So it's one of those days where you have all the time in the world to do stuff, but nothing really gets done. More time is spent thinking about what to do than doing what you are thinking. I have another month and a half before I start university again, so in the mean time I have my job at the music school (starting next week), and my private tutoring at home. I also have many things which I would like to eventually record, but when you are a one man band its not easy to come up with each and every part on your own. But i guess if there is ever a time when I will actually have the time to record these things, it is in these 1 and a half months before Uni. I've heard that the second year of University is a lot harder than first year, and that finding time to fit in study and a part time job is hard enough. Guess I'm going to have to figure out some way to squeeze in practice for my grade 8 AMEB and my general recordings and songwriting for youtube into my study and work schedule so wish me luck.
During these days when spend most of the time thinking, I often wonder what kind of music I would like to create. Or, if I ever made it as a musician: what kind of music would I be playing? I guess i ponder over this because I appreciate all sorts of music and love playing all genres. And when I find myself writing stuff it is never consistent with a certain genre. It ranges from Pop Vocal Music - to New age world music - to classical - to easy listening acoustic - to theatrical sound tracks. I mean you can understand how I am in a bit of a musical identity crisis. It is frustrating at times, but at the same time it leaves my options open. If I fail in one, I have several more styles to try. So slowly you might see different sorts of music appear on my youtube channel, and you might think 'what is he playing....?'. But really I am just giving everything a go. Cause I ain't going to know if anyone likes any of my music unless I put it up right? I'm aware that I can't make everyone happy with my music, but the way I see it is: if your music has at least made one person smile, one person happy, or is enjoyed in someway by at least one person, then the effort was not a total waste, and plus you can at least say you tried.
That's all for now till next week.
Jesse Liang
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
On the Way Home
I'd have to say I'm still very much in the holiday mood. You know - enjoying the freedom, not having a schedule etc. When I return home I will still have another month and a half before I start Uni so my 'holiday' itself is not necessarily over when I return in a few days. I was lucky enough to get a part-time subcontracting job at a music school teaching for the remainder of my holidays which will give me time to look for other jobs. Well I teach privately as well but with the amount of petrol I use and the amount it costs, one job just isn't enough sadly.
I intend to play more gigs as well as they pay quite well, but honestly, I didn't realise how tiring it would be until I started a couple months back. I played a 3 hour Latin/Flamenco duo with a friend and by the end of it, well.. I've actually never been so tired of playing guitar. But I guess that's part of the job sometimes, you just gotta push through and enjoy the music even if it is not exactly what you feel like playing. That being said, the gig went pretty smoothly. The wedding that I played at last sunday (unfortunately no video) went pretty well too. It kind of helped that everyone was talking and not staring at me as I could just relax and play as if I was in my own room - which is where I usually play best. I have a feeling it is the same in most forms of art, that we (as artists) perform best when we do not think about what we are playing/saying/singing. We just appreciate the moment, and enjoy the music for what it is, to grasp and acknowledge the intrinsic value of our instruments and music. In many school performances I regret being on stage and constantly worrying about what other people were thinking about my playing. I found those performances were the ones I was least happy with. Then there were the times where I was carefree, and even though I made a few undesirable noises and hiccups, the 'performance' itself was far more enjoyable. Because I hold this philosophy of music I deeply admire Tommy Emmanuel. Not only are his pieces reflections of something beyond this world, when I watch him perform, it is almost like he and his instrument are a single entity. The passion he exerts, the feeling he generates, in combination with the virtuosic playing create something beyond words. Something I wish I could replicate. But as they say - 'The Journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step' and I guess so does the practicing.
Jesse Liang
Thursday, December 30, 2010
First Blog
So this is the first time I've ever done something like blogging so sorry if i'm not really up to date with how things work but i'll give it a go and hopefully work it out. I guess mostly I'll be writing to update people on how my music is going, where I am at with songs and studies, and sometimes just to simply entertain my thoughts in writing. I guess in reading my blog you'll learn a bit more about my thoughts, philosophies and personality towards music - that which might not be expressed in my music or videos. I don't really expect a lot of people to read my blog as it is much easier to just watch a video of me playing; however, even if just one person finds this the slightest bit interesting then it will not be a total waste of my time.
Anyway, to actual blogging stuff.
I'm actually in the middle of a month long holiday overseas in singapore and am scheduled to play at two weddings in the next two weeks. It's nothing big, just helping out a couple of friends, but its a chance for some more stage experience. During a recessional at a wedding I played at back in Aus, I didn't realise until I started playing how nervous I would become. As I started to play the intro to This Old Love (Lior) I kinda became a little stiff. I figured it was because of the fact that it was a girl's wedding day and supposedly they are supposed to be 'perfect'. I was concentrating hard to not even play a note 'un-nicely'. In the end I got through the song easily enough (it's really not that hard) and everyone was happy. Guess I'll be that little more prepared for these next two weddings. I'll let you know how they went, and if possible i'll try to record my solo performance in one of the weddings so stay tuned.
I only have my acoustic guitar with me in Singapore, but it is enough to right down ideas and come up with melodies. I constantly have my iphone with me so when I'm playing and come up with something I like, i can record it then and there. I think too many times I've let a good tune/melody/set of lyrics slip away just because I couldn't remember what I had written. In terms of my next video, I'm still working on the actual song. It will be my first original piece I will have uploaded so I'll be a little nervous to see what people think. It is (at least so far) just a short simple acoustic instrumental piece that I came up with one day sitting on a bench outside. It isn't extremely technical, just a simple piece I thought I would use as my first original to upload on the internet. I have countless song ideas and pieces that i would eventually like to complete and show people, but i have realised over this year, that it really isn't easy to write music you like, let alone music that other people will like. Especially when it is an electric piece and I have to come up with a backing track as well. Those pieces will take a lot more time and effort but I will make it a point to eventually have them completed and uploaded for people to listen to.
I don't know if this was too long for a blog or not but hope it was okay to read at least on some level.
If you are one of the people who actually read the whole post, I will be trying to post a new blog every week so come back later on next week to read my new post.
Till next week, hope you have a Happy New Year
Jesse Liang
www.youtube.com/user/JesseGuitar07
http://www.jesseguitar.com
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)