This is the usual scenario...when visiting relatives...or even bumping into an ex-schoolmate, which you've been trying to avoid, the minute you finished high school.....
"Oh...so...what are you studying now??...Engineering degree??....Gosh, you must be making good money in future!!"
"Business Management?...wow....what are you majoring in?".....
"Bio-technology?...that's great!!...How many years before you graduate?"....
And the most common that I've heard so far....
"Doctor?....Gosh...you must have been a top student in your school!!...So clever".....
Well, you get my point...
But its a different case for me....almost every time I visit MY relatives....or even when I tag along with my mom to visit her friends...
"Hey girl (some of the old aunties just can't get the hang of my English name, so to be safe, they just stick to the name "girl"...)...so what are you studying now?....Contemp-what?..."
"Contemporary music?....what music is that?...is that the same as classical??"
"Contemporary music, majoring in performance?....wow, how bad did you do in high school??..."
"Contemporary music...dude, why do you take such an easy subject?...you will have so much time in your hands, that you'll be wasting too much time hanging out in mamak stalls!!"...
"Contemporary music...erm...let me see....erm...erm...
.*blank*/*silence*.....
And the best response that I get....tops the list....
"Contemp music?...you don't look like one...Where are your piercings?...Tattoos?...Do you smoke cocaine?...Does mummy know?..."...(*are you kidding me??*)
So...Summoning the little dignity that I have left...I would just like to make a statement here...for the sake of setting the record straight....to clear all obscurity....and for venting out purposes, of course...
1. Contemporary music...DOES NOT only consist of pop songs....we DO NOT only play pop songs...which consist of an average of 3-6 chords, and 2 basic chord progressions....Contemporary music covers music of the early 1900s...starting from even Stravinsky and Aaron Copland...who are actually classical composers...Contemporary music consists of Blues music, Jazz music (Cool Jazz, Swing Jazz, Big Band Jazz...etc), Rock and Roll, Rock, Metal, Disco and Dancing Music, RNB...get the picture?.....
2. We, contemporary students don't get life easy as many people think....we don't just play music...we have to study them too...It really escapes my imagination...and understanding...as to what and how people perceive Contemporary music to be....they seem to think that we just crank up the distortion on the guitar, strike a few notes in beat and in pitch....that's music....but I do beg to differ...
a)...Learning music...be it classical and contemp (they are a completely different genre, by the way)...takes just as much discipline and concentration...like any other degrees would require....Unlike some professions like business management, Mass Communication...(No pun intended on anyone at all, as I said...its just my opinion)....students would have to bury themselves among their text books and do countless hours of research papers night after night....For us music students, not only are we suppose to produce research papers, but we are expected to practice our instruments every day....to make sure that we stay in shape...and even this, I fail to do, because I'm just so packed with daily assignments and classes...in fact, even as I type this post...it is 1:30am, 7th April '07...and I've just finished my Modern Band Ensemble final exam one and half hour ago...yup...thatz right...I finished class today at 12am....talk about having free time, eh?
b)...Music isn't only learning about notes....we also learn about the theory behind the music...learning to understand what and why the composer has written the music piece the way he did....and through that, we learn to compose our own music too...besides that, we have got to know the history of how music has evolved...we learn Aural Training...transcribing music....Band Ensemble skills....so, tell me...which part of this is easy??....Heesh....
Hey, Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying that studying to be an Accountant or even a Pharmacist is a piece of cake....but honestly speaking...studying music...Contemporary music...ain't any easier either...
3)...true, the market for Contemporary music in Malaysia is small...but that don't mean that its stagnant...we are all here to study music...for the passion of it...be it in teaching, arranging, composing, performing...or even in music technology....we will survive...well, of course...the bland fact of life, would be that....not all of us would make music as our life long career...but, heck...I'm learning something that I truly love....my life is defined and I'm happy...enough said....
4)...Learning Contemporary music don't mean that I need to DYE my hair green, mousse it up....pierce my nipples and my belly....nor get a dragon tattoo!!!...
Its just really frustrating....being labeled "bad" or even "lost"....or worse..."loser"....just because of they do not understand the very thing that I study....well...sorry, if they don't agree with my choice of career...heck, I'm not living for anyone...but myself...
