IntroductionsThe extracurricular activities I do outside of school but still have a loose connection to it will be talked about here.
I play an instrument known as the 琵琶 (Pipa), or Chinese lute. As you can see from the first image on the left, it has four strings and is shaped like a teardrop and is hollow on the inside. The quality of the pipa varies from each maker and the materials all of them are made with, because the wood used determines the weight and quality of the sounds. The general rule of thumb is: the heavier it is, the better it's quality is sure to be. The 琵琶 (Pipa) got its name from the sounds that the silk strings long ago made, for when you merely strummed it back and forth, it made a "pi-pa" noise. A very long time ago, the Pipa's strings were made of silk threads, but in order to make them more versatile and increase the endurance, the silk threads were exchanged for nylon strings. Because of that, the sound that comes out is a bit more metallic, but equally beautiful. Additionally, because of the additional protection around the string, equal protection is needed on a Chinese lute player's fingers to ensure that the nails do not break or become damaged. We don fake nails either made from plastic or from tortoise shell, and tape them on our fingers to use rather than our actual fingers. A fun fact about the Chinese Lute is that it is known somewhat as like the "emperor" of all the traditional Chinese instruments due to its difficulty, and being the hardest instrument to master out of all of them. It sounds fairly strange when you think about the fact that it only has four strings, but the thing that makes the it stand out from all the others is the staggering amount of techniques used to play the instrument. There is too many for me to describe, but believe me when I say there are a lot. List of places I have performed at in various groups: Seaworld, Poway Center for the Performing Arts, San Marcos City Hall, San Marcos Branch Library, Mira Mesa Community College, various restaurants I have 250+ hours for community service, the groups I am in are below. |
Bohua Symphony
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o - I am a part of a symphony known as the Bohua Symphony Group. There are many people with various ages attending. It's main focus of instruments are traditional Chinese instruments, but there are also instruments normally used in symphonies, such as the flute, cello, and base. Practices are every Sunday.
o - Another group I am in is the the Bohua Youth Group, which is the group of youths off from the side of the Bohua Symphony Group. This group is significantly smaller, but has enough variety of instruments to be able to stand on its own. Everyone is assigned a different role for the sake of practicing leadership, I play role as treasurer and section leader. Practices are every other Sunday. o - The Lijun String Ensemble is solely composed of the 琵琶 (Pipa), due to it being our music teacher leading us. The ensemble's range of age for the people participating varies, for all Ms. Rachel's regular students are technically a part of it. Whenever we prepare for performances, she teaches the piece to us, then we all gather for rehearsals. Practice time is irregular, lessons are every Thursday. |