amazing feat!

Not too long ago(last year i think, time really flies), I posted a video showing a armless young man playing piano with his feet.

Today I am posting another video showing a girl playing Richard claydermann piece. She has no fingers in her right hand, but that did not deter her from learning and playing the piece beautifully.

How much more efforts she has to put in..

Amazing!

An armless pianist and philosophy of life!

For the weekend, I invite my readers to view this video , about an armless youngster who use his toes and feet to do things that you and I do with our hands and fingers. (Please do not miss this video; it is really worth watching. I am glad i watched this)

Amazingly, he plays piano with his feet too. As a self learned piano player , i know how difficult it is to play piano with fingers. To play with toes is even more difficult, and this requires tremendous will power,  determination and love for music and love for life!

A plant which has whethered through storms will grow into a strong tree, whereas those inside  greenhouse would find it difficult to survive outside. Those given crutches since birth should remember this fact of life, and they should be the ones realising that by given everything without much efforts, they will not be able to survive in this increasingly competitive  world .

Let this video serve as a reminder to this fact. Enjoy the music.

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2 pieces of classical music

Today is a PH, and as such I will post something light and close to my heart.

What else but my eldest son’s latest piano recording. He is a nephrologist working in the States, and has recently bought a grand piano and recorded these 2 classical pieces.

The first one is Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto NO 2 part of first movement, the other one is one of Chopin’s etude.

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The second one

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A legend passes away

                                                    

One of the most talented singers and performers in the world, Michael Jackson , passed away this morning.

Crowned the “most successful entertainer of all times”, Michael Jackson was a legend. Who can forget  songs like ‘Ben’, ‘ Beat it’, ‘Black and white’, ‘BIlly Jean’, just to name a few, and of course the charity song that he co-wrote with Lionel Richie “We are the World”  which was released to aid the poor in Africa.

Whether you like him or not, there is no escape of the fact that he had a huge influence on music and culture not only in the States and also all over the world.  Millions grew up listening to his songs and watching his dances.

He had his shares of personal problems in life, but I suspect a lot of the eccentricities reported were due to childhood unhappiness ( some said he had no childhood since as a child, he had to perform), but those problems did not diminish his status as the “King of Pop”, and did not alter the fact that his songs and dances, the hallmark ‘moonwalk’, were unique and often trend setters. 

So it is real sad to hear that he had died of cardiac arrest. His spirits live on, and his songs and dances will be with us for generations to come.

Humanity has lost a great son! What more can I say except a silent wish:

‘May his soul rest in peace !’

A dream comes true, Susan Boyle !

Do you believe in fairy tales?

Yes, I do.

In real life, once in awhile, a common person can overnight become a sensation. I am refering to a simple woman who is just like thousands of common people we meet in a market place; the difference is she stunned the judges, the audience and all of us with her hidden talents. She is none other than Susan Boyle which has now been featured in NST, NBC news, CNN news, and other stations all over the world.

For those who have not known this, she is a contestant in a talent show in Britain called “Britain’s Got Talent” which is something like the American Idol.

Susan appeared for her audition last Saturday. She was not impressive in her appearance, rather portly, dressed simply like a village person (she is from a small village in Scotland), and she is just like one of us common people who do not stand out in a crowd.

When the judges asked her what she wanted to be, she replied she wanted to be like singing artist “Elaine Paige” and you could hear the sneers from the crowd.

The moment she sang, however, even the judges were surprised. Simon cowell raised his eyebrows with  a pleasant surprised look, and the other judges clapped even before she finished her song. AT the ed , all stood up for a standing ovation. Many were moved to tears, including a NBC top executive who viewed the clip later on.

A Star is  thus born. A simple looking person, who, in her own words, has never dated before and has never been kissed, and who stayed with her mother until 2 years ago when the mother died, becomes an instant  star.

