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After semesters of reviewing for the board exam and another couple of months being a Facebook addict, I finally got in the mood to plug in my Yamaha DGX305 Keyboard and put into rigorous exercise these 10 lazy fingers.
I'll admit, it felt so refreshing playing again after some time. Playing the piano (well, technically it's a keyboard but I almost never put the other sounds into use because I'm a classically trained pianist and mixing techno beats into my pieces were never my thing) almost always makes me feel sort of beautiful and talented even though I know there are tons of people better than I am in manipulating musical keys.
So, there I was, my hands feeling all foreign and out of place. I played Canon in C for warm up like I always do (I don't know why when I should always start with my scales). After a few bars I got lost so I switched to its (key of) D counterpart. Again after a few seconds I forgot what came next.
Frustration was what eventually came next. Pieces that I worked so hard on learning (by notes) and memorizing were now lost in my subconsciousness. I still have the music sheets, but still, playing from the sheets and from memory are two very different experiences. One's very tiring and complicated while the other's quite enjoyable. Guess which is which.
Anyways, long story short, I got out my copies and starting to re-remember (because I've forgotten and relearned them so many times) those pieces that I love and will always love. Some of them I'll list here, starting with the piano version of Numb by Linkin Park.
As crowded as the notes may seem on the page, in reality, it's not that complicated. My left hand only has 4 task. To repeat arpeggios of D, Bb, C and F, respectively. To those who don't know the original song, it actually can sound boring because it's so repetitive. But what I especially like about this piece is that it gives the listeners an impression that you're one heck of a piano player because you played a whole rock song with only your 10 fingers.
My warm up piece, Canon in C, from the Korean smash hit movie My Sassy Girl is one and will always be one of my favorites. My inspiration in learning it came from this scene (see video above) from the said movie where the lead guy discovers that his brutal and sadistang girl friend can actually play the piano. Again, piano, to me has always been the greatest, most romantic instrument ever invented. Cue in the Rose Ceremony and the wisely placed audience and you've got a kilig scene ready for the hopeless romantics.
Last but not the least is the heartbreaking and haunting theme of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled Close Your Eyes by Christophe Beck. It's the ultimate Buffy and Angel love theme first played in the background in Buffy's Season 2 Ender where she has to kill the love of her life to save the world. Well, it's a lot cheesier when I put it that way but believe me, the show's much much better and after years of being cancelled, fans are still rallying for a reunion show, spin-off, cartoon etc. Even I can't still get over it.
This piece, unlike the others, just gets better and better whenever I play or hear it. Sometimes, when I study a piece, no matter now much I liked it in the beginning, once I practice it over and over again, eventually, I grow sick of it and lose interest. Close Your Eyes is definitely not in that category.
With forgotten themes and songs now slowly inkling their way back into my consciousness, the search for the next piece is on. Hopefully I can study as much as possible while I'm on "useless mode" here at home with a college degree but a non-existent career. Ha.
I'll admit, it felt so refreshing playing again after some time. Playing the piano (well, technically it's a keyboard but I almost never put the other sounds into use because I'm a classically trained pianist and mixing techno beats into my pieces were never my thing) almost always makes me feel sort of beautiful and talented even though I know there are tons of people better than I am in manipulating musical keys.
So, there I was, my hands feeling all foreign and out of place. I played Canon in C for warm up like I always do (I don't know why when I should always start with my scales). After a few bars I got lost so I switched to its (key of) D counterpart. Again after a few seconds I forgot what came next.
Frustration was what eventually came next. Pieces that I worked so hard on learning (by notes) and memorizing were now lost in my subconsciousness. I still have the music sheets, but still, playing from the sheets and from memory are two very different experiences. One's very tiring and complicated while the other's quite enjoyable. Guess which is which.
Anyways, long story short, I got out my copies and starting to re-remember (because I've forgotten and relearned them so many times) those pieces that I love and will always love. Some of them I'll list here, starting with the piano version of Numb by Linkin Park.
As crowded as the notes may seem on the page, in reality, it's not that complicated. My left hand only has 4 task. To repeat arpeggios of D, Bb, C and F, respectively. To those who don't know the original song, it actually can sound boring because it's so repetitive. But what I especially like about this piece is that it gives the listeners an impression that you're one heck of a piano player because you played a whole rock song with only your 10 fingers.
My warm up piece, Canon in C, from the Korean smash hit movie My Sassy Girl is one and will always be one of my favorites. My inspiration in learning it came from this scene (see video above) from the said movie where the lead guy discovers that his brutal and sadistang girl friend can actually play the piano. Again, piano, to me has always been the greatest, most romantic instrument ever invented. Cue in the Rose Ceremony and the wisely placed audience and you've got a kilig scene ready for the hopeless romantics.
Last but not the least is the heartbreaking and haunting theme of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled Close Your Eyes by Christophe Beck. It's the ultimate Buffy and Angel love theme first played in the background in Buffy's Season 2 Ender where she has to kill the love of her life to save the world. Well, it's a lot cheesier when I put it that way but believe me, the show's much much better and after years of being cancelled, fans are still rallying for a reunion show, spin-off, cartoon etc. Even I can't still get over it.
This piece, unlike the others, just gets better and better whenever I play or hear it. Sometimes, when I study a piece, no matter now much I liked it in the beginning, once I practice it over and over again, eventually, I grow sick of it and lose interest. Close Your Eyes is definitely not in that category.
With forgotten themes and songs now slowly inkling their way back into my consciousness, the search for the next piece is on. Hopefully I can study as much as possible while I'm on "useless mode" here at home with a college degree but a non-existent career. Ha.
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