28 December 2014
My piano teacher commented that I have improved - my wrists and elbows were more relaxed now. The irony is by putting our arms and body in a relaxed position, the notes come out fuller and rounder. This is perhaps the greatest and most important lesson of my piano journey. I regretted not knowing it earlier, and I feel myself chasing time now.
It brought to my mind a book by Victor Wooten "A Music Lesson", in which he mentioned that a teacher cannot teach, he/she cannot put knowledge into our brains. A teacher can only show/demonstrate how something is done, and it is up to the understanding/perception of a student to receive it and make it his/her own. This is also in line with Socrates who was quoted - “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” My teacher is excellent in that she makes me think of the musical direction and structure of a piece/study on top of my technical skills. This makes me understand fuller what I am actually playing and what to look out for when practising.
Well, at the end of the lesson, my bf added that I wanted more homework and to see her every day. To my ?horror, I got more than what I wished for. She gave me 2 Czerny studies, Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D minor, Beethoven sonata op13 (Pathetique) and Eb major and minor scales for homework. And an appointment to see her on New Year's Day which was 4 days later, with the parting words "do as much as you can".
I was, of course, overwhelmed.
29 December 2014
Overwhelmed. I managed to play through Prelude and all the exercises, promising to face the Fugue the next day.
30 December 2013
Overwhelmed. Upon the advice of my bf, I skipped Fugue and started instead with Beethoven sonata which my teacher stressed to practise the opening chords well. The first page looked intimidating at first with many heavy chords, but after observing the patterns it was manageable. At this point, I realised the importance of knowledge of chord progression which I lacked and need to know sooner.
Coincidentally. or not, my previous piano teacher called me out of the blue to ask if my bf wanted to teach at her friend's new music school where they were "urgently" looking for a violin teacher. She knew him when we attended theory lessons last year. We chatted and I updated her about my life and situation (that I am looking for piano students) and she gave my contacts to her friend. I marveled the timeliness and randomness of it.
31 December 2013
I did not touch the piano at all due to complacency/laziness/1000 excuses and 2 dinners to attend.
1 January 2014
Piano lesson! We went through the 2 Czerny studies where my teacher reinforced on relaxation of wrists which would better bring out the subsequent notes played by the third, fourth and fifth fingers, instead of clumping them into a muddy mess. We also worked on rhythm where she wanted me to have my own internal pulse rather than to rely on a metronome. It was unfortunate that we ran out of time for Beethoven sonata, due to the analysis of Bach prelude. She opened my mind to the changes of keys within the prelude and the purpose of the accidentals, which previously were just "notes I had to play". As mentioned, this gave me a fuller understanding of what I am playing and drew me further and further away from what I thought I knew.
But good news: I have now a week to prepare before my next lesson.
Bf and I met our prospective boss at her music school, and we got a position there! Yay to being employed in my first music school after nearly 4 months of unemployment, but nay to the meager salary. But but but... It is a good start to get the ball rolling!
I look forward to what 2014 has in store for us - the challenges, discoveries and timely "coincidences" (aka opportunities). :)
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
A Linear Circle
January 2013
I decided to get a new cello teacher, one who would grill my technique. My bf knew of an ACS schoolmate who played the Elgar concerto under this teacher, so he encouraged me to study with her. And I did. On the first lesson, she corrected my bow hold and shape of my left hand on the fingerboard. I started with open string bowing (half and full bow) and F major scale, being very mindful of the anatomy of my right upper limb from the fingers to the wrist and the elbow. It should all feel relaxed and "natural". This detailed method of learning was new and enlightening to me, and it brought to light how erroneous my practices were. During the first lesson, we discussed about my goals and how far away from it I actually was. Furthermore, my demonstrations on the cello was frequently interrupted by my teacher's repeated questions - What are you thinking? Oh how exasperating! But that was the pivoting question that echoed in my mind whenever I practise now.
9 April 2013
I was browsing at the Esplanade Library and chanced upon this book.
It talks about how the author (a pianist) went through the cultural revolution being separated from her family and piano. During that period, she became a fervent Red Guard and denounced her piano teacher (Prof P.) whom she later rekindled their relationship after the revolution. Towards the end of the book, she mentioned that her piano teacher's family had settled in Singapore and his son was in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Upon reading that, my eyes lit up and I showed the paragraph to my bf who knew who that was at once. Coincidentally, or not, he is the husband of my cello teacher! At the next lesson, I mentioned this to my teacher and she talked a little more about them. I of course had many intriguing questions I wanted to ask regarding the Cultural Revolution, but I had to suppress them lest I infringed on their privacy. Next time, maybe.
June - August 2013
It was my final months as a nurse in NUH. The irony was that the nearer I was to my last day, the more dreadful and difficult every working day became. Those days are behind me now and I shall not mention it further. For these 3 months, I did not attend a single cello lesson.
27 September 2013
Cello lesson was resumed. By now I had already left work for 3 weeks. It was liberating but daunting at the same time. I knew I wanted to do music, but what exactly did I want to do as a career? My logical brain was battling with my heart's desire. My cello teacher, being a person of preceding generation, could not understand this move that I made, why leave a "stable career" to trek on uncharted waters? She was of course not the only one who bombarded me with questions in the same vein, but I thought some were designed more for personal attacks than curiosity/concern. Being in this new phase myself, and still carrying doubts and uncertainty, the temptation to return to nursing (my comfort zone) was admittedly quite strong. However, the dreadful thought of interacting with society/people was a big enough turnoff for me to curb that. I knew I needed a break from it all and indulge in solitude to find myself again. I also knew that I wanted to practise and bring my understanding/playing of music to a deeper level, not as a means to earn a fat salary, but purely for my love of music. I scorned society for being superficial, for valuing people based on the amount they earn, for being frivolous with the money they make, for being delusional about material possession. While I do not hate money, it does not make me happy; and my heart goes out to all who are financially wealthy but living a sad, empty life.
This was also a period of withdrawal from people and social media as I found that I could relate to fewer and fewer people here.
13 December 2013
During this cello lesson, I mentioned to my teacher that I was looking for a piano teacher and she suggested going to her mother in law, who was a proficient teacher who had taught for many many years and was a consultant even for other piano teachers. As I mentioned earlier, I have read about her husband (Prof P.) being persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, so naturally my interest was piqued and I was very eager to meet her and learn from her. What happened next was so unbelievable that it was uncanny. Upon leaving my teacher's house, and wanting to open the main door, it swung open and in came my prospective piano teacher (her MIL)!! At that moment I did not realise it was her as I was eager to leave the place after lesson, but my BF's hair stood the instance he saw her and he nudged me to notice her. It still took me a while to realise this celestial moment, until my bf spoke and explained to her regarding my wanting to learn from her. There and then, we took her number.
21 December 2013, 10am
I had my first piano lesson with my new teacher at her house! We introduced and talked more about the book and Prof P. and the author. I liked her immediately. We spent most of the time correcting my erroneous technique - tight wrist and elbow, which hindered the full sound a piano can/should make. So it is back to basic again, C major! Lesson was planned for 28 December, in complete oblivion to the holidays in between. GOOD! As we were about to leave the piano room, guess what? Prof P. opened the door to talk to my teacher and I took a glimpse of him. Seeing a book character in "real" life was quite overwhelming and I was in a fan mode for a while.
Later that night, I had dinner with some friends and other musicians and Mahler enthusiasts. It was at an obscure part of Singapore so my bf gave a few people a lift home. Lo and behold, it was in the car ride that I found out that one of them was a student of Prof P. who also knew his wife, my piano teacher! What were the chances! Things were really getting more and more uncanny, and it seemed that every thing transpired to bring me to my piano teacher. At this very moment, my hair just stood.
I decided to get a new cello teacher, one who would grill my technique. My bf knew of an ACS schoolmate who played the Elgar concerto under this teacher, so he encouraged me to study with her. And I did. On the first lesson, she corrected my bow hold and shape of my left hand on the fingerboard. I started with open string bowing (half and full bow) and F major scale, being very mindful of the anatomy of my right upper limb from the fingers to the wrist and the elbow. It should all feel relaxed and "natural". This detailed method of learning was new and enlightening to me, and it brought to light how erroneous my practices were. During the first lesson, we discussed about my goals and how far away from it I actually was. Furthermore, my demonstrations on the cello was frequently interrupted by my teacher's repeated questions - What are you thinking? Oh how exasperating! But that was the pivoting question that echoed in my mind whenever I practise now.
9 April 2013
I was browsing at the Esplanade Library and chanced upon this book.
It talks about how the author (a pianist) went through the cultural revolution being separated from her family and piano. During that period, she became a fervent Red Guard and denounced her piano teacher (Prof P.) whom she later rekindled their relationship after the revolution. Towards the end of the book, she mentioned that her piano teacher's family had settled in Singapore and his son was in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Upon reading that, my eyes lit up and I showed the paragraph to my bf who knew who that was at once. Coincidentally, or not, he is the husband of my cello teacher! At the next lesson, I mentioned this to my teacher and she talked a little more about them. I of course had many intriguing questions I wanted to ask regarding the Cultural Revolution, but I had to suppress them lest I infringed on their privacy. Next time, maybe.
June - August 2013
It was my final months as a nurse in NUH. The irony was that the nearer I was to my last day, the more dreadful and difficult every working day became. Those days are behind me now and I shall not mention it further. For these 3 months, I did not attend a single cello lesson.
27 September 2013
Cello lesson was resumed. By now I had already left work for 3 weeks. It was liberating but daunting at the same time. I knew I wanted to do music, but what exactly did I want to do as a career? My logical brain was battling with my heart's desire. My cello teacher, being a person of preceding generation, could not understand this move that I made, why leave a "stable career" to trek on uncharted waters? She was of course not the only one who bombarded me with questions in the same vein, but I thought some were designed more for personal attacks than curiosity/concern. Being in this new phase myself, and still carrying doubts and uncertainty, the temptation to return to nursing (my comfort zone) was admittedly quite strong. However, the dreadful thought of interacting with society/people was a big enough turnoff for me to curb that. I knew I needed a break from it all and indulge in solitude to find myself again. I also knew that I wanted to practise and bring my understanding/playing of music to a deeper level, not as a means to earn a fat salary, but purely for my love of music. I scorned society for being superficial, for valuing people based on the amount they earn, for being frivolous with the money they make, for being delusional about material possession. While I do not hate money, it does not make me happy; and my heart goes out to all who are financially wealthy but living a sad, empty life.
This was also a period of withdrawal from people and social media as I found that I could relate to fewer and fewer people here.
13 December 2013
During this cello lesson, I mentioned to my teacher that I was looking for a piano teacher and she suggested going to her mother in law, who was a proficient teacher who had taught for many many years and was a consultant even for other piano teachers. As I mentioned earlier, I have read about her husband (Prof P.) being persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, so naturally my interest was piqued and I was very eager to meet her and learn from her. What happened next was so unbelievable that it was uncanny. Upon leaving my teacher's house, and wanting to open the main door, it swung open and in came my prospective piano teacher (her MIL)!! At that moment I did not realise it was her as I was eager to leave the place after lesson, but my BF's hair stood the instance he saw her and he nudged me to notice her. It still took me a while to realise this celestial moment, until my bf spoke and explained to her regarding my wanting to learn from her. There and then, we took her number.
21 December 2013, 10am
I had my first piano lesson with my new teacher at her house! We introduced and talked more about the book and Prof P. and the author. I liked her immediately. We spent most of the time correcting my erroneous technique - tight wrist and elbow, which hindered the full sound a piano can/should make. So it is back to basic again, C major! Lesson was planned for 28 December, in complete oblivion to the holidays in between. GOOD! As we were about to leave the piano room, guess what? Prof P. opened the door to talk to my teacher and I took a glimpse of him. Seeing a book character in "real" life was quite overwhelming and I was in a fan mode for a while.
Later that night, I had dinner with some friends and other musicians and Mahler enthusiasts. It was at an obscure part of Singapore so my bf gave a few people a lift home. Lo and behold, it was in the car ride that I found out that one of them was a student of Prof P. who also knew his wife, my piano teacher! What were the chances! Things were really getting more and more uncanny, and it seemed that every thing transpired to bring me to my piano teacher. At this very moment, my hair just stood.
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