Judy Choi
Percussion
Percussion broadens my horizon. My life is filled with music every day.
My father enlightened me in music. When I was young, the rooftop was our stage. My father played the music, I sang. He was proficient in different kinds of music and poems, songs and lyrics, and was an award-winning Cantonese opera composer. It is always my dream, and my late father's last hope, to sing and play his songs solo. The journey of pursuing this dream is full of surprises. From learning Chinese musical instruments to the Western ones, from learning the xylophone to joining E Major Ensemble, my horizon is widen and discovering new things every day. I had come to know different kinds of percussion instruments, my life was filled with music everyday. I am glad I wasn't idling away the musical talents my father had endowed in me.
When I was young, my world of music revolved around Cantonese opera and pop music. When my father grew old and was admitted to an elderly home, I quit my job to take care of him full time. During my long hours in the elderly home, I sang and performed with my friends from the opera group to entertain my father and other elder people. One of the friends from the opera group was proficient in both Chinese and Western music. He encouraged me to take up more new challenges. I was hesitant at first, for I only started learning Chinese musical instruments in my 50s, and knew absolutely nothing about Western music. My friend was yet so persistent and introduced me to E Major Ensemble. I took a leap of courage and step out of my Chinese opera comfort zone, and started picking up the xylophone.
The timbre of Western musical instruments is completely different from that of Chinese music. I found it interesting and was attracted to it. As a xylophone beginner, catching up with the beat was my greatest challenge. In addition, due to my arthritis condition, my left hand sometimes went completely wild, I could not control how hard to hit the bars, let alone applying the rolling technique. Fortunately, my instructor was always patient and positive, he always tell me not to rush the progress. Now since I have become a member of the orchestra, I convinced myself to try my best. Every day, I practice for more than an hour, as disciplined as a school child, never dared to be sloppy. Each tiny progress I made motivates me to carry on my trainings.
The xylophone is only the beginning of my journey in the world of percussion. There are so many yet to try and to learn, such as the bass drum, snare drum and timpani. I am fortunate to have joined E Major Ensemble, where the conductor encourages percussionists to learn with and from each other, so all of us can be complementary to each other. From Chinese music to Western music, my horizons were definitely expanded. I was even offered the opportunity to extend my percussion knowledge by learning other instruments, and I am grateful for this. Last year, the E Major Ensemble had the opportunity to perform in a mall where I was assigned as the bass drummer. The sound of a bass drum is obvious and loud, giving me one more reason to not make any mistake, which made me very nervous at the time.
After the excitement, the nervousness died down, all that was left was the sense of achievement for crossing another hurdle. Isn't that exactly the fun and meaning of learning? People who plays Chinese music don't usually engage with Western music. I, on the contrarily, believe that one should expose himself to different, new music genres. It helps keep our mind sharp and adaptive. I even tried to learn the drum set! Playing the drums is not entirely easy, it requires multi-limb coordination. I might not be able fully acquire the skills, but it was not doubt a great fun to play. And this is what mattered, isn't it?
My experience in E Major Ensemble allows me to, in turn, contribute to my voluntary work in the elderly home. For instance, I was able to apply the skills I acquired in the orchestra to my Chinese opera group and strengthened our teamwork. In addition, I invited two members from the ensemble to volunteer and perform for the elderly home, together we spread the joy of music to the elder people.
Time flies. It has been a few years since my father passed away, but he never stopped inspiring me in music. Neither have I given up on his last hope - play and sing his Cantonese opera solo. In the process of learning Western music, I began from a complete ignorant to familiarizing myself with the genres, to trying different percussion instruments and appreciating orchestral music. Regardless how old you are, there's a will, there's a way. If one sets his mind to take on challenges and endure the hard work, he will succeed someday. Holding such mentality in mind, I decided to return to practicing Chinese zither on top of my percussion training. I hope to regain the level I used to be and be able to play and sing my father's songs.