"Oh...so...what are you studying now??...Engineering degree??....Gosh, you must be making good money in future!!"
"Business Management?...wow....what are you majoring in?".....
"Bio-technology?...that's great!!...How many years before you graduate?"....
And the most common that I've heard so far....
"Doctor?....Gosh...you must have been a top student in your school!!...So clever".....
Well, you get my point...
But its a different case for me....almost every time I visit MY relatives....or even when I tag along with my mom to visit her friends...
"Hey girl (some of the old aunties just can't get the hang of my English name, so to be safe, they just stick to the name "girl"...)...so what are you studying now?....Contemp-what?..."
"Contemporary music?....what music is that?...is that the same as classical??"
"Contemporary music, majoring in performance?....wow, how bad did you do in high school??..."
"Contemporary music...dude, why do you take such an easy subject?...you will have so much time in your hands, that you'll be wasting too much time hanging out in mamak stalls!!"...
"Contemporary music...erm...let me see....erm...erm...
.*blank*/*silence*.....
And the best response that I get....tops the list....
"Contemp music?...you don't look like one...Where are your piercings?...Tattoos?...Do you smoke cocaine?...Does mummy know?..."...(*are you kidding me??*)
So...Summoning the little dignity that I have left...I would just like to make a statement here...for the sake of setting the record straight....to clear all obscurity....and for venting out purposes, of course...
1. Contemporary music...DOES NOT only consist of pop songs....we DO NOT only play pop songs...which consist of an average of 3-6 chords, and 2 basic chord progressions....Contemporary music covers music of the early 1900s...starting from even Stravinsky and Aaron Copland...who are actually classical composers...Contemporary music consists of Blues music, Jazz music (Cool Jazz, Swing Jazz, Big Band Jazz...etc), Rock and Roll, Rock, Metal, Disco and Dancing Music, RNB...get the picture?.....
2. We, contemporary students don't get life easy as many people think....we don't just play music...we have to study them too...It really escapes my imagination...and understanding...as to what and how people perceive Contemporary music to be....they seem to think that we just crank up the distortion on the guitar, strike a few notes in beat and in pitch....that's music....but I do beg to differ...
a)...Learning music...be it classical and contemp (they are a completely different genre, by the way)...takes just as much discipline and concentration...like any other degrees would require....Unlike some professions like business management, Mass Communication...(No pun intended on anyone at all, as I said...its just my opinion)....students would have to bury themselves among their text books and do countless hours of research papers night after night....For us music students, not only are we suppose to produce research papers, but we are expected to practice our instruments every day....to make sure that we stay in shape...and even this, I fail to do, because I'm just so packed with daily assignments and classes...in fact, even as I type this post...it is 1:30am, 7th April '07...and I've just finished my Modern Band Ensemble final exam one and half hour ago...yup...thatz right...I finished class today at 12am....talk about having free time, eh?
b)...Music isn't only learning about notes....we also learn about the theory behind the music...learning to understand what and why the composer has written the music piece the way he did....and through that, we learn to compose our own music too...besides that, we have got to know the history of how music has evolved...we learn Aural Training...transcribing music....Band Ensemble skills....so, tell me...which part of this is easy??....Heesh....
Hey, Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying that studying to be an Accountant or even a Pharmacist is a piece of cake....but honestly speaking...studying music...Contemporary music...ain't any easier either...
3)...true, the market for Contemporary music in Malaysia is small...but that don't mean that its stagnant...we are all here to study music...for the passion of it...be it in teaching, arranging, composing, performing...or even in music technology....we will survive...well, of course...the bland fact of life, would be that....not all of us would make music as our life long career...but, heck...I'm learning something that I truly love....my life is defined and I'm happy...enough said....
4)...Learning Contemporary music don't mean that I need to DYE my hair green, mousse it up....pierce my nipples and my belly....nor get a dragon tattoo!!!...
Its just really frustrating....being labeled "bad" or even "lost"....or worse..."loser"....just because of they do not understand the very thing that I study....well...sorry, if they don't agree with my choice of career...heck, I'm not living for anyone...but myself...
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