Music Degree - FINALS (Yr3; Sem2)

Date for Entry: (Thursday 4th June 2020)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Monday 27th June 2022)

Dear Diary,

    The final examination session took some time to come. The COVID-19 lockdown kept us on pause from classes and even the semester itself ended later than expected.

    All examination question papers were sent by email from the lecturers or by UWI’s My-E-Learning platform. We were expected to type notate our responses and submit them as prescribed by the instructions.

    This time around, there was no provision of the candidate’s receipts. I made the effort to create cover pages that provided the same information from those receipts. Durations for the exam were now set for some days.

THESIS FINAL SUBMISSION.

* Friday 17th April 2020 *

This was a "year long" course. The thesis was submitted on the UWI's My-E-Learning platform. There is an entire entry created on the details of that course at an earlier date. The project itself was a straight 100% 'coursework'.

Link(s):

1. Thesis (Submission) - Daryl-Ali-Humn3099-2020.

MUSIC EDUCATION 2.

* Thursday 4th June 2020 *

This was the first ‘COVID-19’ examination for the semester. I did not expect to witness the experience of an open book exam by UWI. That felt very unusual. I cannot recall the duration given for the exam until the deadline. For each question given in the exam, I created a box highlighting it.

    Two lessons were asked of us to prepare. I saw that Mr. Sharma added the “I’m gonna live so” arrangement for a voice that he had the little Sunday Schoolers sing in church. I was thankful for the idea in Assignment 3 of planning the work into different quotas. That helped me to complete this exam comfortably.

Link(s):

1. Music Education 2 – FINAL Examination Response.

 

CHORAL TECHNIQUES.

* Friday 12th June 2020 *

This examination came in by the UWI My-E-Learning. The moment I opened the document, I went thought the question three times in order to clarify my vexed feeling. I did not answer or start working on it immediately. I left that exam to do for the next day because of the type of questions asked. The responses were typed and sent in on the day of the exam.

Link(s):

1. Question Paper.
2. Final Examination Response.** [Not Available.]

x

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Music Degree – FINALS (Yr3, Sem1)

Date for Entry: (Friday 6 December 2019)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 23rd March 2022)

Dear Diary,

    In this semester, there were only three out of the five courses that came with a final written examination which were Choral Arranging, Individual Steelpan (of Performance music 5), and Musi Education 1.

    The composition required a final portfolio and the Caribbean Studies Project (thesis) being a ‘year-long’ course did not have a final submission.

    However, for the thesis, a draft review of work done for the semester had to be done by the supervisor and he/she had to fill out that review form and then had it submitted to the appropriate office. Mr. Sharma and I did not know if marks were involved in this but we did the review and I went to submit the form immediately after that exercise was completed.

Link(s):

1. Final Examination Timetable - (Yr2, Sem1).

 

CHORAL ARRANGING.

FINAL CONDUCTING & FINAL EXAMINATION

* Friday 6 December 2019 *

    The “Handsome Butcher” was given to us as a final conducting piece. I had a lot of markings on my score to help revise it. This was conducted at noon just before the final written examination. It took us a long while to get through everyone’s conducting and sing it every time. Everyone had to submit their journal entries and then run down to MD3 for the exam. The journal was supposed to record our conducting experiences in the course every time we did it. I had forgotten to write the dates in them so most of the entries would have “Forgotten/Unknown”.

    The final examination was long but they still gave us two hours. I used up all the time. Only four times I had checked over. My receipt was labelled and placed into my folder for safekeeping after. Some of us were trying to figure out which question was used for the definition of choral that Mr. Murry said to look out for since the first class. I wrote it down in my book when he said, “Text is the basis of choral music.”

Link(s):

1. “The Handsome Butcher” score.
2. Choral Arranging 1 – Conducting Journal.
3. Choral Arranging – Candidate’s Receipt.**

 

PERFORMANCE MUSIC 5 [JURY]: INDIVIDUAL STEELPAN.

* Monday 9 December 2019 *

The exam was in the morning and started at nine. My two pieces were “Allegro” by J. H. Fiocco and the second piece was misplaced. It is not known at this time. During the semester, Mr. Sharma had me try one of his compositions in an outdated steelpan examination book.

