I had my first kayageum lesson a year ago from today, on Thursday November 12, 2009. It's already been a year...
I have not read up on Sung Keum Yun, as I said I would, nor have I done any research on kayageum playing on my own. I have yet to do focused listening on the Sung Keum Yun CD my aunt bought me from Korea. All in all, I've been pretty lazy about this, though I have been making an effort to attend my lessons diligently.
I'm not sure that I can devote enough of myself to this, especially in the midst of some unfortunate transportation issues. But if a bus ride would solve the problem, that shouldn't be too much to ask, right? Still, I balk at the thought of wasting time taking the bus to downtown LA for who knows how long. I didn't even think to consider that such a bus existed until a few weeks ago, with the poor public transit system here.
I will remember to be thankful, even when I start feeling busier with all the grad school application stuff that is due within a month and thereafter. It's like I'm in an exclusive music program already, learning a couple times a week, from a renowned teacher with decades of experience. I mistakenly take it for granted sometimes because it required no GRE, no audition, no application fee, and just fell into my lap.
In the past year, I learned the names of the strings, plucking technique, the ubiquitous piece, "Arirang," and am now thirteen 장단s (sets of beats) into "눈물이 진주라면" (If Tears were Pearls). The encouraging part of learning a brand new instrument is that there is no way to not make progress; I didn't even know how to play a single note before and now I can play a whole piece :) I love playing "눈물이 진주라면" - I find it difficult to describe its beauty but perhaps if you heard it live, you'd understand. I really hope I can finish learning that piece, if I end up moving away for school in fall of 2011.
I'm curious about who looks at this site. I don't tell many people about it and only post on my facebook fan page, on the rather rare occasions when I update. And yet, when I log into the host site to blog, the statistics graph shows me that a handful of unique visitors stop by daily. Who are you?
I have not read up on Sung Keum Yun, as I said I would, nor have I done any research on kayageum playing on my own. I have yet to do focused listening on the Sung Keum Yun CD my aunt bought me from Korea. All in all, I've been pretty lazy about this, though I have been making an effort to attend my lessons diligently.
I'm not sure that I can devote enough of myself to this, especially in the midst of some unfortunate transportation issues. But if a bus ride would solve the problem, that shouldn't be too much to ask, right? Still, I balk at the thought of wasting time taking the bus to downtown LA for who knows how long. I didn't even think to consider that such a bus existed until a few weeks ago, with the poor public transit system here.
I will remember to be thankful, even when I start feeling busier with all the grad school application stuff that is due within a month and thereafter. It's like I'm in an exclusive music program already, learning a couple times a week, from a renowned teacher with decades of experience. I mistakenly take it for granted sometimes because it required no GRE, no audition, no application fee, and just fell into my lap.
In the past year, I learned the names of the strings, plucking technique, the ubiquitous piece, "Arirang," and am now thirteen 장단s (sets of beats) into "눈물이 진주라면" (If Tears were Pearls). The encouraging part of learning a brand new instrument is that there is no way to not make progress; I didn't even know how to play a single note before and now I can play a whole piece :) I love playing "눈물이 진주라면" - I find it difficult to describe its beauty but perhaps if you heard it live, you'd understand. I really hope I can finish learning that piece, if I end up moving away for school in fall of 2011.
I'm curious about who looks at this site. I don't tell many people about it and only post on my facebook fan page, on the rather rare occasions when I update. And yet, when I log into the host site to blog, the statistics graph shows me that a handful of unique visitors stop by daily. Who are you?