MUSIC VIBES
The Lazy Practitioner.
I started playing piano from 3 years old. Yet I was lazy. In my youngest ages I struggled to get the hang of the joy in playing music, especially when spending time practicing the basic skills. I felt dreary.
At the age of 9, I started playing the horn. In fact it was a more thrilling experience compared with playing the piano. Why? The Horn produces sound through the vibration of the lips, which in turn vibrates the entire instrument. You can never be entirely sure how your lips will vibrate; a blister on your lip could ruin an entire solo piece. But this is exactly why I love the horn so much — it embodies so many possibilities. You could never guarantee a 100% success rate, just like our life.
Awkward pics. Won’t you agree?→
Fortunately, when I started practicing the French horn, I was old enough to grasp the sparkling bits in works of various composers. I began to enjoy classical music, including works by Mahler, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, etc. There was a period during which I was honored to serve as the principal horn player in my school’s symphony orchestra. Together we performed some truly amazing pieces.
However, I always felt that I should practice more. As a practitioner, I was always too lazy. Perhaps I would never be a professional horn player, but I can say with certainty that I deeply love this instrument.
←Our horn section at school, 2021
“Ode to Joy”,
played remotely with love.
A video that I produced during the pandemic in 2020. A very memorable experience that we would all treasure. Was very honored to play in it and edit the whole video.
Special Thanks to everyone who participated.🙏
Short clips.
Just for fun.
On the right is a video of me playing an excerpt from Beethoven Symphony No.7. I played the two parts individually then synced them together. Over the years I recorded various videos of my friends and me playing together. Click below to see more.
Live recordings at concerts.
On the left is an excerpt from Stravinsky’s piece The Firebird, played by my school orchestra. I acted as the Horn principal in it (sorry for the nasty mistake in my solo😭). In fact I was lucky enough to find some recordings at concerts where I played with my orchestras, though not much. Click below to check them out.
Precious moments.
Captured with care.
Over the years, I’ve met many amazing people in my horn career. They have given me endless inspiration in both my sense of music and everyday life. Here are some of them.
