Final VLOG of 2022-2023

(June 16, 2023)

I can’t believe another year has gone by. It has been great to work with these wonderfully gifted and talented students. I will definitely miss our 8th graders but am excited to continue working with our next year’s 7th and 8th grade, especially since we will be having a new crop of 6th graders. We will be back on your new blog in November 2023, so please stay tuned!

Here are our students’ final projects showcasing what they have been working on all year. We hope you enjoy!

2023 GT Music – Final Project

April Blog Posts

(May 3, 2019)

Here are our students’ blogs for the month of April:

Ian – Now In GT, I can now play all of the scales that I chose for my goal I also am trying to memorize all 6 scales by the end of the school year. I have also got more fluent when I am playing and have seen improvement.

Andy – This year in music, I have grown a lot. Last year included. I came in to Molly Ockett not knowing anything about music, however from being in band and General Music class, I learned a great deal. I practiced at home, listened to the music whenever possible, and tried my best to succeed in music. And now, I am in GT Music. Because I have a strong desire to play music, and because I worked on my music all the time, whenever I had the chance, and apparently it worked out. Now I get to live out one of my dreams of playing Jazz music next year at Fryeburg Academy.

Astrid – In April I didn’t learn any new songs, but I did practice the song I learned in March. I also practiced the plucking part of here comes the sun on the ukulele. I’ve also been trying to learn how to sing while playing the ukulele. It was surprisingly more difficult then I thought it could ever be. I did master singing the Moldy Peaches song while playing it on the ukulele. But trying  to sing Here Comes the Sun while playing it on the ukulele is IMPOSSIBLE for me. I don’t know how the Beatles did it but I hope I’ll be able to get it down by the end of summer. Overall, the month of April was my favorite month for learning the ukulele by far.

Chloe – I have not been doing my goal for this year. I don’t think I will be doing GT next year. But this year, before I stopped doing my goal, I edited my goal to make it shorter and easier to accomplish given the amount of time I have left to complete my goal. I do not think I will complete my goal because I have been busy doing school work. But if I end up doing GT next year I will make sure to create a goal that Is sustanable to me and with the time I have to complete it.

Soleil – This month I started music class. I’m doing a jazz project and theory packets. For my jazz project, I decided to do a newspaper article. It’s really fun because I have a crossword puzzle and a weather forecast. For the theory packets I am on packet 18 and only have 4 more to do until I have to compose a peice of music. I’m learning a lot more in music this year than I did last year. Mr. Bosse was even having a hard time grading the packets! Meanwhile in GT, my goal is going well and the French Horn is still challenging which is good I guess.

Michael – During the month of April, much has happened. Though I was not there the whole month, I saw great improvement as well as excitement in the band. We loved playing our music, especially our dust bunnies piece. We couldn’t wait until the concert! As well as we are excited for the rest of the year of making music.

Zoe – In April I wrote a song called, “Complicated.” This song is important to me in a lot of ways. It goes over my insecurities in the pre-chorus #2 and it talks about my emotions through out the whole thing, and it just has a powerful message I wanted to share with people. I performed this song with the piano progressions that I wrote with it at the PAC along with the song “Stay” by Rhianna. Performing there made me realize that I love doing that more than most things and I really want to continue doing things like that. I also joined the 5th/6th grade school play which is a musical called, “The Velveteen Rabbit.” I am the windup doll which is a fun character to be.

Griffin – At this point, I have finished the red book on the trombone which was my goal. Now I am working on the GT final assignment. I am so relieved that the concert is over but also kinda sad. On May 15, there is a MOJO party after school. We play music jeopardy and bring some food. I am very disappointed to not have MOJO for the rest of the school year, but we still get to have band to play at the 8th grade promotion. That is all that is currently going on in my music life.

April 2023 Blog

(May 10, 2023)

Hello Again!

I can’t believe that we are nearing the end of another school year. We only have 1 more blog post after this one, which will be a little different than the blog posts you are used to. While you wait in anticipation of what is to come, here is this month’s blog post for you to enjoy. Thanks again for being such a great audience!

Sofie – Music is difficult. Just like with fine art, with a lot of practice, it is rewarding. I will always love music, even just listening to a performance or a band rehearsal. I encourage anyone and everyone that likes music to consider taking a music class of some sort. Music can take your mind far, far, far away from reality when you close your eyes, it can let your mind wonder, and your problems are temporarily taken away. You don’t need to think about anything, music can take over your brain and become your everything. 

Clarinets are very strange instruments. When you play the b flat scale, you start and end with the note C. Also, high notes on the Clarinet are so strenuous and aggravating. One minute you could think you have the note correct, and the next you realize you’ve been playing it wrong all along. Not everything about it is aggravating though. I love playing the Clarinet, mainly because it is so much different from any other instrument and because I am the only Clarinet player in the 8th Grade. The notes sound so unique to me, and I love being able to play an instrument that isn’t as appealing to others because then I don’t have to worry about there being not enough Clarinet reeds and pieces and such. 

Many people in my grade are so excited to go to high school, and then there are a few people who don’t want to go. I am one of those people who don’t want to go. If I could, I would stay here at this school and have a high school here instead of going to the high school where you get lost at every turn. The high school has many opportunities. You have more freedom, more classes, and you meet more people from different backgrounds. Fun fact, did you know that the nervous and excitement hormones are physiologically almost identical? The heart-racing feeling, the butterflies in your stomach, and the thoughts racing through your mind. All of those things happen with anxiety feelings and excitement feelings. So, if you are nervous about something, you might just be excited about it instead.

John – Unfortunately, I was not able to meet my goal this month. We had spring break. With that in the middle of the month we had 2 practices. We were not able to choose a song and practice it.

Serena – The academy concert went pretty well, it was really fun and I’m so excited for next year when I’m involved for real. There’s the spring MOJO concert this week, and I’m looking forward to that. I’ve semi abandoned my guitar goal, or at least put it on hold until I have more time. It’s fun, but requires a lot of practice. Outside of GT I’ve been working on a really pretty Vibraphone solo called Rosa Alba. It’s surprisingly dramatic sounding and really fun, but really long.

Lucian – I continue to practice piano and drums on Wednesdays, and I’m learning a little bit of guitar here and there. My band and I are making huge progress with what songs we are choosing to play; they will be incredibly unique and they are songs that most have never heard of, but will hopefully enjoy. My goal for this final month is to continue getting everything perfect with my band and I, so we’re totally set. I still practice piano and drums with relative regularity, and am exploring the capabilities of piano as an instrument. I also still analyze new and eccentric music from mainly the progressive rock/metal, djent, math rock, and rock-jazz fusion genre worlds. Until next time!

Avery – Hi, it’s Avery, and this month I’m creating songs and experimenting with them. So far I’ve had fun playing around with the piano and learning new things. I have experimented with new chords and new songs, including creating my own. I have been brainstorming different keys and tempos and I am having a lot of fun with it. I hope to learn more soon. I have reached about 20 songs on little kids rock and can’t wait to finally reach my goal. I’m eager to keep going and I can’t wait for next year.

Kyden – Right now in my music career, I have been playing less piano for the moment just because of travel basketball and other things that come up. This summer, I’m starting lessons again in Conway. So far this year in GT, I have learned Turkish March, Moonlight Sonata, more of Fur Elise and I have gotten better at sight reading. I’m also going to get started with my May/June blog post so overall everything is going good music wise. GT has been fun this year.

March 2023 Blog

(April 9, 2023)

I can’t believe that we are nearing the end of another school year! We only have 2 more blog posts after this one. The following posts are on how the GT music students are doing on their goals and such. Next month will be their final update. For our final blog in May/June, students will be creating a project VLOG to share with you the results of their hard work this year! Please stay tuned and enjoy this month’s blog.

Sofie – Hello! My name is Sofie and I play the clarinet. My overall goal in G&T Music is to be better at the clarinet. More specifically, high notes. I love listening to music all the time. I don’t have a specific genre of music that I think is better than the rest, I love most genres of music. In my opinion, Country is great music. Country music is definitely one of my favorites. Along with Rock, Pop, Rap, Classical, and more. Listening to music is something I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of. I have no vision for my future career, but I do know that I would like to still be able to play an instrument, even if it’s not for work.

