Hello everyone.
As you all know, we only have 3 weeks left before the competition. We all are acutely aware that we are no way near our seniors' standards. We may not even be prepared for the competition. Entrances must be polished, rhythm to be consistent, thrills to be mastered, pieces to be memorised, runs to be perfected, feelings to be expressed through the guitar... The list goes on.
But I'll bet all of you - yes, all of you - felt a sense of satisfaction when you guys heard how much we've improved. Remember how well we played Sleepers Awake on Monday? We can only keep improving for we are champions.
We need to have the winning mentality. Whatever we do, we strive towards success. Be it musically or academically, it applies to both. When we set our mind to do something, we are focused and concentrate on giving our 110%. It also boils down to individual effort. The ensemble is nothing when we play separately. We're a GUITAR ENSEMBLE because we have one voice, one sound.
We are in this together, as an ensemble. We cannot be contend with a second position. With so many strong schools entering the fray, it'll be doubly hard to even retain our second position. But if we put in our best efforts, regardless of results, then we can say we have let no one down. We can walk out of VCH with our heads held high. We can proudly walk towards those who came down to support us and give them our thanks.
As for the SLs, I know we need to make a choice between Ballet and Sleepers Awake. I'm sure both pieces have their own merits and pitfalls. But what I want to say is, since we've earlier on decided on Sleepers Awake, why not see through it 'til the end? It is not impossible to play; we all have heard a glimpse of how good we can sound when we have full attendance and everyone concentrating.
Furthermore, I'm sure many of you, if not all, don't want to drop from a H2 to a H1.
We're champions and won't settle for anything less. We've set our sights on a difficult piece, but let's practise hard and hone it to perfection. We can definitely do it.
I just want to give an example of my previous secondary school's band. They've been consistently getting Gold With Honours for SYF and are one of the more recognised outdoor bands in Singapore. Their secret recipe to success is simple.
Hours and hours and hours of practice time.
They have 3-4 practices a week, and sometimes full-day practices on Saturdays. They have to come back to school during holidays to have full-day practices as well. And of course, when the competition nears, they all work their socks off to practise and practise and practise.
I want to reiterate that we have extremely little official practice time left. Individually, we need to practise more at home, memorise our pieces, do technical runs and of course, play with feelings and tonality.
I know that we entered JC to get our As for the A-Levels and we didn't enter JC for Guitar Ensemble. But I want to stress that when we entered guitar ensemble, when we are picked by our SLs to participate in the competition, we have a responsibility to deliver. We have a responsibility to practise, to play, to feel the music.
Honestly, in my own opinion, the way we're playing now, we cannot retain our second position if we do not improve. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Results don't matter. Yes, we enter the competition with a winning mentality, but a competition isn't just about winning. It's a process.
Winning isn't everything, but we're not putting in enough effort. It is best if we can be sat calmly when the results are announced and no matter what, we're satisfied because we've put in our best, our 110%, all our efforts.
And remember, we're Champions. We practise 'til we can't get it wrong. And Champions don't settle for anything less.
We can do this. We can enter with the mentality to WIN. That will be our winning edge. We have the hunger to win.
Cheers,
Jovi.