Change

Recently, I placed another order from BookDepository… was planning to get the super-cheap (68% off!!!) Hunger Games trilogy set – became a bit doubtful at the last minute & alas, it’s sold out before I can even say “Nah, I’ll buy it later!”… haha

Anyway.. I became doubtful because I found some music-related (ABRSM) books that I wish to purchase. In the end, I chose a book on scales (ABRSM’s guide).. and another book by Diana Wynne Jones that I never read before.

Oh. My teacher wished to stop teaching at my current music school. Seems like her reason was she doesn’t want to go all the way to KK in the weekends to conduct classes. She can continue to teach me though if I want. I just have to go to her house on the weekends (nearer to my home too!).. To be honest, I’m a bit reluctant with leaving my music school… but ABRSM exams, that one I can apply by myself online… and.. I don’t know.. I’ve been there for almost 5 years already (wow, I just realised this lol)… Of course, my decision would lean more to my teacher’s favour because I can’t bear meeting and getting used to another new teacher.

Piano Classes [10-Mar-2012 & 11-Mar-2012]

Theory again.. :P

The music theory exam is tomorrow~! Actually I haven't memorise the italian terms... Uh-oh. 

Anyway... I kept getting confused at how to describe the intervals for minor scales. Today, all confusions were cleared. LOL. FINALLY understood how to look at it. & Miss C said she's going to stress on the scales after the music school's midterm holidays... Still haven't practise that scary looking minor scales. She also talked about the aural section. Seems like there'll be a part where I have to sing out notes on paper... and then the examiner plays the notes to check if I sang correctly.  This is actually scary... but I'm kind of excited to learn this! (crazy?) Isn't this basically sight-reading??? Sight-reading is a nice skill to have IMO...

Piano Classes [04-Mar-2012 & 05-Mar-2012]

Did theory exercises for Grade 3 because my brother and I will be sitting for ABRSM music theory exam next week on March 12th. 

Bought two songbook that focus on moving up grades (like pieces with level in between such and such grade). I already have g1-g2 & g2-g3 at home, the ones I bought were g3-g4 & g4-g5 :P... Tried playing them already. Very nice. My playing progress was much slower when I play the g4-g5 pieces ... so I guess I'm really right on my supposed grade, huh.

I wonder if I'm experiencing this music learning the way I would be if I learn earlier (or similar like others who started early)... For now, the way I'm seeing it, I'm learning not because I'm that passionate about music. It's more like I'm appreciative of the opportunity I get to learn something I forgo in the past... it's like the fun just have barely started (lol).. Of course it's fun now... but as I just rewatched Nodame Cantabile, I realised there are so many more that I could learn regarding music.. & many pieces I want to play... well.. not that I'm aiming to go to a music college or something.. it's really a personal thing. I was thinking that I want to be someone who could play one of Beethoven's sonatas (for example) without having to graduate from a music college in the future. Very personal thing, right.. 

Piano Class [25-Feb-2012]

Last week, my class was postponed to Sunday... Great day. I think I played better than Saturday's classes. I really miss going to class every Sunday...

Today played pieces only. Wasn't any better than last week's.. started on second piece though. My biggest problem with this second piece is how to express it... maybe.. partly  I chose this so that I could learn how to control the dynamics of anything I play on the piano :P

My music school is moving to a new place so our classes would be held at their other venue starting next month (while they still have to do renovation at the new place)... The other venue seems to be a place for those taking Rock school kind of lessons...? Dunno what that meant really hehe... but I've never been there so I'm kind of excited to go there next month.

Ohno has a new dorama next season. "Kagi no Kakatta Heya". SO, SO HAPPY.  So happy that I ordered the novel (:P) before it was confirmed by newspaper reports (originally people found out from a magazine scan yet to be published...) along with Arashi's latest album songbook...

Can't wait for my order to arrive!!!

Piano Class [04-Feb-2012]

The music school's classrooms (studios?) are REALLY fully booked on Saturdays! 

Last Saturday, my class (actually since it changed to Saturdays, I have music lessons together with my brother :P) was conducted in a room that is usually used for [mock] exam practice use. Very large room... Six times larger than the room we usually use. There were two upright pianos. Miss C chose the one that sounded like harpsichord.. I said it sounded that way because when I play my first song, it sounded just like the original harpsichord version I found on Youtube. I like the sound actually.. but I didn't play very well that day. Lack of sleep (had only 1-2 hours of sleep) made me so out of focus all day...

ARGGRGHH. I was also so irritated that I couldn't control the dynamics of the piece... was it because it's a piano I don't usually use? .. lack of focus..? URGH. 

Actually my weekend wasn't really great.. super annoyed with everything.. can't describe what kind of feelings I had...

