Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Long time since i blogged.
The main reason of blogging this time round is just some self-reflection that i had done about the band.
This is not and NEVER a barb directed towards the band, for all i am typing down this very moment is just some pondering that i had done on my own ever since i had stepped down.
First up, the morale of the band. If you ask me, im actually very glad that the morale of the band is still at its peak, and i do deny that some people say that the band spirit within the band has diminished. Constrastly, i think its growing, but the way that people show it may be different. It does not mean that you must strike your fist up high and start screaming at the top of your lungs "NHSB JIAYOU!" to be someone who have the nan hua band spirit.Others may express their band spirit in another way, such as supporting the band quietly and wholeheartedly, coming for practices on time, giving advice to people around them etc etc.
We do have the band spirit within NHSB no doubt. This then brings me to my next point i want to make. Even though we have the band spirit, do we have the discipline to strive for perfection in playing music and our parts? Discipline is a very important factor in how a band is able to perform well. Common discipline includes self discipline to continously brush up on ur skills for performing on an instrument, the discipline to place the band over all UNNECESSARY events, the discipline to turn up early and also ask for help when u are having problems with a certain passage(when you have mr tan around you,its usually no problem to solve it :O)
And for the most part of it, i do sometimes disagree about just putting a package with minor flaws in it and presenting it to someone else. If you want to give someone something, you might as well make it as perfect as possible. This is music. Everyone in the band should strive for perfection and settle for nothing less. If God ever made music to be flawed, then why would anyone bother to seek for it?Don't any one of you out there would look to a certain band and say in admiration,"whoa,that band is REALLY good!Hear their pitch awareness,their expression,all sui sui leh!"But how did they get there? By constant practice! Its not about having a concert tomorrow and u start rushing about trying to clear certain parts. If anyone in the band harbours the idea of just roughly playing through a music, then im afraid to say that the band will never be able to improve.
As people say, the standard of a group is equivalent to the weakest player of the group.If there is someone in the band who will not be able to meet up to expectations, the whole band will suffer just because of that. Take the percussionists, who are very important in ensuring the tempo of the band. If he/she screws up,the whole band is done for. Im not making a dig at anyone, just generalizing for the problem that im addressing.If you go into the root word band, to band is to group together. Or if u use it to address " a band of people" u should know that this people are banded together/grouped together. From what im hearing here, i dont feel that the band is that banded together in terms of the music that i hear. I heard many sounds sticking out of the band itself instead of hearing one whole song with different parts in it. It feels more like a mixture of sounds instead of one whole compound of sound, if u get the gist of what im saying(chemistry!) I dont think im in any position to give u all any advice anyhow,but its just me expressing my view,so don't mind me or get offended if i type anything. Im sure that mr tan will have many methods to help the band come together and play together. Just don't give up,retain that nhsb spirit and make nhsb famous!
is it me
Aaron
NanHuarian Clarinetist
Dotaer
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