Transcript of interview with Nicole Kow (conducted by Amanda Lee), 11 February 2017, 10.30 am, Skype.
Nicole is a 13-year old female Chinese Singaporean who is a secondary two student at Yuan Ching Secondary School. Nicole likes English pop music by artistes like Taylor Swift. She likes her music as she can feel the emotions coming through her songs. Nicole thinks that this genre is relevant to her as most of the songs that she plays in piano lessons are English pop music. Nicole does not listen much to or know much about Western classical music. Nicole thinks that classical music is global culture as she does not think many Singaporeans listen to it or appreciate it. Nicole likes Chinese pop rock music by artistes like Jay Chou and JJ Lin. She likes that their songs express different emotions and can be upbeat and hyper as well as slow and sad. Nicole is not sure if Chinese pop rock music expresses a cultural connection between Chinese Singaporeans with Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. Nicole does not know much about traditional Chinese music. Nicole did not really like the extract of traditional Chinese music as she found it chaotic and all over the place. She thinks that this genre of music should be preserved for those who enjoy and appreciate it. Nicole thinks that traditional Chinese music probably expresses a cultural connection for the minority of Singaporeans who were born in China. Nicole thought that Chinese crossover music was beautiful and she liked the way they used Chinese instruments to play the pop songs. Nicole found experimental Chinese music a bit messy and all over the place. She does not think that she understands what the music is trying to express. Nicole thinks that Chinese immigrants in Singapore might like experimental Chinese music. Nicole listens to Singaporean music by artistes and bands like JJ Lin and the Sam Willows. Nicole does not think that there is a Singaporean musical style as the Singaporean musical acts sound like their foreign counterparts. Nicole thinks that National Day songs make her feel proud of Singapore as they are written by local composers and the lyrics bring out Singapore. Nicole first started learning the piano when she was seven or eight years old. She began lessons at the Yamaha music school. Nicole looked forward to lessons as her teachers would reward them with stickers when they did well and she enjoyed collecting the stickers. Some of the lessons required that her mother sit beside her and play together with her. Nicole enjoyed that as it was bonding time for the both of them. Nicole has music class in school once or twice a week. They learn about world music, different instruments, lyric-changing, and some song composition. Nicole thinks that one way to improve her music lessons would be to add in a practical session to play some of the instruments that they learn about. Nicole hopes to perform in the future as she likes playing for others. Nicole does not think that music lessons are necessary for all Singaporean students as some students do not have an interest in music and forcing them to take lessons might cause them to dislike music even more.
“Mm, I – I prefer, um, like Taylor Swift the singer. Er, most of her songs have like the feeling in them. Like when you have – when you – when you play it – the music, it like has to be the feel. [Be]cause her songs are all – most of them are very touchy, touchy the feeling. Yup. Like – like um, the emotion that comes through the song.”
“Classical music? Um, not often. Er, I don’t really play this genre. Like, um, I don’t really know much about it.”
“Not really dislike [classical music]. I mean, I still play a few pieces but, um, most of the time, I only play like English or Chinese songs. Or like – you know – pop music.”
“Mm ... I don’t really think like many Singaporeans listen to classical all the time. Because like the – like some of the songs like, um, make them a bit like sleepy. [Be]cause like the music is very, um, like slow and – ya. And some of them may not appreciate it though. Ya.”
“Maybe Jay Chou, JJ Lin. Er, there’s also like the different emotions in the music. Like some of their songs are like very hyper and active, then some are like very slow, very sad. Ya.”
“Traditional [Chinese] music? Um, I don’t really know much about it because I only like – the – I only play pop music and – ya.”
“Personally like I think I don’t really, um, prefer [traditional Chinese music]. Because it’s like – a bit like chaotic. And if you ask me to play on the piano, I – I won’t know what to play. I mean, um, er, because like, it’s a bit like all over the place. Ya.”
“I mean, um, like other people views shouldn’t like, um, control what like those who like this [traditional Chinese] music, um, like – ya. [Be]cause, um, even if like most – most of us may not like it, but there are still some people who like this music and appreciate this music.”
“Maybe those [Singaporeans] who like born in China may [like traditional Chinese music], but ... like – [be]cause the, um, right now pop – like – and rock have been like the mainstream music. Like – which is like different from the traditional music. Ya.”
“Ya, [Chinese crossover music] was like – it was very beautiful. I like how like they used the traditional music[al instruments] to play these pop songs, like how there’s a different way of expressing just these pop songs.”
“[Experimental Chinese music is] a bit like slow but – in the beginning, but then after that gradually it became fast. But when it was fast, it was a bit like messy and all over the place. I cannot really like, um, understand what the, er, music is like trying to express. Ya.”
“Mm, I don’t think so. Um, er, [be]cause like for – for The Sam Willows, like they’re also doing English pop, like the Western music. Ya. And for JJ Lin also. Like he sounds – he sound like – you know those Chinese top – like Jay Chou all these. I – I don’t really like, um, can [tell] a difference.”
“Er, ya. Mm, most of [the National Day songs] are written by our local artistes and ... the – like the lyrics all bring out like, um, our Singapore.”
“Mm ... when I first started [learning the piano]. Er, ya, I learned how to play the simplest pieces. It was actually quite fun [be]cause for the, um, I, um, like previously I went to school – Yamaha school. And I got to play with my mother so we were like playing together. So it was a really fun experience.”
“I usually look forward to lessons because when like – for the theory and everything, if you do well the teachers will award you with like stickers and small tidbits, all these. Because when I was young, I liked collecting stickers and – that’s why I look forward to going to piano lessons to do well so I can get more stickers.”
“Um, sometimes – ya, she will sit beside me and listen together. And then – ya, we’ll play together. Um, it’s like bonding time with my mom. [Be]cause she’s, um, usually very busy so I don’t really get to spend a lot of time with her. So I – ya, that’s another reason why I look forward to my piano lessons.”
“Ya, my teacher is very like, um, supportive of me playing the pop songs. Although he – sometimes he still give me a few practical pieces, but most of the time I play the pop songs in either English or Chinese.”
“Er, sometimes I do question like why because for the theory part, there’s a lot of things that you can just use the easy way out. But then [my piano teacher] would make me like do step by step for everything.”
“Sometimes it’ll be world music, sometimes it’ll like – there’s – we have to learn instruments, sometimes it’s about lyric changing, composing like some simple parts of like – ya. Mm, we have a booklet on like different types of music. There’s Spanish music, Turkish music, er, ya. [Be]cause my teacher say – I mean it’s in the syllabus so you have to learn, but even if like some of us don’t really appreciate this music, you still have to respect the music and their culture.”
“Mm, um, the most recent one wasn’t like a musical instrument but like lyric-composing. We have – I mean, like our whole class have to use the same audio and like we have to change the lyrics. And like [be]cause for every group, you can choose which instruments you want to use for your performance.”
“Mm, now not so much but I’m, um, I’m hoping to maybe perform again, ya. It was ... the feeling was nice like playing for others. But then I was like very afraid I’ll make mistakes. Ya.”
“Mm, maybe [music lessons are not necessary for all Singaporean students]. Most – I mean, some of them might not have interest at music and we can’t really force them to like – you know – take music. It’ll just cause them to not like music more.”
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