The recording showing her in youtube surpassed 6 milions hits in just 3 to 4 days. (now 16 millions hits and still counting)

You can see the whole episode in this youtube clip : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY 

Embedding of this is disabled so I cannot put the video here but go to the above link in youtube. You will be moved to tears.

I saw the news in yahoo on Monday night, and since then I have repeatedly went back to the clip to view her singing. Actually not so much of her singing but perhaps her breaking out of the cocoon of perceptions and expectations.  She gives all of us, simple folks on the ground, hope that even a simple person can beat expectations, and be a Star.

It does not matter whether she can win the talent show or not, even though she is now the hot favourite; she has already won the hearts of  millions of people around the world.

Congratulations, Susan Boyle !!

some music composed by my son

I am posting a video  on a piece of music that my son composed himself. He is a medical doctor, a nephrologist with the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and a very talented piano performer who had won prizes in competition before. Now he has gone into composing music during his spare time. The video is taken from some animations to suit the mood of the songs, but the compositions are all originals.

For other peices, click on his name on this video and you will be led to his site with all the 9 videos and songs he composed and posted yesterday.

Taking a break

I will be away from today onwards till the 18th, going for my daughter’s oath taking ceremony which will make her officially a doctor.

Since I will have to bring many of her things back, I am travelling light, and would not bring my bulky computer along.

I may be able to post using my daughter’s computer but since she is leaving NZ, she will be discontinuing  her broad band service and so on, but I will try to use the cyber centers which are aplenty there.

Meanwhile, I hope my readers will continue read through my old postings, 700 odd over the past 2 years. Most of the things are still relevant and my views are still the same, but maybe sometimes over times , certain perspective might be different and I welcome you to give feedback and your opinion on those.

For those requesting musical scores, of late, I have been too busy and have not been of much help. But for those whom I did not reply or response, it simply means that I could not get the requested scores over the internet. My principle is that I will only post those scores that I can source free from the internet. I will not post any from my own book collections, since in the latter case, I might infringe on the intellectual rights of those song authors. For those scores already posted on internet, what I am doing is just to facilitate your search, since i am a good surfer of the internet and i often come across sites others may miss.

 When I am on holiday, perhaps I would have more time to surf and in a more relaxed manner, not like now, everything is in a rush,  when I normally post in between my patients, resulting in a lot of spelling and typo mistakes– provided of course if I can get hold of a computer in a cyber shop.

To help young people to get music scores in the net is one of my pleasures in life, since music is the universal language, and i believe good things must be shared. To get a score free means  a lot of savings for young people whio might be students or just started to work, since music scores are expensive; a music book can set you back 50 or 60 bucks…..Please  Use some of the savings to donate to some charity, or a good cause.

So , Happy surfing and blogging (commentating is a form of blogging too), my friends!

playing Traumerei

I was trying to video taped myself playing a classical piece by Schumann,  Traumerei, tonight. But knowing that  a camera is pointing at me, I just cannot relax and dont play like my normal self.. Suddenly mind becomes blank, and there is quite a bit of hesitations at the later part.

But since I normally don’t re tape, I will just post it for your listening pleasure. This piece is also called “dreaming”, a very moving piece which unfortunately, I have not been able to really captured the feeling. Considering that I am a self taught piano player, learning from from books and a computer program without any formal lessons from piano teacher, please do not be too critical, especially this is a grade 7-8 piece.

Best to listen softly, with one third volume as the grand piano is very loud, and even the video camera’s speaker is buzzing because of the resonance..

Moonlight Sonata – get back your sanity !

i have not been posting any music video these days, But today, I think I need to listen to my favourite classical music, the Moonlight Sonata Movement 1 by Beethoven. I also play this piece, but not as well as the famous Wilhelm Kempff, so I am posting his version. Maybe later, I will tape my own playing and post it.

By listening to this, I am prevented from going insane by all the insanity that is happening.

So my dear readers, pls enjoy this:

Auld Lang Syne – Old Long Since – Bye 2007

As the year is coming to an end, I would like to post a music video of a song that is customary to be sung at year end party… Auld Land Syne.

 This is the rendition by Kenny G, so listen to it while you are waiting for the count down. And May all our friendship and relationship be cherished and remembered always.

for those of you who wish to sing along but have forgotten the lyrics, I will post yet another video of a very old but very moving movie ” Waterloo Bridge” here. This movie is about  love, and it is one of those great movies that is really timeless. The movie  starred the great Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor and was madelong before I was born, but I saw it during one of the reruns in my childhood. Lyrics are posted on the video and you can sing along like a karaoke.

Marche Funebre, The Funeral March

For quite some time now, I have not posted any music video.

Today I feel like listening and will be posting one very solemn and sad piece of music, Chopin’s Sonata Op. 35 No. 2 3rd movement Marche funebre, or popularly known as The Funeral March.

This piece is played by Korean Dong-Hyet Lim, who shard 3rd place in 2005 International Chopin Competition with his brother DongMIng Lim.

Here is the video

Le Cygne – a beautiful piece of music

Came across a very beautifully played piece of music a few days ago on youtube. This is a classical piece known as “Le Cygne” or “The Swan”, composed by the French composer Camille Saint Saens. It is part of his renowned composition  Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the animals). Saint-Saëns, apparently concerned that the piece was too frivolous only allowed one movement, Le Cygne, to be published in his lifetime.

For those who have seen the movie “Secret” by Jay Chau, this was the piece he played during the school concert at the graduation ceremony.

This video is posted by Gordon Murray, a Toronto pianist. He plays this piece beautifully, and I like his arrangement of this delicate piece. He played it so well and full of emotions, and hearing it revoke a feeling of calmness and serenity – imagine a  swan sliding across the calm surface of a lake which is lined by hills in the distance . I thank him for his permission to allow me to post this video here. For more of his soothing romantic music, you can visit his website.

For  a simpler version of music sheet, it is available at this blog under the page Music score.

New recording – myself playing ‘IF’

I have posted a video recording myself playing the song “IF’ by BREAD. I have improvised the ending part, not playing according to the score.

You are welcome to view the video in my other blog “The Sky is Blue”. 

A duet

As a mark of respect to the great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, I am posting a video of him singing together with Celine Dion in a duet “I hate you then I love you”

Enjoy yourself:

Lean on Me

Someone has labelled us bloggers as monkeys. So far, one monkey has been arrested and held for many days, and another monkey has been called up for questioning. During times like this, the unfortunate monkey would need other monkeys to lean on. To get support and support each other.

So far, the monkey community has shown very good support and has not failed the monkeys in need. A monkey in need is a monkey indeed.

In this context, I would like to post a song by Bill Withers, an American singer of the 60s, named “lean on me”‘.

The lyric is what made this song so unique. The lyrics is in the video, make sure you listen to every sentence in the song. It is educational and motivating, at the same time entertaining. A small part of the lyric reads like this:

Lean on me ,

when you are not strong,

And I’ll be friend,

Ill help you carry on.

For, it won’t be long

till I gonna need

somebody to lean on.

All blogging monkeys, please take some time to listen to this and read the whole lyric. It will motivate the whole monkey garden-sphere.

I shall be posting the piano music score of this song under the music score page in a day or 2.

A six year old moves my heart with her singing

In a foul mood today?

Well, I have found the cure for you.

A six year old, Connie, a very adorable child, sings “Somewhere over theRainbow”, in a British singing competition.

She sings with no pretense, and with her good voice, rthym and pitch, coupled with her cute childhood innocence, moves one of the judges to tears. She even won the praise from the most difficult judge , Simon of the AMerican Idol fame.

I was very moved when I listened to her in this video clip sent to me by my daughter. I am sure you will have the same feeling.

If

After many posts on political issues, it is time to relax and listen to some soothing and sentimental music.

