mean lyrics with a tune and hypothetical instrumental. By that, I mean that I've never successfully incorporated instrumental into any of my songs. So, interestingly enough, I was sitting at the piano and trying to arrange some sort of instrumental for my current (absolute trash) work in progress, when I thought, "Hey, Genius Project." Songwriting, but like, Actual Successful and Complete Songwriting. What a concept!

JUST MAKE IT MORE COMPLICATED FOR THE KICKS.
Songwriting was already including my two passions of Music and Writing, but why don't I just expand on it

To include more of my writing passion, I came up with the idea of writing songs for an existing story, almost like a soundtrack. I may or may not have been influenced by La La Land, Les Mis, Hamilton, and every other musical/musical film on the planet. I decided to choose one of my absolute favorite books of all time, The Book Thief.

NOW THAT I'VE RAMBLED ON FOR 7 YEARS:
Why don't I tell you what I'm actually going to do, once and for all? I mean, that's why you're here.

IN A (LARGE) NUTSHELL, I am going to write three (3) songs based on characters and scenes from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I will do this by using the lovely piano that is conveniently 15 feet away from me. I understand that The Book Thief already has a movie with a soundtrack written by the esteemed John Williams, but I will do something different. I will write lyrics for these songs, which means I will have to sing them, which means all of us will have to suffer. That, in case you cannot guess, is my goal. 

OKAY, BUT WHY IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?
I never said it was a good idea, only that it was better. But it actually is a good idea for me to venture into such Esteemed Songwriting, because this is a true test of musicianship right here. Music also deals with emotions, and I think I'm correct in saying that The Book Thief is a very emotional book. It will be a testament to my own emotional understanding of the novel and its themes, by trying to make something new and concrete out of them.

AM I A MAN WITH A PLAN?
Well, after some quick research, now I am. Note that this is subject to change, should I suddenly drop dead.

Week I

> research (blog post material!)

     - things like chord progression, lyrics, song structures, themes, and emotion.

> develop the tune and backbone for Song #1 (Liesel)

> interview my good brother, who has composed many songs, though without lyrics, on the piano

     - he's 26 and close to an expert on the piano, so he can expand more on the theory and personal experiences with songwriting

> if I'm lucky, I may try to get an interview with a lesser known professional songwriter. Or I'll just literally barge into John Williams' home. 

Week II

> write lyrics and instrumental for Song #1 and essentially finish it (blog post material!) 

     - video of me performing this and trying my best

Week III

> take a moment and assess that song, and also get some people to voice their opinions (blog post material!) 

     - how can I improve for my next song? also, Song #1 might have been utter trash

> utilize this new insight and put more thought into the tune and instrumental for Song #2

     - what if I did all the musical stuff before the lyrics? what a cool scientific experiment

Week IV

> now write the lyrics for Song #2 and essentially finish it

     - video of me performing this and trying my best

> assess this new result, and form an opinion on whether it was actually better to go in this new order (blog post material!)

     - from this, decide on how to approach writing Song #3 (Hans) for optimum results

Week V

> somehow, in whatever order, finish writing Song #3

     - video of me performing this and trying my best 

> conclusions upon the most effective way to write songs (blog post material!)

Week VI

>  in case my schedule is a tad too fast, leave some room for overflow. Maybe I'm not a songwriting genius and can't write songs that fast

> choose which song is the best and present it as my final product 

     - logically speaking, it should be Song #3, but the world can be surprising sometimes

> prepare for TED talk

     - just. Prepare. I still don't know how this whole thing will work out, so....

WHAT IF I AM SEVERELY OVERESTIMATING MYSELF AND I FAIL AND ALSO DIE?

That's unfortunate. But the way I will measure my success is through my three final songs. I will make some people listen to them, both musical and non-musical friends and also my brother. If they have read the book, do they think I am conveying the right emotion through each song? Maybe they don't understand chord progression and all that, but are they  g e t t i n g  t h e  f e e l s ? If they haven't read the book, are they interested in it now? Are they somewhat intrigued by the story my songs seem to be referencing? Is it better than Kidz Bop?

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED:

Here's the actual official John Williams instrumental soundtrack to The Book Thief movie. So yeah, I really like the feel and the tone of it. I'm going to be John Williams.

HERE'S A COOL POWERPOINT
This was my "Project Pitch," which basically sums up everything in this post but in a much more concise way. And, uh, ignore the document title.

I SHOULD STOP (THIS).

That was a lot. I'm tired. I haven't seen my family in years.

See you on the other side of the war~