A four-hands duo playing Guzheng and piano?!
We FINALLY played the two instruments together - the Guzheng and piano! The combination of Asian and Western instruments sounded very cool!
During the first phase of the pandemic, I (Clare) was inspired by one of my students (who was taking both Guzheng lessons and piano lessons) to the Guzheng. I remembered I’ve always wanted to learn Guzheng as a kid! (Actually, I wanted to learn many things as a kid! Haha….) So, after many days of struggling whether to go for it or not, I decided to write to a teacher here in Vancouver to chat a bit and think more about it. The first time when I heard the teacher play on this instrument, I was so attracted to the beautiful sound color and the resonance of the instrument, I decided to go for it!
The instrument is indeed beautiful! Even when I was practicing and drilling a spot, Scott would walk by and say it was just beautiful and therapeutic sounding! Hahaha….. (And for a while, to call him to come, I’d just play waves of glissandos from bottom up!)
I only took six lessons, and it was unfortunate that I couldn’t continue to take more. The pandemic affects everyone in different ways, and it is just life I guess. But we just didn’t want to sell it. We are still hoping that one day we can use it, and I am still hoping that one day I can take more lessons and get better at it!
A few months ago, my students and I started a 100-day challenge exercise. We each picked something that we wanted to improve on, and during the 100 days, we would upload our progress of the day everyday. I picked the Guzheng for this challenge, because it was sitting there for too long, and I think even if it’s on my own, there are still improvements that I can make! So during that time, I decided even if I could play one phrase after these 100 days, that’s still a phrase that I didn’t know how to play before. We didn’t end up doing a full 100 days, because I think I twisted my back during the time, so I wasn’t able to continue for a while. But during the days that I did practice, even if sometimes it was only a little bit, I did feel that my hand became more stable plucking the strings! Then, I even started trying out the technique called Yao zhi, (which is the quick swinging back and forth on one string). At the time, I only made it maybe twice, and then I stopped practicing due to the back and later due to super busy schedule with piano.
So a couple of days ago, we were talking about the Guzheng. Suddenly, I think something must have clicked…..I thought of the sound and decided to try it out with this song, Chrysanthemum Terrace by Jay Chou. I tried to apply some of these sliding sounds that I remember the Guzheng teacher mentioned, and it started to sound like a little something! (Maybe?! haha) I even attempted the Yao zhi again, and it’s starting to work! My technique is obviously quite rough, but I’m just excited that I can swing back and forth on the same string as it’s quite hard to stay on one string doing that! And so I made it into an “arrangement” and then I invited (forced) Scott to play the accompaniment on the piano, so that we can play together!
When I got the Guzheng, I did have a goal to get myself to a level where I can play it with Scott! It finally happened!!!! This is very exciting for me!!! Of course, I am nowhere near professional on the Guzheng, but for the fun of it, hope you all enjoy a little different sound in this video!
