#i got really good at sightreading from that and REALLY BAD at technique

[strxnged]

Piano supremacy imho haha. So my grandmother was my teacher, I'd been taking lessons ever since I could remember - going from a 16 key toy piano to finally acquiring my own baby grande. I also played in my high school band - bass and bells too. I played all the way up until my grandma retired, when I was 15 😭 so it's been quite a while 💀 Mainly I quit bc her recitals frustrated me but one day I'd love to return just for fun to do covers of all the awesome music I've discovered since!

wowie that's a lot of years! yeah, i get the recitals bit. it can be fun to play for people but when the purpose of learning piano isn't at the core to enjoy/explore practicing and cultivating the skill, and is rather to "perform well," it can get exhausting. i definitely don't plan to do much "formal" playing for awhile after my exams, because ive experienced the joy being sucked out of it in that way before

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Morose Mononokean II 4 - 7 | Mob Psycho 100 II 4 - 7 | My Roommate is a Cat 4 - 6 | Double Decker! EX 1 | Egao no Daika 5 - 7 | Shield Hero 4 - 6 | Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka 4 - 6 | Royal Tutor movie

Morose Mononokean II 4

Aw, another little fuzzball to steal away my heart? I’m being spoiled, aren’t I?

For some reason, this episode was meant to be really emotional, but I felt pretty restless while watching it. Probably because I was thinking about playing Merc Storia all that time.

Mob Psycho 100 II 4

Didn’t expect Shinra to be back after his previous appearance…

Notably, you’d expect Matsuo’s name to have the kanji for “pine tree” in it, but it doesn’t - it has the kanji for “demon” and then one more.

I loved it when FLCL and SGRS went into manga mode, but for some reason, the transition into manga mode didn’t land as well here…hmm.

“I’ll go inside her…With an out-of-body experience.” - That sounds majorly wronggggggggggg, Mob, y’know? Even with context.

I find it interesting Mob perceives himself to be naked…as in, unguarded. He’s fine as he is and doesn’t need to change…in some ways, anyway. He could probably do with a few more emotions, but you get what I mean.

Wha-wha-wha-whoaaaaaaaaa. You mean, Mogami just got rid of Mob’s powers??? That is a nasty cliffhanger!

My Roommate is a Cat 4

Just seeing Hiroto near Kawase’s armpit…so unfazed…it’s kinda funny, but only mildly.

Tuxedo cat…ergh. The differences between American and British English never ceases to trip me up…I mean, the term makes sense…it’s just the differences between the types of English I’m annoyed at.

If you observe the OP, you’ll see Haru has that collar…I’m not sure if that’s meant to be a spoiler then…

Haru basically has the mindset of Kaguya and Shirogane, which makes this hilarious (and yet it’s still justified due to being a believable mindset for a stray!).

S-Smug dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get out of the way of Haru-chan!

Shield Hero 4

“Draw your swords!” – Wasn’t there a rule saying Naofumi can’t use a sword anyway? Plus, Motoyasu has a spear, not a sword…

Balloon? Now, that’s funny!

Using magic to intervene is the cowardly action, methinks, Myne.

I find it interesting Naofumi sees Raphtalia as a little girl – it’s a perception of vulnerability, potentially weakness – when things are shown through his perspective.

Falling Through Starlight is beautiful, y’know that? Be-a-uuuuuuuuuuu-t-i-ful!

Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka 4

Interestingly, Francine kinda looks like Mami (Madoka Magica).

Wait, is this woman Miura? (Sorry, I’m just wondering why Abigail – the blonde evil magical girl – would choose to use yakiniku to threaten people…)

Oh dear…it’s that train question (save one or save many).

Neding authority before you can actually do anything legal…now that sounds like Double Decker.

“Chef”? I was mortified when it came to the rusalka scene…but I think we already know why Povar is a chef…

CQC? Close quarters combat? Ooh, I’ve never heard it abbreviated before.

Well, I like how Povar and Rusalka Man (can’t spell Russian to save my life) always keep their salaries in mind. Makes them easier to see as evil.

Egao no Daika 5

Oh, this series has two moons? Kind of like Double Decker’s two suns, yeah?

I just realised Lily’s the only one with a skirt on her suit…

Morose Mononokean II 5

I don’t think I’ve seen a Fuzzy-centric episode ever since the first time we met the furball…

That hand on neck thing is apparently a CIA technique if I interpreted it right…just, it’s applied to a purple/white lion, so it’s hard to tell whether it’s the real thing…

Fluffy tadpole is best tadpole. All fluffy things are cute to me, even the lethal ones…I guess.

