Yesterday's mass was a success! Masses are always a success, but yesterday's mass was successful because :
1. the regular musicians were away and they got a lousy musician-who-is-not-fit-to-be-a-musician (namely, me) to play for mass and the session surprisingly went well, despite the minor mistakes (hopefully not too obvious);
2. the fact that I practised on my badly out of tune piano at home with piano accompaniment only to have to switch to the electone in church with electone accompaniment (and a model which I have never used before at that!);
3. I was given the score with the full chords at the very last moment, meaning I had to switch to the chords instead of the notes I practised with; and
4. my hands were practically shaking each time I played a tune as I have not touched the electone ever since I completed my Teacher's Grade about ten years back or so and my heart was going pop! pop! pop! each time it was my turn to play.
Overall, I received encouragement and compliments on having played well (which I honestly do not think so) from the rest of the church mates. So it was a relief at least that I did not mess up too badly and the songs sounded like songs instead of the "noise" which I thought it would be. I was told I will be playing again. Hopefully I will play better next time, but with more advance notice instead of two days before!
I guess the reason I was in the end able to formulate a decent tune should be thanks to the inspiration I got from Hugh Grant (incidentally, I never knew he can sing pretty well, and that he looks so good while dancing in tight pants, although there was a slight sample in Love Actually!).
I was astounded at the way he could just compose a tune like that, fitting Drew Barrymore's lyrics into the song. How I wish I can write a song like that too! Fit a song into a poem, or limerick, or just normal song lyrics. And the result is a smash hit. Of course Hugh Grant is not the one actually composing the tune (it is just a movie after all), but music composers and lyricists do work like this. Tune to fit the lyrics and the meaning, according to the singer's pitch. So if one is a good singer then the songs and lyrics will naturally be good for the voice to handle.
So far I have only tried one attempt at song writing, and that was only the tune, not the lyrics. I remember I attended a Music Composition program for students organised by the National Arts Council. I did not expect to be selected though, as only the most talented ones would get selected. I thought of just trying out so submitted my music and performing experience, and then when I got selected I was really happy!
The course stretched for four Saturdays, then a three-month break to work on our compositions, with a performance of our composed pieces after that. It was conducted by Professor John Howard, the then Dean of Music at National Institute of Education (he who trained the numerous music teachers and scholars), who taught us the aspects of music composition and what to consider when composing a piece of music. I got my inspiration from the songs I was learning then in my own music classes and completed my first composition.
It was nothing fancy, just a normal three-page compostion, with a simple tune, probably fit for just a Grade Three piano piece. The other compositions were much fancier, ranging ten pages, with lots of instruments thrown in, plus percussion aspects. I was rather ashamed though, but it turned out that the judges liked what I came out with as they commented that the tune was simple and innocent, very good for a teaching piece.
A year later, one of the organisers contacted me and said that he would like to have my composition to show as a teaching piece. I was really ecstatic! I was with my first ex then, so I told him the good news, and all he said was he could not believe I could come up with something that good. He had no musical background of his own except playing the guitar in church, so he told me to play him my composition.
After I finished playing, he told me that it was such a simple piece, how could anyone deem it good? And he tore my composition to shreds, telling me to add in this and that, to make it much fancier before submitting. Needless to say, in the end I never did submit as somehow I did not like what he came up with for me. And for that, I regretted it very much as I always felt if I had submitted, wonder what the song will be like now?
Ever since then, I never did compose anymore tunes. Somehow I seemed to have lost the inspiration and inclination. One of these days I should try another song-writing attempt, but that will be after I have all my instruments replaced, which will take some time judging from my current financial status.
1. the regular musicians were away and they got a lousy musician-who-is-not-fit-to-be-a-musician (namely, me) to play for mass and the session surprisingly went well, despite the minor mistakes (hopefully not too obvious);
2. the fact that I practised on my badly out of tune piano at home with piano accompaniment only to have to switch to the electone in church with electone accompaniment (and a model which I have never used before at that!);
3. I was given the score with the full chords at the very last moment, meaning I had to switch to the chords instead of the notes I practised with; and
4. my hands were practically shaking each time I played a tune as I have not touched the electone ever since I completed my Teacher's Grade about ten years back or so and my heart was going pop! pop! pop! each time it was my turn to play.
Overall, I received encouragement and compliments on having played well (which I honestly do not think so) from the rest of the church mates. So it was a relief at least that I did not mess up too badly and the songs sounded like songs instead of the "noise" which I thought it would be. I was told I will be playing again. Hopefully I will play better next time, but with more advance notice instead of two days before!
I guess the reason I was in the end able to formulate a decent tune should be thanks to the inspiration I got from Hugh Grant (incidentally, I never knew he can sing pretty well, and that he looks so good while dancing in tight pants, although there was a slight sample in Love Actually!).
I was astounded at the way he could just compose a tune like that, fitting Drew Barrymore's lyrics into the song. How I wish I can write a song like that too! Fit a song into a poem, or limerick, or just normal song lyrics. And the result is a smash hit. Of course Hugh Grant is not the one actually composing the tune (it is just a movie after all), but music composers and lyricists do work like this. Tune to fit the lyrics and the meaning, according to the singer's pitch. So if one is a good singer then the songs and lyrics will naturally be good for the voice to handle.
So far I have only tried one attempt at song writing, and that was only the tune, not the lyrics. I remember I attended a Music Composition program for students organised by the National Arts Council. I did not expect to be selected though, as only the most talented ones would get selected. I thought of just trying out so submitted my music and performing experience, and then when I got selected I was really happy!
The course stretched for four Saturdays, then a three-month break to work on our compositions, with a performance of our composed pieces after that. It was conducted by Professor John Howard, the then Dean of Music at National Institute of Education (he who trained the numerous music teachers and scholars), who taught us the aspects of music composition and what to consider when composing a piece of music. I got my inspiration from the songs I was learning then in my own music classes and completed my first composition.
It was nothing fancy, just a normal three-page compostion, with a simple tune, probably fit for just a Grade Three piano piece. The other compositions were much fancier, ranging ten pages, with lots of instruments thrown in, plus percussion aspects. I was rather ashamed though, but it turned out that the judges liked what I came out with as they commented that the tune was simple and innocent, very good for a teaching piece.
A year later, one of the organisers contacted me and said that he would like to have my composition to show as a teaching piece. I was really ecstatic! I was with my first ex then, so I told him the good news, and all he said was he could not believe I could come up with something that good. He had no musical background of his own except playing the guitar in church, so he told me to play him my composition.
After I finished playing, he told me that it was such a simple piece, how could anyone deem it good? And he tore my composition to shreds, telling me to add in this and that, to make it much fancier before submitting. Needless to say, in the end I never did submit as somehow I did not like what he came up with for me. And for that, I regretted it very much as I always felt if I had submitted, wonder what the song will be like now?
Ever since then, I never did compose anymore tunes. Somehow I seemed to have lost the inspiration and inclination. One of these days I should try another song-writing attempt, but that will be after I have all my instruments replaced, which will take some time judging from my current financial status.
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