Transcript of interview with Andrew Chin (conducted by Amanda Lee), 1 February 2017, 1 pm, Skype.
Andrew is a 41-year old male Chinese Singaporean who is a piano teacher. Andrew likes English pop music but does not listen to much rock music. He thinks that there is a cultural connection as Singapore was colonized by Britain and that Singapore has since adopted some aspects of the British culture, one of them being English pop music. Andrew likes music by J.S. Bach and Vierne as their music is rich. He thinks that while Western classical music is part of Singaporean culture, it is not so deeply rooted yet. Andrew likes Cantonese pop music by Jacky Cheung. He thinks that there is a cultural connection as his grandparents who moved to Singapore from China listen to the music from their homeland and feel a sense of connection. Andrew does not listen much to traditional Chinese music. He is not sure if there is a cultural connection but thinks that there might be one for his grandparents as they listen to traditional Chinese music. Andrew likes Chinese crossover music and thinks that the instrumentation was Chinese-influenced, but the rhythm and beats were Western-influence. Andrew did not like experimental Chinese music as there was no clear melody line. He thinks that it expresses contemporary culture as the music is modern. Andrew thinks that the musical genres of English pop, jazz, and new age music best represent him as a person. Andrew does not listen to Singaporean music but he thinks that one song that represents Singapore authentically is Fried Rice Paradise (1991). Andrew thinks that most National Day songs creates an authentic feeling of group belonging but only a few of them stand out in terms of harmony and melody. Andrew started learning the electone at the age of three before learning the piano at the age of six. He learned the pipe organ subsequently and has been playing it since. He did not enjoy learning the piano as he was forced to do so by his parents. Andrew disliked the piano but was motivated to complete his piano exams as he was told that a mastery of the piano was important to be able to play the pipe organ well. Andrew was fine with learning the recorder in primary school as he found it fun and easy to play. He did not think that his music education in school helped him to develop an interest in classical music as they did not learn any classical works. Andrew studied banking and finance in university and worked in the sector for a few years before switching to piano teaching. He enjoys teaching students as he is satisfied when he sees the joy on their faces when they are able to play their favorite songs. Andrew believes that his students should understand what they are learning and makes it a point to explain to them what they are doing. Andrew believes that his students should enjoy what they are learning and tries to make lessons fun for them. Andrew thinks that parents send their children for piano lessons as they believe that learning music develops their children’s cognitive processes. Andrew believes that more students should learn the piano as it provides very vigorous training. However, if that is not possible, he thinks that more students should learn music in general.
“I find that [English] rock music normally are quite loud. Er, mainly should be in the Western music. More like America and, er, UK. Ya. These – the oldies will be like Queen – is it Queen? Is that his name? Ya, Queen, so he’s like one of those pioneer in rock.”
“Because, um, Singapore was a colonial country from British, so in a way – what the British were here for the last hundred over years – they left their culture here, and Singaporeans will also primarily listen to this type of music which the British left the last forty, fifty years ago. So in a way, yes, I think there is some connection between us and the Western world.”
“Western classical music? I – I will take it as those Mozart, Beethoven, those kind of music, right? Okay, I think, er, for Singaporeans who learn music for the last forty, fifty years, and those who learn from piano, I think these classical music is the very basic foundation.”
“I think [Western classical music] wasn’t a culture in Singapore, but over time as we started to learn music, it has become – in my own opinion – it has become more of a culture, and more of, er, this the only thing that we should be studying. So – yes, I think – yes, it has been a culture. I think it is in our culture, but not very deeply rooted yet.”
“I think J.S. Bach is – in my own opinion – is the father of harmony. And for Vierne, er, he’s been a Frenchman. His music are all very rich and very grand. So I – I – I like grand music.”
“Canto pop music, yes, I do listen to them. Er, but actually – those – maybe more of the oldies. Like, er, Jacky Cheung, ya. The – the – the four heavenly kings.”
“My grandparents came from China, er, from Beijing more than fifty years – sixty years ago. So I think if I listen to this [Chinese pop] music, er, last thirty forty years, in a way it give them some sense of, “Eh, I – I’m now in Singapore, but this music came from, er, China. Er, Hong Kong.” So – yes, there is – I’ve heard from my own grandparents that they do have a bit of connection back with their own homeland.”
“I hardly listen [to traditional Chinese music]. But in the last ten years, there was some, um, those like girl band [nu zi shi er yue fang, 12 Girls Band], like five to ten of them, they will play different instruments. So I – I did listen and watch their video. Probably one or two songs only.”
“I don’t really listen [to traditional Chinese music] so I can’t really know whether will it does, but based on my grandparents’ time thirty years ago, I know they do listen to such type of music. And ... there was so much other options, yet they choose this. So I guess based on that there must be some type of connection that they felt when [they] listen to that.”
“I actually quite like [Chinese crossover music]. But I didn’t know that this type of music is called crossover music. I think is very nice. Ya. In my own opinion, this – this is really solid. This is really solid. Nice. Ya.”
“In terms of the rhythm [in Chinese crossover music]– beats, right, I’m not too sure what instrument he use, I think is the drums, is it? So if it’s a drum then I would say drum part would be a Western already. So I – I didn’t see what instrument he use for the drums. Ya, but I would say primarily is Chinese influence. Yup.”
