301st Reflection💬

“A deep-rooted problem, how to approach the solution❓”

The Lord offers helps through experts and immediately, I follow.
……

19/07/2022 (Mon) 12:30 Studio

LMusTCL Class

Teacher said, “Let’s listen to the string quartet.”

I said, “OK.”

I pressed the “play” button.

Teacher said, “Stop.”

I said, “OK.”

I pressed the “stop” button.

Teacher said, “Did you hear a wrong note in viola part in bar 8?”

I said, “What? You heard a wrong note?”

Teacher said, “A natural is wrong. It should be A flat. You’re using F minor here.”

I said, “Oh my…right. I’m using A flat in all other parts, except the viola part. Wow, you manage to find it out. Unbelievable!”

Teacher said, “It’s normal. It’s unbelievable if a composer cannot screen out mistakes with his ears. Listening is a foundational ability for composition. It takes a long time and years of practices to develop. You’d better start off right now.”

I said, “How to practise?”

Teacher said, “Open the score and listen to the music. Listen again and again until your ears can catch up.”
……

Another me said, “Listening takes years of training. You don’t have that ability. That means you have had no practices at all in the past years.”

I said, “Yes.”

Another me said, “Which piece would you like to start listening to?”

I said, “I don’t know. As far as my current listening ability is concerned, it seems quite hard to listen to the whole piece once in a while.”

Another me said, “So what to do then?”

I said, “Let’s pray.”
……

21/07/2022 (Fri) 18:00 Hong Kong International Institute of Music

Jazz Piano Class

I said, “Teacher, is jazz piano your major studies?”

Teacher said, “Nope, my major is vocal studies. After graduation, I further studies on jazz piano.”

I said, “Majoring in vocal studies?”

Teacher said, “Yes.

I said, “Great. In my composition tutorial last Tuesday, teacher told me I got to work on my listening. He suggested that I should listening to pieces together with the score. I find this method seems to me a little too challenging at the moment. Is there any easier way to approach listening?”

Teacher said, “Yes.”

I said, “How? Can you show me?”

Teacher said, “Yes, Listen for Intervals.”

I said, “How to listen?”

Teacher said, “2 ways. First, melodic intervals where 2 notes are played separately. Listen to each separate note carefully, sing them aloud, and tell the interval.”

I said, “The other way?”

Teacher said, “Second, harmonic interval where 2 notes are played together. Listen to both notes carefully, sing them aloud and tell the interval.”

I said, “Understand. What is the next interval to listen to?”

Teacher said, “Major 2nd and minor 2nd. Let’s have a try now, shall we?”

I said, “Yes.”

After a round of practices,

Teacher said, “Your pitch is quite accurate.”

I said, “I once had a terrible pitch. I got much better after sight-singing classes. But of course, it still takes a lot of practices to qualify myself as a composer.”

Teacher said, “We’ve just done our practice. Do you know how to practise this week when back home?”

I said, “Yes, I do. Interval listening practices are available in Teoria. I practise it in Teoria, alright?”

Teacher said, “OK. You go for your home practice. Next lesson, I’ll spend some time checking out your practice progress, alright?”

I said, “OK. Thank you.”
……

Another me said, “Wow, listening, something that takes years of practices. Do you know?”

I said, “Yes, I know.”

Another me said, “This is an decade-long problem, not some puzzle that can be resolved in a blink of eye. Do you know?”

I said, “Yes, I know.”

Another me said, “You know, you know, how do you know?”

I said, “The Lord told me through my composition supervisor last Tuesday.”

Another me said, “This is not a problem that can be resolved in a blink of an eye.”

I said, “I know.”

Another me said, “Thus is a problem whose resolution requires step-by-step guidance, follow-up observation by expert and regular check on the development. Do you know?”

I said, “I know.”

Another me said, “You know, you know, how do you know this time?”

I said, “The Lord not only showed me how  through my Jazz piano teacher and asked him to follow up.”

Another me said, “Ah, true.”

I said, “Hey, you’ve asked me 4 questions. I have them all answered. Now it’s your turn.”

Another me said, “Ask then.”

I said, “In order to solve the decade-long question, what to do? Do you know?”

Another me said, “What else to do? All the talking has already been done by the two music experts.”

I said, “You aren’t experts. You aren’t responsible for talking. You are the problem owner. The Lord’s sent experts to teach. You’re responsible for acting according to their instructions and solving your own problems step by step. Do you know?”

Another me said, “Hold on, wait. You know little. Such decade-long questions, I don’t want, you know? I’m so pitiful. The reasons why I’ve got such problems are that I was born at the wrong time, I’m living at the wrong time, I’m working at the wrong time, I’m just wrong…”

I said, “Clear. What you want right now, I’m crystal clear.”

Another me said, “You’re crystal clear? What do I want now?”

I said, “What you want now is to go living with the decade-long problems, staying with then until your death so that they can never be resolved.”

Another me said, “You’re so mean. How could you say something like that? I’m not that terrible as you described.”

I said, “I’ve made nothing wrong, have I? If you hadn’t been that terrible, why would you, even with the guidance from the experts that the Lord sent, still have said so much nonsense but immediately taken no move?”