Just look at the treasure I found !

I don't know what compelled me to look inside my piano stool for books. Maybe I wanted to keep them all in one place. But when I opened it, and saw the contents....... memories came flowing back to me. To think I hadn't touched some of that stuff for as long as ten years !

 

It's now 2008. And I can't believe that I still have my Grade 7 and 8 books. These date back to 2003. From left : Pieces 7, Pieces 8, Scales 8 and Sight Reading 8.

Oh, and I dug out all that stuff from the stool and realised that I had a few more books from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM). From left : Sight Reading 7, and a whole compilation of Chopin's Preludes.

Wow. And these scores ! These were from me and my friends at Yamaha. We were kids - at least nine years old when we did this.

Oh. And this is how I used to write "taugeh" notes (i.e. notes with stems ; the Malay reference is done to beansprouts) back when I was a kid. They're all dots and lines, unlike the kind of notation done by pros.

And when I came across this, I froze in my tracks. This one was the original song sheet for my very very first composition, "Twilight Blues" (which I did in 2001, when I was 10 years old). This is the only song which I recorded professionally. This was the same song for which Yamaha Headquarters gave a dismal three-star rating. It was the dismal performance of "Twilight Blues" that led me to take a hiatus from composing for one whole year.

And to answer your question, Sonia, no, these scores didn't smell funny. Most of them were still white - except for Twilight Blues, which was already yellowing.

I remember how mom used to be with me every step of the way, especially when it came to my musical endeavours. I yearned for her to see me as an accomplished songwriter and performing artiste. Never mind about the negative criticism. Never mind about the tears I shed every now and then. I yearned for her to accept me as someone who has the potential to touch people's hearts. "Twilight Blues" and "Kasih" were the only compositions she heard. She passed away before I could even let her take a look at my idle song sheets. Being a songwriter in a world where people turn you away, yes, no doubt, it brings heartbreak, but if I do realise my dream of touching hearts all over the world and bringing them back to righteousness, then it's worth it. I guess.