G6 results & New Home

I thought of combining this blog with my main blog (the same issues came up when I was about to create this small corner for my piano playing adventures :D)... & decided (again) to keep them separated. But, I moved to the same blogging platform.

From Vox (closed down) to Typepad (I keep forgetting my password!) & finally back to the first place where I started keeping a blog in 2005! Hopefully I'll update this more often because now it's more convenient :)

.
.
.
I passed my ABRSM practical exam for G6 (that I took last year) with merit! It was only a few weeks after the exam that I got a call from Sabah's Ministry of Education to go retrieve my result. All the results for Sabahan candidates are there, enclosed in big fancy envelopes with individual & music school names. Funny thing though. There was only a piece of paper inside my envelope so if you put the envelope out under the sun, I can see what's inside! Basically it became semi-transparent... So haha... it felt a bit anti-climax to me but I saw what my result was before I even pull out the paper XD

Honestly, the first thing I did was let out a relieved sigh. I'm all "I passed!"... BUT I confess, the few marks I lost for my [silly] mistakes cost me a distinction. I got 125/150 - passed with merit - and just 5 marks short for a distinction. Well... it actually matched the efforts I put into practising though.. maybe even more than I deserve, I think.

Now I'm practicing Grade 7 pieces & I got into a bit shock in the beginning. More like in a form of hitting a wall? It's like what I do all this time doesn't matter anymore. Like I don't know how to play the piano anymore. I'm slowly trying to get over this feeling with the help of my piano teacher (although I didn't tell her about this).. it has something to do more with my confidence in playing.

She also warned me that I really, really need to practise more now that I'm in the higher grade. I understand this very much after seeing the level of G7 pieces. Logically, this should help me build my confidence... but I don't know why I struggle so much in dedicating practice time at home (considering how I spend most of my time at home). I also play non-exam pieces/songs & sometimes I play one to gauge how I'm "doing" that day.

One interesting thing I realised few weeks ago was I did some hours of sight-reading practice (more like randomly picking things to play & don't care if I got it right or not at the first play) & played my exam pieces quite well during the next class. I didn't even practise much my exam pieces! So I'm going to try doing more of that now~

ABRSM Music Theory Exam G5: 90 and a D

I haven't been blogging lately... it's almost like I'm running away from something although... *sigh*

Anyway. Here are some updates regarding my musical journey:

• Long gotten the results for Guild's Music Theory Exam G4.. yup, I passed! Although I never thought that I got the highest marks (there was an award event last year if I remember correctly *but I didn't attend*?) in Malaysia!!! I think it's because most students don't take G4 - just straight away skip to G5, I think.. 
• I'm already familiarised with my ABRSM G6 pieces but my technical parts (the aural that is) still need more practice...
• I took the exam for ABRSM music theory G5 last August 16th... I was surprised by the lack of people! I mean... the parking lots were basically empty compared to the first session... Maybe because it's held on a Saturday.. I might want to get the same session next time. Oh and for the practical exam ones *hoping hard not to run into people from my music school lol*
• OH.. and I just realised the result came out earlier... (maybe the 3 months thing was the time for its certificiate to come?).. I checked my e-mail and it was only 2 days later that I got around to check my results online! Anyway, I passed my G5 music theory exam! Barely got a Distinction (90!!)!! Haha... I was quite nervous how I'll do (although I do think I'll pass) because I finished answering everything exactly according to the time! The last section was the composing part which I didn't have time to recheck... *sigh*
• My teacher gave me some of her old books which included some old ABRSM books - pretty cool stuff! 

Clean forgotten...

...that I passed.

I was going through the ABRSM tag on my tumblr dashboard & saw someone posted their G5 certificiate.. A bit jealous initially then I remembered I also will have the same thing. Haha...

Currently I've started playing G6 pieces... & just recently started studying music theory for G5.. I realised the importance of music theory to my study in piano playing.. For example, it helped a lot for me in remembering what major/minor is that by seeing the key signatures alone... Skimmed through the workbook today, I noticed it sometimes refer to the Eric Taylor book Part II.. Fortunately, I'd bought the book weeks ago...

Australian Guild Music Theory Exam (Grade 4)

Sat for the exam last Sunday (Nov 11th)... Usually the venue is at UMS' School of Art Studies. This time, it's held at SIA, KK Times Sq. The last time I sat for a Guild exam was 2008.. The exam-takers were more less than the time I took Grade 1 paper.. I kind of saw the list when registering, seems like most of them were grade 1-3.. only me taking grade 4.. Our sitting arrangements were made according to our grades.. I was at the back.. next to me was taking grade 6 (no grade 5 though)..

I finished last haha.. the questions were more tricky than the trial/past papers I did.. when the last person before me left, I was still checking for mistakes.. Fortunately I checked, I saw many careless mistakes!!

