GOOD MORNING NYCO! it's the morning ahahaha (:

(i'm sorry for the messiness because i though i was spamming the tagboard so i came here instead)

hey guys, this week's practices haven't been very good, and yesterday's practise was indeed not satisfying, and it made people cry and made our music sound horrible. i assume everyone's tired from schoolwork and practising and outside committments, but dont give up, dont lose hope! as long as we stand together, NYCO will pull through!

however, giving it all you've got is not enough. because as much as i dont like to say this, we need to improve our discipline! like Mrs Ee has said, from this coming saturday's practice to SYF, we are not allowed to doing anything at all during dazu other than play Chun, Chan Ge, paying attention to mrs ee and making the environment condusive for everyone ie please talk softly (i shouldnt be able to hear you from where i sit, hopefully.) I guess the thing about discipline is more or less self-explanatory, so i shan't say more (:

we should also be more sensitive to our music! (thought of this from when Mrs Ee scolded us when we didnt keep quiet and listen when she was setting up the laptop and the music played. maybe this shows that we are not sensitive enough?) Show NYCO (seniors, juniors, instructors, teachers, ourselves), that making good music is our goal, and we would work hard for it! sometimes practices might turn out to be unprodcutive, for e.g. yesterday. Dont fret though. for the next practice will be better as long as we know what needs to be practiced, and how it should be practised. and most importantly, in the end, the music should feel right, feel good, sound like it's out-of-the-worldly good =D like what the seniors have said, dont be discouraged by Mrs Ee's, SLs', and seniors' scoldings, for we know that ALL of them mean well. I believe that everyone in NYCO, whether they're playing for SYF or not, are worried for our progress. so shouldnt we show ourselves that we have the capabilities of passing our limits? Like what mrs ee said, whereever in the music that is not good enough, it is definitely possible for NYCO to make it good!

but how to improve? i asked myself that yesterday, and i figured that we are at this point of improvement, where we improve and improve, and we're stuck. can we start being un-stuck from the next practice onwards? sure, it's definitely possible! (:

recall from our last practice, what were the things that were not done correctly? it could be about 音准, about 拍子, about our crescendos and decrescendos (regardless big or small), 台风, 音色, and last but not least, the mood of what we're playing. we should think about how our section's part is working together with another section's melody. should our notes be hovering at the top of the music or supporting everyone at the bottom? or does it enhance the main theme? some may wonder how teamwork can be possible in an orchestra, where everyone just sits at a specific place and play. I think, teamwork can be shown in the music that we play, from where different parts blend in with one another, from where one section transits to another, from when something is supposed to be highlighted from the rest, it will be highlighted beautifully. difficult yes, but it can be done, as long as we pay extra attention and listen. i think this would be a little easier in the coming practice as we would not be distracted, right? (:

yesterday, i overheard two people's conversations, both of them from NYCO. something i picked out was that mrs ee has become stricter with us. though it is for our good, but it is bringing down our morale, and maybe the change is too sudden and too late? I do agree with them, actually. which is why i think we should take mrs ee's comments in stride. it is okay to cry when you feel hurt, because not everyone is able to steel herself against harsh comments. but after crying, we should think through what mrs ee told us and think about what can be done, and do it. i know it is painful, thinking about how mrs ee scolded us, and thinking about how we sound. but for the sake of our music, it's worth it. I fervently hope that there is no one that bears anything against anyone at all after our last practice. Several words are harsh at this point in time, and sometimes it can be hard to think straight. I urge everyone to keep in mind that it is important that we keep our heads clear and keep our goal clear.

(and while practising, be conscious of the side-effects of over-practising. you could change a tad too many things while practising too much. it happened to me before, and it's scary when you discover what you've done to your melody.)

show your support to everyone, open your minds and hearts, NYCO. talking about open minds, i would like to appeal to everyone once again to be open to everyone's comments. like i mentioned before, it is good to share opinions, as something new can be generated out from when ideas are combined. and while giving comments, be aware of your tone. dont sound like you're demanding something, sound like you are giving a suggestion. maybe the suggestion can be tried out? and then we can calmly evaluate which is better (:

continue to practise hard NYCO! when in doubt, feel free to ask the people around you, and when really neccessary, approach mrs ee. I'm sure everyone would be more than willing to help. and those who are approached with someone else's doubts, we should try our best to help, for when helping one another, we all learn and discover more together. (:

as of today, we 11 more days to SYF, and of which 7 are days with dazu. make full use of practice time, dont regret after you realise one whole practice has been wasted.

cherish time together with fellow NYCO mates, because after SYF, a new event will be remembered in the NYCO history, seniors will be leaving, juniors will be coming in. it's a happy and sad thing isn't it? but in the end, I believe we will end this SYF chapter with beautiful Springs. oops. (: seniors will leave with happy hearts, knowing that they do not regret anything. and we would feel good too, because we would have done ourselves, Mrs Ee, Ms Chooi, Miss Lee, all our instructors, seniors and juniors, very very very proud.

haha, i realised alot of things that i said apply alot alot to myself too. ahwells. (:

I would like to end off with YQP's mantra, something that i'm very proud of:
We listen, we learn, we try, we work hard, we can, we happy.


NYCOSYF TEAM09, it's music from the heart.

jiayou nyco!
rachel (: