Chapter 30, Song 30...
Qu Jiaying and Ruan Qi chatted together while drinking the whiskey that Qiu Xue had brought.
Qiu Xue herself was pulled away by a senior from the composition department, and Qu Jiaying said to Ruan Qi with a smile, "Aren't they going to get together soon?"
Ruan Qi took a small sip of her drink: "They might talk for a long time."
"Is it because that senior admires Qiu Xue? Then you and Lü Yueming are pretty much the same, right?" Qu Jiaying said.
Ruan Qi smiled faintly and changed the subject: "Although classes haven't officially started yet, I've talked to Professor Muller a few times, and I even told him about you."
"Why bring me up? I haven't even thanked you for recommending me to the music critics yet," Qu Jiaying waved her hand.
“Strictly speaking, it wasn’t me who brought it up first; it was Teacher Xia,” Ruan Qi said. “Teacher Xia had already developed her style when she was studying violin with Teacher Muller, so she didn’t become famous internationally in the end.”
“She had it tough in that era too,” Qu Jiaying said.
“I know, but do you know what the most crucial thing is?” Ruan Qi sighed.
Qu Jiaying shook her head.
"Simply put, it's about schools of thought. Teacher Xia initially learned piano from her parents, who both followed the Franco-Belgian school, which is still the mainstream school in China today," Ruan Qi said.
Even though Qu Jiaying didn't like reading, she still understood the differences between schools of thought. The Franco-Belgian school refers to the combined French and Belgian schools, while the Russian school, which developed from this foundation, is currently an important school of thought internationally.
Most of the well-known performers today belong to the Franco-Belgian or Russian schools.
“But Professor Muller is a Russian,” Ruan Qi said.
Qu Jiaying was puzzled: "I know there are many differences between the two schools in the techniques of holding and moving the bow, but Teacher Muller doesn't seem to care much about that."
“That’s right, Teacher Xia didn’t change the technique either, so that doesn’t really matter. The problem is that the biggest difference between the Russian school and the Franco-Belgian school is their teaching philosophy,” Ruan Qi said.
Qu Jiaying suddenly realized that violinists of the Franco-Belgian school wrote many etudes as models for learning. While these etudes standardized the techniques, they also made it difficult to develop personal characteristics. At their peak, they could only achieve the characteristics of the Franco-Belgian school.
The Russian school of thought emphasizes the individual characteristics of each performer, teaching according to their aptitude, and believes that each student has their own unique playing style.
Despite her talent, Xia Xiaolei, who had received years of education from her parents, was still constrained by the Franco-Belgian school or by her parents. No matter how much she studied with Müller, she could not find her own unique style. However, her talent was enough to bring out the characteristics of the Franco-Belgian school, and she was technically a first-class performer. Ultimately, she was not able to achieve international fame because of her nationality.
Although Xia Xiaolei did not change her teaching style, she learned the Russian style of teaching according to students' aptitude from Professor Müller. She tried to adopt this method as much as possible when she returned to China to teach, especially to her first student, Qu Jiaying.
However, Qu Jiaying has never been very sensitive to music since childhood, so Xia Xiaolei had to let her learn the style of the Franco-Belgian school, which is both disciplined and delicate and elegant.
“But you now have a direction,” Ruan Qi said.
No wonder she couldn't even do subtlety well before she had a grasp of musicality. Qu Jiaying suddenly understood why Teacher Muller only focused on her technical problems last time.
Without sudden enlightenment, the technique is not refined enough, let alone any style.
"But if that's the case, and you're well-suited to the Franco-Belgian school, why did you seek out Professor Müller to study?" Qu Jiaying asked.
“My physical condition isn’t good enough for some advanced techniques right now, so I’ll look for other ways,” Ruan Qi said with a smile.
In Ruan Qi's eyes, Qu Jiaying was amazing. She had been learning the piano for more than ten years and was still able to change. Most people couldn't do that. Even Teacher Xia Xiaolei couldn't do it, but she did, which gave her great courage.