I just hope I'll pass (^.^)

First Piece

I made a surprising breakthrough (for me it was!) in piano...

Somehow... I've memorised the first piece I'm going to play for the exam!

KYAAAAAAAAAAA~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm never really good at memorising things so this was quite an accomplishment for me!

Actually, I got one third of the second piece memorized too... I just need to spend more time on the piano!

Perhaps it was "growth"...

I almost can't believe it when I realised there are less than two months left before my piano practical exam. Still so bad at scales and the other things you played after that. There was a period where that's the only thing I play during extra lessons... it was kind of a robotic experience. *sigh*

And... the aural parts. GAH. I still can't get the part that is so new to me - singing just by sight-reading the notes.

What frustrates me most is it really, really, really felt like I'm almost there but I couldn't reach it. It sounds like I just need to practise more really... but with current situation in university, it was hard to do them. I think I've reached a point in my life where I see how highly connected everything related to me are to each other, I became overwhelmed that I'm unsure how to proceed... and I kept being reminded how I hate what I'm studying now in university...

Recently, I tried to proceed carefully... by trying to address smaller problems first before the big ones... for piano, it was a pleasant surprise to me when I finally can play a song (still with mistakes though) that sounded like random notes played together months ago. Like I finally can hear the voice or something...

Reading some discussions on piano forums really encourages me... I might be bad at some areas (for now) but that doesn't mean there's no progress happening!!!

It gives me a glimpse of hope for my musical future. There are so many pieces and songs, so many more musical journeys yet to be explored, ... it is limitless... and it makes me happy to think that I have this chance in the future.



Persevere.

ABRSM music theory exam [12-March-2012]

Sat for the theory exam in KK High School yesterday with my brother. My brother took the grade 1 exam while I took grade 3. There were some questions that I got a bit confused at... but I'll pass. I believe I will pass this exam :D

I realized that having a mock exam day every week for a month before the real exam is really helpful. Like helps with not being nervous etc.. I could apply the same for the subjects I'm taking this semester.

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

It's decided. I'm taking Grade 5's piano exam (ABRSM) this year.

I shouldn't have been surprised... actually. 

I want this to happen.

I have wanted this to happen.

Since I skipped taking exams last year, I was like floating between grade 3 and 4. The time gap was big. It gave me enough time to study G3...& then G4's pieces. Which was what I was supposed to be taking this year. BUT. One day, I forgot to bring my G4 book to class. So my teacher lent me G5 book from the school shop (lol)... & I fell in love with the first song (A1). I got bored with the G4 pieces I had chosen to play. It was so apparent that I didn't feel like improving my playing anymore XD... When my piano teacher asked me to pick between these two numbers last Saturday, I was thinking that I'm not up to G5 level yet... but then another thought came.. I rather die than play the G4 pieces for exam. Okay, I'm exaggerating... but this made me agree to go along with my teacher's suggestion. 

So, I need to be serious this year. There are a lot to catch up... such as scales. I must know all my scales. 12 major scales and 12 minor scales. *cringes* ... I haven't even pick my B and C pieces yet...

The exam is at least six months away....

Honestly, I'm feeling a bit optimistic about this. If I fail, at least I will have the experience of taking a G5 practical exam... & the next attempt should be easier (& more relaxing).

Progress on 5x10

I mentioned about playing 5x10 perfectly before the end of September in my main blog. It's far from perfect but I'm still happy that I could now play the two difficult bars in the beginning part. They looked easy really but I kept pressing the wrong keys. :P

For this year... supposedly my final year in university... I should be preparing my Final Year Project so that was why I told my teacher that I don't want any piano exams this year. But there were almost-four-month long semester holidays this year so I SHOULD'VE been able to do it. And then came the decision to extend my studies in university for another year, which means I can only start my FYP next year...

Now.. I DON'T CARE ANYMORE. I'll take those exams whenever I want to! 

Moving on. Since few weeks ago, my piano teacher had made me study the G5 pieces more seriously. Then last Sunday, she told me what I wanted initially but feared for it to happen now : Skipping G3 and G4, and take G5 exams. WHOA. In these few past months I felt my dynamics & mood-making (or whatever you call it) to bring the exam pieces to life were so lacking, I kind of doubt whether I CAN play the piano or not. It's like "I'm lost". G5 demands a lot of that...which I don't have now... Anyway. She was just suggesting. I have to study both grades' pieces before she decide whether G5 is a go or not. 