Link(s):

1. Fiocco’s “Allegro”.** [Permission was not Granted.]
2. Frenetic.** [Permission was not Granted.]

 

MUSIC EDUCATION 1.

* Monday 16 December 2019 *

The Music Education 1 final examination was a tough one. The two hours were not enough. We really should have three hours in the same way we have three hours of class. I felt like I was defeated. It was only until the first class on Music Education 2, in the next semester that Mr. Sharma made the joke that everyone failed which was true. I was really close to that twenty-five.

Link(s):

1. Music Education 1 – Candidate’s Receipt.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

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):

1. Test Timetable.

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

Music Theory 2 - Finals Exam & TEXTBOOK

 Date for Entry: (Tuesday 8th May 2018)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Tuesday 25th January 2022)

FINALS.

    The examination for this course was very long and a lot of focus was needed. I honestly needed to lay down after the exam. There were not many pages in the script but we had to do a lot of music notation. I sometimes find the time should be three hours instead of two because they keep us in class for three hours.

    I did my best and handed it up with just a few more minutes left. Justin and I had a short chat on the outside. We had the exam up at MD3 with the dangerous gallery. I loved the view from there. We spoke about the exam, the degree, and how we both wanted to give up and withdraw from the program and aural training. This really was a hard year with an unbelievable amount of classes.

Link(s):

1. Music Theory 2 – (Final Exam) Candidate’s Receipt.**

 

TEXTBOOK.

    I decided to do over the entire book that Mrs. Ramlal had people in the shop photocopy for us to use. The decision came after looking at the six-four notes that I had made for making it easier. I know for sure that the end-of-term examination will test all of what was taught for the entire academic year.

    Having that in mind, I did not want to have to return to the frustrating textbook. I wanted to simplify the work so that it would be easier for me to learn and that when I read it once, I would be able to understand it without the confusion from the textbook.

Link(s):

1. Music Theory 2 – Textbook (Version 3).

Daryl Zion M. Ali

FINALS - Degree (Yr2 Sem1)

 Date for Entry: (Monday 30th April 2018)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 26th January 2022)

[Written as Report.]

    The content below is an account of my final examinations for this semester. All documentation that was provided to me at the end of each examination and still is in my possession will be provided by links below.

Link(s):

• Final Exam Timetable (Yr1 Sem2).**

 

WRITING IN VISUAL, PERFORMANCE & CARNIVAL ARTS

*** Monday 30^th April 2018. ***

Today is Monday and the first weekday after the end of the semester. I never like it when they do us that with a final exam in the English courses. It was a nine o’clock exam in the morning and to be held in JFK Auditorium. That was another thing. The hall always was a human freezer in the morning.

    When I got my question paper and they told us to begin, I took some time to select the question. I still did the sentence outline from the other course and began. A lot of thanks to Miss Dennis for properly discussing how to do the introduction. I had my worries towards the end of the exam. I did not feel so confident about these finals at all. I hope that it would be alright in the end.

Link(s):

• Candidate's Receipt & Exam’s Question Paper.

 

MUSIC THEORY 2

*** Tuesday 8^th May 2018. ***

The examination for this course was very long and a lot of confusion was needed. I honestly needed to lay down after the exam. There were not many pages in the script but we had to do a lot of music notation. I sometimes find the time should be three hours instead of two because they keep us in class for three hours.

    I did my best and handed it up with just a few more minutes left. Justin and I had a short chat on the outside. We had the exam up at MD3 with the dangerous gallery. I loved the view from there. We spoke about the exam, the degree and how we both wanted to give up and withdraw from the programme and aural training. This really was a hard year with an unbelievable amount of classes.

Link(s):

• Music Theory 2 – (Final Exam) Candidate’s Receipt.**

 

HISTORY OF WESTERN MUSIC 2.

** Friday 11^th May 2018. **

This exam was a second trip up to MD3 after Music Theory 2. I can remember meeting my cousin Joshua out in the drive-in when I got out of the car. I was running close to the starting time of the exam with about less than ten minutes to go put my bag and get up those numerous steps so I couldn’t stop to speak to Joshua. I also met up with someone from Hillview. It was a while. Only a handshake was passed as he was busy in his books.