Seriously, if someone doesn’t call the animation of the Executive sakuga, I don’t know sakuga! That crow is some fancy animation!

Hanae’s mother is scarier than most youkai, given she can give me a nasty jump scare!

Mob Psycho II 5

This episode’s called Discord…which maks me think of the chat program of the same name…weird, huh?

Notably, it’s Dimple’s voice coming from Mob’s mouth…hmm.

That episode was real cool…it’s too bad by turning off the volume at the wrong time, I missed the Sajou no Hana song…

My Roommate is a Cat 5

Roku, Nana, Hachi…haha.

I noticed Haru has smaller eyes than Hachi…aside from the collar of course.

Aw…reunion too cute. I honestly think that this show has a fairly effective use of “filling in the gaps”, as it were, and thus making good use of cuts.

Double Decker! EX 1

Yep, we’re back with Double Decker!!! I’m glad to see it back, really.

Wait…ohhhhhhhhh. So Double Decker! doesn’t just refer to the bus in this show or the system. It means “2 Detectives” in Japanese (in a codeswitching sort of way). It was wordplay all along! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! I get it now!

This Deana assassin stuff must be a lie…

(after the commercial break) C’mon, Kirill, buddy. You’re drunk, y’know that, right…? Right??? Update: Oh, not drunk, dreaming. My mistake.

Oh, I was just saying that My Roommate is a Cat dos a nice job “filling in gaps”. Didn’t realise Double Decker did it as well. Also, how the heck is Doug unpopular with women???

So…Kirill actually got hired based on his feminine looks? Geesh, that Travis…

The thing I missed about this show was not being able to play the ED after an episode, so I’m glad to have it back!

Spec Ops Asuka 5

Having Kurumi fix up Nozomi’s arm kind of erases the consequences…but that’s what Kurumi’s for, right?

Barber Scissors…? Is this what happens when you take Kill la Kill way too seriously?

Wowee. Din’t think Sacchuu was capable of dealing nasty punches as well.

There’s gotta be some sort of parallel between Abigail and the queen vs Asuka and Kurumi…

Post-credits segment. Keep watching.

Shield Hero 5

Headbutt to the nuts! Oof!

When it comes to races, the one tune that comes to mind is one from the Dog Island (track 22 from this YouTube playlist).

I swear there was CGI during the race…on Filo.

Please don’t make jokes about Naofumi liking lolis, people. This is not that type of show…

Mononokean 6

Is it just me, or has this epiode been relying on the use of blue speech bubbles for humour more than normal?

It’s Mononokean: Sports Anime edition!

For some reason, I find the name “trashboat” hilarious. It was probably just “ponkotsu” (piece of trash) in practice, but the variation in English is really something to behold…

Ashiya sleeps like an old man, LOL. It must be cosy in that bed…

Moja is just adorable in whatever scene it appears in! Even Moja being dragged down a stream is cute~!

Relaxing your shoulders, huh? That reminds me that that’s a destress technique I haven’t used in a while. My head’s been spinning while I was trying to watch this episode, so I should probably get back to trying to do that stuff…after this episode, of course.

Price of Smiles 6

You think Spec Ops Asuka looks bad? Look at Price of Smiles melt in this “Yuni! You should recover!” scene.

For some reason, this one dude (I forget his name) being a father surprises me. He looks like the type to be single…

The female version of the name “Noel” is Noelle…get that right, people!

Layla’s right when she says one of the main causes of war is the struggle for resources and wealth.

Mob Psycho II 6

I noticed instead of a Mac or something, the computer is a “One” computer.

The board says something a lot more complicated than Saitama’s routine…which means One likes exercise. Maybe…probably.

“Codomo” phone, LOL.

The last time I heard of tofu in anime that I remember…was Boueibu. Something about Ryuu killing a man with tofu.

Somehow it didn’t occur to me until the eyecatch was over but the block…was tofu!

How do you even get drunk when there’s no alcohol in the drink??? (LOL)

Oh! Shinra again!

…Also Jodo Kirin!

Shield Hero 6

Naofumi is giving 0 f**ks about the dressmaker’s love of Filo.

Why is Filo CGI…? It looks unnerving, to be honest with you.

My Roommate is a Cat 6

Eleventh grade…16? 17? Heck, Yugo looks 27, not 17!

Notably, “Comic Polaris” is the name of the magazine that publishes the manga of this. Hence “Novels Polaris”.

