I got up early in the morning today and composed a lullaby. It's a long time since my last composition.
Brisbane's summer has eventually arrived. It has been rather bright after 5 am. Yeah, I don't need to copy or imitate those stage performers. As an amateur musician, I can develop my own style, the style that is suitable to play at home for self entertainment. Maybe this is what literati music should be like.
Yesterday I drew a picture of mum watering her veggie patch in the garden. The hard part of it is the water. But I finally thought of a way to do it. The secrete is colour contrast, which means to make the area outside the water stream darker.
Yesterday I painted a picture about the boys playing painting in the garden. It was not bad though many places still can be improved. The small size dip pen is necessary.
Using a clothe to surround the strings can mute the guitar to most extent. It is a good way to practise in quiet environment. I don't think playing with finger tips is a problem at all, especially I want quieter sounds. It also provides a level of flexibility to touch the strings. I don't have to copy others' techniques as I can develop my own ones.
It is not hard to understand why classical music nowadays not as popular as popular music. Music to most people is to relax and to be entertained. But normally classical music in a concert hall requires you to dress formally, sitting in a good gesture there for a couple of hours, being not able to chat or record, and listening to music often with a theme relating to those tough topics such as life and deaths, war and peace, and etc, making it similar to attend a lecture.
After I finishing lunch, I tried to feed my baby. But he refused to eat. I couldn't make him open mouth no matter what methods I tried. Then I gave up. "Let's play in the garden if you are still not hungry." I then bought him to the front yard. It is great to have a patch of shadow area near the porch. I gave the bubble wand to the child and demonstrated a bit for how to blow it or shake it. Then I passed the wand to the toddler and I myself then sat down on the staircases of the porch. I played the tunes on the guitar while supervising the child. How enjoyable it is.
I should stop blaming my instruments. They are all good for my purpose as an amateur player. Think of historical musicians like Abing. No matter how poor my instruments are, they probably are still better than the rugged Erhu of Abing. Different instruments have different pros and cons. It is just a matter of how you can master it.
I should always keep in mind that, as an amateur musician, I shall never try to achieve perfect techniques especially the hard ones. Instead, I should focus on developing my own voice -- expressing my inner world through a form of beauty, which reflects my own understanding of life.
While we were talking about this year’s winter being unusually long and cold, a storm came making many places flooded, and then it suddenly switched to summer when the rain had stopped. I think winter is the best season in Brisbane while summer is the worse. Though we can go swimming and to the beach in summer, it is really too hot. The sun rose earlier in the morning and fell later in the evening, and most of the day, it radiates the harsh sunshine to burn the earth. The scene outside the house is clean, clear, and beautifully filled with sunshine as if the earth has been painted with a damp brush for a transparent layer of golden oil. There is no lack of breeze but the wind is warm if it should not be described as being hot.
It is not suitable to be exposed to the sunshine for too long a period. This Saturday we hadn’t been to parks or beaches, and instead, we went to the nearby Kedron Wavell Club for lunch. I had a membership card for the club many years ago when I first settled in this suburb, but I’d lost my card for quite a time. I told to the receptionist and he was very nice and quickly printed a new card for me for free. We then walked to the restaurant inside the club and found a tidy and cozy table to have lunch there. The food was fine except the steak is overcooked — I chose medium as the style when making the order but the beef served looked like to have been at least well cooked.
The club is next to the library so it is natural for us to spend some time in the library before going home. Then in the late afternoon when the sun started to fall down, I mowed the lawn in our garden.
For my journey of music, I have recently purchased a few books of sheet music for Xiao and classical guitar, which should allow me to practice the techniques gradually and systematically.
I also bought an expensive digital radio. It costs me $99. Nowadays very few people listen to the radio. I remember that when I was in China around from 2017 to 2018, it was very hard for me to find a radio in stores. When I stepped into an outlet of electronic products, the staff told me they only sold television and radios in their mind had been outdated antiques. But it is not hard to buy one in Australia. The quality of the digital radio is superb.
