Pianist's Chronicles

Kitaro Live at Genting 2009

2009-03-10T21:24:00.001+08:00

Hi everyone! I just got back from Genting.. Hehe.. spent two days there.e The first day was very exciting... got to see kitaro live in concert for the second time! The first time i saw kitaro was in 2007... the one i saw a few days ago was just as good.. =)

Here are a couple of pics from the concert.. =)

The arena of stars was filling up fast that night... thank god we were there early...

Here's a closer look at his famous drum... =)

Aperture 2

2009-03-07T08:10:00.003+08:00

I got this cool software from Apple.. It's called Aperture 2... It's like photoshop.. but i prefer the Aperture since i'm using my mac... here is a sample of what it can do... i edited this myself.. =)

This is the first pic.. =)... unedited...

This is the edited one... hehe.. nice? =P

PS: pics are taken from KL Bird Park in 2008... =)

Steinway

2009-03-05T04:24:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone.. been so long since i uploaded any piano songs.. anyways.. here's one.. i recorded this with a Studio Steinway Grand piano.. one would easily cost you 500K... haha.. anyways.. i recorded a part of Cavatina.. hope you all like it... =)..

Cavatina on Steinway

PS: Do use good speakers/earphones/headphones to feel the tone and warmth of the piano. =D

Sick. Sick. Sick.

2009-02-28T17:16:00.002+08:00

Dry cough for more than a month.. Difficulty breathing recently... sucks.. really sucks.. it's preventing me from being at the top of my game.. =(

Sick of Being Sick

2009-02-26T20:49:00.001+08:00

It's 3 weeks already i been having cough... damn.. i hate coughs.. fever and flu easy to go off.. but cough.. so troublesome... hard to focus when practicing.. even worse when i try to practice my saxophone... i even finished my cough mixture.. stupid cough still bugging me.. and it's dry cough.. very irritating.. at times, can cough till get headaches.. or even worse, migraines.. tomorrow i have class with my major instrument instructor.. i'm sick of that one too... damn it...

Bass clef, The Bastard clef.

2009-02-26T00:12:00.002+08:00

Hi everyone... been awhile since i last posted anything.. today started my first piano major class.. i was looking forward to it.. up till the moment where my instructor told me that i had to play jazz by reading from written music.. which means, treble and bass clef together.. Hello?? i thought that the bass is up to the player's improvisation and discretion.. where is the freedom in playing jazz if i have to play from written score?? this sucks.. what a letdown.. really no mood to touch my piano.. been playing saxophone whole day... i dunno why i learnt and practiced my jazz voicings... i really lost my temper after the class.. so sickening.. i left classical music for a reason.. and i want to learn jazz coz i like the freedom of expression in it, with the improvisations.. now that i'm here, it looks like they are trying to stuff me back into classical.. i ******* hate this... where got have to learn jazz the classical way? it's very very stupid... To the instructor, please don't do this to cater to the classical students who are just too stupid to figure out voicings for playing jazz.. i know what you're trying to do, you insolent ignorant pretender.. just stick to teaching classical if you like students playing from written score.. damn you.. damn you.... you are a disgrace to the contemporary arts...

What Is It?

2009-02-02T04:18:00.002+08:00

Something is missing. I'm still not getting enough out of music. What is missing. Something is. I'm half full and half empty. Sighs. =(

My Book

2009-01-13T05:24:00.004+08:00

This here is my book! hehe.. not a story book.. but my external hard disk.. yeap.. a 640gb one.. hehe.. quite huge capacity.. but i doubt that will be enough for me.. =p.. anyways.. here are the pics of my new external drive.. =p

Hehe.. got light blink blink when data is transmitting.. =p..

cute cute.. =D

Buddha Bar

2009-01-12T09:10:00.002+08:00

Buddha Bar. They seriously have nice music. There's no doubt bout that. I downloaded all 10 volumes of their music, and i have to say, damn! Their music is so refreshing and nice. It's like new age + electornica + experimental. Very good songs in there, which can simply just make you wonder and think about the complexity of life. i highly recommend everyone to get some of the Buddha Bar music if possible. =)

Goodbye ICOM

2009-01-09T12:45:00.002+08:00

This is my last day at ICOM. Registration day. I was so looking forward to starting the sem on monday... but it seems that i won't.. and will never be returning to ICOM.. The fees are he main reason.. when i first entered.. everything was like a fairytale.. reasonable prices.. this year, the fees are doubled.. =(... ICOM is good.. the lecturers are good and friendly.. and so are the students.. but not the management.. the management is the worst.. even a kindergarten management is far better.. sighs.. i am terribly disappointed by ICOM...

Bugged by Boredom

2009-01-07T22:27:00.001+08:00

AHHHHHHHHH! I'm so bored i can go mad!!! Just finished my practising.. it looks like everything that can go wrong this friday might happen... B O R I N G =(

Lonely

2009-01-07T09:31:00.002+08:00

Digi barred my outgoing calls. I'm marooned in KL, all alone. Here i sit, at the lobby in my college. Empty college. Classes commence on monday. I can't wait for the classes to start. Till then, let me bask in my loneliness.

