November 24th- November 30th

~Chamber Orchestra- this week was basically spent on practising for the christmas pieces as we'll be playing for Carols' by candlelight. Next week we'll be going through the gospel pieces which we'll be performing on the 15th for the music assembly. Things seem to be going pretty well now, and tuning and balance are acceptable, so i hope the performance goes smoothly.

~Musical- The practices this week have been more intensive and slightly longer than before. We've completed ALL the pieces this time, including a few that we forgot we hadn't done before, and we've also been practising with the cast so we now know when we're supposed to come in. Its all very fun and enjoyable, although Ms. Leong gets stressed quite often.

~Tutoring- Christine passed me the book, so i went through all the questions and took about 2 hours marking everything and writing notes. There're trends in the questions that she can't answer, so i'm planningto work on these and then just breeze through the other topics that she already has a firm grasp off.

~Old Folks Home- This week i accidentally fed the wrong person the wrong food. I felt really really bad but Ms.Tang made it a point to tell me that it was okay. I hope it never happens again, and i will be more careful next time and double check. Aside from that, we shaved a diabetics head today and Cheryl accidentally shaved off a stump of hair that left a small open wound on her head. We were all extremely scared, but again Ms.Tang reassured us and told us it was okay. i hope we're not making more work for her than we are helping. I guess this is one of the major issues involved in volunteer helping- goodwill but lack of experience. Hopefully with time, we will be more knowledgeable in the area of caring for the elderly. we shaved a total of 3 people this time, and it was again a ver pleasant experience.

~Piano- This week in lesson time i had to play in front of one of Saori's other students, and it made me really nervous so i ended up making lots of mistakes. Its good practise for the performance though, and hopefully by then i'd have practices enough to play with my eyes closed. So far, i've managed to get all the notes, but now i really have to put expression.

~Theory- There's no theory this week again.

~Solfege-I passed the solfege!! from now on we'll be doing Solfege III but its still the same time and same teacher. I'll be posting the certificate for Solfege II soon.

~ Reading Buddies- This week i read with Davika and i worked on writing with Oliver. He's a very interesting child and he can talk till the cows come home as quoted from Mrs. mackinnon. Due to his desposition to be verbose, he tends to talk more than he writes and has problems writing down his creative ideas. So my job this week was to work with him on his writing, and further weeks would probably involve me working on his grammar, spelling and punctuation as well. I really enjoy working with Oliver and he made my day.

~ Mentoring- my mentee told me that she wasn't going to be in school on Friday when i approached her on thursday to confirm the meeting and as it was too late to arrange another time, we decided to put it off next week. i might arrange to meet her twice next week to make up for the session we missed.

November 17th- November 23rd

~Chamber Orchestra- This week we went through the pieces for Carols by Candlelight. We've set the dress code to be black and white with something "interesting". I've also been promoting to the person who takes attendence, previously ms. leong. I have to learn to project my voice. We'll also be recording next week in chamber, so lets hope everyone practices and comes for the rehearsal.

~Musical- The practice on monday was really really fun, because we were working with the actors this week and its really interesting to be able to see the play taking shape. I must say that the actors have all worked very hard and I can already see that the pantomine will be hilarious. We've completed going through all the songs already, so now i think its just a matter of fitting them into the pantomine and figuring out where and when we come in. Ms.Leong's also setting which pieces will be played by Japheth and which will be played by me, so that solves the issue of who's playing what. We didn't have practice at lunch on thursdays and fridays as we had a programme, Extraordinary sounds, on thursday, and Ms.Leong went out for lunch with her music class on fridays.

~Math tutoring- Christine and i were still unable to meet up this week, because she had physio on thursday and i thought i had musical but it was cancelled because the actors are away at ISTA in Singapore. She still hasn't passed me any papers for marking, so i'll be going after her soon i suppose.

~Piano- I had an extra class this Saturday, and the performance is coming up soon. I really have to memorise everything and go through the notes thoroughly. I think i desperately need to practise more.

~Theory was cancelled as Wilson's still busy with all the jazz stuff. Solfege was horrible, because i really went deaf this week, and it was a TEST. I've been trying to figure out why, and so far i suspect its because i stopped my cello lessons. May be taking it up again soon.

~Old folks home- all three of us couldn't make it this week because we had musical practise. I called Ms.Tang though, to ask about the home and to apologise for not showing up. She said all is well.

~Mentoring- this is my new CAS activity. WE've been introduced to our mentees and my mentee is called Nikki. She looks very sweet and is very easy to talk to, although she seems a bit scared of me at the moment. She's very strong socially, and she told me she's rather weak in her sciences and her teacher said she's not very good at organisation. SHe also did a fund raising activity for the St.Nicholas home recently and told me about the bake fund that she organised. I look forward to getting to know her better.

~Reading Buddies- This week was my second week helping out with Ms. Mackinnon's class. it was really enjoyable working with the children. Last week i worked with Oliver and he talked excessively so and was an extremely good reader. I spent the whole period with him, becuase i didn't realise we were only supposed to read for ten minutes. This week i read with Lily, Jan Marco and Hey Gin. Lily is a pretty fluent reader, and Jan Marco is a bit weaker, with Hey Gin in between them in terms of ability. Next week we might be working with the children on their writing, because they tend to have really good ideas, but fail in writing them down on paper, and this is what we will help them with.

