Transcript of interview with Karen Lau (conducted by Amanda Lee), 11 January 2017, 5 pm, Skype.
Karen is a 33-year old female Chinese Singaporean who is a piano teacher. Karen listens to English pop rock songs when friends and students recommend it to her. She likes Coldplay’s music as they have interesting instrumentation and have a piano in their ensemble. Karen thinks that English pop rock expresses a cultural connection between Singapore and the West as music is an effective medium like movies and TV shows to communicate Western culture. However, she does not think all Singaporean youths have adopted Western ways of thinking. Karen listens to Western classical music a lot in her line of work as a piano teacher. She likes composers such as Debussy, Ravel, and Bach. Karen likes Bach’s works as they are fun and evergreen. Karen thinks that Western classical music should be preserved as it has influenced so much music around the world, with English pop music drawing the most influence. She thinks this music is global culture as there are many music capitals around the world for classical music. Karen used to listen to Chinese and Cantonese pop rock music. She does not think she likes what is playing on the radio these days as they focus more on marketing the artistes rather than the actual singing. Karen thinks that there is a language connection between Chinese Singaporeans with Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. She thinks that Singaporeans know most Chinese and Cantonese pop rock songs through the television or radio. Karen likes traditional Chinese folk songs and the guzheng. Karen does not think that this music expresses a cultural connection of Singaporeans with China as this music makes them think about their ancestral roots rather than their connection with modern China. Karen thinks that most people will enjoy Chinese crossover music as it is catchy, and will catch on in different countries because it is instrumental music. Karen thinks that this music is globalization in action as it shows an exchange of cultures. Karen thinks that experimental Chinese music should be placed in the more general category of modern music. She thinks that this music belongs to classical culture rather than contemporary culture. Karen thinks that Singaporean music draws influences from China, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Karen thinks that the Singaporean musical style has a mix of languages like English, Chinese, and Malay inside. Karen thinks that Singlish comedy songs definitely represent Singaporeans, but is unsure if they can represent Singapore effectively on the global stage. Karen thinks that National Day songs mean different things to each Singaporean, so she would not know if they create a feeling of group belonging. Karen thinks that a mix of different genres expresses her, not just Chinese genres. She especially likes to listen Western and Chinese crossover music and identifies more with these genres of music.
Karen started learning the piano when she was six years old, and enjoyed it for a while before stopping her lessons. Karen was in the brass band and choir in primary and secondary school, and studied audio engineering in polytechnic. Karen decided to teach the piano as she found that it was the best way to learn and improve. Karen thinks that effective practice is important and it shows the students how to practice their homework during lesson time. She thinks that students need to have the right attitude, begin at the right time, and be able to commit to learning the instrument. Karen deals with students who are not interested by having them listen to some music first. She thinks students should learn more about music in general and not just necessarily the piano. Karen thinks that successful students are the ones who learn the piano because they want to, and not because they are forced to. She found that a student whose parents play instruments themselves influence and set an example for their child. Karen thinks that the biggest barrier to forming a music culture is Singapore is the mindset that music is a separate thing from people’s daily lives.
“For Coldplay, I like the way they choose their chords. Although they – I mean, they still use the – the usual four-chord thing, but they have interesting instrumentation. And of – of course for somebody who plays the piano, I like how they have a piano, er, in their ensemble.”
“Hmm, well it is a very big influence on how our youths especially thinks. Just like how their shows and movies affect the way we think, er, music is just effective a medium to, um, communicate to us the way, er, Western culture thinks.”
“[Bach’s] works are contrapuntal, and it’s like fitting puzzles together. It’s just fun to bring out different things from his music. Like, er, there’s always a melody, er, three melodies going on at the same time. And the way he influences a lot of, er, impressionistic music as well.”
“So the biggest charm about classical music – you can see that it is a reflection of the culture these people live in. The music reflects their culture, reflects their life, reflects their architecture as well. Oh, and even their fashion.”
“So our current pop music, I mean we have, er, bands that are equally influenced by, er, classical music, you just look at the Beatles all that. They have a lot of songs – you know – Elvis, er, they have songs that are directly influenced by pop music, even, er, outright copying.”
“[Classical music is] definitely global [culture] because, um, in the past, people would congregate to, er, people would congregate in one place as the, er, musical capital. And people from all over the [world] will go into one place. Mix together, study there. And now I think it’s much more globalized. Because we have not just Europe, we have America.”
“I’m studying a little bit of [musicals], ya. Er, I – I like how it is ... what all people say, it’s three in one. It’s a triple threat. To perform well in a musical, you have to be able to sing, dance, and act. All at the same time. So it takes years and years of building those skills.”
“There were a lot of, er, [Chinese pop] singers who composed their own music and composed their own songs. Whereas nowadays we have a lot of – I – we still have some good ones, but a lot of them don’t write their own music, they are just being marketed.”
“Like, er, all pop music, er, it’s like how ... the good [Chinese pop] songs will stay, ten years later we will hear those songs again. But the songs which are easily forgettable, we won’t hear them in ten years.”
“There is a very strong link between, um, er, the surrounding East Asian countries. I mean, er, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan because of language itself. [Chinese pop] songs-wise, um, I’m sure most, er, most of the songs Singaporeans know would be through – through television or the radio. So it really depends on what the radios are playing.”
“And there is a strong – there is a strong history and culture that comes with [traditional Chinese music]. For example, songs that comes from the different parts, the different provinces of China. There’s a different style from each province.”