    The exam went longer than expected. I know I used up all of the time. A lot of us used up all our time and the class walked down together. A lot of terms and definitions I could not remember. At one point I felt like I was not going to do so well in this exam. I just tried to finish out all of the questions and leave them as they were.

    As soon as I got back my bag, I wrote the name of the course onto the top right-hand corner of the receipt and placed it into my folder. On the trip back home, it felt like a huge relief that this was done and over with. I have individual performance exams to go and Aural Training again.

Link(s):

• History of Western Music 2 – (Final Exam) Candidate’s Receipt.**

 

PERFORMANCE MUSIC 2.

** Tuesday 15^th May 2018. **

    On this day my individual steelpan exam took place. I was not first this time but probably second or third. The two pieces that I presented to the jury were “Utsav Ki Awaz” (Festival of Voices) and “Pan Parranda”. I had the two bookstands I used measured to the right height and then took them into Studio 4t the jury. “Amazing how nervousness knows how tuh kick in all of as sudden,” I said to myself in the mind. I gave the information they needed then began the first piece.

Link(s) for Scores:

• Utsav Ki Awaz.** 
• Pan Parranda.**

 

AURAL TRAINING 2.

** Thursday 15^th May 2018. **

    I got this exam in the evening. It was fine as usual. One surprising thing was that in the labelling of scales section, Mrs. Neaves had to play for the listening and answering part. Our choices were major, minor, pentatonic and harmonic minor. The minutes she played the melodic minor scale in the thing I looked at her seriously waiting for that second playing just to make sure.

    I wanted to wait for someone else to say something just in case. Then Ketje next to me paused the exam for the invigilator to tend to him. Then when miss came over from behind the piano in a rush, she spoke softly with the invigilator and she said, “NO Change!” and went back behind the piano. At the second playing, she continued with the melodic minor.

    The rest of the exam was good. The second half of that written exam was just simply music theory questions to fill out. Some of us at the end of the exam had a good laugh.

Link(s):

• Aural Training 2 – (Final Exam) Candidate’s Receipt.**
• Final Exam Objectives List.

 

[UPDATE]

    I had to wait a long while for the results to come out. Usually, they take three months for the system to do that. The English course was not good apparently. Just a few points more in that final. Not sure when exactly I would be doing over those courses I and I hope it is not soon. It has really been a long academic year. I hope the next one coming ain’t gonna be so wild.

Link(s):

• Grade Details.**
• Transcript (Year 1).**

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Western Music History 2 - (MUSC 1212)

 Date for Entry: (Monday 22nd January 2018)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Monday 24th January 2022)

Dear Diary,

    Below are the contents of any homework, coursework, presentations and assessments done for the Western Music History 2 course at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA).

 

ASSESSMENT 1.

** Thursday 1st March 2018 **

This was a written theory and listening exam. Mrs. Ramlal did the playing aspect first and then left us to finish the rest of the history questions. This paper was returned on the 5^th of March 2018on the day of the post for the Destinations Known Challenge by the School of Composition. It was conducted on the 1^st of March, which was mama’s birthday.

Link(s):

• Western Music History 2 – Assessment#1.

 

RESEARCH PAPER.

** Monday 26th of March 2018 **

On this day, my research paper was submitted. It was a paper in that I did not feel confident. At first, the information was scarce until I got to the internet. I took my search to UWI library first to see what the music book section there was like. It was too depressing. Even the lighting in the place was not good. Coming closer to the due date, I still did not have a topic to write on. At the last minute, I decided to pick Salieri as my topic and see what his music journey was like.

Link(s):

• Western Music History 2 – Antonio Salieri Paper.

 

PRESENTATION.

* Date Unknown/Forgotten *

This presentation was a practical one. Each student was given the choice to work individually or in a group. We also had the choice to select our piece of music. The performance I did was “Concerto Grosso in G minor” and I was accompanied on the piano by Andrew Samlal. This piece was also done again for my individual steelpan jury. I was very nervous about the speaking part of the presentation. I chose to speak about some parts of the music type concerto and linked it to the era it belonged to.

Link(s):

• “Concerto Grosso in G minor” – Piano and Pan (Score).

 

ASSESSMENT #2.

* Date Unknown/Forgotten *

This was another exam as Assessment one. I am glad that both in-class assessments this semester did not carry an essay type question and that the results were better than the last term.