Heck, Subaru. In the internet age in particular, people write to affect others. I should know, as someone who did just that just a few years ago!

Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine movie

Yay, we’re back! Crunchyroll bringing over movies is definitely increasing my workload for these commentaries, so with all the new things I’ve added to my lists of priorities as of late, I wonder if I can keep up…

Hitting us with CGI in the first minute of the movie…oh man, how far does CGI go these days???

Honestly, in my brain Wagner (Classicaloid) = the twins (this movie) = the Beppus (Boueibu LOVE! LOVE!). They’re very similar in terms of personality…

In the same way, Bruno = Schubert from Classicaloid (but swap one’s Sensei for the other’s Senpai).

Licht = Motz.

It seems like someone liked ponytail!Licht enough to keep him here. So it really wasn’t just me, huh?

Seriously, what’s this “God of War” stuff anyway???

Man, vocal exercises? This takes me back to my piano-playing days…I was a sightreader and only had to do one of the two (out of sightreading and vocal stuff), but there was someone else who had to do both.

This piano is bugging me. Its white keys are black and its black keys are white!

Somehow, Heine’s small top hat suits him. It’s probably because he wears a small beret in that same position usually.

More CGI background characters…*sigh*

Hmm…soft power at its finest(?)

Seriously though, why did that evil Duke guy appear in this movie again??? He has zero use plotwise. Sure, he was important in the first season and if we ever get a second he’ll be important there, but here? Nada!

Have you noticed Heine is in all those dance positions a girl would normally be in??? Hmm! Interesting! But still…if there’s one thing I ever missed from the anime’s experience, it would be-oh, scratch that! This is my cue to watch the cheesy live-action dance ending! I missed it so much!

Egao no Daika 7

Seriously…who is Eins talking to??? Whose emperor???

They still haven’t revealed what this new guy’s name is, even after his introduction…well, technically he was introduced at the River Deese, but we still didn’t learn his name then. (Did we?)

Spec Ops Asuka 6

Is Mia just this show’s version of Kyouko (from Madoka Magica, but American of course)???

Oooooookay, that (with the kissing and stuff) is so not what foreigners are like, people…

Oh, goodness. Have I really been living with this stuff (girl x girl teasing, with Kurumi in particular being one of the more extreme examples I’ve seen) in my magical girl anime for years now? I mean, Suite PreCure is laced with the stuff…

If ordinary rigor mortis business is at work, then I’d say the heater is to speed up the rotting of the corpse…

LOL, there’s Halloween-class…and then there’s Voorhees-class…how appropriate for Disas.

“Only one of the Magical Five would’ve known about that phrase.” – My bets are on Peipei, but we’ll find out for sure…someday.

Mononokean 7

As much as I found the pillow fight scene with Fuzzy in it funny, I swear Abeno is a bit too sadistic for my own good. What is it with some women and their sadistic kinks…?

Abeno calling Ashiya “hunk of junk” makes me think Ashiya isn’t much of a Sousuke (from Classicaloid), but they do have a lot of similar character traits, now that I think of it…hmm.

For some reason, I think Abeno knew the conditions of the deal and what the deal entailed in advance, hence the training camp.

Seiza…means sitting on the floor in the position Ashiya was in (knees to the floor etc).

Mob Psycho II 7

“Cheeseburger Tornado”, LOL.

When Reigen got angry at the TV, I was just like, “It’s Shield Hero (Mob Psycho version)!” I.e. you con the conman and not turn the conned into a conman…or something like that.

Those microphones are so obviously CGI, people…

I know I’m a fan of Yuzuru Tachikawa, but episode 5 actually didn’t do too much for me, to be honest (even though it was visual spectacle, which is Tachikawa’s strong suit). However, while episode 7 looked less punchy overall, it was miles better…

“First-press limited edition? That is the absolute best decision.” – What is that referring to??? Update: It’s referring to the BDs...or DVDs...or both.

Update: Forgot to add Double Decker to the title and tags.

[abitgingerwrites]

BKDK Positivity Week: Day 2 - Power

Bakugou strolls into the first Jazz Band rehearsal of the semester, fuming over the message he just received.

Bakugou, I’ve found you a new accompanist and you WILL complete the makeup barrier. His name is Midoriya Izuku, a doctoral student in piano, and he will be informing me if you refuse to cooperate. Please schedule a rehearsal with him within the next week, or I will not continue to teach you. ~ Dr. Lisk

Damn hag, always butting in on my business… he thinks. Bakugou had been working with Dr. Lisk ever since his undergrad days, and despite their frequent feuding he had loads of respect for the woman for putting up with him and teaching him how to be the best trumpeter around. She’d seriously blackmail me like that? Yes, yes she would. He drags his free hand over his face, and starts working through some breathing exercises before he really loses his cool. Forget that, let’s just make some god-damn music.