“Rather than with mainland China I think it’s more about their own Chinese roots. [Traditional Chinese music helps] more to connect with their ancestors rather than with, er, current, modern China. They – it will probably make them think more about, um, their great grandparents and all that.”
“[Chinese crossover music is] an exchange of culture but at the same time, um, shows – it shows that people are listening. That for, er, that if a piece of music touches someone, there will be, er, people performing it with their own interpretation, with their own style, with their own instruments. So I think maybe it speaks about the universal language that is music.”
“That means they use Chinese instruments to play, er, music from – say, popular music. I see, that’s called crossover. I thought it’s just called music. I never differentiated it, I just consider it music. It’s like well, if you use a recorder to play, if you use a violin to play it, or a pipa to play it, or you sang it classical style, it will still be [music] – ya, ya – I guess.”
“Most people will definitely like [Chinese crossover music]. It’s catchy, it’s easy to understand. And it’s instrumental, it doesn’t have words, so that makes it even easier to, um, cross, er, any, er, ya – ya, it will – it will make it very easy for it to cross over into different countries.”
“[Experimental Chinese music is] also termed under modern music where they imitate sounds of say, insects and cars and traffic, and all that. So rather than experimental, it’s under a more general term of modern music. Just so happens that this – these are by Chinese artistes.”
“[Experimental Chinese music] belongs to the classical side of things. Just as the crossover you mentioned belongs to the pop side of things, this one – where you – this experimental one belongs to the classical side. So they will be going hand-in-hand. Classical students will be looking at all these things as well.”
“For example, if they do a cover of popular Chinese music, but they redo all the lyrics and change the instrumentation. And I think – I think that’s – that’s really enjoyable to see, um, someone else’s version of it. Music now is – it doesn’t just belong to the musicians.”
“It’s not just Chinese music that expresses myself because I am, er, trained in Western classical music. But I do like to see crossovers and collaborations between the two. Like, for example if, um, er, say ... there are a lot of, er, classical singers singing Chinese repertoire as well.”
“Rather than Singaporean, we are a mix of a lot of different types of music. So our biggest influences – other than say, Chinese or China – I think our biggest influence would be Southeast Asian music such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesian music features quite strongly in our songs as well.”
“One of the things that define Singapore music is the language we use. We use English, Malay, Chinese, so if there is a mix of languages inside or – if there is – if it is a song that has a mix of influences from China and Indonesia, or, er, and has English lyrics, I think that is quite Singaporean.”
“I wouldn’t say effectively but [Singlish comedy songs can] definitely can represent us. Whether it’s effective or not it’s something else. This is, um, I think it’s more – it’s closer to more of an in-joke for Singaporeans. Because there is a lot of things, er, I mean the foreigners wouldn’t understand.”
“Because, er, there – I think we are at the stage where we are still experimenting [with music], so there is nothing concretely – very concretely Singaporean yet. So there is going to be a lot of, er, mixing going on. I think the mix itself – the chaos and the mess itself is what we can term as Singaporean.”
“I probably enjoyed [learning the piano] for a little while, and then I hated it for ten years. And then after that I went back to liking it after I stopped lessons. I think it’s more about right time, right place, and, um, having the right maturity to deal with, er, a commitment this big to a single, um, a single instrument.”
“I’ve been listening to [classical music] my whole life, so I don’t know when it was that I really started – just really loving it. But I think, um, my appreciation for it definitely grew when I was, um, in my late teens. Because I started, er, listening to more pop music. I think that was when I started really appreciating classical music because I listened to pop music. Then I could see the difference.”
“Teaching is the best way to learn. So, um, I wanted to improve and I wanted to have more time to study so ... ya. So the best way to apply what you have learnt is to teach. And sometimes as a teacher, I realize that I learn a lot from my students as much as they learned from me.”
“The way I teach has to keep up with it to engage their interest and, um, effective practice is extremely important. We cannot waste time to, er, practice anything the wrong way because, er, students nowadays are so pressed for time with their commitment to, er, their academic side of things.”
“Because [students] are so pressed for time, and their priority is not music, I cannot expect them to do too much music homework. So I have to scale down the amount of homework I give them. I keep it to a minimum. Um, I make sure they practice something they are familiar with so I make it a point to teach them in class how to practice.”
“And those who are not interested, er, the first thing I would try and get them to do is to first listen to music because you can’t play music if you don’t listen to music. And that’s one of the biggest problems I have sometimes. Because I would have students who come – who have never turn on the radio before.”
“I wouldn’t say [learn] just the piano, I would – I would strongly suggest for everybody to just pick up an instrument. Doesn’t have to be the piano. If you don’t have any money or whatever for a piano, join the choir. Join the community choir, join the school choir. Um, the instrument is free.”
“If [the students] started young, it is likely that it is not completely out of interest. But if they started it a little later in life, say – you know – they are teenagers when they start learning the piano, I can say they mostly do it out of love for the instrument. Or love for music. Or a desire to want to be able to play something. So I think that desire is very important.”
“The most successful students I’ve had are – or the ones that really love their instruments and love music, are the ones whose parents play an instrument themselves. Because they really do it because they are interested and not because they are being forced to. The parents play a big role.”
“I think that’s the biggest barrier to, er, forming a musical culture here in Singapore. They see it – they see it as a separate thing. Like music is a completely separate thing from their everyday life. If they make it part of their lives, then it would – it would become cultural, it would become something that’s just part of the family.”
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