Music Matters
VCE MUSIC TECHNICAL SACs
Congratulations to all the VCE Music Performance students who were able to come into the school this week to be assessed for their Technical SACs. After such a big break from onsite learning, it was great to see your faces and hear how well you have been keeping up your playing skills in lockdown. You can all be extremely proud of yourselves.
Thank you to Mrs Howes and Ms McGee for all your efforts to ensure that all the Covid guidelines were adhered to and our students were able to feel safe during their assessments.
VCE GROUP PERFORMANCE REHEARSALS
Next week, our VCE Group Performance students will be coming into the school to catch up on all the lost rehearsal time during lockdown. This time is critical for the students to enable them to demonstrate their ability to play in an ensemble. This requires them to listen to each other and interact as band members to produce a performance that shows togetherness in tuning and rhythm. They also need to work on their stagecraft as a group. These are all skills that are impossible to work on in isolation.
Thank you again to Mrs Howes and Ms McGee for all your efforts to allow these rehearsals to happen in a Covid safe way. A big thank you must go to all the students in the groups that aren’t being assessed, for sacrificing your valuable study time to learn your parts and rehearse with the groups. It is greatly appreciated by the students being assessed and the teachers. It demonstrates in a huge way, the willingness for Doncaster students to live by the college values of Responsibility, Respect, Teamwork and Resilience. We are extremely proud of you all.
Nick Dean
Music Coordinator
Player Profile
At Doncaster Secondary College, we have some amazingly talented musicians in our mix and the Music department would like to showcase our performers through a regular Player Profile newsletter segment. In this edition, I'd like to introduce our readers to George Cook.
Joshua Verco
Instrumental Music Instructor
George Cook, Year 12
Hey George. What instruments do you play?
Hi! I play Bass and Guitar.
When did you start learning to play music?
I've always had my sticky little fingers in the music pie, since the start of primary school, but I only really started taking it seriously in year 9 though.
What school ensembles do you play in?
Jeez, well currently - the Senior Rock band, the Senior Stage band and the Guitar ensemble.
Who is your instrumental music teacher/s at Doncaster SC?
Mr Verco and Mr Sheers.
What is your favourite song or genre to play?
I enjoy playing Funk the most on bass, and Bossa Nova the most on guitar. My favourite song to play on the guitar at the moment is 'Paper Bag' by Fiona Apple and 'Lady Writer' by Dire Straits (still learning this). For bass I don't really have time to play recreationally so I guess 'The Chicken' by Jaco Pastorius is my favourite to play.
What bands or musicians do you like to listen to or have influence you a lot?
Very hard to say! I listen to bits of everything and everyone. Currently I'm being most inspired by my friend Billy’s solo project (Billiam), 80's sports movie songs, Kate Bush, Oingo Boingo, Dire Straits, Steely Dan, Yellow Magic Orchestra, TISM, Megadeth, the soundtrack to 'Smoky And The Bandit' and 'Phantom Of The Paradise'. Should I keep going?....
What is your most memorable performance to date?
The one school concert where I accidentally bashed Jess in the face with the end of my bass (sorry!!!), which I will never live down nor forget. OR - Might've been the same concert where my guitar strap came off half way through a song and I managed to finish it. OR - The entirety of the school production a couple years ago.
What is your most memorable musical learning experience?
Honestly just getting a bass teacher and realising how much I screwed my playing technique up from teaching myself.
What non-musical hobbies or interests do you have?
I am an enjoyer of drawing and film/television based media. I've been drawing since I was like, 10yo and I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it by now. My media interests lie mostly in older films and television, particularly from the 80s!
What do you hope to achieve with your music in the future?
Don't ask me such frivolous questions (I don't know I'm just having fun!.. ((supposedly))
What is your favourite food to eat?
Pork ribs! or cashews! ..Very opposite ends of the Food Spectrum but both just as good as one another!
Any cool nicknames at school?
No, I don’t have one unfortunately.
What is the silliest thing you’ve ever said, done or worn (Chicken Suit?)?
Considering I am the funniest person I know (totally not a joke) it's hard to say. Something silly is the fact I didn't believe Narwhals were real animals until last year. I also once dressed up as Courtney Love for Halloween (as she is, unequivocally, the scariest person). I also once gave my brother a wedgie so hard he ripped his underpants.
Thank you for sharing your journey into music with us, George!