Anyway, I had stopped practising violin for a long time. One reason was because I got fed up with my inadequate playing - I wasn't satisfied with playing a piece that only sounded like what it was meant to be. I wanted to play exactly what it was meant to be i.e. perfect intonation and full, warm tone with clean and precise bowing. It must be beautiful! Like this:
Try imagining imperfect double stops on Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin - imperfect octaves/thirds and a thin, dirty, jumpy bowing sound. Gross! In case you're wondering, yes, I've been practising those stuff and that's what they sound like when I play them :( It doesn't matter if they are off by a small or huge margin - it's either there or not. I felt that I was doing injustice to these pieces- it's like a bad painting of a beautiful scenery. So...I decided that listening to awesome recordings of these pieces was a way better idea. I probably didn't touched my violin for a couple of months. After watching Gabriel Ng's performance (particularly his encore piece of Bach's Sonata in C, Allegro Assai), I was almost convinced that I should stop playing altogether - and I continued my abstinence from playing the instrument.
2 weeks ago, I decided to listen to Yehudi Menuhin's recording of Schubert's Ave Maria and this simple piece somehow had a deep impact on me; as I continued listening to Kyung Wha Chung's recording of the same piece, I was really captivated by beauty of the piece and the piano's accompaniment. After listening to a few times, I was unable to resist the urge and took out my violin to play along with it as well (okay, I didn't play the octave double stops portion for the second part of the piece though). It felt good playing the violin again and I realised that I have somehow become more expressive in my playing too. This is probably good as my teacher used to scold me for being an 'emotionless creature'. Gee, I played a piece about a loving couple dancing (Liebesfreud translated as 'The Joy of Love') for my grade 8 exam. He told me I couldn't understand the emotions behind it (he is full well entitled to his opinion - though the irony was that I scored the highest for that piece among all my exam set pieces). Anyway, back to Ave Maria - it felt as though there was a release of expression (perhaps emotion?) and I could feel the music. And so, I was pleasantly surprised again. I actually enjoyed playing the violin more than what I had thought - maybe life does have surprises after all. The break could have been surprisingly useful too.
I remember that when I was 16 years old, I read in the news about a 15 year old prodigy who got into NUS' Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. In the interview, he said that each time he plays the violin, it's like a journey. Back then, I couldn't comprehend such a statement. I had the privilege of meeting him when I was in army. He was my platoon mate during BMT and we got to know each other since we were both unfit for training towards the end of BMT. Hearing him play the violin (yes, during BMT) was an eye (ear as well) opening experience - he is in a totally different league. It's like S League compared to EPL. However, I have somehow caught sight of what he meant. It's a challenge where you compete against yourself- you push yourself to the highest level of concentration to hit the correct intonation; to take cognisance of the bars you are weaker at and pay extra care when navigating through them; striving for excellence and perfection in the playing. At the end of the practise, there is a sense of achievement when you are able to play what you want to; it is an enjoyable and exciting process as well.
Hence, to the dismay and horror of my neighbours and family, I AM BACH(K) TO PLAY BACH
Introducing one of my favourite pieces from the Solo series - Largo: totally love the subtle and gentle nature of the song.
Try imagining imperfect double stops on Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin - imperfect octaves/thirds and a thin, dirty, jumpy bowing sound. Gross! In case you're wondering, yes, I've been practising those stuff and that's what they sound like when I play them :( It doesn't matter if they are off by a small or huge margin - it's either there or not. I felt that I was doing injustice to these pieces- it's like a bad painting of a beautiful scenery. So...I decided that listening to awesome recordings of these pieces was a way better idea. I probably didn't touched my violin for a couple of months. After watching Gabriel Ng's performance (particularly his encore piece of Bach's Sonata in C, Allegro Assai), I was almost convinced that I should stop playing altogether - and I continued my abstinence from playing the instrument.
2 weeks ago, I decided to listen to Yehudi Menuhin's recording of Schubert's Ave Maria and this simple piece somehow had a deep impact on me; as I continued listening to Kyung Wha Chung's recording of the same piece, I was really captivated by beauty of the piece and the piano's accompaniment. After listening to a few times, I was unable to resist the urge and took out my violin to play along with it as well (okay, I didn't play the octave double stops portion for the second part of the piece though). It felt good playing the violin again and I realised that I have somehow become more expressive in my playing too. This is probably good as my teacher used to scold me for being an 'emotionless creature'. Gee, I played a piece about a loving couple dancing (Liebesfreud translated as 'The Joy of Love') for my grade 8 exam. He told me I couldn't understand the emotions behind it (he is full well entitled to his opinion - though the irony was that I scored the highest for that piece among all my exam set pieces). Anyway, back to Ave Maria - it felt as though there was a release of expression (perhaps emotion?) and I could feel the music. And so, I was pleasantly surprised again. I actually enjoyed playing the violin more than what I had thought - maybe life does have surprises after all. The break could have been surprisingly useful too.
I remember that when I was 16 years old, I read in the news about a 15 year old prodigy who got into NUS' Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. In the interview, he said that each time he plays the violin, it's like a journey. Back then, I couldn't comprehend such a statement. I had the privilege of meeting him when I was in army. He was my platoon mate during BMT and we got to know each other since we were both unfit for training towards the end of BMT. Hearing him play the violin (yes, during BMT) was an eye (ear as well) opening experience - he is in a totally different league. It's like S League compared to EPL. However, I have somehow caught sight of what he meant. It's a challenge where you compete against yourself- you push yourself to the highest level of concentration to hit the correct intonation; to take cognisance of the bars you are weaker at and pay extra care when navigating through them; striving for excellence and perfection in the playing. At the end of the practise, there is a sense of achievement when you are able to play what you want to; it is an enjoyable and exciting process as well.
Hence, to the dismay and horror of my neighbours and family, I AM BACH(K) TO PLAY BACH
Introducing one of my favourite pieces from the Solo series - Largo: totally love the subtle and gentle nature of the song.
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