John – We have met our goal. The goal was to learn a new song by the end of the month. The new song we learned is Beguiled by Smashing Pumpkins. Our new song we decided on is Self Esteem by The Offspring.

Kai – I am improving on my improvising skills for solos also walking is jass. Also I’m doing better on coming up with things on the spot. Also I’m getting better at slapping faster and I will be working on combos soon. Also I’m getting back into chorus and I’m improving.

Serena – I survived the play!!! It was so much fun and went so well, it’s bittersweet that it’s over. I’ve mostly been using my GT time to practice for other things, specifically the upcoming spring concert at the academy. I’m playing in two pieces for that, and they’re really cool, but definitely challenging. I’m glad to have a lot more free time now that the play is over, but I’m sure I’ll fill it up with more musical activities pretty quickly. We were  asked to write about our musical career too, so though I’m not exactly sure how music will be in my life as I get older, I definitely know that it will be. In high school I know I want to be in Big Band and and concert band, and trying out for All State and District 2 sounds fun too. Until then, I’m looking forward to all the spring concerts.

Lucian – I’ve been very successful in the world of music recently; I’ve learned to play guitar, another song on piano, and am continuing to work on different rhythms for songs on the drums. I’ve also been continuing to work on digital music production in Logic Pro independently. Not to mention I’ve been listening to and analyzing music all day in my room (basically just listening to it in the background, allowing me to obtain a better natural music ear and listening to new playing styles and patterns on several instruments).

Aidyn – Hello for music! I’m starting to get into Holiday by Green Day it’s going surprisingly well. The songs I work on the solos are probably the hardest. I love the amount of time I get for this class. I have recently joined KAJEMO.

Avery – This month I have been working on creating a quick song. I started off with experimenting with a few chords and tried a lot of methods. I searched for some different chords on the MusicWill website, and I finally came up with a good progression. I have been working on learning some more chords on the piano and more songs as well, which made it easier to create my own. I am also working on some guitar outside of GT music. My long term goal for GT music is to be able to play 20 chords on the MusicWill website and I think I am definitely getting closer.

Kyden – Hi it’s Kyden and I think musically and in music in general I have improved a lot since I first got my piano. One thing that I think I have gotten better at science I have gotten my piano is site reading and being able to know certain notes that are being played in a song and being able to play them on my piano. But personally I don’t think that piano or music in general will be my maine focus later on in my life in general because of basketball but it will be fun and a good side hobby to know and I want to keep playing when I’m older it just won’t be my main focus. But it will also be fun if I play at the FA if i decide to do that.

Over and out…

Boss Dawg

2019 Introductions (Part 3)

(March 23, 2023)

Hello Everyone!

Sorry that this post is a little late this month. Anyway, here is our February blog post. We hope you enjoy!

Sofie – Hello, again. So far, my goal is going well. I haven’t been able to practice music a whole ton at home for sickness reasons, but I believe that my goal has been going well. High notes have been one of my overall goals, along with getting better at the clarinet in general. A hard part of this goal is the high notes, hence why it’s one of my goals. Switching from low notes to high is a great struggle for me because my fingers end up freezing at times, and won’t do what my mind is telling them to do.

John – This month my goal was to learn one new song in our band. The song we chose was Rock You Like a Hurricane. We got close but didn’t reach our goal. We only had about 2 full practices to reach it but it wasn’t enough.

Kai – This month we learned a new song called Rock you like a hurricane. The gig at the dance we played well and got $72.25 in tips. Also my slapping is getting better and I’m learning to pop slap hammerdown. And that’s what i did this month.

Serena – I survived District 2!! It was so fun! I was the only middle schooler from Mollyockett, so that was a bit concerning at first, but everything went really well. I wish I could do it again! My goal in guitar is progressing very slowly, but I’m having fun with it. I might have to also use my GT time to practice for the play, but that will still be productive. MOJO is super fun, the play is starting to come together more, and in normal band I’m playing more drums than mallets, and it’s a fun change. Overall I’m super busy with musical activities, but I’m definitely enjoying it.

Lucian – My progress is keeping steady. I’m still working on several songs at once, but I can confidently play two new ones after this month. I’m going to start working on some more complex pieces to challenge myself further in this activity period.