Bakugou takes his seat in the lead trumpet spot and starts warming up as the rest of the group trickles in. He’s in the middle of working through his jazz scales when the director walks in, and calls for attention.

“Yo yo yo, everybody! I hope you all had a nice winter break!!” Yamada Hizashi exclaims. He nods to the saxes. “Hanta, Tohru, looking sharp!” Over to the trombones, “Mina! Is that a new instrument I see, or did you finally polish that ol’ girl? Good to see ya!” And to the trumpets, “Katsuki, you remember the policy, drop your attitude at the door when you come to play. Eijirou, don’t forget to pull in that tuning slide on those high E’s, we don’t want a repeat of last November.” Yamada shakes his head. “Anyway, anyway! Let’s get rockin! Your new music is already on your stands. We have a concert in 6 weeks, so no slouching!”

The door suddenly creaked open, revealing a nervous green-haired man. “Um, hi, sorry I’m late Mr. Yamada! They just told me I was being moved - “ he walks shakily into the room, staring at the floor.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!!! That’s right! Come over here, Izuku. Band, one last housekeeping note before we begin - as you may know, our former pianist Mirio recently graduated last semester, and is touring with his own new band." He wipes away an invisible tear. "In his stead, god bless that angel, Midoriya Izuku will be joining us for the remainder of the semester! Go on, take your seat over there.”

Bakugou watches Midoriya set up, slack-jawed. That’s the guy I bumped into this morning-! Did Lisk seriously just pair me up with the first accompanist that walked along?! He shakes his head. Well, he’d better be good, or I’m having a serious conversation with her later today.

Bakugou looks up just in time to see Mr. Yamada counting the band in, and they start sight-reading the new rag. The piece starts off big and brassy, then smoothes out into a woodwind soli, to a tenor sax solo, which wanders over to a piano solo before returning to full band. Sero takes the tenor solo, which for a first go isn’t bad. He jams for several bars before Midoriya takes over the jam.

When Bakugou dares to glance back over toward the rhythm section, the meek nervous person who had first walked in had transformed into a nearly unrecognizable figure. The green-haired man’s eyes glinted with excitement at the challenge of sight-reading the difficult passage, and hands danced over the keyboard playfully, enrapturing and bewitching to behold. He laid down the most incredible licks with tempered ease, or so it seemed. An open-mouthed smile graced Midoriya’s face the entire time, growing wider the more complicated the music got.

Bakugou doesn’t even realize he is staring until the rest of the trumpet section starts playing the stinger. He flushes, and scrambles to pick up with the group, entering in the next measure just in time for the lead part to split up into a glorious high F,  which comes out loud and solid,  perfectly centered in the pitch. Infuriated that he had lost focus watching the new pianist, he decides to show off the power with which he can play with, jumping up a third higher to an A at the end, staring straight at Midoriya as he does so.

Mr. Yamada cuts off the band, though Bakugou holds over half a count to make sure he’s heard. As soon as he does this, Midoriya finally looks up and locks eyes with Bakugou, before quietly squeaking and looking back down, ears turning red. Curious reaction, Bakugou thinks, but his train of thought is cut off by Mr. Yamada’s critique.

“Alright, nice sightread! But next time, let’s remember to count~” he says, giving Bakugou a knowing look. Bakugou boldly stares back at him, frown deepening. “-Ahem. Anyway! Moving along …. “

The rest of the rehearsal proceeds similarly, Midoriya and Bakugou trading off strutting their best techniques in an unspoken competition. By the end of the two hour practice, they are both lightly sweating and Bakugou’s chops are nearly shot. Mr. Yamada dismisses them, and though Bakugou only has 10 minutes to get to his next class, he decides to confront the green-haired man.

“Hey nerd! We need to talk.”

Midoriya glances around, uncertain, then points to himself. “Do you mean me?”

Bakugou groans exaggeratedly, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation. “Do you mean me- YES I mean you, you fucking nerd!” Suddenly, he realizes he’s starting to attract attention from the other stragglers. “Just- come on, let’s walk and talk.” He storms out of the room, giving Midoriya a glance to say, “you coming?”

