My First Band Practice
I had butterflies in my stomach every minute I thought of going for my first band practice this evening. The 2 big butterflies of anxiety and excitement was fluttering within me the whole day. Thank God work at SAA is always 'on the go'. Otherwise the butterflies would have flown to my knees as well, I'm sure.
I couldn't wait to get out of the office and into the band room when it was near 6pm. I didn't go for lunch break today, hoping that I could go off at least half an hour earlier before knock off time to practice my piece. But I only managed to reach there after 6pm. Had some time to assemble my clarinet and did a few rounds of the piece to warm up. When Law Wei stood up on the platform, I was like "Oh no, combined warm-up! How?" I was quite hesitant. Everything was so new to me. I mean, I have watched the Band do their drills quite a few times. But for me to sit there and do it with them is a different story altogether. I didn't know what to expect and my sight-reading is atrocious.
But Law Wei was really encouraging, insisting that I join in. He said he would wait for me. Kenneth helped me to set up my chair and positioned me next to Pearlyn. The beginning of the scales in "I Recommend" were ok, still can catch. By the time we moved to arppegios, I already CMI. And I thought that was bad...until we moved to intervals. Wa lau...can't even sight sing, let alone, sight read with clarinet... Dang! Well, it was really an eye-opeing experience despite being "kan-cheong" throughout. I guess all the "first" in life are exciting. Haha...so exaggerating, right?
So anyway, Mr Tan came and we did a few rounds of the 'easy' piece. It was quite nice...a swing. Makes me happy playing it even though it was in a minor key mode. I had fun playing with the band for the first time.
Come to think of it, I never thought I would be able to pick up an instrument and play with them. I think the closest I'd ever thought a collaboration that's possible for me with the Band would be for me to sing a song accompanied by them. It would be quite grand, and definitely a dream come true. We were close to doing it, actually. But because of time constraints, and the fact that it's quite difficult to find a suitable piece, we decided to leave it out. Well, maybe next time. The students have been really kind and encouraging throughout my learning process. I'm going to work hard so as to make this an audibly enjoyable experience for all of us.
So that was my first band practice, not just fooling around anymore, or just "karaoke-ing" on the clarinet while listening to the recording of music pieces. Just less than an hour sitting in their midst and already I'm impressed with them all over again. Singing is easy, I can do it for hours. But playing an instrument, making music with an extension of something not of your body requires more skills and discipline, I guess. Oh, it's not that I'm not thankful for what I have. Maybe I'm just delighted way above my head!
Yabedabedoo!!! You must feel the joy bursting from within me :D
I couldn't wait to get out of the office and into the band room when it was near 6pm. I didn't go for lunch break today, hoping that I could go off at least half an hour earlier before knock off time to practice my piece. But I only managed to reach there after 6pm. Had some time to assemble my clarinet and did a few rounds of the piece to warm up. When Law Wei stood up on the platform, I was like "Oh no, combined warm-up! How?" I was quite hesitant. Everything was so new to me. I mean, I have watched the Band do their drills quite a few times. But for me to sit there and do it with them is a different story altogether. I didn't know what to expect and my sight-reading is atrocious.
But Law Wei was really encouraging, insisting that I join in. He said he would wait for me. Kenneth helped me to set up my chair and positioned me next to Pearlyn. The beginning of the scales in "I Recommend" were ok, still can catch. By the time we moved to arppegios, I already CMI. And I thought that was bad...until we moved to intervals. Wa lau...can't even sight sing, let alone, sight read with clarinet... Dang! Well, it was really an eye-opeing experience despite being "kan-cheong" throughout. I guess all the "first" in life are exciting. Haha...so exaggerating, right?
So anyway, Mr Tan came and we did a few rounds of the 'easy' piece. It was quite nice...a swing. Makes me happy playing it even though it was in a minor key mode. I had fun playing with the band for the first time.
Come to think of it, I never thought I would be able to pick up an instrument and play with them. I think the closest I'd ever thought a collaboration that's possible for me with the Band would be for me to sing a song accompanied by them. It would be quite grand, and definitely a dream come true. We were close to doing it, actually. But because of time constraints, and the fact that it's quite difficult to find a suitable piece, we decided to leave it out. Well, maybe next time. The students have been really kind and encouraging throughout my learning process. I'm going to work hard so as to make this an audibly enjoyable experience for all of us.
So that was my first band practice, not just fooling around anymore, or just "karaoke-ing" on the clarinet while listening to the recording of music pieces. Just less than an hour sitting in their midst and already I'm impressed with them all over again. Singing is easy, I can do it for hours. But playing an instrument, making music with an extension of something not of your body requires more skills and discipline, I guess. Oh, it's not that I'm not thankful for what I have. Maybe I'm just delighted way above my head!
Yabedabedoo!!! You must feel the joy bursting from within me :D
