Hi guys as you probably know I am your senior, percussion sectional leader and student conductor of the 09-10 batch. Few days ago, on Friday the 13th, I went to watch the concert. I was kind of inspired and perhaps you can even call it encouraged, (with no favoritism) that I actually had a junior in my section that learnt the instrument for 3 months and performed in a concert without breaking down. As for the concert as a whole, I would give no comment, as I had my own personal horrid experiences with rushed concerts (take syco’s july concert for example).
Either way, the concert is over, so let’s just forget about it. SYF is coming, and I heard that you guys are going to play this song called 滇西土風：阿佤山 . For convenience sake, I shall refer to it as ‘the mountain song’ in this essay. And as for what else I heard, our dear boonchai has actually chosen this song ‘because a primary school got gold with honours with this song’. Feedback by other juniors would go as far as ‘this song will never get us gold with honours’ or ‘I hope we get silver’.
It will sound kind of stupid if I am telling you that you are wrong and the correct mindset is ‘I can get gold with honours if I practice hard’ without giving you any further elaboration. Perhaps, if boonchai’s reason for choosing this piece as the SYF choice piece is solely and ultimately based on his perception that secondary schools have the same standard as primary schools, even I will think that he is being too naïve. However, I strongly believe that this song is of great caliber when you look beyond the techniques, and actually proceed into observing the minute details, while still obtaining a view of the song as a whole. Before reading on, I would strongly suggest you to listen to the HKCO (ranked one of the best Chinese orchestras in the world) recording Mr Law Mo Kwan found on youtube at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGj5IR2sGa4
So what is gold with honours? Using dictionary-style terminology, it would probably be defined as ‘the highest award received in performing in the Singapore Youth Festival’. While it seems that only the so-called ‘pro orchestras’ get it, I doubt most or even any of you, would understand what it means by the word ‘pro’. If you have decided on trying to obtain that ‘ideal standard’, with no idea what that ‘ideal standard’ actually is, then you have obviously missed your motive of coming to practice. I do not remember the rubrics that are used to assess us Chinese orchestras, so god knows what the judges look out for. After many years of music study, I have realized that there are too many things and as such too many ways that the rubrics can be shaped. There is no way to predict how the rubrics will be. It is good to know that, however, it is not impossible to get a good score for the rubrics without knowing it, as playing the song well would mean that all aspects are played well, and the rubrics can then be ignored.
Today, I will try to convince you on exiting the mindset of ‘no more gold with honours’, or ‘this song is lousy’. Otherwise, I hope that this essay could serve as a vehicle for me to let you appreciate more about the song, and help you gain a better understanding of what is the ‘ideal standard’.
Before I go into talking about the song, I would like to place some emphasis first on being an orchestra player. It is important to note that we as members of an orchestra to firstly, ‘not play like a soloist’ and secondly ‘do not play our notes as they are’. About ‘not playing like a soloist’, it just means that we have to constantly pay attention to other people playing while we play. Sometimes, we have to give way to others that have to play, and sometimes others have to give us the way too. The biggest mistake for an orchestra player, in my opinion, is that the person fails to understand that there are other players as well. Playing like a soloist, and trying to get attention even when you are not supposed to, is called selfish playing, which will definitely be disruptive to the orchestra in many ways. This is also the reason why many good soloists will make a bad orchestra if they fail to adapt to the situation. To play like an orchestra player is especially hard when the score is just received and you are sight-reading, but it gets easier as time proceeds.
The next part is the tough one, the part about ‘playing beyond the notes’. I had initially been stunned upon when I heard about this too, and it took me several years to understand what it actually means. Literally as it means, it is to go beyond pressing the right keys, playing at the correct dynamics and all the other similar basics of music. I noticed that beginners tend to have the mindset that ‘if I can hit all the correct notes, at the right tempo, right volume, I am perfect!’ or ‘if I hit one wrong note, I die because I screwed up’. While it is correct to a certain extent that you are required and even supposed to play the right notes at the right tempo and volume, please understand that that is not the end of the world. This is especially in the case of the first song on Friday the 13th, and I wish not to make any specific references.
What it means to ‘not to play just the notes’ is quite hard to explain. Looking back at it, I understand now why my piano teacher had such great difficulty in making me understand the concept of musicality. It really depends on the song itself. To simplify this to the max, the concept of musicality would be ‘to make the song sound nice’. In general, without a better step-by-step process that I can think of, we have to look into the smallest details, sieve out what the hell the composer wants us to do, understand completely, zoom out and look at the big picture, understand the whole thing, and try our best to apply it to both sides. This coheres with part one (do not play like a soloist) very well after you have made sure that you know your part very well. This is because the musical ideas of the whole orchestra need to be tied in very tightly. At any particular bar, anyone in the orchestra must know exactly how it sounds like, and work towards it in a way they call it ‘teamwork’.
