Challenge reflection

Everytime you say: 'I'll do something for adding or change anything in my life'  things usually don't work out so well because you suddenly realize you don't have enough time or without notice you postpone it
So this challenge has been a great opportunity for make a stop in the rush of the day and do it without no excuse, it always wasn't easy and maybe far away for making something perfect but if you try so hard eventually you can do it.
More than an assigment I took it like a favor to myself to get out of the daily drama and focus on something else. About my specific challenge I had a lot of troubles since how to pick up a guitar until how to  do and editing the video for make the updates.
So to sum up a little bit it was something enriching and relaxing. And maybe not with the same guidelines but I'll try to do another one by my own.

End of the 30 day challenge

For the final week I've made the into of "Only you" form yellowcard
This it's the original music in their acoustic version and mine
this it's my favorite band and which I believe it's one of their best songs.
You I will let you judge if there are a little bit similar or not :)

Them:

Mine:

 

Meaning of photos

If we had to freeze a moment in time the best way to do this would certainly through a photo:

ADDICTION

We become addicted to something regardless of the damage we do or even without realizing it. Some people actually can't live a day wothout things like coke or cigarettes. Using a lot of excuses like "is to feel better and relax" without realizing that unlike the momentary pleasure they find in these and many more things in the future will become a barrier to keep living life in a good way.

SURPRISE

Nothing scares you more that board a plane, you never know what will happen and it's not even for  the technical failures that may have, otherwise because when you make a trip especially for personal interest things you can't always go well and what we plan may collapse. There are not always good surprises but we need to hold on to the positive view of everything and then even our plans have changed we still be able to suceed.

HAPINESS

This little guy is Antonio, the son of one of my best friends. The first time I've heard about him maybe was the most contradictory day ever, feelings were fighting against themselves. Hapiness it's see in him how a little person could help you get over some of the most hard times a family can pass in almost the same time he born and grown.
In my perspective he was the light in the middle of the dark for his mother, especially.

INSPIRATION

You not need to have a specific topic or special guidelines about what should be inspiring if you look closely a place or a situation we can find that inspiration is there we just need to take it when we see it.

VULNERABILITY

This image actually make me start wondering how many times at day we care about someone else beside ourselves or our friends and family? How many times we stop and give a little of our time to an strage or a cause that dont give us a gain?
This little guy see a pigeon dead on the street and think he deserve to be buried with dignity and that someone should be present at his funeral.

MT Reflection

This course has overcome my expectations if you sign up for a course of English sometimes you can get bored with certain themes or activities that are not attractives as only follow one book,  especially when you don't have a lot of time to dedicate because you have all the other things for university.
But this time It was more practical not only i have improved my english in my oral skills but also I could practice my writting with the things I want, that I choose. Also having something as a blog makes you get into the new line of development in knowledge by having a more important relationship with  tecnology, that sometimes we believe that our career have nothing to see with things like editing videos (that we have no idea about it) but those things are important to knowing them and practice you will never know when you're going to need it.
One of my biggest challenges about this course has been my writing skills because sometimes you stick only to the social networks words and you forget certain things about verbe tenses or how to spell or even how to pronunce it. About the things I don't know before this course there are things like the debate between photography like an art or if its not. i personally believe that It was but when you read certain stand over the theme you could see and actually agree with the other view. I thing i've improved in this part but it's not perfect I need a lot more practice but its not impossible because with all the little articles, entries and opinions that I've done in this time have made me force myself to improve.
One of the activities I have liked the most it's probably the 30 days challenge because it encourages you to take a time daily for do something that will help you in a future or that relax you ( if you don't take it like an assignment) personally I've discovered that I'm not really good with motor skills required to play guitar and although I improved it was really hard,  so this course also teaches us not to be so conformist and always say "no, I could not" because you always have to try before give up.

3rd Week Update

This was my third week it has been really hard because I was learning everything with an electric guitar that it's not longer available so, things have changed a little bit I also don't have the same help like I had  in the past two weeks, but I believe I could did it! it's obviously not profesional, perfect or amazing but it's something I've never done and really it's an advance.
This week I played the into to "Nothing else matters" I also have problems with the sound, video, editing, etc so it's not that long, because I was alone, but what really matters it's that I did it!

Week two

This week I try to do the song : Glycerine from Bush.
It was really hard because i wasn't able at first to put my fingers in the right position and then play the string, also learn about which chord goes with what letter of the partiture. It's really not easy I have to try a lot to make this week intro to this  song









The partiture

Those are the many attempts to accomplish the intro at the end I thing I got it ! 

Week one update

This entry is about what i've done the past week.

I never thought how hard it would be to play an instrument it have a lot of things that I wasn't aware off it.
This week I've learnt about the guitar and how start to play it
For start I have learnt about seven of the principals pieces that a guitar have as:
1. The controls: (specially this guitar) it have four that are: Volume (to  adjust the level of sound that you wants); Pickups for determine if you want to have a high - medium or low sound; Tone: it helps to check how dull you want the sound.
2. Neck or Mast of the guitar it depends of the tipe of wood used for making the guitar according to this t would sound different
3.Plugs: for tunning correct  the instrument
4.Microtunes for helping to make a clean sound
5. Strings: this guitar have 6 strings and each one have a different texture and thickness that helps improve the sound
6 Frets: some guitars have 22 but this one have 24 the frets allow pressing a string between two of them, there is a musical note.
7. Double microphone: For having a more powerfull sound.

Other important thing about this week was how to plug in the guitar to the amplifier and the special wire that spread the electric pulse of the guitar to the amp I used one of two heads.

Then in the amplifier there are three main buttons : gain more distorted sound (but pleasant to the ear) treble for giving to the sound more clarity (sound equalization) and drive, for distort the sound and give the music and special effects.

I also started to practice this and even try up for the next week lessons but it's not easy. At least not for someone that haves no idea of how to play any instrument...

This is the resume video of the things  I was doing and that I have told you i've learnt

Until next week!

Music can change the world.

When we heard for the first time that ‘music can change the world’ it reminds us immediately of a concert that took place on the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The aim of that concert was to end up  ww with the bad diplomatic relations between those countries because from ages ago they had a lot of things in common. The concert was organized and handled by Juanes, who is a colombian singer who wanted to organize  this symbolic concert a couple of years ago.

In this sense, when Bono said that ‘music can change the music because it can change people’  we suppose that he wanted to highlight how much music can influence  in any moment. As  we said with the example below it can sort out political issues or  it can help with humanitarian  problems around the world like in Africa.  Music can call people’s attention in order to create a critical position or to make them realize how important are those situations  that can come up around the world. Music can move thousands and thousands of people around only one topic.

If we go back in history we coulded see how since 1960 especially with situations like the protests against Vietnam war or  the murder of Martin Luther King,  music was used to stand up and fight for their thoughts even in these days those facts are still in lyrics, in music and helps the new generations to remember the history of people who said the truth and preached for people’s rights.

Right now every time someone wants to say they need to fight in a pacific way to create a better world. John Lennon and “Imagine” or “Give Peace a Chance” comes as examples of how music could make social changes,  because even after he died he achieved  to create a new perspective in the mentality of people.

To conclude, we believe that music is an alternative to prove how war or aggressive protests are not the only way out and  these days there are still things to fight for and dreams to chase. We will could  change  world problems if people are willing to  listen closely without prejudices.

By:
Gabriel Aparicio
María Lucia Jaimes