WARNING: This post has elements of embarassing fangirliness. BUT it also contains an important message for people who don't know how to read music. Like me. We are the musically illiterate.I was watching last week's episode of
The South Bank Show, which was specifically about Coldplay (watch it, if you're even remotely interested in them. Or if you don't give a crap about the band, watch it for the handsomeness that takes the shape of Guy Berryman).
There was one bit in the show where Chris describes how he wrote their hypnotically addictive
Clocks, and he mentions how he was just randomly playing with different notes, and that
he can't read music.
Wait, what? Chris Martin, the pianist for a band who are famous for their piano-driven rock, can't read music?Of course I was gutted.
Here I was all year, racking my brains out trying to understand how the hell to read music, because ever since I was a skinny little kid in primary school, it was my sole ambition to be Elton John. So anyway, these past few months ever since I bought Juno, my keyboard, I've been borrowing books on how to read music. Ashli gave me a few books he used when he was like, what, ten? Yeah, I've been reading books for ten year olds. But despite the long hours everyday trying to memorize where the notes on the pages fall on the keyboard, I
still did not get it.I finally decided to just give up, and just settle with knowing how to play by ear even if it meant never being able to play really really really well like Chopin. And Elton John.
So when I heard Chris tell the world he couldn't read music, my heart skipped a beat, and all my hope was restored. Just to make sure he wasn't BS-ing like he usually does, I decided to pay The Oracle a visit.
Ten minutes after I posted a question for her, she answers me (and that's amazing since some people wait for
months to get their questions answered, and some people
never get a reply.)
Yay! My name! On their official site!(Thank you, Rudy, for smsing me and alerting me about this)
Click here if you can't read thisThat's just some of the amazing Coldplay karma I've been receiving all week. Let's list them out.
1) I finally got to see The South Bank Show.
2) Chris Martin restored my hope and has taught me that while I suck at reading notes, I do have the chance to be just as great a player as he is. [/cheesiness].
3) The Oracle answered me.
But let's not forget the most amazing Coldplay-related thing that happened to me this week. Min, a friend from Singapore who has an immense amount of Coldplay Karma herself (she's met the band who knows how many times already?), sent a copy of LeftRightLeftRightLeft (Coldplay's live album only given out at their concerts) to me. I can't thank her enough. I haven't used the CD player in my hifi in ages (thanks to mp3 players and phones and computers), but as soon as I had the CD in my hands, I connected at least 4 speakers to the hifi and put the thing on LOUD, reenacting the whole concert experience in my mind. If you've been listening to LRLRL on earphones all this time, I advise you to use massive speakers instead. It's intense.
...
*basks in ray of happiness*
...
Back to the original point of this post: So you don't have to know how to read music to be a pianist for, like, one of the biggest bands in the world right now. And there I was believing I'm just really slow and maybe even a bit of a retard for not knowing how to read those darned notes no matter how long I stared at the exercise books... There is hope! I should totally form a band now. ROJAK, where are you?
Lots of love,
from Me.
p.s: Totally forgot Dave Grohl from The Foo Fighters can't read notes, either! Yay, we have something in common!
p.p.s: As you might have noticed, my updates will be less frequent these days, as assignments are piling up and final exams are just around the corner. Byebye life. :(
Word.