Dynamic levels are written as guiding references toward how loud we should play, and not definite levels which we should play at. Loud should be played louder than soft, but loud may not necessarily be loud to you or to us, for the sole reason that dynamic levels are more subjective than definitive. What is loud to an individual may not be loud to another individual. We need skill in observing dynamic levels as we always need to refer it back in context with the song. For example, if a soft part is meant to create tension, the soft should contain the tension, such that it can be heard clearly, but still perceived as soft. However, if a soft part is meant to add colour to the song such that there is a thicker texture, it need not be played the same way as with the previous example. As a general rule of the thumb, we are supposed to ‘play softer’ when the particular part is not the ‘melody’, but we are supposed to ‘play louder’ when the particular part is the ‘melody’. This may not always be the case, however, once we explored different ways to play the song, and this rule of thumb is of course not applied when there is no real melody line going on. Going back to point one (do not play like a soloist), we must always collaborate with others to make an orchestra sound like an orchestra. I will elaborate further on this later on.
Going back to describing the song, this mountain song is obviously, describing a mountain. In any piece of programmatic music (or music that describes something), it is important to attempt to make it sound like what it is supposed to sound like. While this seems obvious too, I believe many of us tend to forget that the song is really describing a mountain. Why are there the syncopations, distinct note clashes or weird and short motifs? We have to think about why the composer wrote that particular part and the significance of it as a whole in general. With a bit of further research, I found out that the A Va Mountain is actually found in West Yunnan (this song is actually the first movement of the 3-movement symphonic suite describing the Yunnan province). This may not seem of much help initially, but since the composer is after all describing his impressions on this very mountain, we will have to take some notice of it.
How do we play the mountain song effectively? In music, there is a word called ‘interpretation’, which means ‘the way in which the orchestra interprets the score and makes music’. This is the term that differs why some versions of a song can sound nicer than other versions of a song. There will never be a perfect way to play a song, and it is left to the listener’s discretion to figure out which one he or she likes. Therefore, any indications on how to play the song can only be as good as suggestions, but not the hardcore rules of playing. As for how to interpret the song, this task is left to our dear boonchai, and I will not give my own viewpoints on how to play the song for fear of interfering with his musical ideas.
I can, however, give examples on how the song is played. For convenience sake, I will base examples on the HKCO recording (found above) and my observations on the cchmsco one on Friday the 13th. Do not say that this is an unfair comparison, as we are all trying to learn from our mistakes, and the more mistakes we make, the more improvement that can be made. Thinking in a reverse manner, perhaps you can think of it as the standard is ‘getting better’ instead of ‘from bad to good’. I understand too, that you guys are not playing the entire song due to duration problems, but I will just say everything that I can hear to serve as a reference (I do not remember the exact places our conductor has deleted anyway).
From 0:20 to 0:50, the syncopations have to be ‘loud’, not harsh, and the suona must still be clearly heard. The suona must maintain a consistent bright sound, and last through the whole passage with no injuries. Shortly after at 0:51 to 0:58, the 2 bam-bams must be totally synchronized. Should anyone in the whole orchestra miss it by a split second, it is considered a major screw up. The 2 soft bam-bams made by the chordophone (is that a sanxian) must be heard to the audience as soft, but still clearly heard and not weak. This can also be seen as a form of question-answer between the orchestra and chordophone, such that the chordophone mimics the orchestra in how they play, just softer.
The lonely sanxian dies down to the next section (at about 1:08), taken by the higher strings. This is a very long and evocative section, and dynamics need to be explored by the strings. The extended technique of instrument slapping (I do not know the musical term for making percussive sounds by hitting wood) needs to be concise and serve as an addition, not interference, to the strings. Tension needs to be felt in the whole section, so no parts should be played with the heart at ease. It is the kind of music that makes you freak out if you listen for too long. There is a very large build-up and it ‘climaxes’ at about 2:42. Do not be deceived by this, however, because there is still much more to come.
Again, the lonely sanxian brings about transition to the next section (at about 2:49). This section contains an ostinato made by the sanxian and lower strings. The ostinato should be persistent and should very much add towards the anxiety of the music. It provides the firm base for the erhus to make their development.
At about 3:14, the cowbell can be more prominent, but it must die down before the sanxian comes in. At about 3:20, the sanxian must be clearly heard, and it must sound the same as the erhu in the previous section, with only a change of timbre. This time, the ruans can be more clearly heard to form a thicker pluck-stringed base. (Anyway at about 3:39 one of the ruan players made a mistake hahaha)
3:44 marks the return of the erhu. This time, it is accompanied by the dizis. The dizis need to be very well co-ordinated and well-phrased, very much different from the slurs the erhu has been making. It is still not the main part, however, so do not play like a soloist.
This lasts all the way to about 4:18. The whole chunk of shit between 4:18 and 4:46 requires the whole orchestra to be extremely familiar with their scores. This whole mysterious section is full of surprises, so make good use of all of them. For example, between 4:26 to 4:29, the crescendo needs to build up very quickly. If I were to divide this part into seconds, I would place the crescendo on the 2nd to 3rd second, and end with a sfpp.
