Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 1292, Section 513: The Final Test [Part 1]

At 2:15 p.m., students gradually entered the Shuren Concert Hall to participate in the rehearsal.

Due to the weather, this afternoon's rehearsal was supposed to be canceled at the last minute. In the end, Liu Zhen issued a notice in the group saying that the rehearsal plan would remain unchanged and the meeting time would be postponed to 3 p.m.

Even so, by 2:30, all the choir members had arrived.

The atmosphere should have been great today.

The difficult problem that had caused a surge of courage was solved, and the school band had just won first place in yesterday's city band competition.

All of this suggests that everyone should walk into the rehearsal hall happily today, even if it's raining outside.

But Wang Xiaohu really couldn't be happy.

Last night, he received news from the teachers' choir rehearsal group that the choir was facing the possibility of having members eliminated.

His first thought was to call the teacher to find out what was going on, but he didn't act impulsively.

After calming down and thinking it over, he sent a message to his teacher.

He figured that since such news could be released, it meant there was probably no turning back.

He just wanted to know whose idea it was.

He hoped it wasn't the teacher's idea, even though he knew it required the teacher's approval.

He felt a little better after learning that it was the school leaders' idea.

He felt a little better, but only a little better. He didn't know how many people would be left in the choir after the afternoon's rehearsal.

Everyone has been working incredibly hard lately!

Hey.

The choir had assembled on stage, and Wang Xiaohu should have gone up to lead the rehearsal.

But we don't need him this afternoon.

"Young Master, why don't you take a rest today?"

Yan Zhen hadn't called Wang Xiaohu "Young Master" in a long time, and he wanted to amuse Wang Xiaohu.

But Wang Xiaohu didn't seem to yell at him that he wasn't "young master" like he had before!
Today, Wang Xiaohu simply nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Yan."

Before leaving, Yan Zhen glanced at Hai Tao, then turned and went onto the stage.

"Students, we will be having a stage performance assessment this afternoon."

Stage audition?

After a brief commotion, once the scene quieted down again, Yan Zhen looked around and smiled:

"Yes, the stage assessment. Every vocal part and every member will be assessed in a bit. Those who cannot fully meet the stage requirements may have to temporarily leave the competition."

This time, he became completely nervous on stage!

Isn't this just a way to weed out people?

No one expected that with only three days left until the choir competition, they would face being eliminated!
Old Tang stood up: "Students, please be quiet for a moment. Although this assessment came a bit suddenly, I hope you can understand that our goal in this competition is not only to win first place in the district, but also in the city. If we perform well enough on stage, we may be recommended for the National Youth Choir Performance Competition at the end of the year."

"I guarantee that every one of you will participate, even those who didn't participate in the competition this time."

Hearing Teacher Tang's words, the tense atmosphere at the scene was somewhat relieved.

Yan Zhen then added, "Would you like to go to Beijing at the end of the year to perform with the best choirs from all over the country?"

The children on stage: "Yes!"

Old Tang: "So today is just a small assessment. I hope that through today's assessment, you can recognize your shortcomings and practice more. I believe that each of you has the potential to become an excellent member of the choir."

Yan Zhen clapped his hands: "Let's stick to the old rules and practice our voices first."
-
Looking at the students practicing their voices on stage, Wang Xiaohu felt much better.

At least those students who were screened out today will still have a chance at the end of the year.

He had heard his teacher mention the national performance at the end of the year last week, and he thought that as long as he got a recommendation from the Chengdu Musicians Association, he could participate.

Now he realizes that whether he can participate depends on his performance on stage in this competition.

"Teacher Zheng, how many people will be eliminated today?"

Haitao: Well, we'll have to see how the assessment goes later, but you should have a general idea, right?

Wang Xiaohu pursed his lips: "There are 62 people now, but I estimate that about 45 will be left in the end."

Upon hearing this, Haitao thought to himself that he was still just a child at heart, clinging to a sliver of hope even at this point.

The current situation is actually quite clear: a major overhaul of the choir is needed.

There's basically no difference between cutting a dozen or so people and keeping them all.

According to the screening plan proposed by Yan Zhen, Hai Tao conservatively estimates that it would be good if 35 people could be left in the end.

The biggest problem facing the Shuren Choir right now is the imbalance in the male-to-female ratio. To improve the overall quality, the first priority is to address this imbalance.

Most boys who receive training during junior high school are going through puberty and their voices are unstable.

