Monday, December 3, 2018

Music Degree - FINALS (Yr2; Sem1)

 Date for Entry: (Monday 3rd December 2018)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 12th March 2022)


    The following below is an account of the final examinations done for this semester. They can be accompanied by the question paper (if it was allowed to be taken home) and the candidate's receipts.

Link(s):


LAW, GOVERNANCE, ECONOMY & SOCIETY. 

(SEASON 1)

* Monday 3rd December 2018 *

This was a very early exam as all of the foundation courses. It was also done very early in the morning at nine. The venue was somewhere in the area of science, in one of the temporary classroom buildings to do the exam. I did not go to a satisfactory amount of classes and I literally had a big cram the night before the exam. 

    I was glad that I was able to answer a good amount of the questions. If there was one that I could have answered in the economics segment, I might have been able to pass the course. I think there were only sixteen points needed for me to meet the fifty percent. This was a one hundred percent final exam.

    I knew three persons from my degree class were not ready for this exam including myself. The three of them did not show up for the final exam. One of them I knew said they were not going to do the exam. I  did not want to do that. I told myself that even if I was to fail, I should still go and attempt the exam to get a feeling of what it would be like.

Link(s):

  1. Law & Gov - Final Examination & Candidate's Receipt.


Steelpan Arranging 1.

* Wednesday 5th December 2018 *

    The evening at twelve noon was Steelpan Arranging 1 exam. The space in Studio four was really cold. When I saw the examiners taking out the question papers I did not know what to think because there was a whole bunch of paper. The question paper was handed out first after the candidates' receipts were given in and that paper was a really thick and heavy one. That was not all. There was another booklet that seemed like Dr. Remy made for us to do all the working and writing in. 

    We were not allowed to keep the question paper at the end. I wished I did. There was a lot of transpositions to do and staff notation to do. I basically used a pencil for the entire exam. The only point where I used a pen was for the candidate's receipt. At the end of the paper were asked to do a 'short' arrangement of Eine Kleine for a steelband. I decided to use the copyright that Dr. Remy taught us on the footer side of the arrangement. It was a good way of signaling the end. 

    I remember I was sitting down in the corridor one morning in my beautiful school when Dr. Remy pulled up in her car near the door to the percussion room and  when she came out she said, "Ah, here is my favorite student." I felt honored. I was not sure if it was because of using the footer notation in the assignment. It was something I did want to understand how to do for a long while. I appreciated this course no matter what obstacle and challenge came my way. It was wonderful. 

Link(s):

  1. Steelpan Arranging 1 - Candidate's Receipt.


Piano Jury & Jazz Theory 1.

* Tuesday 11th December 2018 *

This day presented two examinations. The morning had my piano jury at ten in the morning in DCFA Studio one. I got there very early to do one last practice and then wait for the exam to begin. I heard from other students that we had to have copies of the music for the judges.

    Unfortunately, the library was not opened yet and someone said that no one was in the office upstairs as yet. I had a few dollars with me so I took it and went to the other side of the campus office to print the music and went back to the venue.

    The music was really soothing. I was a bit nervous but no mistakes were done in any of the playings. I wait to see what the judges’ score would be. Mr. Sharma allowed us who were doing Jazz Theory this afternoon to go first and then be able to leave. The two pieces I performed were “Lonely Bear” and “Dance of the Pianists”.

    I saw Natasha and Carl talking about the composition that we had to do and submit in school for Jazz Theory as they headed over to the kitchen side. I did not stay with them but went back to Curepe home. I’m thankful to Mr. Moore for his advice and extra lessons one day on some of the theory and composition. I used them to complete the assignment and it was easier.

    The evening came by quickly. We had to go up to MD3 for the written Jazz Theory examination that evening. All of them were waiting upstairs with the compositions in their hand. As I looked up to them from the bridge, I could hear all of them shouting in happiness because I was the last one to meet them up there apparently. We all stood outside the exam doors with no idea what to do with the compositions and one of the invigilators inside was not allowing us to carry the compositions in with them.

    Our classmate Carla took all the assignments and went back down the stairs. He took some minutes. All of the people inside the examination room were looking out at us. We chose not to enter because we found it unfair to enter while Carla went to deliver our compositions. He came back in a few minutes after we were asked to either enter or leave by some other invigilator man. We were not allowed to be ‘liming’ outside the examination room so we decided to go inside in one single line. We knew where our row of desks and chairs were.

    Carla came back five minutes after the exam started. After chatting with him on Instagram that evening, I learned that he had gone all the way up t DCFA to drop off the composition assignments and then came right back down to Main Campus to do the exam.

    The exam was tough. A lot of things I had forgotten. We were not given manuscript paper and were had to draw in staves in the answer booklet with regular photocopied folder pages. We had a lot of scales and chords to write. Some things were jazz analysis and sentence responses. I was one of the few who decided to take the time to check over. I handed up my papers when the time was up.

    I met Mr. More coming in SUPER late when I was walking out from collecting my bags. It was really nice to see him that evening. I know the other students would have been angry but it was good working with him. I remember that he was asking me at the end of the final class what he really wanted me to do over the course textbook. It was my wish after doing all the charts that I had done for the Mid-term study. I wish it was possible but to do a project like that would be too difficult for me, especially where there is no proper information available, and to find someone to work with me and guide me in it would have probably been impossible.

    The composition that I did was something in memory of Dr. Ann-Marion Osborne. I did a painting late in the times leading up to the final exam. It was only a drawing at that time but I did have it coloured to upload it to YouTube. There was also a form I made. It was a Composition plan to help me make a strategy. After thinking off all the advice and extra lesson I had with Mr. Moore, I decided that this plan would have helped me put the entire thing together. I did not get to share it with the rest of the class.

Link(s):

  1. “Lonely Bear”.**
  2. “Dance of the Pianists”.**
  3. Jazz Theory 1 – Candidate’s Receipt.**
  4. Jazz Theory Composition Plan.**
  5. “Remembering You” – Composition Assignment.**
  6. “Remembering You” – Recording.**


Individual Steelpan (Jury)

**

    I cannot recall the name of the two-piece that I did for this jury or even the date. As for the most, it would have been in the morning around nine. 


Final Grades.

* Tuesday 22nd January 2019 *

    It took me a long while to go to get my grades. I did not want to look at it because of the 'Law and Gov' course and then there was the Jazz Theory.

Link(s):

  1. Final Examination Grade Details.**


Daryl Zion M. Ali

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