One of my all time favourite songs, and my wife’s too, is the song “IF’ by the group “Bread”. For those who grew up in the early 70s, you will be familiar with this group.

The younger generations may not have heard of them, but may have heard of David Gates, who happened to be the lead singer of Bread.

They have written and performed many melodious and sentimental hits, the so-called soft rock.

This is also one of the all time favourites in the American wedding song list. I am sure most people will like it.

The three tenors sing Serenade (Standchen)

This is a video of the three tenors singing Schubert’s serenade, which is the 4th song of his work Schwanengesang.

 The three tenors, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti,are considered among the greatest tenors of the present time.

This is a short video of about 3 minutes. Enjoy the song!

Tchaikovsky’s October

After the many serious articles posted, some music loving friends are asking me to post a nice piano piece again, for relaxation during the weekend.

This time I am posting a video showing a renowned Korean pianist Lim Dong Nyet playing a Tchaikovsky’s short piano piece called “October”. It is from the seasons, which are twelve pieces of short piano music composed by Tchaikovsky, who was and is still one of the most revered Russian composers ever produced. His piano concerto No. 1 is a classic which is often played by Philharmonic orchestras all over the world.

This piece “October” reminds us of autumn, in the words of A. Tolstoy, “yellow leaves flying in the wind and above the ponds”. I like this piece very much and I hope you all enjoy it too.

Compassion needed – Help a blind entertainer

I received an email a few days back from a musician and singer asking me to help publicise his plight in my blog.

He has been “reading” my letters and opinion columns in Malaysiakini and someone has told him that I have a blog. He reads the computer not with his eyes but with a special software that converts writings into sound, so actually he listens to my writing!!

He is no ordinary singer. I am sure many Malaysians know him and have heard his singing.

He is Mr. Alfred Ho, a very well known blind entertainer in Malaysia.

He is blind since 3 years old, due to a bout of measle.  But that did not deter him from learning music and he became  a well knwon and comsummate entertainer . He has endeared himself to audiences for singing evergreen songs from legendary crooners Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, to name a few.

Some time back, maybe 3 to 4 years ago, he was offered a job in our national radio station as a DJ, but after 6 months, he was terminated.

According to Mr Ho, he did not do any mistake during the 6 months durations, but even as a DJ, he felt that he was discriminated against as a result of his handicap. While other DJ’s were allowed to record live, he could only do his by pre-recording. He felt that he was competent enough to go live but was discriminated against because of his being blind.

There was no termination letter and he was just asked to rest and was never called back again for work. There was also no official reason given .

I am publishing his plight here, not to ask for his job back. I only want  to highlight that as a caring nation, we should do our best to help the handicapped people including the blind and the deaf.

Those people with the power of hiring and firing should be more compassionate. Handicapped people are already at a disadvantage, if society  does not help them, who will?

Mr Ho’s case is a very good example. He did the hard way to become a musician and entertainer, because he knows that with his handicap, he must learn a skill to survive in this world. I can tell you, it is many times more difficult for a handicapped person to learn music, and to be this good, he must have been very determined and gone through very tough circumstances.

We need to be more compassionate towards this group of people.

When I was in my secondary school in Penang, I remember a few of us used to cycle from Air Itam Penang to “St. Nicholas Home  for blind” near the Penang Chinese Girls’ High School  to help in little ways. Even as young persons then, we knew about the need to help the blind; what has happened to our society now? The person who has terminated Mr Ho should have been more caring and compassionate; she could have made a difference.

Those who wish to learn more about Mr. Ho can go to this link in the website of National council for the blind. There were many sample songs in this site and readers can listen to how good Mr Ho is. Personally i think he is very good.

Those who wish to help Mr Ho or just to get to know him better  can perhaps email him through his email address: alfredho.singer@gmail.com

I hope that this post  can be listed in Malaysiakini ‘s bloggers corner so that more people can know about his plight.