What the...? Why?

Hey all,

it's been a while. And no, I have not forgotten you all! (I wonder if anyone is even reading this. lol) Let's see now.... what have I done for the past 2 months? Times certainly flew by quickly and I can't help but feel that I haven't done much, despite the fact that I've pour a lot of hours in practicing my piano.

Last month, the guy who sold the piano decided to host a recital at his shop and he was kind to invite me to play a piece for the recital using a grand piano! I knew I wasn't exactly ready for it, but I decided to accept his invitation and chose to play Clementi's Op. 36 No. 1 (all three movements). I can't help but feel amaze at how everyone is great at playing the piano (well, they were leagues better than me since I was the only beginner there) but nevertheless I enjoyed my time there. Since I wasn't exactly fully prepared (and I was exhausted from work too but still, ultimately my fault for not being fully prepared), I accidentally stumble a few times especially on the third movement. Usually I would be very critical of my mistakes, but the lesson to be learn here is to accept my mistakes and learn from it. I graciously accept the mistakes that I've made during the performance and bow in front of the audience. I guess I needed more experience to perform publicly, huh.

A few days later, I packed my luggage and lo and behold, my vacation to Sydney is finally here! To be honest, I have been extremely looking forward to this trip. It's been a long while since I've done any overseas travelling. Why was I looking forward to this trip? If you think about Sydney, what would be the first thing that comes to your mind? That's right! It's the Sydney Opera House! I was able to make a booking to see one of the classical music orchestra to further expand my classical music exposure. Sadly, during my stay in Sydney, there weren't any piano concertos or performance held so I went for the next best option: Wilton's Belshazzar's Feast. I attended this orchestra during the night with a little skepticism since I am more interested in piano performances. The whole performances has two acts: the first act is Halleluja - Oratorium balbulum, a modern 2015 piece by Peter Eotvos that talks about prediction; whereas the second act is highly anticipated Wilton's Belshazzar's Feast. Sadly I did not enjoy Halleluja as it was more of a 'show performance' rather than a 'musical performance', and I really dislike how they just simply time-skip the story from the past to 2001 to the future and then back and forth again. This performance's main theme is mostly about philosophy about our life and while I thought the ending is cool with everyone on stage ended not nothing a single muscle in the dark, but I still think it was underwhelming. After a quick 10 minute interval, the performance for the second act starts. As much as I would like to describe how I feel, I am simply powerless to express my experience. All I could say is that I was completely absorbed in the music, so much so that it felt it I was at Babylon, watching the enslavement of the Jewish people and the celebration of King Belshazzar's grand feast celebration. It was truly amazing. After the performance, everyone (me included) can't help but keep applauding at the brilliance of the performance that we've witnessed. The standing ovation lasted for more than 10 minutes! Simply bravissimo! I am glad that I was able to witness such an amazing choir orchestra and was satisfied with my trip in Sydney. You must simply attend an orchestra if you've visiting Sydney! I also did have a good time in Sydney as I managed to stumble upon a public-use piano and play a piece. It was fun but man, I seriously need to get over my shaky fingers. I'm just glad I have the courage to performance in public and I should be proud of it as I am expecting to do more public performances in the near future.

My Sydney lasted for a week, and despite my effort to make it a tireless trip, I came back home exhausted. I won't deny and say that I absolutely miss playing piano, so I make an extra effort to make sure to practice more than usual. Last week when I attend my class, my teacher decided to drop another surprise on me. He told me that I will not be doing my ABRSM Grade 5 practical exam next year due to time constraint. Hurray! But.... I will be doing ABSRM Grade 6 practical exam two years later, in 2019 whereas next year I will be doing my ABRSM Grade 5 music theory exam. What the...? Why...? Nevertheless, I am glad the stress has been lighten a little since I will not be preparing for a practical exam next year, but it's Grade 6, man! Grade 6! It's miles more difficult than Grade 5 and I'm not even sure if I have the confident to do well this time. It seems my teacher is confident that I can perform well for the exam, so I guess I would have to place my trust in him. So to start preparing for Grade 6, I have increase my scales practice from 3 octaves to 4 octaves, and have also started practicing Minor Melodic Scales. Maybe I'm insane, but I actually do enjoy the increase difficulty in learning more difficult stuffs in piano (must be the effect of playing Shogi, since I enjoy playing against players way stronger than me. I strive on pressure. lol) . My teacher even took the liberty to start my journey with Bach's songs, and I can tell you that it was insanely difficult. It was suppose to be a normal crochet legato but I'm suppose to play semi-staccato. What the heck? I don't get it but I guess I'll just have to grit my teeth and bear it. It also certainly doesn't help that my teacher would want me to start learning new sonatina pieces which I'm pretty confident to say that it's a grade or two higher than my current level. Strangely this time, I enjoyed the challenge, but I'm sure I'll performed terribly initially. lol. At my current schedule, I am learning 4 new pieces of music each week and it was insane. I'm glad to see that I've improved but man, there's so many things to learn in a week! Your confidence in me is too high, teacher!

Anyways, I can't believe there's so many things to write. I just kept typing and typing and my fingers wouldn't stop. I'm pretty sure there's more things that I would like to talk about, and I guess I'll leave it to next time. Sorry about the huge gibberish and mess I've typed here because I was just so excited talking about everything here. I know I promise to post a video of my performing Clementi's Op 36 No 1, and I'll try post it once I've further polished myself with the music. Anyways, see you all next time!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito