Capstone Project Proposal Draft

Name of student: Jasper Nielsen Date: 02/25/2024

Teacher: Mr. Green Block: B

The Capstone Focus I have chosen is: Music

Proposed title for my Project Proposal: (write the proposed title for your Capstone Project in one clear
sentence): The proposed title for my Capstone project will be; “Journey for the Ages”: An EP by Jasper Nielsen

What is your inquiry question that interests you for further research? It should be a question that connects with
a purpose, passion or personalized area of interest for you. This is a question that you cannot just google an
answer for. Please see examples from your Capstone booklet.
My inquiry question is:

How will learning and developing music skills connect to my personal growth and connections with the
people around me? When creating music what will applying these skills reveal about future job interests or
opportunities and adaptability?

Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question. Explain WHY you are choosing to
investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry connect to your passion(s),
purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

I chose a very personal development-focused inquiry question because I have been trying new things,
pushing my own limits and trying to figure out who I am and where I belong. At this point with trying to figure
out where I want to go and what I want to do, if I’m still not somewhat sure of myself, then is it worth
spending a lot of money doing more schooling that might end up with me not liking where I am and
regretting going through the process? I am interested in this inquiry question because on top of always
wanting to take a deeper dive into music besides a hobby, I’m hoping to be able to step back during the
process and learn more about myself and the people I surround myself with, growing deeper connections
and maybe finding a better sense of purpose as I go into the next stage of life.

Background: What background knowledge/connections/prior learning do you have in this area of inquiry?

Focusing on the music aspect I have quite a bit of background knowledge when it comes to singing and

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 playing instruments. I have sung in the RE Mountain concert choir for almost 4 years now making
connections with other students interested in music and with teachers. From these connections I have
learned a lot about my voice and how to use it, taking time outside class to also work with my peers and
teacher, Ms. Williams, to further develop my musical ability and make sure that I understand lessons. I have
also dabbled with a variety of musical instruments over the years, including the drums, trumpet, and now
the guitar which I am learning right now and the instrument I intend to focus on the most alongside singing
while working on my album.

Thinking about the knowledge and strategies I have to try and understand myself; I’ve been on and off
working with a counselor outside of school, one of the school counselors (Ms. Springenatic), my parents,
and other adults I have met outside of school who I’ve inquired strategies to learn about myself and the way
the world works from.

Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What connections does this
inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals?

My intended career at this point in time is to do something in environmental studies, with music being more
of a hobby or side career, something I do for fun. I want to pursue environmental studies or environmental
engineering, as I’m still figuring out fully how the world works, but I now have enough of an understanding
to realize that we can’t sit back and wait for a change as that will be a very slow process or nothing will
change at all. Part of understanding going into environmental studies is understanding myself as it is an
uphill battle to take that step and I need to be confident in myself before I can back up making the change,
which connects to my inquiry question because its goal is to better understand how I function, think, and
act. For academic goals, it is essential to understand myself, especially going to university, to create a
study routine that works along with knowing how much I can take on with courseload, a possible job, and
extracurriculars.

Interdisciplinary and core competencies connections: What subject areas and core competencies will
be connected with your project? Outline and explain the connections.
Part of writing music, especially if the lyrics are based off personal experience or the experience of
someone else, is to have Personal Awareness and Responsibility. This core competency with have a
connection to my capstone because of the strong personal understanding needed to write

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 strong/meaningful lyrics that others can connect to. Having this aspect adds an extra layer of depth to each
piece and often makes it easier to write music as the story is already there. In my personal opinion, I
believe music can be any genre or tone, but for it to be amazing it also has to have a story behind the piece
that the listener can connect to, pulling them deeper and investing themselves in what story the song is
portraying. When writing a song about someone else’s experience or story there is a responsibility passed
onto the songwriter, who must have a strong understanding of their own morals before working with
someone else’s tale.
The requirement of working with someone else’s story connects to the Social Responsibility needed to be
trusted when songwriting. I often find that meaningful songs often have powerful stories behind them, but
often leave out some details to protect whoever the story may be about. If a song reveals too much,
especially about another person that isn’t the songwriter, then it can lead to broken relationships, distrust,
and ruin someone’s reputation. Songwriters have to figure out ways to work around these barriers by doing
something like making up fictional characters or leaving out some key details, thinking creatively to find
ways to portray a story without giving away too much.
A huge factor in songwriting is the ability to have Creative Thinking. If someone can’t generate ideas that
can flow into each other or can relate, it can be really hard to create new music. Part of why I chose
creating an album as my capstone is because I have a proficient ability to generate and create new ideas,
which makes the process of creating lyrics a lot easier. In fact I’ll sometimes sing completely new songs
while doing something like the dishes, first coming up with a beat, then just thinking of random lyrics from
there. One problem I face though, is having other songs in my head while trying to come up with music. I
can often find myself transitioning back into the catchy chorus of another song while trying to come up with
one of my own and my brain will do flips trying to get out of the loop. I continue to work on thinking about
other songs as inspiration but not copying them as I find a way to create and communicate through the
music I create with others.
Speaking of Communication, that’s the final core competency that I believe is key to good songwriting.
When creating and producing a song, I already talked about how I feel the most powerful/meaningful songs
have a story behind them. Half of creating a story is to also be able to tell that story in a unique, passion-
filled way, with expression, instrumentals, and sometimes visuals. Great communication often has the
listener being able to feel the song as a beautiful instrumental transfers into a spectacular high note or a
passionate yet angry drum solo concludes the song as the story comes to a close. The medium in which a
song is communicated can completely change the meaning that the listener interprets while taking in the
song, so finding the tone of a song is very important at the beginning so the rest of the song can be
perfomed to match that tone.