Piano Class [28-Jan-2012]

It felt great to attend class when you had had practice the week before... :D

I still played like a mess though... dunno why it always have to happen when Miss C is there :P

Miss C started on scales after the first piece was played. Panicked. I totally panicked hearing unfamiliar major scales... lol. When I actually tried all of them (only the major ones for now), I realised... "HEY. I kind of know this...," I felt like a fool! I've played pieces/songs with these key signatures before! Playing those songs - even though not perfect - REALLY HELPED A LOT! Though it was just recently (few months ago I think) that I could accept songs with 4-6 flats (Arashi's "Monster" is one of them & I LOVE this song)... I'm quite surprised how easy I get comfortable with those scary scales. XD

Now I'm back to worrying about my pieces. My problem is still the dynamics ... my second piece looks easy but is quite difficult on the expressing part (had to work more on the controlling the pedal - too noisy for now)... I've tried playing my third piece already, a jazz piece.. chosen through elimination method :P ....C1 was lengthy, need to play fast & need to change pages (yeah I think of petty things like this lol).. C3 was lengthy too & I'm not really in the mood to play marches :P.

My chosen pieces are A1, B1 & C2.

I've found someone who had played them on youtube so you can listen to how they sound like...

A1

B1

C2

Piano class [11-Dec-2011]

Didn't play the piano in piano class yesterday... music theory only hehe.. not that I'm complaining (didn't practised much again last week XD)

I've started reading the pink ABRSM music theory book I bought a couple years ago.. it was really enriching, really. The way it was written was unlike the usual rigid/strict kind of textbook, it was really easy to understand! I think I've become more appreciative towards music.. it suddenly makes sense to me now. XD 

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This part was cross-posted from my LJ post :D

I started trying to transcribe "Meikyuu Love Song" on the piano last Saturday... :P

This is the first time I really made to the end... well, only the melody part though for now..  XD


Just got curious of how people learnt to create the piano version of popular songs just by listening...& boy, my ears got a really good listening practice that day. And I practised singing too lol ... 'cos you cannot not sing along with the song.. that was good practice too for the "echo" part of ABRSM exam.


What a productive Saturday I had last week. <3

Piano Class [25-Sept-2011]

Today was bad as usual. I don't like to stay bad like this...  *sigh* I just started seeing the beauty of "practice" so I can't expect to have noticeable changes very fast.

It was fun listening to other people play. I could hear and feel what is pleasant & what is lacking... but when I play it myself, it always sound awful. Am I bored with the exam pieces already? Also, maybe it was nervousness, when my teacher is there, I would play more worse then usual... 

AHH. Let it be.

Just keep on practising! JUST KEEP ON PRACTISING!

I Want to Complain

Last Sunday’s lesson was so-so. Man, my fingering problems resurfaced! Which finger do you use to play that note? Which finger to change to before playing the next note? Bah!

Next Sunday – no piano lesson… which is quite fortunate for me. Argh.. I have two super-hard midterm exams next week! I should take that extra time to study! BUT BOTH ARE SOMETHING I HAVE YET ABLE TO COMPREHEND SINCE THE START OF SEMESTER 4~~~

Those hard-to-understand lecture notes are killing me softly with those symbols!

Piano Class [3-Oct-2010]

Saiaku da.

Kept playing the "Pump and Circumstance" song. Didn't practise much. & couldn't get it right at all. 

Grrrhrh.

Piano class [26-Sept-2010]

No more Clementi Sonatine op. 36. Haha. 

Oh, well. I'll continue practising the songbook at home anyway. Such fun! I hope one day I'll memorise the whole opus number. I actually found Sonatine op. 37 too (haven't look for op. 38), looks a bit more complicated.. I like the 2nd movement!

Ms C lend me  her marches collection book for me to make another copy. She asked me to pick out a song - & I was happy to pick out Mozart's "Turkish March".. reminds me of Nodame a lot. It's only the alla turca part though. Oh. And it's simplified too. Then she picked out another march song - Elgar's "Pump and Circumstance" no. 1 (not sure which part of it). Heard of it being played by a senpai (one grade older than me) at the next room. Heh. I didn't expect to get the song for homework this week!

If feels like it's "the test" again. This time I must prove to myself that I'm capable of vast improvement.

Fighting! 

Dispirited.

I tried on a very difficult piece (I think it's a greek song) yesterday. Chords-like, 3-in-1-press notes... My head spun like crazy. How could someone play this so expertly? How could I tackle this? It's the first time I heard of that song, so the melody was still unfamiliar to me thus making it harder to play. 

To be honest, I was a bit afraid that this is one of "those" pieces. You know, the pieces piano teachers ask you to play to see if you have improved or not. I think I had several of those pieces before, & unfortunately I didn't pass all of them. 

Haven't practice much since yesterday... I feel lost.

Fast, but not like that.

Piano class! Yay, good start since my G2 exam finished! 

Started playing Clementi Op.36 songbook in class... but my teacher chose no.4 (which I'm kind of scared of 'cos it looks hard). Oh, well. I guess it's time to push myself to "perfection". I meant "perfect" from the practising kind of sense. You know what, since I picked up piano again two years ago, I have yet play a piece without blemishes (excluding my ever not-consistent exam pieces) here & there. 

The thing with difficult pieces is they really, really, really look DIFFICULT... BUT when you tackle it with patience & diligence, they don't look difficult anymore. All of a sudden, they will look achievable and friendly. After you're convinced that you CAN play the piece, you have to take time to practise. Like they always say, "Practice makes perfect!". 

My biggest problem is the practice part. But that's about to change. 

I hope.