I started playing piano from the age of 6. I’ve always loved music, always humming nursery tunes I had learnt at the kindergarten. Mummy asked if I wanted lessons and since then music became a major part of my life. At that point, it was not financially viable for us to have a piano at home. So, everyday grandma would take me to a nearby studio for me to practise. Despite its inconvenience, it forced me into the habit of practising as the sessions were already paid for.
The teacher, with whom I stayed for 10 years, was very young. I don’t remember much about her now, apart from her huge bag and the snacks she brought for us to share as she knew how partial I was (still am!) to anything edible.
I can’t remember exactly how many years since I started that my parents decided to buy me a piano. It was a huge purchase for us. A point of no return for me — once it’s bought, I would HAVE to continue.
A few years went by, I started to hit the stage where a lot more practice was needed to advance any further. Not to mention the tedious music theory homework. I started to lose the interest and with great fear of my mum going mental (which doesn’t happen very often), I sat down and discussed with her the possibility of giving up. Surprisingly, she calmly said ‘You are old enough to make your own decision now (I was about 11 I think), I can only tell you that if you give up now, then you are giving up, not only all the hard work you’ve put in over the past few years, but also the possibility of playing the music you love so much in the future because of the lack of techniques.’
Obviously, I decided to stay. It was also at that point that I got interested in singing. As the only child, I spent a lot of the time on my own at home when my parents were at work, accompanying myself and singing my head off became the activity I did the most. It was so much fun!
At the age of 15, I passed the grade 8 exam, then I decided to start taking singing lessons, which means I had to stop piano lessons as we won’t be able to afford both.
Picking music as my major study at university was an obvious choice, I started to have piano lessons again and passed my ATCL exam. It was a truly satisfying feeling to play music that I love listening to, it gives you a different perspective to the understanding of the music.
I am by no means a professional pianist, would never make any stages apart from the one at home. However, I enjoy teaching wonderful and very very cute students and being able to accompany myself and my singing students.