Midoriya jumps at his tone, but thinks, might as well get this conversation over with… and follows Bakugou into the hallway. Fortunately, it looks like his next class is in the same direction.

Fidgeting his thumbs along his music bag’s zipper, Midoriya is the first to break the silence. “So um, I guess you saw the text from Dr. Lisk?” he asks, and gets nothing but a cold shoulder for a minute. Starting to panic, he starts again. “So, the Haydn - “

Bakugou whirls around at him, eyes ablaze.  “Look, I’m only doing this to get my damn degree and move on from here. Sure, you can play, and I’ll agree to work with you this once, but we’re not going to be friends, and you still better not tell anyone about this!” He hisses out the last bit. Midoriya freezes, caught between Bakugou and the wall, green eyes wide and distracting. Bakugou quickly looks away before those eyes can derail his train of thoughts too much. He sighs and backs off, continuing on. “We need to schedule a damn rehearsal so Dr. Lisk will get off my back. What are your Wednesday evenings like?”

Midoriya blinks, then stutters out “I don’t- I don’t really have any time during the week, my schedule is pretty- pretty busy ahaha…” Midoriya starts mumbling out his entire week’s schedule before Bakugou stops him.

“Stop blabbering you damn nerd, I get it, weekdays aren’t good,” he huffs. ‘What about Saturdays?”

Midoriya snaps out of it, then thinks about his weekends. He generally spent his weekends doing chores and getting in some friend time with Uraraka and Iida. “I suppose Saturday mornings could work. Maybe 10am?”

Bakugou groans. Fucking early… no, I need to do this. “Alright. 10. Meet me in the practice building. You’d better not be late.” With that, he risks a glance back at the pianist, and sees the man covering his mouth with those lovely hands- he suddenly does an about-face, and walks adamantly away, not dropping his pace and refusing to think about what just happened until he’s safely in the classroom.

What the fuck was that?!

To be continued...

part 1 | part 3 | part 4

[haninabaninah-learning]

Musical Instruments: Adult Learning Experience

A lot of people we know who play instruments Started learning them at a very early age. Many of those who end up going to music schools learn at age 5 or 6. Mozart composed his first piece at age 5 for goodness sake! I’ve been watching TwoSet Violin and prodigies are just getting younger and younger.

I had a different experience. I started seriously learning instruments in high school.

PIANO

In my younger years, I knew how to play the really easy melodies on the piano (given that we have a piano at home and my dad and grandmother are very good pianists) - Happy Birthday song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars - the kind you teach 4 year olds with only one hand. Then for some reason, maybe during my first years of high school, I found myself trying to learn pieces from our electronic keyboard by following the lighted keys. I first learned Canon in D and Minuet in G. My parents were a bit shocked when they saw that I learned it from the keyboard.

***To be fair, I came from quite a musical family. As I mentioned, my grandmother and father are good pianists. My mother also knows a few classical piano pieces. My father and my brother play the guitar. My sisters sang at a choir. My dad, who is also knowledgeable in music theory, is the worship leader at our local church. Basically, nobody is tone deaf in my family. You can consider our family musical.***

From there, I started going to Youtube for song tutorials. I learned A Thousand Miles and White Houses, both by Vanessa Carlton. I learned a few other pop songs, but I don’t remember them as well as these two. I never liked reading notes, so YouTube was definitely my go-to. (Thank God for YouTube.)

I first formally took lessons (Suzuki Method) the summer before my 3rd year of high school. At first, I was intimidated because two of my classmates were very good sightreaders and they were already very good at our age. But they also became inspirations for me, that soon, I will be able to play as well as them. I loved the piano, so I practiced a lot, even at night. I finished Suzuki Book 1 upto the first 2 or 3 pieces in Book 2 that summer break. But school started again and I just didn’t go back to taking those lessons.

The more I listened to piano pieces, the more I wanted to learn and be an excellent piano player. Sadly, the excitement isn’t constant. My practice and learning jumps are often characterized by energy bursts - intense practice seasons (a few weeks) and a long hiatus (months or years). I always play on and off. But it’s always good to be reminded.