Link(s):

• Western Music History 2 – Assessment#2.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Aural Training 2 - (MUSC 1105)

Date for Entry: (Monday 22nd January 2018)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Tuesday 31st May 2022)

[Written as Report]

Dear Diary,

    The following literature below is an account of my experience in the Aural Training Two course. It began on the date of entry above. No course outline was saved for the course. All other available documents and photographs from the courses are provided by links below or for request by email.

 

PANORAMA ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT.

** Tuesday 20th February 2018 **

    This is the Carnival semester and as usual, the class was asked to analyze a panorama arrangement for this year. We were given the choice to select a band. I decided to pick Starlift again. There were a lot of times that I had to wait for my turn to present but I took the opportunity on the said date of this entry.

    For this presentation, I did go “up and out” as they did in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We had to do a discussion detailing the tune of choice, the band, aspects of the arrangement by sections, and any demonstrations if possible. My demonstration focussed more on the strumming patterns by the double seconds, guitars, and cellos. I had a feeling that some parts of it were wrong.

    Apart from the documents I did for the presentation, I made a carnival postcard and a map from DCFA down to Starlift. The postcard was two sheets of red Bristol board decorated with coloured pieces of Bristol boards. I also had small handmade Tenor pans that I drew and coloured on circular-cut pieces of white Bristol board. Over more than a year, this postcard was then discarded and dismantled for the creation of another DAPHA Project.

    The map from DCFA to Starlift was then presented in class. I had to get the assistance of some of the class members to open it out because the length of it was not so early to handle by ten persons alone. We had to lay it over the grand piano in Studio One where it was revealed. It was funny that even the grand piano with the size it possessed was still too small to hold the rest of the map. The rest of the entire class had to line up and hold it from touching the floor.

    At the time of making it, the period between creation and presentation was too close and I did not have a Bristol board. I used loose sheets of letter-sized paper to create the entire map. It has a lot of crumples and is not easy to fold in. I am not sure if I (within) will ever find it to recreate the entire thing on some Bristol board. Towards the end of the presentation, which took a long time, I handed in my assignment documents to Mrs. Neaves, and she commented in whispers to the class, “Hmm! The first submission with accountability statement and everything.”

    On Saturday 3rd September 2022 the edited video was created and it became a DAPHA Project.

Link(s):

• Submitted Assignment.
• More Pictures of the Carnival Postcard.
• Link to Panorama Recording.

• Class Presentation - Recording.

ASSESSMENT #1.

** Tuesday 6 March 2018 **

This time around the sight-singing and rhythmic sight-reading came with a new checklist. It was very exciting to see how the person came up with the method of reading. I can’t recall what difficulty I had in the rhythmic work. However, looking at the theory mark, I was very happy indeed. These documents were returned to the class on Monday 12^th March 2018, two days after my birthday.

Link(s):

• Aural Training 2 – Assessment #1.

 

NEWSPAPER REVIEW.

** Monday 26th March 2018 **

We were in Studio 4 today. A very light conversation was done with a newspaper article. Because of the time then and the time of making this journal entry, all contributions and topics on the article were not remembered.

Link(s):

• Copy of Newspaper Article.

 

HARMONIC ANALYSIS.

** Monday 21st March 2018 **

There was a very short excerpt given to us. We were asked to analyze it as homework. The return is the date written on this division.

Link(s):

• Analysed Excerpt.
• “St. Matthew Passion”- J.S.Bach.**

 

ASSESSMENT #2.

** Tuesday 27th March 2018 **

One exam went just earlier this month and the second in-class exam came right after. I recall being given a quintuplet in the middle of the rhythmic sight-reading. Everyone in the class did not get it out. We had the listening theory exam in Studio One that day, which was difficult for me in the experience. I still see that I could not work out the types of cadences. It was hurting to see Sam in pain again that day.

Link(s):

• Aural Training 2 – Assessment #2.

 

MANUSCRIPT Vs. SOFTWARE.

** Monday 27th March 2018 **

On the ending side of the semester, Mrs. Neaves gave us an exercise to write out a melody from any song on manuscript paper. She said that she had noticed many people using software and some people were aware of the order of clef, key signatures, time signatures, beaming, stems, groupings of notes and rests, etc.