Capstone Presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to present your
project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once completed. You may use a
combination of mediums.
o Electronic portfolio: Prezi or PPT
o Physical portfolio
o Website
o imovie presentation
o YouTube channel

For the production of music and all the background work behind my capstone project, I will be presenting it
in PowerPoint form. For advertising and displaying the album I create, I’m hoping to also make a website
giving slight details about the creation of the songs, but more talking about the actual album and reasoning
behind why the music was created.
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 The PowerPoint will be stylized to feel like an old film reel/documentary, where I might write about the
process of creation or include clips/bloopers from the songwriting/producing process, to make this album
feel more homemade. I’m hoping to get interviews and feedback from friends after working on the album
with me or listening to a song from the album. Also maybe trying to add profiles for the people (and
instruments?) that helped me work on the album.

On the website, I would include a small background profile of myself and the background behind the
experiences that formed the ideas for songs, also including thanks to all the people who helped me work
on the project. I would also like to include a small documentary-style video, capturing key moments in the
process of making music and moments that may have been inspiring during my time learning to produce
music, like a breakthrough with a mentor or finding the perfect guitar riff.

Description of my Capstone project. Specific Project Details of the Capstone Project: what will you
research, create, study, produce, solve, investigate? What product will be produced at the end of this
project for evaluation. Write a one-page description outlining your proposal.

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 I will be researching the creation of music, how to properly songwrite, how to use music editing software,
how to use different instruments in a song, improving connections with friends through music, and diving
deeper into my passions of singing and playing the guitar. Using sources like JSTOR and EBSCO to find
research papers on the secrets of songwriting, reasons behind lyric choice, the history of music, how
music can build community, and other more scientific or academic-based sources. I will be using online
articles and video guides to learn how to use music editing software as well as learning certain chord
tracks for guitar and popular beats or tempos. I will also be working with different mentors/teachers to
improve my musical abilities and find out how I make the best of my abilities.

I will be studying a little bit of the history of music to get more background information on music. However, I
will mostly be focusing on studying how to read and write sheet music to further develop skills I believe are
crucial to the songwriting process. I’ve already started this process using Duolingo music to help me
recognize how the notes on the paper line up with those I sing. Taking a deeper investigation into what
truly makes “good” music, that most people can agree on that they enjoy, the key aspects I must include in
my pieces to make them more enjoyable, such as a good story and purposeful instrumentals.

With the production of my capstone, I’m hoping to boost my confidence in not just my musical ability, but
my confidence to perform. In the future I’m going to have to be able to go up in front of a crowd with
confidence, I’d like to develop those skills as soon as I can an example of having to be confident is at
camp we are usually up on a stage telling a story, singing, or acting. It's not the same as a business
meeting or conference, because I’m usually up in front of young children but it's still scary. Another skill I’m
hoping to have developed by the time I finish my capstone is figuring out a way to beat my procrastinating
nature, as it’s something that hindrances me every day and will get worse going into university.
The physical product I will be creating is an album or EP(Extended play) containing about 2-4 songs that I
write and produce, with the skills I’ve learned in the choir and by playing the guitar, by myself, or with
friends. I will be writing the majority of the lyrics for each song with the help of mentors to avoid common
errors made in music that can completely ruin a piece such as repetitive or bland lyrics as well as more
issues I will discover through research. If I have the time, I would also like to record footage during the
creation process of the album to develop a small documentary, with background music from the album,
which would hopefully be a part of the presentation process.

Resources/ Technology/Skills: Make an assessment of the resources, technology and skills you will
need to be able to complete this project. What is your plan to be able to access/learn all of the resources
necessary to achieve completion of this project? Detail your plans.
Technology Needed:
- Computer
- Music Editing Software
- Microphone

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 - Mobile Phone/Camera
- Digital Design Software (For Album Cover)

I already have most of the required technology and applications for my capstone, however I plan on
purchasing a proper recording microphone I found on Amazon and Music Editing Software which I plan
on learning as a part of my capstone.

Resources:
- Guitar
- Other Instruments? (Piano and Drums)
- Friends
- Place to Record (ex. Music room)
- Blank Sheet music
- Other music and songwriting for inspiration
- Pens/Pencils

I am currently working out with friends who might want to get involved with the project, to bring in their
own unique abilities and sound to keep the album feeling fresh. Bringing in friends would also add
character to the project making it feel more lifelike, building community and strengthening bonds between
me and my friends. I currently have a guitar and am working out access to drums, a piano and a place to
record with the music department within the school. I’ve also been listening to many different genres of
less known/smaller artists to draw inspiration from their sound and lyric choice. Blank sheet music is easy
to print off for instrumentals/voice and I can get a fresh set of pens/pencils from Staples.