I don't know who borrowed the hotel's piano and started playing all sorts of tunes, from "Goodbye My Friend" and "Graduation Song" to "Farewell Letter," and then it turned into a cheerful waltz.
Qu Jiaying looked up and saw that it was indeed Yue Yi playing the zither.
The somber atmosphere of parting vanished instantly; as long as we all continue to work hard in the classical music world, we will meet again.
Qu Jiaying looks forward to meeting Ruan Qi again on the international competition stage.
This academic year has come to an end.
Xiang Min will not go back to her uncle's house this summer. She plans to stay in the village from last year for another two months. However, the old man who knew about traditional musical instruments has passed away. His children also know a little about them, but they are currently working in the city to make a living.
Xiang Min had no choice but to spend the rest of his vacation on performances, going wherever he was short of people. He could play many instruments and could perform at any venue, but not many were needed. The most needed players were bassists.
Xiang Min enjoys the once-in-a-lifetime encounters with strangers.
The connections between them were not deep, and the relationship was shallow, so he felt relaxed.
But occasionally, when Xiang Min hears the cicadas chirping at night and looks at the starry night sky, he still thinks of the noisy rehearsal room when they were "one short".
The four chatted less online, not because their relationship had soured, but because they had moved past the stage of frequently sending messages.
Xiang Min chuckled self-deprecatingly. He should say that the frequent contact during the holidays was mainly because of Qu Jiaying. Sending her a private message was not as effective as speaking in the group. But now, things have changed a lot.
Yan Zheng no longer had the awkward attitude he had before, and he got along with Qu Jiaying more openly. There was little change in Le Yi's situation, but they probably mostly talked to Qu Jiaying privately now.
Xiang Min felt listless and annoyed by his current state.
Qu Jiaying's parents dragged her out to play for a few days during the summer vacation, and she spent the rest of her time practicing the piano. After communicating with teacher Xia Xiaolei and teacher Muller, they confirmed that she was more suitable for the Russian style and tried to teach her to change.
Qu Jiaying obediently adjusted her posture. She couldn't change her grip on the bow, so she could only modify her bow handling technique, but nothing felt right.
Qu Jiaying had no choice but to ask her friends. Gao Ying was extremely helpless. She had already tried to make her small hands adapt to the piano keyboard, but it was already so difficult. There was no way to make any more changes.
"This is the realm of geniuses!" Gao Ying told Qu Jiaying to go find Le Yi.
Le Yi was also confused. He felt there was no need to worry about those things and just focus on performing his own piece well: "It's not that rigid. Just play freely and easily."
Qu Jiaying couldn't understand.
Le Yi tentatively suggested, "Perhaps Teacher Xia's suggestion isn't suitable for you?"
Qu Jiaying had almost never questioned her teacher, Xia Xiaolei. She shook her head and said, "I've been learning piano from her since I was little. She understands me. Besides, Teacher Müller also..."
Qu Jiaying hesitated. Last week, Teacher Muller did not ask her to change her style. Now that her skills and musicality have improved, should she change her style instead?
“That German teacher only heard about it from Teacher Xia and the others, and at most heard a recording of your performance,” Le Yi said. “I also teach students, and videos and audio are not as good as seeing them play in person. Their posture and every little movement when they play the piano are very important.”
Qu Jiaying hesitated.
Le Yi didn't dare to say too much because Qu Jiaying and Teacher Xia Xiaolei had a long-standing relationship, and it wasn't something he could easily make her start to question him with just a few words. Besides, Qu Jiaying wasn't like him, who had rebelled against teachers since childhood.
Le Yi wasn't sure which one was better, because neither was good.
He asked the old principal a couple of days ago that successful soloists all need to be obedient and practice the piano in the early stages of their education in order to lay a good foundation, but as they gradually become more independent in the later stages, they need to have their own ideas.
It sounds simple, but how many people can actually do it?
After all, classical music is better the more traditional it is; who dares to challenge the authority in the industry?
Le Yi didn't want to conform to these strange and awkward rules of the game; he just wanted to play his own piano.
But Qu Jiaying is different from him; she still wants to become a top violin soloist.
