September 9th, 2019
Investigation:
I decided to join and audition for the High School Chamber Ensemble because of two things. One was that I was interested in it and wanted to try something new. The second reason was because of my hopes for joining the jazz band. Although I can already play a few instruments such as the cello and piano and could perhaps join the jazz band playing the piano (as I already can play really well and have played jazz pieces before), I wanted to join the jazz band playing a more interesting instrument. Last year I started playing the double bass and since I am a quick learner (due to my previous music experiences), I am already fit (and have been accepted) for the high school chamber ensemble. I do not have time for the Jazz band right now, or at least during their audition and rehearsal times so I have decided to start with this ensemble for hopes to be better at playing the double bass and possibly be able to join the jazz band on one fo their performances as a bassist (my orchestral conductor and organiser of the chamber ensemble plays the double bass and sometimes plays as a sub in for the jazz band (since there isn’t anyone playing the double bass at the moment except those playing the electric bass) which means that I could work with him to reach that goal).
Preparation:Â
During today’s session, we introduced to each other and started on play two pieces, one a Beethoven piece and the other a Romanian folk dance. My role is to play the Double bass and to provide the rhythm and overall accompaniment to both pieces. Since the double bass is a relatively new instrument to me (although I am still able to play the pieces below), this will be a new experience for, as well as a new experience as I have never played in a chamber ensemble before. In order to develop this unfamiliar experience, I have prepared along with my conductor (who plays the double bass) to have ITP (Instrumental Teaching Program) to practice on the double bass. ITP is also a new experience of which I have not taken before.
In addition, I find it quite beneficial to work in an ensemble, especially with a double bass being a new instrument as I can listen to what the others are playing and maintain the same tempo and feel of the music. Since all of us are very good musicians, it was quick enough for all of us to start playing these pieces. However, it is a challenge to know what to listen for and being able to both collaborate and work together as musicians while still maintaining good articulation and style of one’s own instrument. So there is a bit of juggling with playing in an ensemble.
Below are the two pieces we have started working on:
 
