pentatonia - Tumblr blog

[pentatonia]

Hi there! I went on hiatus for a few months due to a very bad health condition! Both my physical and mental health took a hit...

I am trying to get back on track. I will try to post more music studyblr things soon! 💚🌱

[pentatonia]

Learning 西江月

Spot that moment at the end where my mind blanks out and I forget the second to last note 😅

[pentatonia]

Quick Holidays

I spent a few days in September in the western part of the country (La Bretagne, bien sûr) to get out of the city and eat as much salted caramel as I could, before starting to work again.

📸 I took some flowers pics at the Jardin du Thabor and the shore at St Malo.

[pentatonia]

The 2nd year started

So 2nd year started in September and that's awesome! It's way harder than the 1st year. Each song has so many new techniques now 😵‍💫 but it's very fun.

The first new song for this year is 西江月 (Xijiangyue). It's very delicate but also playful. We learned 2 new types of portamento/vibrato:

Quick Slide: pushing quickly. Here it sounds like 3-4 (E-F, but a very fast distortion).

Retruning Slide: you need to clearly hear the 3 notes. Here it's 6-7-6 (A-B-A, which could be A-C-A too)

The original chinese names might be different 🤷🏾‍♀️ I wonder if there's an official translation for those.

[pentatonia]

I was mad and left because the long post I did before disappeared into nothingness when I clicked on publish. I've been on Tumblr for 10 yrs +, (this is a side blog), still not used to that stuff... but anyway, let's move on, it's OK 🙂

[pentatonia]

Before every session, I have to train my bending technique for the Portamento. For F and F# you kinda have to be able to do them without thinking. But that day I only trained going up to the next note on the pentatonic scale.

I can do it for hours, it's my favourite technique 😅

[pentatonia]

Summary of the past few days weeks:

Sweet bike rides and hikes by the river 💚

I needed to breathe! As an introvert I spend so much time at home, and I forget the things I like outside too.

[pentatonia]

Off topic:

Learning Guzheng has also encourage me to bring back my old 5 string bass in service 🥰

I just love plucking strings what can I say 🤷🏾‍♀️

Back to the begining... 🌱 I use a counter app for all of my trainings. It's just called "Counter" on Android. Reading F clef for me is hard because I know the G clef better, so I repeat every exercise 50 times.

(and yes I knitted that blanket myself 😊)

[pentatonia]

When you're just Hanzi-ing your way into the night. ✨🌃

Yes, all my Guzheng study books are in Chinese, so at some point I'm gonna have to learn how to read everything myself.

(yes my desk is messy, as always)

[pentatonia]

Headache & poppies

Aug 7th-9th:

I have been doing more 摇指 tremolo repetitions, but it's really not worth reccording 😅 My index placement is still not right, maybe... 🤔

I've learnt the full song for 虞美人 Poppies (finally! ↑), but can't execute it well yet. Need to stop hesitating when jumping from the Do to Mi string.

I'll need to add more left hand action, when I don't hesitate anymore

Will be able to play it in full one day 🌱

[pentatonia]

Sleepy poppies

Aug. 6th:

🥀Sleepy because of my medicine, but managed to do my usual exercises.

😖 Tried to watch my left hand while playing 虞美人 Poppies (↑), but just like my right thumb, it's a bit too stiff

😌 Corrected my upper body posture and it feels better

🌺 Just be patient and keep on trying...

[pentatonia]

Learning Chinese music

My experience with moving from European to Chinese music theory / philosophy has been pretty smooth. It all about flexibility 🌱

Chinese scores used to confuse me, but now I find them more straight to the point and minimalistic, and I'm more comfortable with them.

What I've seen beginners struggle with in 1st year*:

Notes: notes are numbers (cypher). Do is 1, Re is 2, and so on. It can be confusing, because the teacher will not say "1, 2, 5", they'll say "Do, Re, Sol", but on the sheet it's only numbers. Pitch is not spacially represented like on a staff (high-up / low-down).

Octaves: they are indicated by little dots above or under the number. You might mix/miss them at the begining.

Notation: yes, as you may have guessed, it is all in Chinese, not Italian! New signs and words to learn. They may represent the hand movement (in an abstract way?), like the tremolo, the vibrato, and so on.

From memory: very shortly after receiving the music score (like, a few minutes in 😅), the teacher will ask you to not look at it. Forgetting to bring your sheet is actually a good thing for once.

Freedom: By design, these scores are made for interpretation, emotion, and offer very little guidance sometimes. "Make it yours!! Improvise!" as the teacher say.

*just my personal observations

**my music vocab in english might not be perfect, sry

[pentatonia]

⏸️Pause: Flowers after the rain

I took pictures of flowers while walking down the river. Rain makes everything glowy, I love it 🌧️✨

💛 Hypericum Calcynum (Millepertuis à grandes fleurs)

🧡 Kniphofia Uvaria (Tritome à longues grappes)

💜 Buddleia Davidii (Buddleia de David)

🤍 Hydrangea sungpanensis (Hortensia grimpant)

[pentatonia]

Aug. 5: gotta go fast!

August challenge! Yay!

I'm currently a 1st year student on summer vacation. 2nd year starts at the end of September!

Aug. 1st - 5th:

💛I can finally play the sixteenth notes from 虞美人 (Poppies) at a faster pace (yellow part ↑)!

🎥 Live streaming for the first time, because I want to be comfortable with an audience again. I used to be fine when I played the violin before, why am I so tensed with Guzheng?

🤔 Still struggling with the 花指-glissando in 花非花 (Flower in the Haze). The rythm on my thumb is a bit off.

😖 Still unprecise with my 摇指-tremolo. Gonna add some tremolo work on the undotted octave next time.

[pentatonia]

Does it bring joy? yep, most definitely

I'm just happy to sit by my Guzheng. And mine isn't even a luxury one (I'd say middle range?). The best choice I've ever made in my life was to listen to my gut and go for it 🌸🌺 Can't wait to go back to class!

If you feel curious about the Guzheng / Chinese zither studies, feel free to ask!

[pentatonia]

Intro

Hi there!

MA ("m-a" or "ma")

she / her, INTP

Languages: French, English, Japanese, (lost 14 yrs of German 😭 and currently learning Chinese)

Music:🎼🎵 learning how to play guzheng currently. Sometimes 5-string bass (and violin during my childhood)

Hobbies: DnD tabletop games, biking, knitting, rollerblading, rythm video games

Learning how to prioritize mental health and joy in learning

I love mountains, cliffs, and above all, rain 🌧️

Nice to meet you!