Aidyn – My goals are decent. Smells like teen spirit was rough but I accomplished it and I feel good about it. When playing drums I keep dropping sticks. I love this group a lot because it really helps. Thanks Mr. Bosse.

Avery – This month I’m working on creating a simple quick song on the piano, and so far I am coming along well. I picked some chords and started experimenting. After some thinking, I eventually came up with something that I like. I think eventually, I will definitely be able to meet my long term goal, which is to learn twenty songs on the piano. I am definitely improving on being able to switch from chord to chord, and I think that by the end of this month I will be even better. Since I have a piano at home, I have been practicing some, and watching youtube videos as well as the music will website. As I said before, I think I have room to improve but I am definitely going to get there!

Oren – This month in KAJEMO we worked on the song rock you like a hurricane by the scorpions. We also played at the fifth and sixth grade dance. We performed Crazy train, Kryptonite, Enter sandman, Smells like teen spirit, Holiday, and Rock you like a hurricane. I am starting to learn other songs like rosemary and Closure.

Kyden – My goal for february is to learn turkish march and in just the first day of learning it i’ve already learned quite a bit of the song. So far I think my february goal is coming along pretty well. And for all my goal so far I have been doing good I have gotten all my goals done so far and I think that getting turkish mar done might get done a little late but I should be able to finish it soon. So overall I that Im doing better than last year because last year a lot more of my goals warrant done.

Peter – In February I’ve made some pretty serious progress on my composition.I think I only have about a month of work left which is promising but it also leaves me wondering what I’ll do once I’m done. I also want to get better at just the mechanics of the bass. I feel like I just need one more piece in the puzzle to finish the composition but I feel like I’m missing that piece.

Mona – I am doing good with my goal and I have completed each step so far. I just finished District 2 which was a Chorus I auditioned for, along with many other middle school singers, and we performed as a group together. It was a very different and exciting experience. I might audition for District 2 and other group chorus competitions in High School. I am currently working on writing my own music which I will eventually release.

January Blog

(February 7, 2023)

Greetings Followers!

Here is our monthly post. We hope you enjoy getting to know our GT Music students a little bit better…

Sofie – Hello again. My goal for G & T Music is to get better at the clarinet. I don’t have any specific spot I want to be in at the end of the school year, but I’m working on getting better at high notes. For me, high notes are like squeaking mice. I can almost never get them right. So far, I am doing pretty well with my monthly goals. This month’s goal is to improve on going from high notes to lower notes. By the end of the school year, I hope that I will be better at memorizing high notes and their names, and remember how to play them.

John – This month I would say I met our goal. The goal was to learn another song in my band KAJEMO. The song we chose to learn was “Runaway Train” by Eric Clapton. Sure there is always more to improve with a song. There is no absolute perfect. But we have the ability to play this song.

Kai – In KAJEMO we are learning many songs like rock you like a hurricane, and run away train. Also I’m getting better at slap bass. I can now do hammer downs and pop faster. Also im starting to learn a new rift.

Serena – I haven’t made a ton of progress on guitar because I’ve been using most of my time to practice for District 2. It’s in two days and I’m so excited, but also pretty nervous. I’m especially looking forward to getting to play the chimes, because I’ve never done it before. By the end of the year I hope to have survived District 2, and be able to comfortably play common chords on the guitar. I have musical practice now too. This year the Musical is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, and I got Charlie. I’m excited, but I have a lot of lines to memorize.

Lucian – Overall, my goals have been coming along nicely. I’ve learned two new songs on drums and one on piano, which exceeds what I expected. I will be continuing on this path and perfecting the things I’ve already learned. By the end of the school year, I’d like to be able to learn, memorize, and perfect 3 songs on piano, and 8 songs on drums.

Avery – So far in GT music, I am doing pretty well. I am coming along great in learning new songs and chords on the piano. I am improving on moving my hands faster to switch chords, and I am starting to learn more advanced chords. I have a lot more space to improve but overall I am doing quite well. I have learned a lot of new songs, for example, I have learned, 22 by Taylor Swift, Lift me up by Rihanna, and All of me by John Legend. I learned more songs than just my examples and I can’t wait to learn more!  