November 10th- November 16th

sunshine old folks home~ Mamee passed away on Friday. It was really... unfortunate and disheartening. The worst part of it is that we saw her deteriorate from a fussy and lively person till her final days. Its strange to think that i'd fed her just less than a month ago. Aside from that, we were allowed to shave Uncle CK's hair today, and we also helped to trim his eyebrows, nose hair and facial hair. This experience was very exciting and slightly nerve-wrecking because there was always the possibility of hurting him, but fortunately everything went well. Ms. tang also related to us the cases of two elderly patients who suffer from depression due to being neglected by their family. One of them was chewed up towels and bloated her large intestine with the threads. Following the operation, her bowels no longer functioned and the previous home at which she was housed left her on the toilet bowl 24/7 as she suffered from acute diarrhoea. Ms. Tang told us that she was under medication to consolidate the faeces, and also to manage her depression. I find this case very tragic. On a happier note though, one of the ladies seem to recognise me. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, because every time she sees me, she asks for sweets, but it feels good to be recognised. we've considered buying some food for them, although Ms. Tang has declined offers that we've made for fundraising and such activities. I think we should also bring another set of informal clothes, so we can change out of our uniforms and help in more physical tasks such as showering the residents and even cleaning the place.

Chamber orchestra~ practice was cancelled this week due to music forbissea

Musical~ The practices are coming along, and we are now rehearsing with the singers. I really feel like i need to practice more, and maybe spend more time coming up with fillers because my improvisation skills are not that well developed yet. I've also been allowed to play the glockenspiel and i really enjoy the tone of the instrument. There's another additional practice on Monday, so i may have to skip this week's old folks home session to attend it.

Math Tutoring~ i haven't been able to replace the lesson that we cancelled because of the musical rehearsal, so i've just told Christine to attempt as much of the paper 2s as she can manage, and pass the books to me for marking and additional notes.

Theory~ there was no lesson this week because Wilson's involved in the upcoming jazz festival and he's been busy with rehearsals but we still have our assignment to work on. I've had an idea so far, but i'll be working on it more first before penning it.

Piano~ we spent this lesson going through the pieces again, and she's asked me to work on memorising the pieces. We also watched some youtube videos and i've found that the menuet piece when played quickly sounds like an orchestral work but on the piano. Its pretty amazing. I've been practising my pieces more often now, and i hope i'll be fully prepared for the concert.

Solfege~ I really am going deaf. This week i failed the entire second piece, because i got lost and because the key was unfamiliar. It was extremely depressing and it put me down for a while, but i've got to keep trying. It's even worse because my sister's in the same class and she's doing much better than me, but oh wells. I think i'll go through the dictation again at home, and try to get accustomed to all the accidentals and key changes.

Suite Bergamasque

Prelude


Minuet


Clair De Lune


Passepied

Music activities

I've decided to add my reflections on music activities to this blog so here goes.
~Piano: I've started learning the fourth song of the Suite and Saori told me to research information about the Suite. Apparently the whole suite was inspired by a poem by Paul Verlaine "Clair de Lune", and although the original meaning of Bergamasque means an earthy Italian dance.

~Theory: wilson has asked me to extend my first composition for submission for an ABRSM competition thats searching for new songs for their new syllabus. He also asked us to compose a new piece that composes of about 4 or 5 sections, and i think that this composition is likely to take a long time. Theory lessons are also venturing into the area of improvisation, which is extremely handy in any music career.

~ Solfege ear training: there will be a test the next week, and hopefully i'll be able to focus on concentrate. I've also found that listening to music BEFORE solfege classes reduces my ability to hear the dictation. I think i'm going deaf.

November 3rd- November 9th

All CAS activities resumed this week following the midterm break.

-Sunshine Old Folks Home~ This week at the old folks home, i was greatly disturbed by an event that should not have occured. When we arrived at the home, we walked in and i saw mamee had a tube inserted in her nose. Upon asking ms. Tang about it, she told us that Mamee had had a stroke, and that she had not been admitted into the hospital because she was too old. I find this shocking and irrational. Personally speaking, the elderly SHOULD be admitted, precisely because they're old. This global issue of disregarding the health and welfare of the elderly population is one that is highly controversial. Some argue that spending resources on the elderly is a waste of capital. I however feel that the elderly should be given the very best care that they can recieve, and should not be discriminated against because of their age. Other than that, today i fed the teacher that Cheryl usually feeds, and we also spoke to this old lady in Mandarin. It was very encouraging to see that most of the people now recognise us, and its heartening to see their smile when i waved to them.

-Chamber Orchestra~ We sounded much much worse that our last practice, probably because of the slight hiatus. Tuning was awful, and the lead violinist wasn't around so the violin section sounded a bit lost, especially in their entry for 'Oh maria'. The one piece that still sounds good though is the beethoven piece. Ms. Leong asked for feedback so i said the bass was a little messy.

-Math Tutoring~ I feel slightly discouraged. Christine doesn't seem to remember most of the things i tell her. I'm not sure if maybe its because we're too familiar, or if she's unable to apply the same concept to different questions. I'll have to change lesson time too, becuase musical practices are now on a thursday after school.

-Musical~ Rehearsals with the singers are starting next week, and are going to be further extended. I look forward to the final show. The costumes and all are looking good, as are the props. I also enjoyed reading the script and going through some of the lines with Jack.