Valerie
Before beginning to learn/play Valerie, we listened to several versions so that we could find out what worked best for our band. Firstly, we listened to the Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse version, and then The Zutons. It was also important that we listened to live versions of the song.
Other
After our initial rehearsal of Valerie, I realised that I needed to work on memorising chords and knowing the difference between the basic chords (e.g. A major and A minor). To do this I used the School of Rock website, as this has the most commonly used chords on it. (https://www.schoolofrock.com/resources/keyboard/piano-chords-for-beginners) After this, I wrote down the chords as this makes it easier for me to memorise them, and I can then refer back to them quickly when needed.
Experimentation
After rehearsing Valarie for a bit, we decided to start experimenting with new songs to see what could possibly be added to the set list. The first song we chose to try was Hall of Fame by The Script. Although the instruments sounded okay individually, when put together it didn’t sound too great. The timing of the song was quite difficult to grasp, and ultimately we didn’t think it was the best song for our band.
Locked out of Heaven
When working on Locked out of heaven, I listened to the original track by Bruno Mars, and then began googling the chords to get an idea of what I would be working with. (https://www.chords-and-tabs.net/song/name/bruno-mars-locked-out-of-heaven)
Californication
Nic let me know that on the above sheets, I wrote the chords out wrong. I need to research and learn all of the major and minor chords so that I know them well for future projects, as this will help me improve a lot as a performer.