I took piano lessons in the UPCMEP after about 4 years, in the summer after my second year in uni. I was discouraged from continuing though, because my teacher was very harsh and hostile. I was totally scared of her! After graduating from uni (after about 3 years), I practiced on my own again and self-studied the rest of Suzuki Book 2 and the first few pieces of Book 3. I was fired up! I took lessons with UPCMEP again under a different teacher. She’s very kind and I love her! (Ms. Pia) Unfortunately, I had to move to Australia right after finishing the sessions. (I couldn’t even attend my own recital.) I just got back from Australia, after 2 years, and I took lessons from UPCMEP - and again under a different teacher because Ms. Pia is fully booked. She’s also a nice teacher, but I made a lot of mistakes. It felt a little bit stressful because I had other things to do, and I just felt there was a lot of homework. I think my skills weren’t at par with the expectations my teacher had. I couldn’t keep up. I was always tense during my lessons for fear of making more mistakes, which made my mind go even slower. Practice was also not fun (because of the pressure of learning many pieces/ exercises at once.) 

Now, I’m on lockdown and I can’t take the online piano lessons. I tried practicing my piece again with 0 pressure on myself, and I absolutely love it!

I might take piano lessons again, someday, when I can.

Ease of learning: 3/5

Lessons: Idk the local Teacher (Suzuki), UP College of Music Extension Program

Favorite pieces: Sonatina Op. 55 No. 2 (Kuhlau), 214 Intro (Hehe classic I love Rico Blanco)

VIOLIN

I took violin lessons during my first year of working. Aside from violin being a cool instrument that makes pop music sound grand, here is another weird reason for trying to learn violin: I liked playing melodies by ear, but I can't do it with chords. It doesn't work well on the piano, because playing single notes on it sounds very child-like. But it works on the violin. Simple tunes sound really good if you have the skill. I thought if I could get to a good level of violin skills, I could play any song I want and make it sound amazing. It would be a great addition to a band arrangement or something.

I must say - with piano it's easy to sound good as a beginner but it's hard to be an expert. With violin, however, a beginner sounds like crap. I sounded like crap (imo), most especially when I first learned with the group classes. I believe I still do.

Yes, at first I took violin lessons with a class my dad found online. I would not recommend it at all. Form and technique is very important when you are starting to learn violin, and the lack of focus on the student will be of 0 help to you. We played poor-sounding violin renditions of pop songs and Christmas songs for our recital. It's kinda sad. To be fair my classmates were all in high school and below. I was in my fourth year of uni.

After two years, I started working and I picked up the violin again (for some reason.) I started earning money and I can now (kind of) afford violin lessons. I would definitely recommend individual lessons with a teacher for violin (or I guess for learning any sort of classical instrument seriously.) I learned a lot from my teacher who was also very kind and encouraging.

Unfortunately, due to many reasons including my demands at work, my tiredness of the commute to the lesson, my innate stingyness (I still found the weekly lessons very expensive, considering my income), my spiritual issues, and my depression, it just became harder and harder for me to attend lessons. A big part of the misfortune here is that I was not being honest with my teacher about my issues, and I feel like I disrespected him along the way. :(

Someday, I would want to pick up my violin again and learn. (Or get a better quality violin, actually.) I will play that vibrato well, and enjoy beautiful songs on this instrument.

Ease of learning: 1/5

Lessons: Individual Teacher

YouTube inspo: TwoSet violin (LOL), Ray Chen, Hilary Hahn (the whole gang)

Favorite piece: I really don’t remember any of my classical pieces cause I wasn’t good enough

UKULELE

Everybody I know who plays ukulele learned it as an adult. It’s very easy to play but it’s very fun-sounding. 

I remember trying to play it many years ago when we got a cheap version, but that time, I just did not put any effort. I was a busy bee and had many other things to do. I was more 100% more interested in learning piano. On top of that, I had not yet discovered the magic of actual YouTube teachers. (I don’t know if there were uke teachers at that time already.) I basically forgot about its existence after a few weeks.

I think it was when we cleaned up that I saw our Ukulele again. At 24 years old, I was going to move to Australia - and I had to bring an instrument! I can’t bring a piano or a guitar because...how. I knew I was gonna go crazy if I can’t play music, especially if there’s nothing to do while I job-hunt. I liked singing and I really wanted to learn an instrument that could accompany my singing. I ordered a quality ukulele and moved. Being jobless in a foreign country with very little money, watching Youtube teachers and practicing was really a good way to spend my time when I’m not busy. I learned reading tabs in the process too.

I have loved the sound of fingerpicked instruments for the longest time, and I was so glad to finally be able to fingerpick songs.I am also proud of being able to “chuck”. It just adds so much dimension to the music. I still have a lot to work on (I am still horrible at strumming patterns because I suck at following beats), but I’d say I’m a fair player.

