shades of grey.

Dear all,

at this time i would like to take some time to say a few words on the first concert in the 6th year of my learning guitar. [edit: and this could very well be the last time i will play in a concert with the guitar orchestra. theres going to be FOA, but then again, theres the IBDP exams.]

the guitar has been a great friend to me, together we went through exams year after year, made several good friends, tried to attract the attention of girls, even brought tears to someone's eyes. my guitar teacher has said that music is like a journey.. kind of like life. and through life there are ups and downs, joy and sadness [edit: , major and minor keys (hurhur)].

i cannot say that putting together this concert was an easy task. Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians that we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power to overcome struggles is from God and not from us. Even though we are hard pressed on every side, we are not crushed, perlexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. through this challenge of putting together a concert, and many other challenges i have faced before, i have been moulded into a better person. And so are all the guitarists you have seen on stage today. i would really like to thank my wonderful fellow senior com members, [edit: who are not here, but i'd like to thank them anyway,] Eugene, Andre, Ian, Edwin, Shaun Lim. your commitment deserves a gold with honours, the highest award possible at the SYF.

finally, the last piece i would like to play for you is English Suite by John Duarte, which i played for my atcl. John Duarte was a chemist. he only left for full time music when he was 50. despite only having little formal instruction on the guitar, his passion drove him to teach himself music, and he became one of the greatest music commentators of the century. music is relevant to everyone's life, whether or not you have a background in music or not. and that is why, in the words of guitarist John Williams, the guitar is so powerful, because it can '"get in with both feet" to the music that is going on in our and almost anybody else's society; and in a way that belongs to the spirit of what almost all people feel in music'. John Duarte wrote the English Suite for Andres Segovia on his wedding, and is one of my favourite pieces. it has 3 movements (please don't clap in between movements), Prelude, Folk Song, and Round Dance. [edit: my piano teacher once said that if you play a slow piece really really well, you can put the examiner to sleep, but try not to lah.] so please sit back and enjoy the rest of the concert.

posted by guitar123 @ 9:29 AM 0 comments

so.

our guitar concert might actually turn out quite good.

we'll see how tml goes.

posted by guitar123 @ 9:01 PM 0 comments

so. blogger doesnt allow underscores for blog addresses now.

anyways sch today was quite okay.. first time i went back after like.. really long. still terribly sick tho.

let's see if i survive tml.

posted by guitar123 @ 5:58 PM 0 comments

great. i just had to fall sick on the first day of school.

anyway it was kind of expected.. with the temperature fluctuations, not enough time to rest during the holidays and my sis coughing and sneezing all over the place.

not to mention the anticipated stress.

well it all has to come crashing down somehow. theres no way i could have finished all my homework with a guitar camp, a wedding, and a day out during the holidays.

and theres no way i will survive this week if i try to attend all guitar practices, practice guitar on my own for the solos for the concert, meet all the deadlines for homework this week, and recover my health.

something in my schedule has got to go. i wonder what that will be. hmm.

so i shall sit here feeling like crap and not do anything for today. haha.

posted by guitar123 @ 12:16 PM 0 comments

ya know i've just re-read my previous post and i found that all this is kind of meaningless. kind of like the meaningless of life Solomon describes.

Eccl 5:18 - 20:
"Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

i have enough of all this.

for the next practice, i'll just try to enjoy myself how about that. something that i havent done in a long time.

and its ready!! muahaha the piece for the year 6 item is ready, if we pull it off it will be a BLAST.

oh and by the way its a surprise. so pls try not to find out what it is if not the novelty factor wouldnt be as great. =)

posted by guitar123 @ 7:00 PM 0 comments

Dear GOACS

Dear GOACS,

after today, i have seen what Gold with Honours really is. even if i told you, you wouldn't understand anyway. the only way you would would be for you to be where i was today and watch the performance that joshua lim and i watched. Watched, heard, felt.

all i wanted to do was to do my best to get you all to play at the highest level possible. i'm sorry that i did not realise this earlier, when the problems were probably easier to solve.

perhaps its too late already. i can give no more pep talks to discipline you all already; they will just go in through one ear and come out the other, and would turn me into a bad guy.

since chances are that we wont win the highest award already, let's just try our best to give our all for the SYF. kenneth yeo, eugene, edwin, matthew, ian, andre, shaun lim, josh sum, shao wei, amos, shane, benlee, jon wong, john foo, lejon, jhan, timms, dalton.. we all have to play as one. demolish the apathetic acs pride and submit ourselves to create a unified sound.

i have heard the standard. and let me tell you that it was nothing short of perfect.

let's just put up a good fight. and then we can say with all our hearts that we've given our best. and then the award would not matter anymore, because we would be victors and recepients of the Gold with Honours award in our own right.

i know how ironic it is that whoever needs to see this will not.

so please, give me a reason to feel good about sacrificing my time, going through so much pain, and compromising on the technical prowess that i once had in the past year.


and to eugene, ian, andre, edwin, and shaun lim:
you all have, in your own right, won the Gold with Honours award already. thank you for your outstanding commitment. whatever the outcome of the syf, nothing will change that.

posted by guitar123 @ 9:30 PM 0 comments

i really do.

but maybe things just weren't meant to be. we'll learn from all this, thats for sure.

posted by guitar123 @ 6:11 PM 0 comments