CoSy tuNes

have been going thru music instructional videos, listening to some piano music on this website

http://www.baypianist.com/

by a talented pianist Alan, tt plays in US (i think) for functions, cocktail events! his piano styles has a lot of classy feel in it... there is a lot of rhythmic 'space' in between his melodies... thus allowing ppl to easily feel relaxed listening to it..

piano music was an indispensable component which aid me during exams prep in apr... haha wondered if it made me too relax~

looking music instructional videos?

guitar
http://www.fenderplayersclub.com/woodshed/lessons_by_style/lessons_by_style.htm
some very clear explanations about theory... if u cant be bothered with theory like me... can jump into listening to the audio examples and videos...
although they only give a glimpse of their respective books... i think the introduction can really set ppl in the right directions.... otherwise, u may end up like me playing for many years on guitar but still havent grasp the fundamentals well.... forming bad habits...

piano
http://video.google.com
http://www.youtube.com
i tried searching ard for "piano lessons", piano techniques".... usually contains only v basic stuff and not in the right chinese pop music styles tt i wan to learn....

oh another website is
http://www.playpianotoday.com
quite inspirational and makes everything seem like easy.... concept of playing piano by mastering rhythmic patterns is unprecedented!

after looking ard.... i guess the take away for today is....

its all about practicing in the right direction!

Posted by Xin Wei at 2:08 pm | Permalink | Comments

yesterday, ronald and wee chuan came over to my place to practise for a teachers' day perf on this friday... they came to ask me for comments regarding the arrangement of the whole song... think i am not really used 'telling ppl wat to do'... most of the time, i think there are so many ways to express a song... think it is subjective wat makes a good perf... in my opinion, there is no perfect performance objectively... it can only be perfect subjectively....

after the "qi dian" perf, bazang said this... "everyone's satisfaction is counted by the effort they put in"... i tot this was very true.... personally i felt very attached to the whole event and have a great sense of relief tt everything went well.... i was on a 'high'... but guess not everyone feels the same...

in the broad sense... the more u give.. the more u shall recieve... in more ways than one...

i am impressed with ronald's passion for music... in a matter of weeks, his keyboard skills improved by leaps (in fact he bought a keyboard 2 days after our perf).... he always ask me abt how to improve his vocals... his desire to excel really touches me at times... i regret tt i cldnt offer him as much as he desired to learn... this also means tt there is a lot for me to learn too... singing and teaching singing is really 2 different things... i cldnt identify what exercises are necessary to correct his problems.....

weechuan is pretty gifted on the guitar... he only started learning guitar for about 2 years plus and he is already quite adept to fingerstyles playing.... i.e familiar with the scales.... for instance, after so long, i cld only play 'one set' of scales for C on the guitar, weechuan cld play 5 sets... have to buck up man... also, i think he is more steady in strumming than me....

i think learning an instrument is really about continuous practice. there is no substitute for that. and next, you have to truly believe in yourself that you possess the potential....

ur voice is ur natural musical instrument!

Posted by Xin Wei at 5:40 pm | Permalink | Comments

Haven't blogged for some time already... have been thinking abt many things....

Felt tt my prev blog got some overlapping pts abt being an instrumentalist.... dun really know how to summarise it though... it is just a feeling... somehow... an inspiration abt being a better performer... one tt is ready to entertain/sing a song well... anytime... on demand.... and enjoy it.... and of cse, sing well....

Quite a couple of things i wld like to do, still contemplating...
1. Sell off ibook, upgrade to mac book
2. Diving trip
3. Music arrangement/keyboard lessons
4. Singing lessons

money money money... haha... i ll really become penniless if i do all of it... must be more selective man... meanwhile, think i am spending a lot on karaoke, movies, meals too... maybe can cut down on tt.... must balance up somewhere....

also hope to bring my family out for a meal or org a chalet... "family comes first"

feels gd to be doing stuff tt are more "operational" in the dept for the past 2 days... been packing the trip folder for stockholm world water week... also learnt more from chris abt what our dept does... seems like IBR is really a gd way to know more abt PUB... wonder if it is possible to come back after i finished my studies... been having fun with my colleagues!

been searching for masters course also... looking into the area of finance, finanicial mathematics, environmental economics, environment planning.... finance/maths cuz i think that is where my strength lies.... environmental stuff cuz i think it is rather interesting and can help in future work... really hope to go to US to do 1 year of masters... wah... tt means 2 more years to b away frm spore...

ultimately, hope i can always stay in touch with music...

nid new goals, new directions!

Posted by Xin Wei at 4:28 pm | Permalink | Comments

wEnt to ai Qin Hai ming ge can ting yesterday... we were a quite a big grp.. joining like 4 tables and occupying a gd view of the stage... at first, i was kind of disappointed cuz there were only 2 performers for the nite... but i was overwhelmed eventually... and amazed by the talent tt laid in front of my eyes...

both performers are singers cum guitarists, malaysians, both having fully resonating voice... at first i din gave them much attention.. but as they sang more and more of the higher difficulty songs... and looking at how well they pulled it off... i really got to give it to them...

some memorable songs
- heaven knows
- ru guo ni hai ai wo
- xiao zheng gu niang
- jiang nan
- shen bian
- shao nian
- shan hu hai
- fa ru xue
- kiss goodbye
- some hokkien songs (mayday)
- some cantonese songs ( leo ku)
- many many....

knowing how to play an instrument is not enough.... playing accompaniment at right tempo, right emphasis is also not good enough....

there is some extra ingredients... one which separates someone who is just a plain instrumentalist from a performer that shines...

1. desire
2. confidence
3. ability
4. attitude

as i took the stage to sing my own song (when the performance is over), i realised there was anxiety not excitement.... my confidence started to break down... somehow... i feel rather shy.... and this I think is lethal to any performer..... feeling restricted, uncomfortable unnecessarily will only make the audience awkward as a result...

as i observe my own voice.... it is seriously lacking in creating that wonderfully resonating, open throat sound.... it lacks spaciousness... much of the effort may be going to the wrong direction...

i hope to be more fluid in my transitions, more spacious in my high notes, more feeling in my expression, more accurate in hitting my notes, more rounded when finishing every line...

keep working! aspire to be a 'performer'!

Posted by Xin Wei at 12:50 pm | Permalink | Comments

Yo yo yo! after 3 weeks of hard work... burning sundays at joo chiat cc... sometimes weekdays also... lots of admin, decisions, practice, tech prob... finally.. leading to roaring success of qi dian concert!!

it is really not an easy task to put together a performance.... it requires everyone's coorperation and effort... i am amazed at how everyone can all be centred towards an ultimate aim... then each find his own ways to solve problems in their respective responsibilites... humans are such wonderful creatures!

before this, i have neva led vocal warm ups.... nor attempt try to arrange vocal accompaniment with 'sha la la'... have not performed playing guitar..... have not sung a wholely self-written compo in public....... so glad to have gathered a lot of new experiences with in preping for this concert..... also been v busy.... but all worth it!

haha.... first time i try to get 'sponsorship' frm a music shop and sort of succeeded... (cuz they were v nice).... and even negotiated for discounts for our audience.... ;)

so happy.. to be part of such a 'wen xin' campus concert...!

as for the muchuan audition, eh.. i really screwed up quite a bit... cuz i attempted to play keyboard and sing at the same time.... in the end, i became quite nervous and made a few mistakes... plus my head didnt keep still in front of the mic... so.. flop...

not pinning much hopes on the audition le... meanwhile just hope to keep improving... and write nicer songs...

objective: hope to do something part-time related to music in future.....

music maketh me... ;)

Posted by Xin Wei at 12:48 am | Permalink | Comments