Oren – This month Kajemo worked on the Runaway train mostly. We started learning to rock you like a hurricane by the scorpions. We have been practicing the old songs like holiday and kryptonite. I have also been playing in a band with Lucian and Kai.

Kyden – So far in GT music, I am doing pretty well. I am coming along great in learning new songs and chords on the piano. I am improving on moving my hands faster to switch chords, and I am starting to learn more advanced chords. I have a lot more space to improve but overall I am doing quite well. I have learned a lot of new songs, for example, I have learned, 22 by Taylor Swift, Lift me up by Rihanna, and All of me by John Legend. I learned more songs than just my examples and I can’t wait to learn more!  

Peter – I’ve made great progress over the last couple weeks on the bass. I’m glad that I got my January goal done early so that I’m ahead of schedule for february. I have had a little bit of a tougher time learning songs but I’m sure that I will get my goal done by the end of february. I think I’ve seen the most success when I get my classmates to quiz me on the notes that I’m learning. I might have to make more time for practicing because I just joined my 4th band which really fills my school schedule and since I don’t have a bass guitar at home that might be a problem.

Izzy – My goals for my gt this year and for my music career were pretty simple the same as last year. I’ve kept up with practicing i do miss sometimes but other then those certain times i’ve kept up with it i’ve enjoyed learning and my goals have come along well i forgot to mark them but i have kept up good i dont think were going to start lessons up again but if we do that will be awesome.

Mona – My overall goal in GT music is to release my own music that I have written. Right now, I am on a step of the goal where I am performing for a chorus that I auditioned for. This is giving me performance experience but I want to work to create and put out my own music into the world. I currently have multiple songs of my own written and I am working on more.

See you all next month for the next blog post…

Ringing in the NEW YEAR!!!

(January 8, 2023)

Greetings and Welcome Back Everyone!

My name is Mr. Joshua Bosse and I am the Gifted and Talented music teacher for our district. We are ringing in 2023 with some new GT music kiddos! Here is an introduction to our new and returning students as well as what they will be working on this school year. We hope you enjoy!

Sofie – Hi! So my name is Sofie, and I’m somehow in G&T music again this year. I’m now in 8th grade, and next year I am going to be shipped off to high school…Ok, obviously I’m not going to be shipped anywhere duct taped up in a box, but my point is this is my last school year at Molly Ockett, and I am looking forward to seeing where my musical career takes me when I move on. I still play the clarinet, and I don’t do chorus anymore. I haven’t played an actual song on the piano in quite some time, and this year I changed my goal to be focused on my clarinet skills. Just in the time period that I’ve been doing school band in 8th grade, I have gotten much, much better at high notes. In band, we are doing three songs called, “Santa the Barbarian,” “Waltz of the Carols,” and, “Christmas Holiday March.” In each song, it is required to know some high notes, so that has helped me become better at them. Currently, my favorite types of music are pop, rock, and some piano as well. I especially like listening to this one playlist on Spotify that’s called “dark academia studying and reading instruments,” by poets & coffee. It is very calming, and I’ve been listening to it nonstop. My favorite part about being in a band is that when the entire group finally gets a song down and plays through it, it sounds so beautiful as if it were liquid flowing through the air into the audiences awaiting ears and minds. If I dropped music, I maybe would go to school to be a teacher in ELA or go to school to be a librarian, since my love for books has never ceased.

John – Hi my name is John and I play 3 instruments. Trombone trumpet and bass guitar. My main instrument is the trombone. I’ve been playing it for four years. I have been playing music since I was in band with the 5th grade band and KAJEMO. KAJEMO is a classic rock band consisting of a bass guitar, guitar drums, baritone trumpet and a trombone.

Kai – My name is Kai and I’ve been playing bass for 4 Years. I really enjoy bass because it is a unique instrument and it is just so much different. People mostly think that bass is basically guitar but with 4 strings but it’s not. It has no many unique ways of playing it like slap and popping.