Le Yi sighed. Yan Zheng and Xiang Min could both help her, but she couldn't do anything about it.
He was simply attracted to her.
At the school symphony orchestra gathering that day, Le Yi and Yan Zheng had a private chat. Unlike Xiang Min, who initially didn't appreciate Qu Jiaying's playing, they both fell in love with her performance the first time they heard it.
“But the time was different,” Yan Zheng said. “I was young then, and my appreciation wasn’t as good as it is now.”
Logically speaking, Yue Yi should have been like Xiang Min, not attracted by Qu Jiaying's zither music.
Yan Zheng's feelings for Qu Jiaying are more like worship, a submission to someone more talented than himself, so he is now willing to help her improve her skills.
Le Yi was drawn to Qu Jiaying's piano playing for a completely different reason, because his own music was more lively.
“Because she has something I lack,” Le Yi said softly.
Qu Jiaying's persistence is something he lacks.
Le Yi likes the piano and music, but he lacks that dedication.
Although when I first met Qu Jiaying, her music was still very mechanical and lacked emotion, I could feel a vitality that seemed to burst out of her body in her violin playing posture.
At the performance of "Destiny" by Qu Jiaying, Le Yi witnessed the moment of transformation from a cocoon to a butterfly, and he couldn't help but shed tears.
But now he seems to see someone who hasn't fully emerged from the cocoon yet. However, he doesn't dare to help Qu Jiaying, who grows purely through experience, for fear of doing more harm than good.
Le Yi snapped out of his thoughts and continued to tell Qu Jiaying on the other end of the phone about his confusion: "I've been teaching students lately, but I feel like this job isn't right for me. The students' parents are really obsessed with it, wanting their kids to participate in all sorts of competitions, hoping it will help them with their future school admissions."
"But you must be very good at teaching children, right?" Qu Jiaying asked.
"It's alright, it's educational and fun with encouragement, but I can't stand the way those parents think." Le Yi knew this was something that bothered him.
Qu Jiaying didn't have any good ideas either: "Don't worry too much about it. Both parents and children are under a lot of pressure."
"I know, and I've tried my best to help the students get good results." Le Yi began to doubt herself again, "Am I colluding with the parents by doing this?"
"Such a profound tone doesn't suit you at all," Qu Jiaying teased with a smile, trying to ease his mood. She remembered that Le Yi's parents didn't have high expectations, but he encountered a strict teacher in the early stages of learning the piano, and later transferred to the old headmaster.
Le Yi said, "I practiced the piano not for any utilitarian purpose. That's why my second teacher, the old principal, took me in as a student. He had been teaching for many years and had advised a lot of students not to learn musical instruments. Some of them learned from him, and some changed to other teachers, but in the end, very few of them went on to become professionals."
"But he never advised me not to learn the piano, and he even agreed not to participate in competitions. He forced me to take the music academy entrance exam. I just wanted to play the piano happily. There are music academies in the province, and I could study music education. The salary for teaching students would be enough to live on. But he said that my personality was not suitable for teaching students and insisted that I take the exam for the best music academy in the country."
"So I came here. The tuition was even higher, but I still chose to teach. After only two years, I started to get bored. I'm about to be a junior, and you all have your own plans. I don't know what else I can do." Le Yi was very confused.
“If you like playing the piano, then keep playing,” Qu Jiaying said.
“The male protagonist in La La Land likes jazz, but he can’t play it as he pleases. I also can’t stand playing the same few classic pieces all the time.” Le Yi sighed. “So it’s fun to play with you guys and come up with some new tricks.”
"He truly lives up to his reputation as the former principal," Qu Jiaying suddenly remarked.
"Huh?"
"The old headmaster has taught for so many years and has countless students. He easily found the best way to deal with you." Qu Jiaying laughed. "You are very curious, but not about people, so you can't stand the boring repetition of teaching students. He subtly influenced you to get on the 'right track'. It's a real pity that you're not a soloist."
Le Yi remained silent, the shadows of his childhood occasionally sweeping into his dreams, and he was still unable to let go of them.
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