“I don’t really like [experimental Chinese music]. Maybe because there are – there isn’t such melody line, or maybe the song has – still hasn’t developed into some main part. It’s like still in the early part – introduction stage. I’m still waiting for some musical element, which I don’t hear any harmony or whatsoever.”
“I mean – unless people like Kit Chan and you know, they sing those like Home (1998), those type of famous National Day song, er, yes. But I talking about those like [Sezairi] Sezali, what’s the name, ah? The guy who won the Singapore Idol. Sezali – something, ah. I don’t – I don’t listen to their song whatsoever.”
“I would say ninety percent of [National Day songs] – of the songs do create bonding and community. Ya. But only a few of them are really very good music in terms of harmony and melody.”
“I felt that maybe Singapore market is not big enough [for xinyao], and it didn’t capture the international market scene. That’s – that’s one. Number two, um, maybe there wasn’t enough exposure. The marketing wasn’t strong enough, so that’s why maybe it couldn’t make it that big in the international scene.”
“The Fried Rice Paradise album. And is quite catchy and ... it represents Singapore because there are a lot of terms used in Merlion, and fried rice. So I think that one really talks about Singapore. The culture, the food, the places, which I think there isn’t any more such songs nowadays already.”
“I learn the piano for about seven – seven years before I got my grade eight. The first two years probably was quite okay. But I think from grade three onwards to grade eight, I totally hated what I learned. Because I was forced to learn from my parents.”
“Because, er, of the exams, of the classical ABRSM syllabus, so I totally, totally hated it. I only started to enjoy classical music probably another fifteen – fifteen – about another ten to fifteen years later. Then I started to – for some mysterious reason, I went to flip through my J.S. Bach, um, music book.”
“In the primary school – during my time, we have this compulsory, er, recorder. Everybody have this wooden recorder, um, that we all have to learn. So I – I did enjoy those. Most of the songs that we learned were Chinese songs. Er, like those old yue liang dai biao wo de xin [Moon Represents My Heart] (1979).”
“Because he told me that if I have a solid background in – in piano, I will be able to play very well on the pipe organ. So that motivated me to, er, do my best or at least just – just pass the minimal for my piano so that I can hop on to my – hop on and play the pipe organ later on in my life. So actually it was the pipe organ that motivated me to just pass my – my piano exam.”
“After my O Levels grade eight. Er, I wanted to pursue music. But this was in – way back, 1990s. And at that time, I didn’t – music scene wasn’t as vibrant as today. Er, more than twenty-five years back. So my parents were saying, er, grade eight will be enough already. At most a diploma in piano, er, in music. And she – they felt that, mm, you should just study the hard sciences. Er, be it business, engineering, er, business, er, accountancy, whatsoever.”
“Because I teach pop piano, so what I enjoyed is because, um, most of the students, they like to learn their favorite songs. Usually. And if I can teach them the fundamentals of music and then later on they can apply and learn through their own favorite songs. Er, when you see the joy on their face, and how they discover that they are actually able to play their favorite songs, er, is – is really amazing.”
“I always believe that [my students] should enjoy what they are learning. I also try and make lesson fun. For me, I find that my ABRSM lessons, er, were never fun. It’s like going through some torture training. Ya. So I – I will always explain to them what they are doing and – and why did – what they are doing and why is it useful later on.”
“I will ask them what is their favorite song, or what are their favorite songs. If it’s within their standard in the next few months to achieve it, I will tell them straight upfront that they can achieve it. And I will play for them my own interpretation of their favorite song. Usually they will be impressed and they will be even more motivated to learn as – as fast as they can.”
“But after a few lessons like two, three, lessons, I can see that [some students are] just not interested at all. I – I just stop at that point of time. I really ask them nicely. I never scold them, I ask them like why are they doing this. I find out from them, what – what – what’s happening. And I will say most of them – in fact all of the time – is they are actually forced by their parents to learn.”
“Half of [my students have] zero background in music, and the parents have zero background in music – classical. The other half, they themselves are maybe a grade eight or a diploma level. So why they send over for lessons is because they feel that learning music develops the – the brain of the – of the kid. But, mm ... I spoke to many of them and they told me that they will just stop at grade eight. Just like my parents thirty, forty years back.”
“Yes, [students] should learn [the piano]. But if they cannot learn for some reason because maybe it’s expensive to buy a piano, then I will say at least learn an instrument that is affordable. But learn music. Because music doesn’t have to be only learnt on the piano. You can also learn it through – for example the recorder.”
“If you can, learn the piano. Because it gives you very vigorous training. But if you cannot then just at least learn the basic through a recorder.”
“A lot of [Singaporeans] feel that if they don’t have the ABRSM grade three, grade four cert, they can’t play the songs. And I feel that this is wrong, it’s the wrong approach. So that’s why I’m motivated to tell it – this group of people –which is actually a very big segment in the market. So that – that – that gives me the – that gives me the drive.”
“Go and learn [an instrument] properly at least for about one year or two years. But having said that, I know humans are quite impatient. They can’t wait for one or two years. They want to learn that song in one or two weeks, so that is dilemma. But I urge, er, new piece – want to learn music, please be patient. You will find that it’s more fruitful in years to come.”
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