Today was the first day of my three-day Birmingham coalesce trip. Starting the day off with a practice session for a good warm up, it was followed by an informative lesson conducted by Miss Beetung Goo.

Miss Bee had prepared interesting activities where we could compare the differences between the harpsichord and the piano.

Andreas and I completed the activity with some funny and creative ideas. Afterwards, Miss Bee played some famous pieces by famous composers such as Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart and more on the harpsichord so we could compare them with how the pieces would have sounded on the piano. Last but not least, we finished the lesson with the fun activity of colouring an organ.

Completing the practice session that followed, it was time for my lesson with Pascal Nemirovski. Pascal gave beneficial ideas such as: knowing the composers’ background, knowing when the piece was composed, and then listening and imagining how a good version of your piece would be like. He also mentioned that though your technique must be good, emotional playing is still more important.

Reminiscing this statement in my mind repeatedly, I learnt that although technique is important, emotional playing is key.

After the interesting lesson conducted by Pascal, it was time for my enjoyable individual lesson with Katharine Lam.

She gave me valuable tips such as when I reach the climax, I shouldn't slam on the end of the slurs and instead play it like a non-legato.

She also told me to play the second beat of my left hand like a staccato instead of an accent.

Following that, it was time for my "Little White Donkey" piano and flute duet. Katharine reminded me to play my left hand lighter as Emily (the flutist), was the melody while I was the accompaniment. Although I made mistakes during the practice, it was still a fun and valuable practice session with Emily and Katharine.

It was fun and interesting playing duet pieces. Although I had played duet pieces before, this time it was a duo with a different instrument.

The next lesson by Colin Walker was very different from the rest: instead of focusing on techniques, he started the lesson by illustrating the journey of a musician clearly on the white board.

When he informed us that in DIP ABRSM, we need to do neither scales nor sight-reading, instantaneously, I cheered!

He also went through variations and told us to explain the meaning of the word "variations". Immediately, my hand shot into the air as I answered, "variations is where a piece is remixed".

Roaring laughter reverberated through the classroom as Colin commented that remix is too modern (so technically I am correct, just that remix was too modern! 🤪)

First day of Coalesce was very memorable and meaningful. I had learnt how to play pieces more emotionally, gained the experience of playing with a flute, and last but not least, learnt the phases of the ABRSM exam and the meaning of "variations".