Strictly speaking, the choirs at this stage were mainly composed of girls.

To ensure harmonious sound, male members typically make up no more than one-fifth of the total choir members.

Currently, the ratio of male to female students in the book club is close to 1:1, with only slightly more female students.

In other words, even if the number of girls remains unchanged, the number of boys would need to be reduced by at least 80% to achieve balance.

This is the current situation.

Therefore, a considerable number of male singers who sing quite well will inevitably be sacrificed for the sake of harmony.

In Haitao's view, Wang Xiaohu's idea of ​​weeding out some students with slightly poor pitch and rhythm is essentially still superficial thinking.

moment.

Haitao: "When you become a real conductor in the future, you will encounter many more situations like this."

Wang Xiaohu remained silent, but his heart sank even deeper into melancholy because of those words.

Returning his gaze to the stage, he noticed that today's vocal practice time had gone by exceptionally quickly.

In the blink of an eye, even the vocal exercises were finished.

"All girls stay on stage, boys go offstage for now to prepare."

As Yan Zhen finished speaking, the stage came to life.

Amidst the chaotic footsteps, a soft "Go for it!" suddenly rang out, making the atmosphere at the scene even more indescribable.

Two minutes later, the stage fell silent, and the thirty-four girls stood in three disorderly rows.

They looked at Teacher Yan Zhen, waiting for further instructions.

"Cao Yuechen".

Upon hearing her name called, Cao Yuechen shuddered and slowly stepped out of the queue.

Yan Zhen: "For the A section of the verse of 'Want to See You,' Teacher Tang will give you an intro, but only the intro, understand?"

Cao Yuechen nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Then the sound of a piano began.

Hearing the familiar accompaniment, Cao Yuechen felt much more at ease.

As she began to sing to the accompaniment, she began: "When love is left behind as relics, memories are carved in pictographs—"

As a student widely recognized for her decent vocal range, Cao Yuechen was a little nervous, but as she got into the zone, her voice gradually relaxed.

Just then, the piano accompaniment suddenly stopped, leaving only the vocals. Cao Yuechen knew the accompaniment would be interrupted in the middle, and she was prepared. However, the moment the piano accompaniment disappeared, she still went slightly off-key, dropping her original E by less than a semitone.

This isn't a serious mistake when there's accompaniment, but without the accompaniment to correct it, the pitch deviation becomes clearly audible.

The students on stage couldn't help but feel a chill for Cao Yuechen. Fortunately, after that line of lyrics, Cao Yuechen regained her composure, and no one noticed anything wrong with her performance afterward.

Just when everyone thought Cao Yuechen would pass the assessment smoothly after finishing her performance, another note rang out from in front of the piano.

"when."

There is only one note, a G. This G is the last note of Cao Yuechen's last line of lyrics. If Cao Yuechen's ending is accurate, then the last note should perfectly match the pitch of this G.

However, the result was that there was a very obvious difference in pitch between the two notes.

Even people who have never studied music can tell the difference.

This explains why Cao Yuechen's pitch kept dropping during her a cappella singing without piano accompaniment, but most of her classmates and even she herself didn't notice.

Faced with this result, Cao Yuechen, who had no time to breathe a sigh of relief, felt her heart pound in her throat.

"Okay, let's go down and rest."

No one knew what going down to rest specifically meant, and Yan Zhen didn't give everyone time to think about it.

"Zeng Siqi".

A fair-skinned girl wearing glasses stepped out of the line.

Yan Zhen: "Are you ready for the A section verse?"

Zeng Siqi nodded: "I'm ready, Teacher Yan."

moment.

The piano sounded.

Zeng Siqi is in the second part. In amateur school choirs, members who are selected for the second part generally have better pitch control than most members of the first part.

This is different from an instrumental orchestra.

In an instrumental orchestra, those who are able to enter a section are usually members with a high average level.

The reason is that instrumental music is less affected by pitch, and the primary focus is on playing technique.

Generally speaking, the score of the first part of an instrumental orchestra is not on the same level as that of the second part, both in terms of rhythm and note density. Therefore, instrumentalists who can be selected for the first part are usually of a higher level than those who can play the second part.

In a choir, the human voice is absolutely affected by pitch; how can you sing if you can't even sing the right notes?

Popular choral works mainly consist of pieces that people often hear, such as "Courageous Outburst," which was jointly chosen by the two schools.

The children are very familiar with it.

