4/28/12 06:15 pm - When I was a percussionist...
I went back to school for practice today, in preparation for the upcoming concert.
The things that I observed really upset me a lot, the juniors' attitudes, level of discipline, level of individual skills....
I'm really sad over the fact that young musicians nowadays no longer bother about basics. Honestly, to me, basics is everything. A percussionist is nothing without the basics and will only struggle with difficult songs that require their basics. I don't know about other sections but I know percussion well enough to say basics are really, really very important. Double strokes, roll, paradiddle, or as simple as semiquavers, no one can play it well without practising their most basic set of basics. I've been through 10 years of training to reach a level where I can roll decently, no one knows the hard work and effort I've put in, to train myself, and practise like mad, getting my finger injured, and then finally reaching such level. I'm not naturally talented, I'm not exceptionally pro, and to be honest, I'm not a very good percussionist, but people think I'm better than average is because I work doubly hard, for fear of people judging me as a lousy percussionist, I simply work hard and try to perfect my parts, my skills, my basics, making sure that I make minimal mistakes during combine. This is me, a simple percussionist, who simply works hard and uses her brain when playing music.
I find that young musicians nowadays join CCA because it's compulsory to join, and they play for the sake of playing. The lack of passion from them, makes me lose hope on them at the same time. To me, a musician is nothing without passion. You can't play your instrument well without the passion, and the love for your instrument(s), like how I always feel 'ouch' when people put an instrument on another instrument or use e.g xylophone as a table. I guess tkgssb has really influenced me a lot to treat my instruments well, and to have a certain level of discipline, that's why I feel so much towards this awesome band, a band with discipline and the right attitude (at least during my days there...)
Sometimes, I pity the conductor, or the section leaders, or the chair/vice chair, seniors... I mean, there's a limit to how much they can do, in the very end it's still down to the individual's attitude. It's hard and maybe right to say it's impossible to change one's mindset so easily, it's all down to whether one wants to become a better person or not. One can never improve on their musical abilities without improving on their attitudes first. Just my personal opinion.
Anyway, the conductor gave a long lecturing session during the practice and I really listened to everything he said, though it was seriously long. He's honestly my life mentor, someone full of wise words, someone whom I really respect a lot, someone I look up to, someone I'm grateful for. He shared so many wise thoughts with the orchestra today and I've learnt a lot from him. But I guess, majority of the students just switched off when he started the lecturing? Anyway, he said, it's easy to be a good person, just teach nicely, and you know, just let the students continue living in their lalaland. But it's our responsibility, to be the bad people, to be strict with them, so that they will improve. When I heard it, I honestly felt so much and I wanted to cry. As simple as it may sound, but it meant so much to me, and it was so impactful. True enough, I find it my responsibility to be the bad person, and I never believe that nice leader can succeed far.
What I always tell myself is, don't expect to be the one with the highest popularity in a band/orchestra, don't aim to be the one well loved by your batchmates and juniors, don't try too hard to be nice, just don't. I'm sure many people would disagree with me and my point of view about a nice leader cannot succeed far. Just let it be. I stand by it and will always.
所谓严师出高徒。
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