Ease of learning: 5/5

YouTube Teacher: Cynthia Lin Music

Favorite pieces - I only love fingerpicked songs lol so I love Cynthia Lin: Can’t Help Falling In Love, Here Comes The Sun, Canon in D (Pachelbel - but in key of C, lol, I haven’t finished)

CLASSICAL GUITAR

Here I am, at 26, learning classical guitar and music theory. I’ve always wanted to learn the guitar. As I mentioned, I love the sound of fingerpicked instruments. I love the sound of acoustic covers and the plucked strings. It’s so relaxing and calm.

I tried learning the guitar as a high school student, but I was overcome by my annoyance of the pain on my fingertips when I press on the strings. I was also bad at strumming patterns. (I suck at rhythm.) On top of that, I gave myself an excuse of not being able to reach most chords due to my small hands. I learned the easy chords and strumming, but it really is far from good enough.

Learning the ukulele gave me courage to start learning the guitar again. I really did want to be good at it. Luckily, as I applied for piano lessons, I figured it would be a waste to travel for 2 hours a day only for a 1-hour lesson. I thought it would be a good idea to take guitar lessons as well.

I initially just wanted ordinary guitar lessons, just so I can be forced to learn guitar for my pop songs. Apparently, they mostly (or only) teach classical guitar in UP (kind of obvious though). What a beautiful genre, though. This is my kind of music! I’m also very grateful for my kind and fun teacher- Sir Peter. He’s very encouraging!

Perhaps one of the factors of the success was also the implementation of online classes. It’s not so tiring to attend lessons because of the travel (unlike when I was learning violin). I love classical guitar now, and I’m continuing my lessons. I barely practiced and prepared for my classes before lockdown, but now I really enjoy each practice time I have. More on this on another blog post!

Ease of learning: 3/5

Lessons: UP College of Music Extension Program (Now online lessons)

YouTube additional learning: Brandon Acker, This is Classical Guitar

Favorite piece - (well I’m only starting so I have a very limited list) Andantino in G by Carulli, but I would like to learn Air on G String someday

MUSIC THEORY

I’ve also started to learn Music Theory (albeit still with little effort) during lockdown. From Youtube (of course). I barely finish any song I write. And I love arranging music, but I’m not very good at it. I figure Music Theory will help me a lot in this area.

[nako-doodles]

hey sweetie! I just started piano lessons and I was wondering if you had any tips for beginners? my fingers are so sore oh god

HI MY LOVE im so happy you decided to start learning piano. its a wonderful instrument and its one of those instruments where its easy to learn but terrible to master, BUT not everyone has to be Evgeny Kissin and Valentina Lisistsa or even Li Yundi. just enjoy what you do tbh. 

disclaimer: I am classical trained, but most of these are pretty universal but if anything doesnt make sense, ask me!

1. im going to assume you have a piano teacher and s/he would most likely hound on you for technique…and I absolutely agree. your fingers will be sore and it’ll be ok! just make sure you hand, wrist, elbows, and shoulders are in proper alignment, the seat is the correct height and distance from the keyboard, and that you are seated properly, and leaning into the piano. a piano teacher will correct it for you - make sure you follow their words exactly. I used to keep a mirror next to the piano to make sure my back is correctly aligned bc lmao I slouch a lot. TECHNIQUE IS VERY IMPORTANT and will ensure you will be injury free! bad technique is really hard to beat out (I would know I had to beat out a lot of my bad technique and I Suffered the Entire 7 Months). honestly good technique would feel very natural once you have it down, so keep working on it! if you need reference, look up videos of kissin, zimmermann, hamelin, hofmann, and horowitz. lisistsa is also pretty consistent with her sound but you can tone it down a notch.

2. now I know practice is very boring (take it from the girl who was literally strapped to the piano bench 3hrs a day from 3-17yo and would thus read comic books and play games while practicing I AM A BAD EXAMPLE DONT DO WHAT I DID) but its still important! you can start with really small increments first - 20 minutes-half an hour, and work your way up. on your first run through of your piece, make sure to look at the key signature for those pesky flats and sharps and mark them on the music sheet!!!!!! THIS IS IMPORTANT UNTIL YOU CAN ACCURATELY SIGHTREAD and even then, its a good habit to have. let me tell if you get used the wrong note and you keep playing ITS SO HARD TO GET IT RIGHT so get it right the first time!!! or first couple of tries.

3. on that note, practice each hand separately!! I know the first instinct is to play both hands, but unless its a sight reading exercise, refrain until you know you’ve got both hands down. putting it together is usually self explanatory, but a lot music usually has a lot going on in both hands, so having both hands down is fundamental!!