Mom's Graduation

2009-01-06T16:08:00.003+08:00

My mom graduated a few months ago i think... last year.. haha... we were so proud of her.. he was doing this secretarial course at Open University Malaysia.. Anyways.. the reason i'm posting this is because i got the photos pretty late from the photography company, and i miss my family in johor.. =(... anyways.. here are the pics.. =)

This is my mom.. hehehe... so proud of her.. graduating at the age of 45.. =)

This is my mom and dad.. =)

And this is my family! hehe...

Hehe... that's my mom's graduation photos.. i miss them back in johor... :')

Sony Ex Monitor

2009-01-05T05:04:00.003+08:00

Phew.... i got myself a really good pair of earphones.. a good way to start of the new year! haha.. =p.. anyways.. i just got mysef the Sony Ex Monitor series earphone.. mine is the MDR-EX500Sl model... it looks so cool and sophisticated.. and my oh my... the sound quality on this thing is very good! certainly worth the hefty price tag it carried.. =p... Listening to songs on my iPod with this pair of earphones will certainly be more fun now.. hehehe... ;)... here are some pics of the pair of earphones i got.. =D

This here is the box.. pretty big for a pair of earphones eh.. hehe...

After opening the package, i found this! a leather casing for the earphones... real leather o... haha... =p

a closer look at the leather casing.. hehe... pretty cool for a pair of earphones..

Last but not least, the earphones themselves... this is the gem right here.. hehe... i have to put it in this casing, so i can fit it into the leather casing.. =D.. the earphones look pretty coool eh.. wait till you hear the sound quality on this thing... =D

Long time no see

2008-12-18T06:43:00.001+08:00

been awhile since i last posted anything here.. hehe.. going to penang at night... so excited.... =D.. i hope i reach there safely.. always had a phobia on travelling far by bus... =p...

Home

2008-11-27T06:08:00.001+08:00

Arrived JB at around 0350 Hrs... Tired.. Now at home.. taking a break from practising..

Nothing much to write... back to practising then..

Monterez Golf & Country Club Gig

2008-11-24T02:13:00.011+08:00

Had a gig at Monterez golf and country club.. me and my friend, siang, were sessionists for the upcoming local vocal group, Hayad.. Performing there gave me some experience and exposure.. it was good.. everything went smoothly.. hehe.. we reheaarsed alot for this performance.. and our efforts paid off.. hehe... here are some pics and a video of our performance...

Upon our arrival, we went into the club to look at the setting, the stage, and the instruments.. this is the stage.. hehe.. complete with a drumset, bass guitar, electric guitar, 3 keyboards and a few mike stands..

This is Suhaimi and Siang.. Suhaimi was the one who recorded our performance and took the other photos...

This is Dayah, the manager for Hayad.. who is also a very talented and good vocalist.. she helped alot on our rehearsals and getting spots for our gigs...

This is Rafiq, one of the vocalists for Hayad...

Here is Cik... the other vocalist for Hayad...

This is Siang, the guitarist...

This is me.. hehe.. on the keyboard...

This is us getting ready for the gig... the nerves... it was on everyone.. but e managed to pull thru and play smoothly...

This is us after nailing the gig... everyone had a good time... haha... im not in the pic as i was photographing it.. lol...

And this here, i s a recording of one of the songs i played.. it's Terima Kasih Cinta... Hope you enjoy it... =)

Tatoo Duo 2

2008-11-22T08:19:00.003+08:00

Hehe.. nope, i didn't get a tatoo... but what i did do is, i got myself a new set of mini soundsystem... and they're sonic gear's tatoo duo 2.. sound is pretty clear on the satelites, and the bass is simply deep, strong, and cool... as an audiophile, i wouldn't mind spending a little extra on good sound system.. haha.. =p

Contemporary Piano Chronicles

2008-11-19T06:29:00.002+08:00

Hi everyone, just wanna inform that i've opened a new blog under this account, which is

Contemporary Piano Chronicles.. It's about contemporary music.. it will have information on how to play contemporary.. do visit it.. i hope it helps everyone who's tryin to understand contemporary music.. Piano..

The Standing Zebra

2008-11-18T21:41:00.004+08:00

I guess it's normal to see human beings standing, dogs standing, and even cats standing.. but what about a zebra? haha...
Literally. The zebra in the pic below is standing..

Taken from National Geography..

"Bow before me!!"

Which is worse?

2008-11-18T21:31:00.003+08:00

Haha... which will be worse.. smoking ciggarates or

batteries?? hahahaha....