To me, taking piano exams is like acquiring the official points of the level of my playing skills. It may not reflect my REAL ability but it gives some kind of proof which I think is important to motivate someone who re-started playing piano again at an older age. I actually learnt a lot more from pieces that weren't assigned to me in class eg. I got used to 3-6 sharps/flats songs of my favourite artistes (like Arashi & Demi Lovato)... this self-study lessons complements my piano lessons... If you make efforts to attend music lessons every week, why not take the exams too, right? It was actually a childhood dream of mine really..to play piano like those who played since they were children..and have exams like such. Though... I think all the young students in my music school are taking ABRSM exams. It seems like most of them are taking GUILD ones [or not taking at all??? Will do so when they reach G5 level?]

Hmm.

Scales again *happy*

I never thought I could be this happy seeing scales again~ It has been months & I've started hating the song I have yet can play nicely XD

Ahh.. but G4's scales & arpeggios look difficult T_T

Miss C want me to start from the arpeggios today.. the fingering part baffled me initially but when my piano teacher explained it's practically the same, it suddenly looks easy. LOL

Oh. I've seen Arashi's "Training Camp"!!! Love the sight of Arashi + piano. And WHOA. I was impressed by Sho's piano rendition of "Hatenai Sora". For a moment I forgot that this is the Sho who always fail athletically (on their variety shows anyways, I don't know how athletic he is in real life XD) , he looked so kakkoi ~ I love his arrangement! 

That scene made me feel ashamed though, as an Arashi fan... sigh. I want to play like that!!!

Bonus. Satoshi attempted to play Nino's solo "Niji" on piano XD. I bet he always play that whenever he sees a piano or keyboard nearby 'cos it did sound like he practised/played that melody a lot! hehehe... He can't play, I know that, but somewhat..I think he will do well if he makes efforts to learn XD (I was actually amazed by that creepy tune he played cheekily in the end XD)

Hopefully someone will offer him a role that requires him to play the piano *starts daydreaming*... 

Niji

I suddenly have a strong urge to play Ninomiya Kazunari’s “Niji” on the piano. I’m not good at it (yet) because I still can’t get the hang of the semiquaver count… Grrh.

Today is crappy like any other Tuesdays since I started having VR tutorial classes at 4pm (who the heck again chose that time??). Added with recent courier delivery problems – crap! – my new OHNO-BLUE mp3 player & Lotus singles, 大丈夫か？

Read some disturbing Arashi news today which just made my day go even sour. Arashi fans, never ever forget the dark side of entertainment industry.

And since I haven’t updated this like for months (笑), I’ve finally moved on to Grade 4 ABRSM pieces!!! Funnily, those pieces didn’t give me much impression when I attempt to play it at home… then, when piano teacher decided to try G4 pieces, I fell in love~ It’s fun again~

Oh… Ms C asked if I have the book, and I mindlessly said yes (originally planned to say no), which led to when did I buy it… I answered earlier this year even though it was last year’s August…

Almost a 2-month absence...

…from this blog. Actually from all blogs. Except Tumblr and Twitter, of course. Though.. I don’t tweet much these few days.

BTW. My Twitter Bio now reads like this :

Positive pessimist. Curious. Sophomore. Struggling with Math problems and Programming assignments in university. Currently obsessed with Ohno Satoshi & Arashi.

Anyway. Instead of me asking my piano teacher to skip to Grade 4, she had asked me first few weeks ago. I was elated of course but I didn’t show my enthusiasm… she wanted me to think first then tell her next week (but she totally forgotten about it). Then.. in yesterday’s piano class, she mentioned about it again. I suspect she has similar thoughts with me though… I think I should really do well for the G3 pieces first before moving on to G4’s pieces… And she gave me another hard (4 sharps with 4-in-1 notes *if you get what I mean*) piano piece to practise my sight-reading skills. I am not good at sight-reading but in the last exam (G2), when I practise sight-reading, I kind of have the feeling that I can do that well. Kind of.

Also, few weeks ago… I had some kind of vacation from piano practice (busy watching Arashi in my room). Sounds bad, you think? No, not really. The funny thing that happened was like me eating Kit Kat chocolate bar. I LOVE Kit Kat but I seldom eat them because… I want to preserve that feeling of longing to eat one. I think the same thing happened to the practice. When I play, I realised how I miss the sound of the piano… as if they are a new sound to me, I got excited and was a bit more confident to play. The result was odd but good.

I used to always play Demi Lovato and Jonas Brothers songs on the piano. Their songs are usually in keys with mostly sharps… Now that I’ve found a new love in Arashi’s leader, Ohno Satoshi… it’s pretty much Arashi songs only these days. Haha… Their songs are more varied though, keys with flats & sharps here and there…

I’m still scared of flats. And staccatos.

ABRSM G2 result.

I took the ABRSM's piano practical exam for Grade 2 in June. Got the result last Sunday.

Result!

2 more marks, I could get distinction... My piano teacher was a bit pissed off by that fact (the problem was with the scales part). XD

For me, I'm glad... (Totemo yokatta desu!!!)