    I felt lucky that I had a sheet of manuscript paper in my folder that day. When I was asked to write out a melody, I decided to write Trinidad and Tobago’s national anthem. It might have been too long for the exercise but it was one of the easiest ones I could do on the spot. Some time had passed and when miss passed around to look, she said looking down at mine saying, “Emm-Hmm!”

    Only towards the end of the short class, she had asked me if I wanted to play it. I responded yes and went to the piano. The rest of the class was asked to do the various parts as we did in General Musicianship 1 during the certificate program.

    Once the fanfare was done, the entire class ‘entered’. I felt very happy but also nervous because I had never practised the melody on the piano before so I did not want to spoil it. I mainly had to think of the Tenor Pan to do this. Once the playing was over, it was also the end of class.

Link(s):

• Score Writing Exercise.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Music Degree - FINAL Exams (Yr1, Sem1)

Date for Entry: (Monday 4th December 2017)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Thursday 24th March 2022)

WRITING FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES (MUSC 1103).

* Monday 4th December 2017 *

Today was my final day for my English Tutorial. I did not want to go and I did not bother to go because I was up all night, in the morning this morning, working on my charts for Music Theory. I cannot believe how tiring it is to do one sheet of Bristol board in one night which is back and front. Even to draw the line by inches and then half inches and have to put in a marker line was plenty but I did it still.

    Today was also the funeral service of Mrs. Neaves mother. Yesterday after my Intermediate class when Mrs. Ramlal was ready to leave she and I spoke for a while and then I asked her if she could save an extra program for me. She gave it to me in a nice brown envelope when I got into class and was in a hurry because today we had our final hearing exam for our Western History Exam. I was looking forward to it there were only two questions out of the six that gave me some difficulty because the music had me second-guessing myself.

    Today was my first exam for the final exam period of the Semester. I was just hoping to do my best in this exam today and move on. I tried my best to study the vocabulary for some of the different methods that I had planned to do in the extended definition that Miss King I said I should have used.

    Later that day after a rest at house number two in Curepe, I got down to the St. Augustin Physical Education Centre (SPEC) which was a huge stadium-like building. I remembered coming here in Form three for the Career day field trip I went on with Hillview. As I got into the yard, I saw the others from my class but as usual, they don’t really talk to me and then I might not have enough courage to talk so I stood at one side of the building like everyone else waiting to go in. I had a good number of pencils and pens. I also made sure to carry my sic inch ruler because I never know if it will come to good use and it did when I had to draw up my Sentence outline.

    I got passes the Identification card scanner and took a seat in the second column in the room on the right side which was the last one of the first half for that column. As I sat down, I pulled the table up to my chest and began to fill out the Candidate’s Receipt for doing the examination, and soon the papers were distributed after the announcements of the rules and a recording of the safety emergency rule in case of a hurricane. I always enjoy listening to these rules at the examination before it began. It made it feel like a more formal and official mood in the atmosphere.

    When the woman at the front with the microphone said, “Candidates you may begin we stop at 6:01 exactly” I turned around the paper and began looking for the question with the extended definition. There were only two things I read alone which were the two questions for extended definition and choosing one while paying close attention to the word limit that they had suggested at the top of the paper’s instructions. I knew I was not going to want to do the “Caribbean identity” one because I did not even know how to do it so I was forced to do the Caribbean Culture.

    As I sat there and saw all the people writing and my hand not moving I was not panicking but I was busy thinking of my three points to talk about. This was not easy at all. I spent at least the first twenty minutes trying really hard to get ideas and start to write. I did not like the feeling of that at all. It made me feel as if I could not think and get the work done.

    Soon the exam was over, I gave my papers to the collector who came to me and handed me the Receipt which I filled out earlier, I took my writing instruments and exit the building hoping that the exam had enough things to get me to pass. As I was collecting my bags from the racks at the back, I saw my Andrew friend from Hillview. Dad was waiting for me and then I went home to Tunapuna.

Link(s): 

1. Methods Vocabulary.
2. Writing for Academic Purposes - Candidate's Receipt & Question Paper.
3. Funeral Programme & Obituary for Urmilta Cox.

MUSIC THEORY 1 (MUSC 1103).

