Count The Shadows

You’ve got to focus on all the silhouettes that you can see, because if the number keeps on changing, then you’re no use to me.

Lines of the chorus from a song I’m strangely addicted to. It’s actually quite a bad song, and ridiculous singing, but a very catchy tune. Go look it up at - “Chameleon Circuit – Count The Shadows”.

Day Two, now. Still don’t quite know how I’m going to finish this stupid challenge.

Today we (read : I) will talk about music. More specifically, we shall talk about the performing of music.

I learn the guitar, right? And I’ve been learning for the last nine years, and I’ve switched teachers quite a few times, and the one I’m with now is clearly the best teacher I’ve had for classical western music that I’ve had, by a long, long shot. And along with me, there are some twenty, thirty odd students learning the guitar, not to mention the innumerable number of people learning the bane of all instruments, the keyboard.

I’ve got an issue with people learning the keyboard. Sure, it’s a substitute for people who have no space for a piano, or can’t afford a piano, but that’s not all they use it for. They use it as a beat provider, and as a synthesiser.

Don’t get me wrong, here. I’m not all against keyboards. Professional musicians use them all the time, to great effect. But the difference is, they are producing their own music, not reproducing someone else’s music with a glorified toy.

There’s a certain beauty, or talent, if you will, involved with playing an instrument… a real one. The guitar, the violin, the piano, the saxophone, the harmonica, the harp, the freaking banjo requires more talent to play than the keyboard. To play the keyboard as a keyboard, not as a piano.

Anyway. So I’m sitting in class, and listening to the keyboardist bicker, because I have nothing better to do, and this one girl is playing a sonata by Mozart on the piano setting, and it sounds really nice. Then the ‘senior’ there (Some frumpy girl with an attitude, who thinks she’s queen ‘cause she’s finished eight grades) asks her :

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“….? Playing the sonata?”

“No. You’re playing it on piano.”

“…. yeah?”

“It’s WRONG!”

“What?”

“It’s WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! There is PROTOCOL to be followed. You can’t just put PIANO!”

 

I could have shot her at this point.

Protocol? Protocol my aunt Martha’s fag end.

The moronic, ninny, nitwit.

Sad part is that she truly believes that’s how it’s supposed to be done. Now she plays the keyboard wonderfully, and I take nothing away from her, but in my opinion, anything that sounds good goes. Playing a piano sonata on a guitar mode on a keyboard… now that’s just wrong.

That’s like having sugar and ghee with your idli.

Just not done.

P.S – Nothing personal against said girl.

P.P.S – If you did click through to the song, yes, I like it. What? Yes, it is pop.

What?

Yeah. It’s catchy, isn’t it?

No, I’m not buying the album when it comes out.