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———————————————————————————————–September 27th, 2019
CAS Audio Conversation Reflection
October 14th, 2019
I have had a few ITP lessons with my orchestral teacher who plays bass and I have played a few exercise pieces such as these below:
These are quite easy, but they are a good way to work on my articulation and bowing, as well as fingering, to be more prepared and confident when playing the difficult pieces in the ensembles I am in. Also, by being more confident in the playing I can focus on other techniques as a musician and will have an easier time at the following tempo and learning new pieces. I will be soon working on a bit of Jazz. In a way, this is quite vital for me to do this as the bass is still a relatively new instrument.
In the Chamber Ensemble, I have been continuing to work on the Romanian Folk Dance which bowing, articulation and rhythm are all quite difficult. This will be the areas I will be practising on. 
November 4th, 2019
Today, I have been working on jazz including simple walking bass lines and walking blue’s lines. I have been doing some individual study in the walking bass lines and some of the jazz pieces (and even some rock pieces) that I play on the piano have similarities in the jazz I play on the double bass. Jazz is just a simple (sometimes complicated) skeletal structure in which musicians can improvise and play along. On the piano, when I improvise, it is all about following the chord structures or the main chord on the piano. For instance, when I play Green Onions (which is not jazz technically but has elements of it), I play around the F minor blues scale. When I play the double bass, I look at the chord that is currently being played and then play the notes in that scale. Sometimes I go up chromatically and sometimes I go up or down arpeggios and major notes in a scale. Also, by playing the double bass, I have been able to acquire more knowledge in jazz but also become more confused about what jazz really is.
Source: Louis Armstrong Quote. (2019). A-Z Quotes. Retrieved 5 November 2019, from https://www.azquotes.com/quote/10818
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January 13th, 2019
Today, My orchestra teacher and I noticed that my posture for holding the bass or rather when playing notes was off and possibly due to my wrist injury I created a new habit of playing wrong., so something that I will be working on for the next few weeks is developing my playing skills especially my hand posture and sustaining notes. After trying the correct posture I noticed that I came closer and closer to the bass and was not relaxed so it will take time.
This week we have been working on Capriol by peter warlock and And is a very famous and rememberable tune that I’m sure most people recognise. .We were going to play this in the orchestra a few years ago and at the time I was playing the cello but know I’m laying bass and although the parts are a bit easy and different it is still a fun place to play, but the downside is that there is a lot of rest and one where there are about 30 bars of rests, making me feel like the brass section of the orchestra, just kidding.
Unfortunately, I am unable to participate in this activity anymore because of the New Coronavirus outbreak. The Singapore government and the school have put tight restrictions on performances and events with many people. So the concert in school and the Esplanade concert will be cancelled. However, the Esplanade concert will be postponed to December. Despite the bad news, we will have a relatively small performance in the Music Department for a few Middle and Junior school classes (they will rotate so not everyone at once) and we will play a few of the pieces in the symphony orchestra and perhaps the chamber music ensemble as well.
So far, both orchestra and chamber music has been going well. I have been able to keep up and balance with my demands from academics, yet still have intense but enjoyable sessions with the chamber music ensemble. We have even stayed after school for extra practices (usually after the orchestra because all of us lay in the orchestra. I am really glad that I pursued music as an after school activity here at UWC.
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April 20th, 2020
We are living in quite a unique time right now because of the COVID-19 situation and almost everyone around the world have had and are having similar experiences with COVID-19 such as working from home, school closures, lockdowns, social distancing and many other methods. In Singapore, we have had almost a complete lockdown where schools are shut down, non-essential business are closed, people working from home, mandatory mask-wearing outside and when outside, only for much-needed exercise and buying groceries. This, of course, will affect the organisation and our service in Solar For East but despite the Circuit Breaker (that is the name of the lockdown here in Singapore which was extended to June the first from May the 4th), we still do some of the work that we still can.
We had a meeting online with Google Meet where we discussed a possible performance online where we each individually play a piece and then put it all together so it becomes like a real performance, and share this piece to the wider UWCSEA community. This is going to be lots of fun but also challenging because we are going to have to play the same tempo and the same tuning otherwise it can go horribly wrong. TO solve this, we will all tune to A 440 and have the same tempo (headphones on so with a metronome and not disturb the sound of the recording). The piece we will play will be the Romanian Folk dance by Bartok.
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14th June 2020
The only thing we managed to do in this circuit breaker period is an attempt to record a piece collectively but that went horribly wrong because we started around the beginning of the circuit breaker period to record this, and only a few of us including myself actually recorded our individual parts. This was disappointing that nothing really happened, but hopefully next year, we might have a concert and perform or practice new pieces.
In terms of the whole year, the chamber has been an amazing chance to practice a new instrument and moving to different genres of music like Jazz. One of my goals for this year was to expand my musical knowledge and that was defiantly met. I even learned a new instrument and I am grateful for the people who have helped me and the opportunity to grow in many of these ensembles. I am most certainly going to continue this journey next year and Chamber has absolutely been so amazing every practice session.
22nd September 2020
In this chamber ensemble this year, I hope to develop my skills in the double bass playing both modern classical and classical music to enhance my music skills. In addition, I hope to be more active in my notes on music sheets, I tend not to write a lot of notes and thus forget and don’t actively improve sometimes, so my aim this year is to actively take down notes on particular sections of music such as outlining a rhythm or circle an important dynamic marking or writing down fingerings and bowing and so on. This will not only help me practice but it will ultimately help be more active and contribute more to the ensemble as I am not racking my brain for a particular thing my instructor told me two weeks ago about a particular section in the music.
I have a study to look at which will help me a lot with the baroque (Bach) piece as there is a lot of sixteenth notes and scales which is quite difficult to play quickly and articulately on double bass. So that is something that I will work on.
Besides, the other two pieces are fairly manageable and the Despedida piece (a Filipino piece with marimba) isn’t particularly difficult but has an unusual and confusing rhythm because of all the key changes. But since the rhythm repeats itself, just getting it in the head at the start of the piece will make the playing of the music a lot easier. The switch between 6/8, 2/4 and 3/4 seems daunting in the beginning but after a while, it makes sense and isn’t all that difficult. It is just about getting that feel which I will be working on with this piece.
This is an exciting opportunity to play the double bass again and in a style and setting, I am very familiar with. But despite this, there is a lot to be learned especially with the Bach piece which is quite challenging.
 
 
 
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31st October 2020
Today we had a recording session of the 1929 piece (above image) at school which we will then send to the school community. We would have played this piece in the Wavelengths concert at school but of course due to Covid that will not happen. We might have a chance to play at the Esplanade concert hall in February but so far not likely. It was a great chance to play with others and hopefully share this piece with others. During the practising and actuating recording, it was really important to listen to others, breathing together and making eye contact with other players so that we are all on time and play harmoniously with others. It can be difficult to focus on others and oneself but with practice, it makes it easier. It is a lot of fun to play with others because it adds more richness to the music and it is a lot more fun to play with others than individually. Like there is a connection between music and people.
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December 2020
Up to this point, we have been able to record the Marimba Concerto, the Price Quartet and the Bach Double despite the covid restrictions. It is nearing my end here with the Chamber Ensemble group and I have been ever so grateful for this experience, playing really challenging pieces with only strings and improving a lot on my bowing and playing higher notes on the double bass (new skill). The Bach double piece is a quick tempo and with lots of arpeggios and scales that can be difficult with the double bass, but I was able to overcome this challenge. I will continue playing for the chamber ensemble group next year and I will keep playing music and the double bass (as well as cello and piano) for the rest of my life. I have learned a lot as an ensemble and have made great friends as a result. This has honesty been a fantastic experience and a tremendous experience to share with the community the pieces we have been working on.
#LO2, #LO4