Practice and Journey

By Belinda Yan
August 24, 2007

One night after class, Ms. Liu Weishan, my teacher, announced that we were all going to China next summer. When I heard the news, I was jumping with excitement thinking this trip was going to be so fun. I knew that it wasn’t just fun and games and that we would be doing a lot of learning and maybe some culture exchange.

So, this year, I must work very hard to prepare myself to be ready when the time comes. We, The Six Golden Flowers, are going to bring our music and perform for the people of China. Our trip will be exciting and the reason we are going is to exchange the ways of learning guzheng. For instance, how they practice? If they are effective, I might as well learn from them. I happen to know that the Chinese in China are very dedicated to their guzheng if they want to learn it. They will start from a very young age and continue as they grow. I heard that they practice 8 hours a day everyday and this much practice will probably have great results. The people of China have more of an advantage because wherever they go there will be guzhengs everywhere. Over here in the United States, the guzheng is not as popular but is getting there. I want to spread this part of the Chinese culture. Therefore I must practice harder to reach the level they stand on.

As for right now, I must practice harder on all the songs I have previously learned and songs I am working on right now -- all our group songs and solos too. I usually practice twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. On total, I practice everyday for about three hours. When there are certain parts that need hard techniques, I play that part over and over again until I get it. After a long hard practice, I feel like I’ve accomplished a part of something that contributes to a whole piece. This way, I am certain to do better each time. In the meantime, I will arrange some American song into guzheng music. This is great challenge. I am sure I can do it with my teacher’s help.

Even though I work very hard on my pieces, I am not the only one who works hard. My teacher helps me with everything she can and I would like to thank her for giving us this chance to go to China to have more chances to improve our stage experiences and to view other people’s work. I would also like to thank my parents for letting me go and supporting me on this trip. Without their help and support, I wouldn’t have been able to go at all. I am really looking forward to this journey. So, thanks to you all.

Lady Shaw Senior Center

By Belinda Yan
August 2, 2007

This was our first time performing at the senior center. It was new to us but soon we discovered many nice and fun-loving elderly people. The seniors were delighted by our wonderful music that we played for them.

I believe our best piece was Battling the Typhoon. Since we all played the same part, our hand and body movements were very together. It seemed as if we were one. Our beginning was strong and we attracted a lot of attention. Everybody immediately stopped talking and were all listening to our powerful rhythm. Though we were applauded greatly for our outstanding music, we "The Six Golden Flowers" always know that we have room for improvement.

As we played and smiled, the elderly would tap and clap to the rhythm. We received all kinds of smiles from them. I was very happy to see them so joyful. At the end, our last bow, two ladies and a man walked over to us holding a tray full of origami fish. They gave us each one to show us how much they had loved us and called for Encore! Of course, we thanked them for being so kind.

Overall, I thought we did exceptionally well during this performance. I hope next time we can do better and better. Also, without our Teacher, Ms. Liu, we wouldn´t be as good as we are today. She works hard with us on all the details and dynamics. I would like to thank her for being so good to us.

Experiences - 25th Annual Concert

By Belinda Yan
April 7, 2007

I was eager and excited to perform. After I had waited patiently through all the rehearsals and pieces, it was finally my turn. I expected myself to do a good job and to support the group. So, I walked proudly onto the stage with my head in the air.

We were about to begin Autumn Moon over the Lake, a song I had worked hard on to memorize and to create some feeling. In the beginning we did fine with all the dynamics and accents, but around the middle part of the piece it became a big mess of confusion. Somebody had messed up and things certainly did not sound right. My only hope was to try to listen to my friend, Wanda, play the second part. I heard nothing. She was so far away, I simply couldn´t hear anything. I tried to follow the first part but there was no melody, just a second part that repeated itself over and over again until Wanda caught on and saved the piece. I tried my hardest to listen just for her and I heard something but just a little and started to match up with her. Finally, the big jumble was over and we played the rest of the piece just as good as we had done in the beginning. I walked off stage trying my best to look proud, though I was not.