* Thursday 4th September 2017 *

Today was my Music Theory Exam and I was preparing my best for it. I also went through most of the charts that I did for the semester’s work covered. It was tough trying to study around after half two in the evening because the man who came to cut the grass was making too much noise and I couldn’t study properly so I had to forget it and just do the exam.

The exam was to be done in the JFK Auditorium and one the way near the engineering section there was a long line of traffic. As we made the bend heading up to the drive-in I decided to come out of the car walk to hand in my bags and head into the exam room before it gets even later.

Moving through the exam there were two questions and it took me a lot to go through. The first question had a bass line and then we had to realize it and include a secondary dominant, a suspension or retardation, a primary triad in the second inversion (passing 6/4), a deceptive cadence, and there was another one that I forgot what it was. It was tough to also determine the key which was five flats and I knew it was not the Major key but the minor and I did not know that relative key.

I really forgot what the second question was asking for but this time the soprano line was given and then we had to provide the rest of the three voices. The key in this one was also very difficult to determine but I made my guess and it worked with what was given. I just hope it was correct. I took the whole entire two hours to complete the examination and I also saw Mrs. Ramlal sitting up in the right-hand corner of the Auditorium. It was nice to see here there it gave me some confidence but that clock was running a quick relay between the two hours and when the man with the microphone said, “Candidates stop all writing now” I was glad I was taking my fifth checking for parallel intervals and errors. I rest the paper down and smiled on completing the work Taking the Receipt and exiting the room I felt a really good feeling about what I did and I took the paper to my blue folder.   

Now that my exam is over, I feel happy to father my exercise homework worksheets I did for the Semester and put them into the journal. I hope that their history and knowledge stay with me and that I pass this exam to move on to the next term.

Link(s): 

1. Music Theory 1 (Final Exam) - Candidate's Receipt.

HISTORY OF WESTERN MUSIC 1 (MUSC 1211).

* Monday 14th November 2017 *

Today was the final exam for Western Music History. It was really better than I thought because I was expecting a whole bunch of hard things. In total, I wrote twelve sheets of paper in the Answer booklet and then three other pages in the question paper. Another thing that made me feel special was that I got to ask for a supplementary paper to write.

There was an essay question to the back that made me write a lot and when they always say write a short essay, that is never short what they really ask for. To do that one, I had to pretend as if the word short wasn’t there. I was also happy that I had my sister poo to help me out during the exam too but she came in too late before it was time to stop. At least she helped me remember two things for the questions that I was supposed to write.

I still missed school. Coming into the yard today felt so nice and good but slightly strange because they had us down in that strict and scary UWI. I missed my class only until I was done I was hurt by another one of my friends. It was disturbing the news I heard but only time will tell what more will happen to that situation.

Link(s): 

1. Western Music History 1 - Candidate's Receipt.
2. Western Music History 1 - Plainchant Notation Document.

INDIVIDUAL STEELPAN JURY.

* Friday 15th November 2017 *

Today was my exam for my individual steelpan class and in it, I made two mistakes. I was still able to manage and I continued to play when it happened. The same process was as usual where I had to look at the video camera to say my name, my Identification number, and the name of the two pieces I was going to play.

    Another thing to note about today, one of my friends from class had posted a recording of the song she was going to play and I got a copy of the music from her when she was done using it for her assessment. It looks like fun but with that metronome marking, it looks like both fun and trouble in one.

Link(s): 

1. "Presto" Score.

AURAL TRAINING 1.

* Monday 18th December 2017 *

This morning I woke up in the freezing cold atmosphere in Curepe at half-past six the morning to get ready for my Aural Training Examination. To wake up was a problem as usual but I got up and did everything quickly as I usually would and headed on down to my wonderful school. As I walked down the corridor, I saw Mrs. Neaves there coming out of Studio 4 and we spoke for a little while. She also helped me get my bags in the Percussion Room for safekeeping.

    The exam went quite well and there were only two questions I could not do properly and I know I will be losing marks for them. It was a good finish with placing in ties. At the end of the exam, I went to continue my writing of the play for the novel. I got to show Justin it and then some of the others in the class who remained at the time. I see they were planning a trip to go to the beach but I would have all this work planned for the vacation I might not have time for it.

Link(s): 

1. Aural Training 1 (Final Exam) - Candidate Receipt.

Daryl Zion M. Ali