Lesson #2

I have been busy doing stuff other than my music lesson and hence the late post.

Well, my Lesson #2 was 2 weeks ago as the school was closed for ABRSM exams the following week. So I had 2 weeks to learn my 3 new pieces:

1. Ach, Du Lieber Augustine (A German Folk Song)
2. Sonata Pathetique (Beethovan)
3. My Wild Irish Rose ( Chauncy Olcott)

I have uploaded 2 videos of me playing the 1st 2 pieces on my facebook.

The first 2 pieces - I have not much problems as I had tried them before, it's just a matter of re-learning them. And the 3rd piece - well, I have not tried it, but I managed to play it pretty okay after 2 days. There are some parts which I still have problems - I guess it has to do with age. My left/right hand co-ordination is not that good - it took me quite some time to get the broken chords correct. Well, I'm having my 3rd lesson tomorrow and am still practising like mad.

I am toying with the idea of learning guzheng - a chinese string instrument where you have to pluck the string(s) to make music.

But the lesson times at the neighborhood community centre are not right for me.

Well, one thing interesting is that my neighbor / running-kaki SG is also interested to pick up piano lesson after knowing I am taking lessons. I hope she will so that we can practise music pieces together!

Now back to practising!

Practising Like Mad!

This week has been crazy practising!

I have practised and can play quite confidently "Down in the Valley". I think I like broken chords better - you play the individual notes of the chord, rather than doing 1+2 - if yuou know what I mean. The 2nd piece "The Morning has Broken" took me some time to familiarise but I think I can manage it.

Last night, I played Sonata Pathetique by Ludwig Beethovan. It's actually not the real deal, but a adapted "easy" piece. I actually played it some time back, but slacked and now have forgotten most of it. Luckily, after a few rounds of trying, my fingers "remembered" it!

Then I tried playing ONLY the bass part - it was so beautiful! The low notes just reverberated through me and I could "feel" the music! I guess my music managed to lure L out of his "hermit crab shell" - the study (he is busy mugging through his Masters material)! He came out with his violin and asked to join in. Usually, I would scrowl at him and give him my "Queen Bee Sting-er" look ("Buzz off, you drone! Can't you see I am indulging in my music?"). But the music sort of softened me quite a bit and I said, "Why not?". He actually played not bad (for a beginner!) and we played the first part of the piece together. We had a fun time together!

Lesson #1

Today's my first lesson.

It was drizzling when I started off. I was practising like mad for the past few days, hoping to impress my teacher or get some kind of response like, "Are you sure you are a beginner?!"

It turned out to be a very humbling 30-minute lesson.

The manager J whom I have not seen for a long time (I knew her since my boys are enrolled in the school 4 years ago) and I chatted a bit. I was introduced to my young teacher W. She led me to the music studio and asked me a few questions on the basics like whether I know what a bass clef and treble clef are, what is the middle C, etc. Then she played an American folk song Down the Valley, and asked me to try it out.

Then ...

I kind of froze in front of the piano - the keys of the piano is very much thinner than that of my keyboard at home. I just felt like an alien there. After gathering my wits, I started playing - if you can call that playing! Somehow, my left hand did not co-ordinate with my right hand, and I could not tell the difference between a B-note and a high D-note!

My teacher was very patient with me and taught me how the piece should sound like.

So, in summary, I have learnt
1) how to play Legato on RH while normally on LH
2) C chords, F chords and G7 chords

After the Lesson 

After the lesson, I went to Cold Storage to get some food for my hungry drones. I decided to cook instead of getting sausages or pre-packed sushi, as originally planned. Got some portobello mushrooms, minced pork, stingray and lime.

Here's the day's menu:

Lunch: 
grilled portebello mushrooms, pan-fried pork burger patties, pan-fried potatoes, eggs (sunny-side up), freshly-squeezed lime juice

Dinner:
grilled stingray marinated with garlic, pan-fried potatoes (as requested by drones), cream of spinach (from frozen spinach).

I modified the recipe of the pork burger patties from the cook show Rachel Ray's 30-minute meals: Just add herbs, steak marinate ... and chilli flakes (supposed to be paprika!) into the minced pork to make patties. My 2 drones, G and S,  loved them!

The lime juice was a hit - it tasted just like the way my mom used to make for my brothers & I when we were young :) I planted the seeds and hopefully can get a lime tree out of them!

I am bringing my drones to watch Rango this evening and has promised my ex-student that I will sit through the credits to catch his name!

My Adventures Start ...

I have always wanted to play a musical instrument. Other than the Yamaha recorder that was compulsory in primary school music lessons (and I am pretty good at it!), I practically have not learnt how to play any other - well, at least not formally.

So, I was very envious of my two cousins, T and H, who are musically trained in piano. I just love the way their fingers glide gracefully over the black and white piano keys, producing MUSIC. I wished I had the chance to learn how to do that!

Thus, I sent my two boys for formal music lessons - G learnt the violin (Grade 4) and S learnt piano (Grade 3). After a lot of nagging and hours of anguished practices/ABRSM exams, they decided to ditch the instruments for computers and Lego!

Then hubby L suggested, "Why don't YOU go for lessons instead?" - seeing how I like to play simple self-taught "Easy Piano" pieces. Now that I have finished my writing project and would be free for a while, I thought, "Why not?" So, I went ahead and booked a lesson in the neighbourhood music school.

I want to document my journey, to see how far I can go, to see whether my fingers would be too stiff, - and all the challenges I would face.

Well, I'd like to say "Wish Me Luck!", but I know that it is not luck that I need, but practices after practices.