Serena – Hi, my name is Serena, and I play percussion. I like the vibraphone the most, so that’s what I usually focus on, but I enjoy playing the drums too. I like singing, dance, theater and art. I’m in MOJO (Molly Ockett Jazz Orchestra), Normal school band, and chorus. So far, I worked on a duet with Mona that involved lots of tricky harmony, and we successfully performed it at the winter concert. For the rest of the time in GT I want to try out the guitar. I really like the sound of it, and it seems nice to play an instrument that isn’t as hard to transport as a drumset or vibraphone. I quickly discovered that it’s so much harder than it looks, but I’ll figure it out eventually. I also have district 2 music to practice, so I’ll use some of my time during GT for that too.

Lucian – Hi, I am a person who thoroughly enjoys about 90% of music. I mainly listen to complex, unique music who’s genres only contain a few bands. I play progressive rock, art rock, hard rock, grunge, & other similar genres on the drums and music needs to mean something and cannot just be a “casual listen”. I’m a part of MOJO, an assembly of people in the PBL band, and a real semi-professional band with other musicians at my level. I have trouble appreciating simple music that takes little skill to produce. I am mainly a drummer but I also play keyboard and make personal solo projects consisting of mainly electronica and experimental art rock tracks. I can sing but I choose not to, I would like to learn acoustic guitar at some point, and I plan to continue making my music better and sounding better on the drums.

Avery – Currently, I am working toward learning more varieties of instruments and improving on them. For G.T. I am currently learning some songs on the piano and for band, I am improving my guitar skills by learning new songs. Eventually, I want to be able to play at least three instruments without having much trouble learning new songs. The songs I enjoy playing the most are probably rock songs but I enjoy learning pop songs as well. I have tried learning drums but I think I would rather stick to other instruments like guitar, piano, and ukulele. I have recently been interested on creating music on the website soundtrap and I am having a lot of fun experimenting with it. I think I have a lot of room to grow in my music career but I think I will get there eventually. I am definitely trying to compose some more songs in my own time at home and I am trying to come up with some good ideas to help me.

Oren – Hi, my name is Oren, I play the electric guitar and the piano. In Kajemo we have been working on a new song: Kryptonyte. We should be able to play Kryptonite in our next concert. We have starter working on Runaway Train.

Kyden – I’m Kyden. I play the piano and have been for around 1.5 years. In that time I have played in a few recitals and learned tons of different songs. And I have improved a lot from when I first started playing piano. One thing I think I’ve improved a lot is reading sheet music and starting to know what key a song is just by listening to the song. In music I’m interested in more chill songs, nothing too crazy but I really like to play classical music and there’s tons of different types of classical music and tons of different classical songs. I’ve already learned a few of them. More popular ones such as Fur elise and Moonlight Sonata. I have a recital on December 10’th at the mountain top in Conway. I’m playing Linus and Lucy and Jingle Bell Rock. I’m really excited to play in the recital.

Peter – My name is Peter and I’ve played piano since I was three years old. I’m in 2 bands MOJO and 6th grade band. I’ve composed 13 songs varying in length from around a minute to 4 minutes though I’ve forgotten most of them. All of my three sisters can play piano so it was natural for me to play as well. My goal is to learn the bass guitar.

Mona – Hi, I’m Mona, I’ve been singing since a very young age, due to the fact that I’ve grown up in a very musical family. My dad is a pianist, my aunt is a singer in a band and individualy, my grandma was a music teacher, and overall I’ve grown up surrounded by music. I started playing piano years ago, and I’ve been taking piano lessons as an after school activity for a while. Playing the piano helps with my love for singing and writing music; when I write lyrics and the vocal part of a song, I can play the piano as an accompaniment to my voice. I’ve performed this way for a couple of recitals, where I sing and play the piano to songs that I write. Lately, I’ve been working on recording and releasing one of my songs, to start what could possibly be a musical career someday.

Izzy – Lately I’ve been interested in singing. I really do enjoy guitar. I’ve been trying out piano. I’ve been practicing a lot more and now I’m a whole lot better. I listen to music daily and try to play duets with my brother. I’m trying out new types of music. I tried older songs. I’m very interested in singing and playing guitar at the same time. It’s hard to play and sing while keeping the beat.

Please come back and join us at the end of this month to see what these talented kiddos are up to!

~ Mr. Bosse