Today’s class focused on the final assignment and how to go about completing it. There are two parts to the assignment: a 3-5 minute piece of music and a 5-8 page analysis regarding our decisions and process in developing this piece. We received a short Garage band tutorial on midi files and how they can be mapped into files of other instruments. I attempted to take notes on this but considering I am a visual learner who needs to do the action myself, I may not have entirely understood the tutorial. To be honest I am very nervous regarding the final project since I am a bit of a perfectionist and a musician myself, so I don’t want to turn in a song if I am not proud of the outcome. While there are some prompts provided I think I have an idea of where I would like to go with this final project. I think I am going to focus on country music, since I am someone who firmly disdains anything with a southern twang. Growing up in two immigrant families in Northern New Jersey/New York country music was never apart of my upbringing since it was associated with a part of American society that rejected my family and their presence in the US. I not only had no exposure to it, I was adamantly against it. In my school you were considered weird if you listened to country, every other genre was absolutely fine just not country. I was previously unaware of the historical and cultural significance of what we know to be country music and its origins and influence from the African American community. I am not entirely certain how I will go about making my song, whether using popular Rap and R&B to make a country song or implementing music from my own cultural background to create, only time will tell (and permit).