Friday, 9 January 2009, 00:08
Today we went on a... ROAD TRIP!!! Woohoo!! First we had a percussion lesson in the morning by 庄老师, although I always thought percussion was just hitting drums and gongs to a certain beat. It is really NOT that easy! There were many times when we had to stop playing because a person (namely me) was out of beat or played when not supposed to. Also, the unique thing about percussion is that it's music/"score sheet" is written in Chinese words. And because the lesson was held in Chinese which I'm not THAT fluent is, I had trouble understanding what was happening.
After that we went for a quick lunch and made our way to Bedok Resorvoir where there was a Chinese Opera troupe holding a show there to celebrate 大二爷伯's birthday. They hold 2 shows a day, one in the afternoon and one at night. We got a chance to go backstage where the actors were putting on their make up and we could see the instruments used to make the music for the show. They only had 2 people playing many instruments, 1 for the music part and 庄老师 played percussion. Most of the musical instruments were handmade and they looked very rustic and old, which added to the feel of the show. The actors backstage told us that their make up is alot less dramatic because not many people come to their afternoon show, therefore we should have gone at night instead when all the rituals are being held as well.
We stayed for the show which opened with the 8 Immortals coming out and introducing themselves, then it got to the actual show. Because it was held in dialect, most of us couldn't understand what was happening but we were supposed to observe how the music and percussion was used together with the show. Also, many people who walked past were surprised to see a bunch of 7 16 year olds watching a Chinese Opera show. A few of them were part of the temple who organised it and offered us bottled water.
Here's what I managed to find out about the importance of music during the show:
1) It fills up the time when no one is on stage or there is no speech, therefore an opera show is has no silences.
2) It signals the arrival/departure of characters.
3) It creates beats for the actor's actions on stage.
4) Music playing throughout the show means the show is still on whether or not there are people on stage.
5) Signifies the start and end of the show.
6) Accompaniment to person singing on stage.
7) Signifies a change of mood.
8) There is no music if they want to draw attention to something being said on stage.
Oh and all the pictures from yesterday and today are with me but it's late so pictures will be up tomorrow!!! (:
Labels: Magdalene
Music, AWESOME