Skills:
- Playing the guitar
- Singing/understanding dynamics and tone
- Understanding sheet music and its connection to notes
- Ability to work as a team and understand/work for the benefit of others abilities
- Reading guitar specific sheet music
- Having the confidence in my own abilities to perform at 100%

I have been playing the guitar and understand reading guitar sheet music for almost 2 years, with about a
6-month break in between now and the last time I played hardcore. The drive for starting this capstone
project is to have time to dive back into a passion of mine being music, so I’ve begun to practice again
and plan to get an instructor or community leader to help re-establish and improve on my skills. Singing in
choir since grade 9 has greatly helped develop my musical/sheet reading abilities, however I still struggle
with recognizing what notes are when I hear them and trying to get them down on paper, which is a
significant skill I have to understand before completing my capstone. I am usually a great community
builder and the person who plans many of the events or outings I go on with friends, so getting people
together shouldn’t be too hard. A big problem though will be having confidence in my own ability to sing
and play guitar, which on my own has never been a problem but when I’m with others, especially
strangers I feel I can’t perform to my full ability which in turn makes the music sound worse.

Mentors/Community Connections: What types of mentor(s)/community connections will you need to

Mentors:
- Mr. Grey - Teacher
- Ms. Williams - Teacher
- Mr. Mills? - Teacher
- My Dad - Parent
- John – Zhonglan Zhang - Friend
- Daniel Xie - Friend
- Community Mentor (Forgot Name)

With the goal of keeping things new and interesting with every song I would like to have multiple mentors
if possible, to add their own views to the project on top of my own. I believe that getting help from music
students and teachers will help expand my own knowledge on the subject especially where I feel the
weakest, like in writing and understanding sheet music which Daniel has helped me with in the past and
understanding my voice with its strengths, weaknesses and unique abilities which John is amazing at. Mr.
Grey who has expansive knowledge in the Jazz genre and can also play a variety of musical instruments.
Ms. Williams and Mr. Mills who are both music teachers and have tens of years of experience with music.
My Community Mentor at my church who runs the worship team (which is a small band like group) who
I’ve worked with in the past to perform. I don’t think accessing help will be very difficult, as long I ask
before spring break, to leave a lot of time to work on the project and make sure any mentors have time to
understand the project and prepare.

Project limitations: What are some project limitations and potential obstacles that you foresee that might
affect progress with your Capstone Project?

The biggest issue I can foresee as an obstacle is myself, being a procrastinator, being overwhelmed by
large projects and loving to load up my workload with as many activities as possible. I can also see the
amount of studying and work needed to be put into classes like Physics and English being a problem as
well. To combat procrastination I will set personal deadlines, to make sure I am keeping up with work and
set time to work on my capstone every week, whether that be songwriting, working with a mentor or just
messing around with notes and ideas. Setting smaller deadlines will also help solve the problem of feeling
overwhelmed during the project, because I can break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. I’m
also switching up my schedule, reducing my workload and sticking activities that bring a lot of joy to my
life to also combat that feeling of being overwhelmed. An issue I will most likely also face is implementing
all these strategies, which has been a problem I seem to always have in Semester 2 of school. Making
loads of plans but never bringing majority of them into fruition, leading to disappointment and less
motivation to work.

Other considerations: List and detail any other related information/ considerations about your project
that you feel should be included in your project proposal.

A consideration that should be taken into account from a teacher’s perspective and also my own is that
this will be my first time creating my own music, outside creating random songs in the shower for fun. I’m
not going to be a very good artist on the first try, but this is a learning opportunity and something I enjoy.
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 This album is most likely not going to be very popular, but it's still going to be awesome to myself and
hopefully, to the people I show it to as well. Another goal for this project is to practice still being able to
dream up huge projects, but also being able to refine them to fit into a shorter time window than I hoped.

References: Provide a literature review of 5-10 PEER REVIEWED ACADEMIC references: research,
videos, etc. that offer some preliminary research you have done for your project that shows you are able
to access the key information that you will need to be able to complete this project/work. Your list should
be written using correct APA formatting.

Argabright, R. (2005). Connecting with Music. General Music Today, 18(2), 5–6.

https://doi-org.bc.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/10483713050180020102

Negus, K. (2012). Narrative, Interpretation, and the Popular Song. The Musical Quarterly, 95(2/3), 368–

395. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41811631

Osborn, B. (2013). Subverting the Verse–Chorus Paradigm: Terminally Climactic Forms in Recent Rock

Music. Music Theory Spectrum, 35(1), 23–47. https://doi.org/10.1525/mts.2013.35.1.23

Silverman, M. J. (2020). Therapeutic Songwriting for Perceived Stigma and Perceived Social Support in

Adults with Substance Use Disorder: A Cluster-Randomized Effectiveness Study. Substance Use

& Misuse, 55(5), 763–771. https://doi-org.bc.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/10826084.2019.1701037

Sizer, L. (2007). Moods in the Music and the Man: A Response to Kivy and Carroll. The Journal of

Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 65(3), 307–312. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4622243

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