But here's the problem: what are children familiar with? Is it the rhythm of the music or the pitch of the melody?

Both are true, but pitch must be the highest priority among them.

The principle is also very simple: even if a familiar piece of music is played using the same rhythm, most people can still distinguish which piece it is by the pitch.

Similarly, when playing this piece at the same pitch, even if the rhythm remains unchanged, most people will find it difficult to identify which piece of music it is, because what they hear is a rhythm that sounds like drumming.

Pitch belongs to the musical tone system. It has a fixed and regular vibration and is the basic material used to create music. It is the experience and habit that humankind has summarized through long-term practice.

The root of rhythm is noise, only it has been musicalized, such as banging gongs and drums. Rhythm itself does not have the property of musical sound.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, the first impression a person gets of a piece of music is its pitch.

Once children develop a habit of remembering the pitch of a song, if they are asked to sing the same lyrics using a different interval relationship, they will be affected by their original pitch memory.

Already used to: the first part
A new pitch relationship: two voices

This is why, in the vocal part allocation of school choirs, teachers often assign members with better pitch control to the second part.

Because singing two parts requires overcoming the influence of pre-existing melodic memory.

Zeng Siqi is a representative of outstanding singing ability in the second vocal range.

As Wang Xiaohu had expected, during the final calibration phase, Zeng Siqi's final note perfectly matched the "re" sound played on the piano.

"Okay, let's go down and rest."

Hearing Teacher Yan say the same thing to Zeng Siqi, Cao Yuechen, who was sitting in the audience, felt relieved for the time being.

"Hu Yaqin".

The third student to step forward, Hu Yaqin, was also in the first vocal part, but she sang far worse than Cao Yuechen.

Even without checking the ending notes, Hu Yaqin started going off-key as soon as the piano accompaniment stopped.

"Okay, let's go down and rest."

"Thank you, Teacher Yan."

"Wu Yifan".

And so, one girl after another was called out and stepped out of the line.

Forty minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and only three girls remained on the stage.

"Qiao Zhizhi".

Qiao Zhizhi stepped out of the line, "Teacher Yan."

Yan Zhen: "Want to See You (Chorus, Second Part)"

Two-part?
Isn't Qiao Zhizhi in the first vocal part?

However, no one was really surprised. In everyone's eyes, Qiao Zhizhi could sing any vocal part directly.

As expected, the piano then began to play, and Qiao Zhizhi delivered her most beautiful singing performance since the start of the assessment.

Wang Xiaohu sighed softly, "We should let Zhizhi sing a song."

Haitao: "Mm."

As the last girl finished her assessment and left the stage, only Yan Zhen and Lao Tang remained.

"Boys, get ready. You'll be going in ten minutes."

After saying that, Yan Zhen and Lao Tang went backstage.
-
The process of waiting for the results was the most painful. Listening to the girls behind him whispering and discussing, Wang Xiaohu felt terrible.

These were all voices he knew best, but soon someone would be leaving the stage of this competition.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

When Yan Zhen and Lao Tang walked out from backstage, the scene immediately fell silent.

An inexplicable tension once again spread throughout the concert hall.

Old Tang returned to the piano and sat down, while Yan Zhen walked to the conductor's platform and turned to face the audience.

"I will now announce the latest voice part allocation."

"First Singer: Zeng Siqi, Wu Shiying, Ma Xinyue, Cao Yuechen"

Zeng Siqi has moved to the vocal section!
"Two-part vocals: Qiao Zhizhi, Peng Yutong, Chen Yuxuan, Ma Mengting"

One name after another rang out above the stage, and the children who heard their names naturally breathed a sigh of relief as the crisis was over.

Those classmates who didn't hear their names called in the end had their faces etched with disappointment and frustration.

Of the 34 girls, 7 were eventually eliminated, leaving only 27.

Wang Xiaohu had no time to dwell on his sadness. As Teacher Yan Zhen spoke again, he was gripped by tension once more.

The tension was even greater than before.

Because he knew the cruelest thing was about to happen.

In fact, he always knew in his heart that there were too many boys in the Book People's Choir.

If the number of boys were reduced by half, the problem of vocal part confusion would not have occurred before.

But at the time, he did not propose layoffs to save trouble.

And everyone pulled through.

I never imagined that after going through all the difficulties together, we would end up facing this kind of outcome.

"Boys, come up on stage."

Yan Zhen waved his hand, and the audience below the stage began to move.

(End of this chapter)