The practice on 24th April went okay. We chose this Chinese song, with two vocalists, one clarinet and one keyboard for tomorrow's performance. I still remember, I used this little keyboard, plugged in to an amplifier. I'll admit it wasn't the best of equipment, but I've always been in much worse situations. Well, ya gotta make do with what ya got. So, the practice went smoothly, and after the practice, we had a little discussion where everyone voiced out their views, and suggested areas of improvement.
Well, today we had a "rehearsal" on the actual venue, the Moberly Amphitheater. Well, it's the second time I'm performing on that place, but I clearly don't remember the setting up of equipment taking two whole hours. It's just two keyboards, three mikes at most, one drum set which had two overhead mikes, two guitars, one bass and their amps. 2 hours; 120 minutes; 7200 seconds. Maybe it's the weather, or I suppose I was in a hurry for Campus Crusade's Vision Tea meeting, where me and David were in the worship team. That went smoothly, I might add. But anyway, for some reason that I also don't know, my group got to go inside Moberly Jamming studio and we polished on the vocalist's harmonics.
I think most people notice that when I play that light hearted Chinese song 发现爱, I tend to bounce my hands, so-called just bang random notes on the keyboard. While, most of the time. Yes, I understand that it's a bad habit, and that I shouldn't do it, but I can't help but just doing so like some beginner keyboardist, since the vocalists tend to give quite an eye treat. One male and one female, for the curious. I admit I'm wrong for taking this performance too light heartedly. But then, one of my seniors, a graduate was listening to us play. I had no problem with that, but after rehearsing once, and he definitely noted me play, because he left his seat and stood next to me, he made a few intriguing remarks.
"Are you self taught?"
"Nope."
"Are you classically trained?"
"Yup."
"I suppose you were classically trained by a teacher quite some time ago. Anyway, you tend to hold the sustain pedal until the end of the bar, which is alright, but if you play a wrong note, there would be dissonance."
"Okay."
"You should also look at the others when you are playing."
"No problem."
"Anyway, your technique is wrong."
"Hmm... Okay."
Fact is, I'm classically trained, and I still take piano lessons from my piano teacher and get her valuable guidance, mentoring and advice once per week in her house in Siglap, near Kembangan every Monday. Since playing the main accompaniment in the Angklung Ensemble during Primary 4, I've been trained to look at conductors or other members, even horizontally by using my peripheral vision. The reason I was able to hold down the pedal even during the most of the changing of chords was because there was no wrong note. Not that I could hear any, and many of those those chords fit together to form 9th or suspended chords, like C and G makes C9, used abundant in these "in the air" and romantic melodies, so no need to change the pedal prematurely. Yes, my technique for that song is wrong. Even 6 year olds can tell that playing with only my index finger (in some parts) and waving my arms with fingers straight as though I'm splashing water on a strangely dry pool that happened to have black and white keys, and very frequently releasing the keys instantly and using the sustain pedal to hold the notes are not quite professional ways of playing a keyboard.
I have performed enough times, be it in churches (children's/youth's/senior citizen's/main service/overseas etc), school events, posh concert halls full of paying adult audiences, music school's anniversary celebrations, simple gatherings in quite a few people's houses with derelict pianos where I had to play G, C and F# to get a chord sounding like C chord 2nd inversion. I've also accompanied choirs, played in bands, got last minute event fillers in between stage items, got dragged into pianos during dinner time and given song requests, title after title. If the person's unlucky, he's gotta hum or sing me the tune before I know what song he or she wants. Well, I can say that there are an abundance of very good musicians not just globally, but even in Singapore. And all that playing of the piano for more than 12 years has at least taught me not to declare out loud and after the performance the deficiencies of a musician not in your group or under your teaching, much less if it's only the first time.
Okay, maybe I'm going a little hard on this poor guy; I assume he only meant well. Ya, but we humans tend to remember only the bad stuff others say. But today was a great wake up call, reminding me of the need to be humble, and to stay focused in whatever I do. Of course, I'm the one to blame for my own inner strife. This event was not too bad, but many times in reality, the truth hurts, but then, the truth alone can't do much. What would really help would be the truth accompanied by love.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
"Oh ya, and one last thing."
"Aha?"
"I like the way you just anyhow hit the keyboard, but you still sound alright and in sync with the others!"
=)
No comments:
Post a Comment