4. now most books would already have recommended fingerings written in, but since my hands are on the smaller side, I usually have to rewrite the fingering, so on the first couple fo tries also attempt to figure out the fingering that works for you. this will come as you gain more experience and have a better grasp of how your fingers and hands work. 

5. practice in chunks! I find that when im overwhelmed, breaking the music down into phrases and sections really help! especially those long cadenzas or pesky trills, its always helpful to start slow and steady and small. the three s’s if you will. any complicated music can be played with the three s’s. speed and agility and presentation will come after you actually have the structure of the song.

6. practice with the metronome! a lot of songs require that you play on time (esp those from baroque and classical periods) so having that metronome is super handy. the metronome is also super handy for those really awful rhythm exercises like 3:2 or 5:3 or my personal enemy 7:4. I have one of those pocket metronomes thats the size of my palm and tucks onto the side of my piano tote bag so I always have it on me. 

7. building finger strength and your stamina is also very important: you can usually accomplishing this by warming up and warming down every time you practice. I usually work on a couple of variations from my book of Hanon (gross I know but you can make them more interesting by changing the rhythm and/or transcribing them so you can reuse a lot of the exercises. my old teachers used to assign different canon depending what I needed to work on for my pieces, like I did a lot of those chords/octave leaps when I learned Debussy and liszt etc etc. I usually did 3 octaves each direction for like 2-3 variations before moving on to scales and chords. yes. all of them. it helps give you a sense of key and understand to music you are playing better, and also helps train your ears in what “sounds right”. its super boring but you gotta grind for those muscles girl. I usually like doing dominant and diminished sevenths bc triads are really boring. if you are advanced enough, you can try my own nemesis Czerny. those finger exercises absolutely suck but they really do help build you strength and agility. A lot of them dont sound as great as the Hanon and the scales but they really target the muscles that you dont usually use in everyday life. warning: your fingers will definitely be sore the first couple months, but it gets better when you can play a super hard cadenza or arpeggio or chord sequence quickly and correctly. after a good practice (around 2-4hours for me), my hands are usually tired, but not cramping. your hands should not cramp!!!! unless you pull a lang lang and practice for like 15 hours a day idk how he does it??? A God. 

8. for those really syncopated/weirdly notated passages, write in the counts and draw lines for which notes goes where. counting the passage out loud also really helps. if all else fails, go onto youtube and check out how one of the greats played your piece. if it went by too quickly bc they are legends, slow it down to 75%! puzzling out those sequences can be easy if you just slow down and map everything out. nothing is hard to play if you slow down.

9. listen to your body! if something starts cramping up or doesn’t feel right, stop and access. is your body in correct alignment? are your hands in the correct position? did you practice for too long and actually need a break? is your brain about to fall out bc you were trying to puzzle out a sequence?  take care of yourself! your body is also an instrument! my piano teacher told me that all the best pianists are the best because they learn to dance along with the piano, not against.

10. dont be afraid to draw and notate all over your music! grab highlighters for the moving melodies! count out the leger lines and write down the note so you never have to count it again! write in all your key signatures! color code all of the harmonies! write in the chord progressions! write question marks next to the places you dont understand! circle the notes you keep getting wrong! honestly there is no musician who doesnt have a messy score full of shorthand and scribbles and ‘Why iN ScRIAbIN’s nAMe wHY’ occasionally. its not like anyone will notice your embarrassing notes to yourself when you actually perform!! write in small encouragements of little jokes along the way to encourage yourself during those long ass passages. 

it also helps when you first learn a piece to hunker down with your music and a recording of the song on Youtube to figure out what the music is supposed to sound like, and any likely snags you might encounter. and just constantly consult the recording when a particular passage confuses you. your piano teacher is only there once a week, sometimes a girls gotta figure shit out on her own.

also: concerto/long music hacks: if your music is too long and you dont have a place to flip the score, photocopy your music single sidedly and tape it all into one long strip. you can fold it up when you are done, and all your music will be there when you need to practice!

+1. enjoy yourself! if you are dead on the inside from playing the music, no one will be happy, not you, your teacher, your audience. if you dont like the music, and you arent in a dire need to expand your repertoire like I was, try new pieces! if you have a piece thats really pretty but is above your skill level, ask your teacher if you could just learn the harmony/melody and you can do a piano duet! it helps with your sense of rhythm and musicality :) HAVE FUN AND ENJOY ❤️❤️❤️ I wish you the best of luck 💕💕💕