'Unkel' faceless is right.... ask them... and try to lure them to the instrument via performances, video clips, concerts, etc.

never forced them else they won't enjoy it thus the passion won't last.

while a good mentor do helps alot .

Karenalvin...I play both instruments...so I do know what I am talking about. I am not biased to either side. I am a fair and neutral person.

This post has been edited by empire: Jan 11 2011, 01:00 PM

keke.... i know u play many instrument, seen u in action before ma. but we can agree to disagree right. keke

Huhu.. guitar has some few extra challenges, but piano is not easy either. I'm not dare to say which instrument is easier or harder. But I tell my students don't think that guitar is easy.

Now that is "a-pah" speaking from experience.

Karenalvin,
You dont be so naughty lah. You never know. This CNY not only you dont get the kueh kapet, maggi mee also dont give you eat.

wah wah... wah wah.... wah wah....

its ok, i dun wan the kueh kapet, i wan the ba-gua. muahaha

Ba-gua pun boh la! hehehe...

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Added on January 11, 2011, 4:19 pmBa-gua pun boh la! hehehe...

This post has been edited by empire: Jan 11 2011, 04:19 PM

You naughty some more, tap water also dont give you drink. When you get thirsty then you will be begging me or Subang for a sip of our

Anyway, I think the post below is a good topic for discussion. It would be nice if we ponder about it and share our theories

thanks for the replies, they have only seen the more visible instruments such as piano, guitar, drums but have yet to be exposed to instruments like violin,
gu zheng or er hu for the simple reasons these instruments lack exposure to general public presentation.

Skeptical in buying a piano which ends up as a white elephant for ornamental display only.

Yeah faceless, your take on the issue?

well u might be wrong... chinese instrument might not have lots of public presentation like the english ones (MPO / Istana Budaya/ KLPac) almost daily presentation but around this time of the year there are lots of Classical Chinese Instrument performances in all the major shopping malls, almost to a daily affair thingy.

starting from today my sch as a bulter cum driver ferring "Pricess Lhasa" to all her performances.. 14 in 1U (both new & old wing), 4 in Lot 10 and 4 in Sri Hartamas is very hectic... lucky there is a reward of St James gate whenever i'm thirtsy.

If you like Chinese Classical Instrument .. do hang around here .. on and off whenever there is something around in Klang valley we will update it here.

In my humble opinion the main reason for the lack of publicity is mainly due to there is no gathering point / venue for it. Unlike English ones they have MPO, KLPac where a rich Tan Sri and big coporate boys financially supporting them.
The Chinese ones left tingling alone and the worst is they often "fight" and back stabbing among themselves ..... you know lar since Perang Larut tis is the Chinese culture thing mah "Hai San" & "Ghee Hin"

For the piano ... just let the ur heart be the judge.... if the kids starting to loves it .. get a beginner piano then venture into better ones. For info a good piano is a good investment if the timming is right.
I got the gals their GCP1 when the dollar was around 2.30+.. now is 3.10+... the new tag for a GCP1 now hit to RM60K+... I paid it less than RM45K with great discount of course from my buddy the Yamaha salesman as he need to reached his quota tat year and cash terms...

Karenalvin,
Okay, I will start the ball rolling for this topic. For now I have two points. Perhaps I will think up more in future.
1) China is too involve in civil war to be concern with music. In spite of Confucius teaching us 仁 we still could not love our own kind. Even when we come to Malaysia, we fight like Gee Hin and Hai San.
2) Although Chinese document things well, there are things they prefer to keep as a final secret weapon in case they had rebellious students.

My teacher told me he learned guzheng at the time where there were no written musical notation. It was hear it once and play from memory. I like these good old fashion chinese methods. It may be a lot harder but consider the skills acquired here. a) good listening skills b) good memory c) the ability to play by ear d) observation skills especially watching the left hand techniques.

It had puzzled me why the 123 written notation, we use today, was not practise. It was not that difficult to invent. Doing my tai chi exercise once day I realised that is all this last secret weapon thingy. We can only shake our head or smack our foreheads as we speculate on the art/skills that fail to be preserve due to this "kiasu" mentality.

KLHC,
I understand your predicaments, especially one that had the experience of abandoning a piano. Chinese instruments are not cheap too. Music is an investment. Either you start with an entry level instrument and upgrade as you go along or get the high range and dont be concern with upgrades. I am sure you know the pros and cons of both methods.

One thing I need to point out is that chinese instrument does not focus too much on theory. Unlike the 40s era you dont play form memory. You get a sheet music to play. It was more about what songs you can play and weather you are playing it right. Chord progression is not even part of the syllabus. It came a time that I felt the need to know some theory and end up finding this thread. It was nice that I bumped in to la Bella, who was kind enough to teach me some theory. She can make the difficult look easy.

This post has been edited by faceless: Jan 12 2011, 11:11 AM

I think its time we get together again. I met Subangman and faceless last year during Mei-mei's Mpo chinese concert. Didnt get to talk to you guys much...though Subang did buy me guiness and my lovely band member AManda another drink. Thanks again Subang!

I got to meet Subang,Faceless, Alvin and Labella during my bands Mpo concert last month....and it was heartwarming to see you folks supproting my Band though you hardly know me.

Yes...it's time to meet up again....and this time...we MUST learn from each other. Everyone has something to offer!

Empire,
Meeting outside is a noisy environment and the time was brief. That is why not much talking or listening gets done. That is why we are going to crash into your house this CNY and raid all the kueh kapet? By the way I had meet Subang more often because we are the concert going people but you are the concert performing person.

Anyone interested in this coming MPO concert?

Here's the details:

Chinese Charmers
Sat 19 March 2011, 8.30pm

MUSIC OF THE NATIONS: CHINA

Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
Lan Shui conductor
Cho-Liang Lin violin

CHEN Qi-GANG: Wu Xing
TAN DUN: Violin Concerto – "Love"
CHEN GANG/HE ZHANHAO: Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto
ZHOU LONG: Rhyme of Taigu

Singapore Symphony Orchestra Music Director, Lan Shui, and star Chinese violinist, Cho-Liang Lin, take us on a journey through their homeland in music inspired by Chinese folk legends. Besides the ever-popular "Butterfly Lovers" Concerto, we have the Malaysian premiere of Tan Dun's Concerto, jointly commissioned in 2009 by the SSO and the Juilliard School in New York.

The same concert is available on Sunday, 20 March 2011 at 3.00pm

Ticket Price (RM): 85 | 65 | 40 | 20
Ticket Status: Available

http://www.mpo.com.my/Upcoming-Performance...nese%20Charmers

I'll be there with my team again....

I will be there with all my fairytale Festival Band members!...on Sunday 3pm. Gosh...I need to but the tickets soon!. Hope still got!

EDIT: I'll be there 19 March Saturday.

This post has been edited by la bella: Jan 14 2011, 10:03 AM

i should be going for the saturday instead of sunday.

lin cho liang is a fantastic world class violinist, and although i'll sound like a dumb by saying this, it worth the price of the ticket even by just listening to him playing anything on his Stradivarius violin (made from Stradivari's peak of his output quality, not just a "regular" stradivarius).

Wow i didn't know he's that famous. I browsed thru MPO website and I came across the event. It's very rare MPO playing chinese music. Somehow I'm kinda bored of western classical. Chinese classical is my another favourite.

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Added on January 13, 2011, 10:41 pmI'm going to the concert with my parent. They're interested with the butterfly lovers.

This post has been edited by la bella: Jan 13 2011, 10:41 PM