My Mac.Book.Pro

2008-11-18T18:40:00.004+08:00

I got my MacBookPro somewhere around September.. and my oh my.. it's a great laptop.. it comes with boot camp, which allows me to partition my hard drive so i can use both windows and the mac osx on the macbook pro.. which is cool.. haha.. the reason why i partitioned it is so i can play my games! haha.. the specs on this baby is very good... with 2gb ddr 2 ram, intel core 2 duo 2.4ghz, and nvdia 8600 gt with 512 ddr3 vram.. it can play intense games well!! haha.. damn i love the macbook... =D

Fallout 3

2008-11-18T03:26:00.003+08:00

Fall in love with this game everyone!! haha.. the moment i started playing this, i knew this is gonna be a classic.. from the makers of Elder Scrolls IV at Bethesda, they've done it again with another very very nice and cool RPG Game.. this is Fallout 3.. hehe... my MacBookPro can support this game at its maximum settings... which is nice to enjoy.. very nice... the gameplay is unique, and a bit similar to elder scrolls.. Fallout 3 and FarCry 2 will occupy lots of your time.. haha... so take your time and enjoy them, as i will.. =D

FarCry 2

2008-11-18T03:22:00.002+08:00

Yahoo!! Today bought two new games.. This is the first one i installed on my MacBookPro... well.. couldn't really play it in full settings.. pretty demanding.. haha.. anyways.. after playing it for a few hours, i must say, its not really full of adrenaline as Unreal Tournament 3.. but take nothing away from FarCry 2.. its a good game.. one of the best of 2008.. hehe... it's abit similar to crysis, but not as demanding as crysis was.. the gameplay is set in africa.. and the game does brilliantly in capturing the environment and atmosphere of africa.. well done!!

L O S T

2008-11-15T20:07:00.002+08:00

This isn't about that lame LOST drama.. but its about something more serious in context.. something more dire.. my phone!! i lost my phone.. sighs.. sad.. that phone meant something to me.. had been wih me for many years already.. careless me.. should've had some sleep.. but i didn't.. hence, i'm not alert as i can be.. miss you, my W800.. we have been thru alot.. wherever you are, i hope you are better off in a dumpster than any bastard's hands that found you.. haha.. sad la.. kanasai.. =(

Zero Sugar

2008-11-14T02:55:00.003+08:00

Hehe.. my motto towards what i eat.. have to keep it balanced, simple, and safe.. Zero Sugar.. =D

Gig at LEPAQ

2008-11-13T12:27:00.002+08:00

It's my first contemporary music gig!! hehe.. and it's coming up tomorrow, on friday.. excited.. hehe... playing with a band.. classical gigs are scary.. all alone on the stage.. at least now i have some frens with me on stage.. we'll be playing at LEPAQ.. some bar in damansara.. so excited.. haha.. i hope everything goes on well and smooth for everyone.. ;)

Renegade again!

2008-11-12T11:56:00.003+08:00

Hahahaha.. the new scorpion went missing in the apartment!! that's the second scorpion which went missing in our apartment.. now we have two renegade scorpions... i can only hope they're of the same sex or else we're gonna start seeing little scorpion offsprings here and there.. one scorpion free around is ok.. but two, is freaking me out.. haha... i slept with a can of aerosol spray just beside me.. haha.. safety first.. =p..

Recording Session

2008-11-11T14:30:00.008+08:00

Had to wake up early this morning.. had recording session with a friend of mine.. it was for his final project.. hehe.. and i get to play the grand piano in the recital hall.. we got the whole recital hall to ourselves.. the recording was fun... it was a song by Tupac ft. Dido.. upbeat and strong.. i had to play out the chorus, both melody and chords.. luckily i had time to rehearse and practise by listening to the original song and playing out the same thing.. after recording, i took some photos of ICOM's Recital Hall.. its not so big.. but it has almost every equipment concerned with audio production.. haha... here are them pics...

The grand piano.. a yamaha grand.. personally, i don't like playing on Yamah grands.. The touch and sound is abit too bright for my liking...

Mikes are put in place for recording.. high quality recording o.. haha.. grand pianos are good for recording, unlike the upright ones as they reverb alot...

This is here is my point of view from playing on the grand piano.. can see part of the the crowd if someone were to perform...

This here is the hardware and software used to record.. the small box thingy beside the laptop is like a mixer.. the software in the laptop keeps the file of the recording.. my piano recording is in it!!

This here.. haha.. i dunno what it is.. it looks very complicated.. i've seen students handling this during friday performances.. maybe its for adjusting the volume levels of the instruments.. i think.. haha...

That equipment on the chair.. is actually a device used to control the lighting effects.. hehe.. they use this often on friday performances.. to create nice effects that sync together with the songs being performed..

This here is like a small room in the corner of the recital hall... alot of recording and audio production stuff are stored here...

Haha... that's generally ICOM's recital hall.. friday performances and showcases and workshops are held here.. my friday performance will be coming soon.. next sem.. scary.. haha.. till then, enjoy the pics! =)

Scorpion

2008-11-11T14:22:00.003+08:00

Well.. my housemate and I like exotic pets.. so he, Siang, got a pet scorpion few weeks back.. it was great.. he kept it in a plastic container, covered it with a box.. then next morning, our friend, the scorpion went missing in our apartment.. haha.. it went renegade.. AWOL... I hope that missing scorpion can take care of minor insect problems.. Then yesterday.. Siang came back from jb, bringing back another scorpion! haha.. it's slightly smaller than the renegade one.. here are a couple of pics of the new scorpion.. =p

Cute ain't it?? Haha... It's pretty.. =p

See.. trying to escape.. haha... trying to find that renegade scorpion i think.. =p

Mad Jazz!!

2008-11-10T05:09:00.002+08:00

I doubt that alot of you will know of Hiromi Uehara.. She's a very good pianist.. Jazz pianist who graduated from Berklee.. here is one of her songs.. called Tom and Jerry... after listening to the mp3, i think you all will agree with the title of the post... :D

Hiromi Uehara - The Tom & Jerry Show

Impromptu Composition

2008-11-10T04:54:00.002+08:00

Wait!! this isn't the classical sort of impromptu.. haha.. what i meant by impromptu composition is somethin i composed on the spot and recorded and straight away uploaded here.. haha.. this is the only good thing of having insomnia i guess.. alot of ideas in the head for music.. =p.. anyways.. here is my 1 minute impromptu composition.. in c minor.. haha.. =p.. enjoy and comment..

Recording (1)

KL life

2008-11-10T04:40:00.003+08:00

Here are some pics from my apartment balcony and college.. =p..

Directly opposite, is the heritage apartments.. at first, i was suppose to stay there.. but then, i didn't want to coz it didn't look safe to me.. haha.. so i moved to other apartment... most of the icom students stay at the heritage apartments.. look, they even have a nice pool!

This here is taken inside my college... this is the 3rd floor.. this is where most of the students will be at if they don't have class.. they have about 40 practice rooms here.. majority of them have pianos.. some have drumsets.. this is also where the private instructions class are being held at, as well as the ICOM weekend school..

This is here is the 2nd floor.. probably the busiest floor in ICOM.. this is where most of the classes are held at... they have 2 ensemble rooms here and 3 classrooms.. this is the notice board, where notices about concerts and competitions will be posted..

Haha... funky window designs eh.. this here is the biggest classroom in icom i think.. this is where i have my Malaysian Studies and Moral Studies class.. and its quite cold in here..

Haha... so those are some of the pics of my coll.. haha... more to come soon.. hopefully.. :P

C Minor, C# Minor, D# Minor

2008-11-10T04:11:00.002+08:00

Oh my.. haha.. c minor, c# minor, and the epic d# minor.. these three are my favorite keys!! they are so nice to be composed with.. i like to compose in c minor, and i like playing pieces that are either in c# minor and d# minor.. they're dark.. there's something hidden beneath their dark quality.. a melancholy of deep sorrow and bitterness.. i just finished composing something in c minor.. hehe.. its dark.. cant wait to finalize it and post in on me blog.. ;)

sleepless night in the hotel lobby

2008-11-09T01:33:00.002+08:00

i'm supposed to be asleep now.. but i'm not.. sleep is hard to get these days for me.. maybe that's because there is no piano here with me to play with and practice.. i'm used to playing the piano before i rest.. sighs.. none here in legend hotel.. hence, i type this blog.. been awhile since my last post.. hehe... i've been a busy man.. it's nice to be able to blog again after some time.. cheers...

PFM 08 Final Performance

2008-10-10T08:45:00.002+08:00

It's over!! The PFM course is over and done with! And i passed it well... hehe... I'm glad that i passed it.. I wasn't so nervous.. That's because i was high that day... High from lack of sleep! haha... Anyways.. we played 4 songs.. And i'm assessed on Autumn Leaves and Terima Kasih Cinta.. here are the videos =)

Ain't No Sunshine

The Autumn Leaves

Terima Kasih Cinta

Blaze of Glory

Those are the videos of our performance, recorded by our friend, Wei.. Do view and comment! Thanks! :D

iPod

2008-10-10T08:41:00.002+08:00

Wow.. been awhile since i last posted anything here.. been busy... haha... i got myself a 80GB iPod recently... I'm tired of using my W880 to listen to music.. just 2GB of memory... and the battery will finish fast.. Hence, the iPod is a good tool for me.. =)... After loading it up with songs and videos, i found out that i just use up 2.5GB only.. haha... Lots more space.. Time will fill it i guess... =)

Dancer In The Dark

2008-09-22T10:45:00.002+08:00

Gut wrenching. Heartbreaking. This is what i can say about this movie after watching it.. And i dare say it's my most favorite movie of all time... words just cant describe how wonderful it is.. it is also a part musical.. there's some singing in it.. and dancing.. but the songs are nice.. as they're written by bjork herself.. Directed by Lars Von Trier.. And the lead role is held by Bjork.. this is a must watch movie.. one of the best... enjoy...

Part 1

Listen to your heart.... :'(....

Disco Disco

2008-09-22T07:57:00.002+08:00

Last but not least, another nice song from FIFA 08... By Simian Mobile Disco... i like this song.. it's called 'I Believe'... the beats are nice.. and so are the vocals... do note, that this song is not a remix.. =).. here's the video..

Fever Fever

2008-09-22T07:42:00.003+08:00

I had fever for the past few days... but i feel far better this morning.. hehe.. anyways.. this blog isn't about my fever... but about another song from FIFA 08... it's by Melody Club.. the name of the song is Fever Fever... this is quite catchy too... and it ain't german! haha... =p.. here's the video... =)

A German Song

2008-09-22T07:38:00.002+08:00

I play alot of games.. and one of my favorites is the FIFA series.. in FIFA 08 they had a great playlist, with songs from all over the continent... here's one of them which appealed to me... a german song... haha... hard to understand their language, i have to admit... but the song is catchy.. here's the video... =p

Damn you Lucas Arts!!!

2008-09-22T06:39:00.002+08:00

Well.. been awhile since i last posted anything here.. almost a week.. been a busy week for me... And i'm up early and i have nothing to do.. so i post this... =D..

Lucas Arts.. The company that made the Star Wars game.. all their games have been nice... especially Knights of The Old Republic I and II... now.. the have released a new game... which is almost as good as KoTOR I and II i think... Star Wars : The Force Unleashed.. why am i condemning Lucas Arts? They won't be releasing the game on the PC!! WTF!!!!...... that is so wrong!!! PC is like far better than any consoles out there... i remember one of the reasons they gave for not releasing it was that the PC won't be able to handle the physics and graphics... My ass... hey console makers, your consoles are too weak to even run crysis.. so screw you Lucas Arts!

Relieve

2008-09-16T22:42:00.002+08:00

Today had performance studies class... luckily, i was able to play the newly transposed autumn leaves properly... i'm glad that i can adapt without much difficulty... it just takes practice, patience, and commitment... =).. my heart can finally rest knowing that i can play all 4 of my assessment pieces without much trouble... i hope i can get by the final big one on the 3oth... =)...

30

2008-09-16T22:40:00.002+08:00

Wow.. time really flies.. 30 months already... really happy... =) =) =)

true love will stand the test of time and distance...

Back in Johor

2008-09-13T01:44:00.003+08:00

Well, i'm back at johor for this weekend.. today had no theory class.. =).. anyways... still no rest for me... the autumn leaves song has been transposed into another key... so have to re practice.. sighs... not easy... but it's good in a way... coz i get to familiarize myself with more of these new chords... =D... tomorrow will be a busy day for me... morning have to follow dad to office.. in the evening, got band practice from 4 to 7... with my ex school mates... have been some time since we last played together... then after that, maybe go watch liverpool vs manchester united... go liverpool!... haha.... well... till here... gotta go practice some more... =p

The Conundrum of Chords

2008-09-09T23:58:00.005+08:00

Chords. I've been seeing them for 17 years, and they never cease to amaze me... As i was classically trained, the only chords i knew of was a simple Major and Minor chord.. I was surprised to find out there were a lot more actually.. I've taken my time to study them and understand them to the best way possible as knowledge of the chords are very important in contemporary music... and today, i am proud to say that i have understood the chords and the way they shape up, and their connection to other chords...

For simplicity's sake, I'm going to use the C key as my platform to demonstrate my understanding of the chords...

C Major (C Maj) chord. It consists of a tonic triad of notes, which is C, E, G.

C Minor (Cm) chord. It consists of a tonic triad of notes, but in the minor key of C. Therefore, the notes in the chord is C, Eb, G.

C Augmented Triad (C+/C aug) chord. Basically, it consists of the C Maj chord, but the 5 th note(G) is augmented. NOTES - C, E, G#.

C Suspended 4th (C sus4) chord. It consists of the C Maj chord, but the 4th note (F) is played instead of the 3rd (E). NOTES - C, F,G.

C Diminished Triad (Co/C dim) chord. It consists of the C Maj chord. Since it's a diminished chord, the 3rd (E) and 5th (G) notes are flatten. NOTES - C, Eb, Gb.

C Major 6th (C6) chord. It consists of the C Maj chord, played with the major 6th note (A).

NOTES - C, E, G, A.

C Minor 6th (Cm6) chord. It consists of the Cm chord, played with the major 6th note (A).

NOTES - C, Eb, G, A.

C Major 7th (Cmaj7) chord. It consists of the C Maj chord, played with a major 7th note (B).

NOTES - C, E, G, B.

C Minor 7th (Cm7) chord. It consists of the Cm chord, played with a minor 7th note (Bb).

NOTES - C, Eb, G, Bb.

C Dominant 7th (C7) chord. It consists of the C Maj chord, played with a flatten 7th note (Bb).

NOTES - C, E, G, Bb.

C Dominant 7th sus 4 (C7 sus4) chord. It consists of C7 chord, played with a suspended 4th (F instead of E). NOTES - C, F, G, Bb.

C Dominant 7th Augmented 5th (C7+5) chord. It consists of C7 chord, played with an augmented 5th note (G#). NOTES - C, E, G#, Bb.

C Dominant 7th Flattened 5th (C7-5) chord. It consists of C7 chord, played with a flattened 5th note (Gb). NOTES - C, E, Gb, Bb.

C Diminished 7th (C dim7) chord. It consists of C dim chord, played with a diminished 7th note (Bbb). NOTES - C, Eb, Gb, Bbb.

C Minor 7th Flattened 5th (Cm7-5) chord. It consists of Cm7 chord, played with a flattened 5th note (Gb). NOTES - C, Eb, Gb, Bb.

C Minor-Major 7th (Cmmaj7) chord. it consists of Cm chord, played with a major 7th note (B).

NOTES - C, Eb, G, B.

C Major 9th (C maj9) chord. It consists of C Maj7 chord, played with a major 9th note (D).

NOTES - C, E, G, B, D.

C Minor 9th (Cm9) chord. It consists of Cm7 chord, played with a major 9th note (D).

NOTES - C, Eb, G, Bb, D.

C Dominant 9 (C9) chord. It consists of C7 chord, played with a major 9th note (D).

NOTES - C, E, G, Bb, D.

C 9th Augmented 5th (C9+5) chord. It consists of C9 chord, played together with an augmented 5th note (G#). NOTES - C, E, G#, Bb, D.

C 9th Flattened 5th (C9-5) chord. It consists of C9 chord, played together with a flattened 5th note (Gb). NOTES - C, E, Gb, Bb, D.

C 9th Add 6th (C9/6) chord. It consists of C9 chord, played together with a major 6th note (A).

NOTES - C, E, G, A, Bb, D.

C Major 11th (C Maj11) chord. It consists of C9 chord, played together with a major 11th note (F). NOTES - C, E, G, B, D, F.

C Minor 11th (Cm11) chord. It consists of Cm9 chord, played together with a major 11th note (F). NOTES - C, Eb, G, Bb, D, F.

C Dominant 11th (C11) chord. It consists of C9 chord, played together with a major 11th note (F). NOTES - C, E, G, Bb, D, F.

C 11th Flattened 9th (C11-9) chord. It consists of C11 chord, played together with a flattened 9th note (Db). NOTES - C, E, G, Bb, Db, F.

C Major 13th (C Maj13) chord. It consists of C Maj 11 chord, played together with a major 13th note (A). NOTES - C, E, G, B, D, F, A.

C Minor 13th (Cm13) chord. It consists of Cm11 chord, played together with a major 13th note (A). NOTES - C, Eb, G, Bb, D, F, A.

C Dominant 13 (C13) chord. It consists of C11 chord, played together with a major 13th note (A). NOTES - C, E, G, Bb, D, F, A.

C 13th Flattened 9th (C13-9) chord. It consists of C13 chord, played together with a flattened 9th (Db). NOTES - C, E, G, Bb, Db, F, A.

***Always remember that the highest note in 9th, 11th, and 13th chords must always be the tension note!

eg: C13 - C, E, G, Bb, D, F, A

C11- C, E, G, Bb, D, F

C9- C, E, G, Bb, D

C13--- A = TENSION NOTE

C11---F = TENSION NOTE

C9---D = TENSION NOTE ***

5 Songs

2008-09-05T00:21:00.002+08:00

Well, after today's class, a lot of thoughts linger in my head.. which keeps me awake till now.. it has been finalized that we'll be playing a total of 5 songs... they are Autumn Leaves, Ain't No Sunshine, Route 66, Blaze of Glory, and Terima Kasih Cinta... each of us will be assessed on two songs... me, it'll be the autumn leaves and terima kasih cinta.... it looks like i have to improve on my chord rhythms for autumn leaves and chord voicing for my terima kasih cinta... besides that, i dont expect any trouble... hehe... we'll be assessed on our final performance... it'll be held at the recital hall... nervous... just thinking about it already made my palms sweat! god... gotta control... focus....

Krall Live!!

2008-09-04T16:44:00.003+08:00

Plenary hall... it will be held on the 2I was going thru the newspaper this morning and came across something that i never thought was going to happen.. Diana Krall will be performing live in Malaysia!! She'll be performing at the KLCC on the 2nd of october... at around 2030 hrs... ticket prices are from RM 288, RM 588, and RM 888... i can't wait to go see her perform! i'm gonna do what i can to get that VVIP seat... haha... looking forward to it! =)

Sleepy Morning

2008-09-04T10:51:00.000+08:00

Morning.. here i sit outside my class.. feeling very sleepy and tired... yesterday i stayed at my aunt's with my mom at kepong.. so this morning we had to wake up very early coz she has to go to work... and i was dead asleep... after bathe i continued sleeping in the car... then aunt dropped us off at the mall... my uncle treated us to buffet breakfast at Legend Hotel... i didn't eat much though.. some fruits... some bread... hehe... then after that i had to take the lrt to somewhere 'near' my college... 15 minutes walk... darn... so tired... then when i arrived at coll... they ask me go office... have to re-register for my FCM... aiyo... so mafan!... had to fill in that damn form again... write like wanna write essay le... after that, here i am... sitting outside my class... waiting for it to class.. in like another hour... 'yay'...

1st Time!

2008-09-03T10:57:00.000+08:00

Morning! Here i sit in McDonald's.. just finished my class... hehe... McD is just beside my college.. very convenient.. not because of the food... but because of the free wifi... which is fast! hehe... today i woke up late... coz last night i stayed in hotel with my family and i stayed up playing with my midi keyboard, finishing up a pop ballad song.. =p... i dare say that my interest and passion in music now is as huge as it was years back... sleepless nights with music... god i missed that.. now I'm going thru it again... music is... it's simply wonderful... =)... anyways... since i woke up late... i was late for my class! haha... my pika did call me to wake me up... only then i woke up... haha... so i bathed.... and dad send me by car... but then... we got lost! haha... darn... had to make like 3 detours to get back to the right road... kl road so confusing!! =P... lucky i got to class like 10 minutes late... we learnt our final chapter today.. cadences... hehe... perfect, imperfect, plagal, and interrupted... haha... so technical... but you think i care? haha... not abit... coz it's music... =)... the very essence of my soul.. i feel that i'm back to where i belong after many years of deviation... =)

Boring Weekend

2008-09-01T16:48:00.000+08:00

Here i am, just back from my aunt's place in Kepong.. i actually went there coz i thought i was going to genting with my parents and cousins.. but i lost my mood... things got pretty boring... so.. i headed back to my apartment while they continued on to genting... i did see some interesting things though over the weekend.. i saw a cat festival over at the mall.. damn.. saw loads of cute cats... i wish i could've taken one! =P... but besides that, nothing much interesting...

My MacBook Pro

2008-08-28T19:42:00.000+08:00

It's been a month since i received my laptop from college... It's a 15 inch MacBook Pro... it's quite a good laptop.. it's powered by Intel's 2.4 GHz core 2 duo... it has 2gb ddr2 ram (upgradable to 4gb).. a 256 ddr3 nVidia geforce 8600 gt.. and 200gb hard disk... it's pretty good for gaming.. i tried playing devil may cry 4 and mass effect on maximum settings and maximum resolutions (1440 by 900).. it didn't lag that much at all... nice, since i'm quite the extreme gamer.. =p.. anyways.. for those of you who are curious... here are some screenshots of my mac... =)

first and foremost, the desktop... see how different and neater it is from the windows system..

in windows, you have to press start to access the menus.. in mac, its all arranged at the Dock.. very easy to get into an application...

this is very cool.. as you scroll over the applications in the dock, it magnifies it for you so you can have a better look at it... something that windows doesn't have.. =p

in mac, there ain't windows media player.. but they do have iTunes.. which to me, is like way better than WMP... hehe...

look at this.. it's a feature call dashboard... u can widgets on it.. to make it look cool... in this pic, i had the time, calculator, calender, iTunes, dictionary and google search widget... so cool...

After using windows for many years, i thought it was like the best operating system around.. but i was so wrong when i started using mac... it's so cool, user friendly, fast, and reliable... and more important, unlike windows xp, the mac system is less vulnerable towards viruses and malwares... actually, there's hardly any virus out there that could infect a mac.. from my experience so far, that is... hehe... to all windows users out there, make the change! go for a mac! haha... =)

Tiring day

2008-08-28T16:11:00.000+08:00

It's been a very tiring day for me... hardly had any sleep.. worry worry... my mind's plagued by worries... but things got better before class... =).. arhhh... stupid digi.. barred my line without even notifying me with any sms... today in class, we learn new song.. it's a rock song by bon jovi.. it's ' Blaze of Glory'... the score looked pretty complicating.. but it was fun to play the song with the band.. haha... i can relax on this song as i'm playing the strings effect on the keyboard.. =p... then after class walked home... wrote this blog... and now... i'm gonna doze off... zzz.....

The Sleeping Doll

2008-08-28T00:57:00.000+08:00

'The Sleeping Doll' is a book that i've just read by Jefferey Deaver.. He's best known work is 'The Bone Collector', which was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.. anyways.. this post is about a new book from him... From the very first chapter of 'The Sleeping Doll' i knew that this book was going to be a cliffhanger!.. full of suspense and thriller with wicked plot twists towards the end makes it one of my favorite books that i've read.. 'The Sleeping Doll'.. i seriously recommend all readers and fans of thrillers to get your hands on this one.. it's worth every penny.. =)...

Assessment (Week 7) Result

2008-08-26T17:21:00.000+08:00

Today had performance studies class.. Learned new song today, called 'Route 66'.. man.. this song is pretty hard for me.. as we tried earlier, i realized i couldn't catch up with the rest of the band... hard song... but nice... =p... i have to practice more on this song... by the way.. at the end of class, we were informed of our results of the assessment we had last week... i did just ok... got 85 marks... what cost me a lot was actually the piece... it seems that I'm too technical.. =(.. too classical... sighs... i have to kick it out of my system... i have to listen to more songs it seems... surprisingly, my sight reading was actually good... =p... i actually thought it would've been the other way around... well.. whatever.. I'm glad that i passed it... =)

KL Bird Park

2008-08-26T14:41:00.000+08:00

Well.. me and my mom, bro, sis, aunt, uncle, and cousins went to the KL Bird Park on the 22nd of August.. it seems that this is the biggest bird park in the world.. i was the cameraman... saw alot of interesting stuff there... hehe... here are some of the pics i took...

the entrance...

my cousin and sis with some nice lookin birds...

haha... although its a bird park, them monkeys always seem to be there for food...

cute little chicks in the nursery section in the bird park...

and here are some ducks too.. hehe.. quack!

these birds here are relaxing, and having a nice time under the shade of the tree...

a nice pic of a peacock by a mini watefall...
m favorite pic... =P

haha... lunch time for the birds... made me feel hungry...

he's looking out for something... but i dunno what.. haha... curious little fella'...

haha... this here isn't an animal.. but.. it's my sister's slipper.. haha.. she slipped and fell into this pond of koi fish... haha... there, u can see one of her slippers floating..

here're some weird looking birds.. exotic..

green parrot high up...

haha.. one of the visitors feeding the peacock...

the peacock by the waterfall.... nice view... good cameraman... that's why... =p =p =p!

Relieved

2008-08-21T14:21:00.000+08:00

I've just arrived home.. had assessment over my sight reading and piece with the band.. I initially thought that i was gonna screw things up pretty bad... but surprisingly, i actually did quite well.. my morning started off badly... walked to college in heavy rain... i was soaked! lucky my laptop didn't get wet... and on the way to college, i slipped and fell on my back... darn it... a bad start to an important day... when the time came for my assessment.. i remained calm and upbeat to go through it... maybe having such a bad start to the day was good.. haha... anyways... I'm happy with how i played today... i hope the results will be good too... =)

Assignments & Assessments

2008-08-20T15:47:00.000+08:00

Here i sit in the practice room in ICOM... today just handed up the theory assignment... 2nd assignment, which is about the major and minor scales, composing rhythms, and knowing those common italian terms... I'm glad that i finished that one... coz tomorrow is more harder! =(... tomorrow got sight reading test and we have to play 2 songs with the band.. i'll be assessed based on my performance of the 'Autumn Leaves' song... its my first time playing in a band.. so i dare say I'm quiet nervous... unlike those competitions i've been in thru classical piano... the both are very different... if i screw up tomorrow in my piece, I'll be letting the whole band down.. =(.. i must avoid that... Practice Practice!! ... must get thru it flawlessly... ironically, i should be thankful as the pieces are much easier and less demanding if compared to those classical pieces that i used to play... hehe... i just hope me and my friends will get thru both of them well... =)

A New Toy

2008-08-20T02:06:00.000+08:00

Today i got a new toy from ICOM.. It's a Oxygen 8 v2 25 key midi controller... it's a good tool for composing and arranging and mixing a song.. here are some pics of it...

This.. is the box.. hehe... =p

and this here is the midi controller itself...

well... i've played around with it for a few hours... damn it's so fun! haha... i will try to upload some of the songs i created with this new toy of mine... =D

Note on cool websites

2008-08-19T02:56:00.001+08:00

Hi everyone.. the cool websites consists of sites where you can visit to download mp3 (MP3s Downloads and Jazz MP3s), download piano sheet music (Sheet Music), and a very useful site for us to check whether our computer/laptop can run today's games ( Can You Run It?)

All sites are virus/spyware/malware/worm free.. =)

The Transition

2008-08-19T02:05:00.000+08:00

It's been a month now i've been studying in ICOM... well.. the experience so far has been fun.. fun because it is.. different... different from what i expected.. i've been playing piano since i was 3.. and since then i have been playing classical only.. but in ICOM.. its a different world.... here, they emphasize more on contemporary music.. hardly any classical.. the transition, from playing classical to playing more modern stuff, has been pretty exciting for me.. both genres are special in their own way.. I'm still new to the world of contemporary music.. and so far, the journey into it has been nice... =)... in my first month at ICOM, i've learnt how to play some simple basic contemporary pieces with a band.. pieces like Autumn Leaves, Ain't No Sunshine, and Route 66.. i find that playing piano in band is really fun... haha... there're loads of room for improvisation... I'm grateful that i've been classically trained.. as the skills and techniques are still the same... hehe.. lucky me... hehe... I've made some new friends in ICOM, with both fellow students and lecturers.. everyone's good and talented in their own special way... hehe... it's been fun and nice... and I'm looking forward to doing my best here... =)

1st Post

2008-08-19T02:00:00.000+08:00

Well.. Hello there everyone.. This is my first post on blogspot..

I just arrived from johor... went to have dinner with a friend from college, Siang.. nice chap.. good guitarist... tomorrow got Performance Lab class... this Thursday got assessment.. scary.. =(... we'll be assessed on sight reading and a piece.. can be either Autumn Leaves, Ain't No Sunshine, or Route 66... Wednesday have to hand in theory assignment.. lucky i finished that weeks ago.. haha...