I knew that was the most horrible performance I had done. I thought it over and over seeing what made it happen and how I could have prevented it or at least continued on without the big mess-up. I was certainly not satisfied with myself and Wanda and I looked at each other with disappointed looks. The rest of the concert went on and I told myself I will not let myself affect other pieces because of this. I will continue on and enjoy the music and think over that later. So, the concert was over and we had arrived home.

The first thing I did was plug in the cable attached to the camcorder and flipped on the T.V. I fast forwarded it to Autumn Moon over the Lake and watched it at least 10 times. I asked myself In that situation, what would have been the best thing to do? I thought over all the possibilities and eliminated a few. With this new knowledge, I decided to apply all the data I gathered together. My final conclusion was to practice, practice, and practice.

Pratice Habits - Horse Carts

By Belinda Yan
February 9, 2007

My sister had gotten this song over the summer. When I had come back from my trip, she gave me a copy. I tried learning it by myself. It was hard and I went one note at a time. It took me a few days to get the hang of it. Day after day, my sister and I learned our parts and tried doing it in harmony. We had accomplished that, so we decided to go faster.

On that song, I would practice twice a day for three hours -- once after I came home from school and two hours after my parents came home. I would play for them. Sometimes, I kept making all these mistakes and it got really frustrating. I would be like Why can´t I do this? I strived to do it right and if that didn´t work, I would usually try again the next day when my mind was fresh. Later on, I made an effort to go faster and faster. Over time, I did. We started playing it more often in class.

A week later, something happened. On one particular night I decided to start memorizing the piece. I started with one line at a time. In the beginning it was quite easy because the first part of the melody was already familiar to me, but there was this one part that struck me. It got me confused with one of the parts in the beginning and I would mess up every time. Ok, do it slowly. I went little by little deciphering the difference between the variations. It was hard at first so I went over the hard parts over and over again. Gradually, I got more experience on the variations. It took me a couple nights but usually it would take me months.

Finally, I was able to play it fast and memorized. I was so happy!!!! OMG, I memorized it, Teacher will be so happy. Soon, I felt that I had put all my emotions and body movements into the piece. I created the dynamics by myself with my sister. It was fun teaching each other what we thought the feelings should go decrescendos, crescendos, volume, etc. When things didn´t work out and sounded horrendous, we would stop and figure out what we did wrong. These procedures made my improvements grow very fast on this particular song. I had so much patience and energy. I was confident of myself and still am. There are still more tiny details, but I can manage it.

My Recital Experience

By Belinda Yan

I was very happy to be at the performance, and I was sure I could do it and all. I was going to play "Little Bird" with my sister. I felt very comfortable about playing on stage. I was just a little bit nervous, not very much. They called us to go on, but I didn't know when to go on. My mom gave me a little push, then I went and my sister followed. We started to play. Our beginning was really bad, so that discouraged me in my playing and I knew that was going to affect the rest of the song. I tried to match with my sister and forget what had happened. A little afterwards, I began to enjoy the song. I started to smile and play the song how it was meant to be played. Soon, "Little Bird" ended. I was satisfied with how I did, but next time I know I can do better.

I practiced everyday. I kept on playing until I got that part just right. I had to make my piece smooth, so it would flow, the bendings, and the body movement is also part of the song to make it perfected. I moved with bendings. I know that without all the practice, I wouldn't have felt so comfortable and satisfied. If I hadn't practiced, I probably wouldn't feel so great or even enjoying the song.

Another thing was all the encouraging I had from my parents, friends, and especially my teacher. When I thought I really couldn't do it, my friends encouraged me and told me that you can do it and that you will do great. My parents encouraged me when I was at home practicing and I just couldn't do it. I cried so many times just because of that, but my parent's encouraging brought me through to the end. My teacher was the one who taught me the techniques, the beat, and the rhythm. She taught me how to make it more beautiful and the crescendos and decrescendos. Without all the encouraging and practicing, I don't think I would have been able to do this performance.