The real horror is brought out at 4:46, brought out by the orchestral tutti. We have to take notice that this whole section was taken from 1:08 onwards, so the whole thing is actually a very very big crescendo. Try to imagine filling up the room with sound, but not blast the room and wipe out the audience. It is supposed to be very scary, but not unpleasant to the ears.
From about 6:16 onwards is the best part. This is the time to build up as much as you can, and every effort counts. The real climax is reached at 6:36. From 6:36 to 7:22, it needs to be played with much grandeur. Notes need to be stretched as far as possible, and phrases need to be long and very well-phrased.
Everything else onwards has been mentioned at the front already. In general, soft sections are meant to build tension, and it gets progressively louder as the music goes on. It climaxes and it resolves (On a side note, it is kind of cool to see the old man jumping around at 8:37). We must never forget, however, that after looking at all this, this crazy song is describing a mountain.
There are definitely more things that I can talk about, but this is all I can think of after a few hours of listening. I would have to continue this after my ‘O’ levels when I have the time and return back to help in CO practices. Please remember that these are just suggestions, and should boonchai or any of your xiaozu teachers have their own ideas, follow them, if not it is considered an offence as you are not following your teacher’s instructions.
Driving away from these musicality-related references, I would like to talk about how to practice properly, and why people can practice so long without turning bored of repeating the same thing over and over again. As it is just shortly after the concert, you should be very familiar with your parts. By ‘fully familiar’ I would mean that you can actually play with your eyes closed and just by feeling the instrument and you can play the whole song from memory without any mistakes, at actual speed. Of course, that’s the ultimate level we hope to achieve, but we probably will never make it anyway because if it was me I will get tired of the song before I end up like this. The accepted level of familiarity would be that you can play the song fluently and be very sure of all the notes. To achieve this, we just have to repeat the same thing over and over and over again everyday and the result is achieved almost unconsciously. I hope this might make you discover something. Yes, you have to bring your instruments home. As for sheng, percussion, double bass and yangqin, sad news but... You will have to visit the CO room more often.
The common misunderstanding amongst beginners is that once a wrong note is played it is the most major mistake you can ever make. No, you do not die when you play a wrong note, and perhaps nobody can hear it anyway (I am sorry but this does not apply to percussion) so just continue playing like nothing has happened. I would like to speak up for the guzheng girl who played for us last year in the SYF. While it is true that she made some mistakes that seem obvious to us (just because we had played the song like a thousand times), no one in the audience actually discovered it (take the seniors for example) until we gave comment. This just goes to show that the song needs to be presented as a whole rather than the notes itself.
The next thing is about how to practice. The best way to practice is to start by playing slowly, and observe all details. How slow you start, is the most comfortable speed at which you can play perfectly (as in technical-wise). For a guide, usually for me, it would be at about half to a third of the actual speed, and in some special cases with the oh-my-god type of songs I would play it so slowly that I do not know how much it differs from the real speed (maybe one sixth?). Make sure that you remain comfortable though, as it will never be productive to try to complete as fast as you can. There will always be exceptions, like in the case of a snare drum roll. As I only know how to play the piano and percussion, this way may not be very practical to other instruments (take for example winds, who may not be able to hold their breath for as long), but I am unable to find a better way to practice. In such cases you will have to find another way, but keep in mind that the importance is still to maintain your playing in the comfort zone.
So why do we have to play it so comfortably when we need to play at actual speed during dazu practice anyway? While it seems boring and tiring to play it slowly, the reason you are supposed to be so steady is that you will have to try to observe all the details that are marked on the score, and make music out of it. If possible, try to find out what others are playing no matter if it is by means of looking at the full score or finding out during dazu practice. Also, during dazu practice, pay attention to whatever boonchai says to other sections when you are supposed to be playing. This is so as you understand what boonchai hopes to achieve in the orchestra as a whole, and fit accordingly without him needing to tell you so. Other more practical reasons would be so that the particular section can listen to the conductor clearly, or so that the process of explaining can be carried out more quickly.
About performance, try to watch more concerts and see how performers perform. Try to mimic the stance that you like and suits you, and apply it to all practices. This would be very useful in future, even after SYF.
Lastly, I would like to say that everyone in this Chinese orchestra has the so-called ‘musical ear’. It is up to us, however, to be responsible for our own music, and do whatever we can in an attempt to make music called music. I would recommend anyone not to try to digest this in a day and feel free to refer back whenever there is time. I hope the point is made clear that a lot of practice is required to make good results. Attaining gold with honours is definitely possible looking at the current situation. All the best for SYF next year.
Zi
P.S. I do not believe that joining CO is about SYF, nor is it important to the point whereby you die when you do not get gold with honours or you have completed your life mission after you get gold with honours and you can just go die. SYF is only important in assessing where our Chinese orchestra is positioned at on a national level. Just a personal opinion though, it is important nevertheless.
