Leading people is hard sometimes. I want to make everyone happy. I want to be friends with people I work with. I want to know about their family and friends and what they do when we don’t see each other; then, when they are not performing properly, I can be empathetic and we can have a real, gritty discussion. But this is not a blog about…read more
Music students raved about my personal techniques on cramming for a music performance, which I shared a while ago, and decorated it with the most fitting gifs. I’m a great crammer but I’m here to tell you it’s not worth it. Cramming is for emergencies only. When under pressure and stress (i.e. performance conditions) you will rely on muscle memory and it will take 100% of your focus to not mess…read more
Everyone wants to do something that’s awesome and cool and changes the world. But I’d argue that it’s enough to have changed the course of a few people’s days. That is more realistic, and to be honest, no one changes the world by saying they’re going to change the world—those ideas never work. People who really change the world have failed a few times and…read more
A phone is important for someone who is away from home. Your phone tells people that you are okay and having fun, even if you are in the middle of an overseas crisis. “Where are you?” People would ask. Hong Kong. Malaysia. Taipei. I picked destinations that were the most rewarding with the lowest empty-hype factor; I was tired of hearing about Beijing and Thailand and…read more
Maybe you have trouble keeping a steady beat, like me. If you have heard me play, you’ll probably know that I’m most comfortable with fast, expressive music—for a good reason. I can’t keep a beat in my bones. Left to my own accord, I can’t even shake an egg shaker with consistent accents (I tried, for 35 minutes in high school, until the percussionist pried…read more
Great performers know how to cram, but they don’t do it. Muscle memory, which saves you during a memory slip or botched performance, doesn’t develop in a heartbeat. However, if life and other affairs have taken its toll and your performance is coming up, here’s what to do:
The game is to guess where people come from based on their accents and more than half the time, I get it right. I love accents. The only person who correctly guessed my accent was from the US. The first time someone called out my accent, I was surprised because it had always been the other way around; I spoke standard English and everyone else had accents…read more
“You’re not on the guest list.” “He flew in from New York for his birthday. Can we come in, please?” We all look at him, saying “please” with our eyes. The bouncer waves us in. We mingle with the others in the loud music and strobe lights while I rest my legs for half an hour. We then try to hail a taxi but wander the streets…read more
These days, we use apps to learn intervals and the names of notes during the music lesson, and print books are published to educate teachers on how to teach with tablets. I’ve produced a technology conference or two and I believe in learning. But I don’t believe in technology in the classroom, and here’s why. We have it for the sake of having it. Screens…read more
In Asia, I had a lot of ideas for getting involved in music. A lot of them didn’t work. I had this idea for making a music video for a piece I wrote. But the piano downstairs was out of tune and the videographer went on vacation and I ended up just sending the sheet music to my rockstar email list. I also thought I could…read more