Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 1303 523 The Ultimate Showdown [Part 2]

Chapter 1303, Section 523: The Ultimate Showdown [Part 2]

"Wow————"

After the performance by the No. 8 Middle School Choir, the Mario brothers led the choir members in a bow to take their final bow, which was met with applause.

The applause clearly came from the back of the audience, making Ang Lee's ears ring.

Based on his usual practice as a judge, he typically wouldn't give the first contestant a score that was too high.

Even if the other party's stage performance is quite good.

This is to leave enough room for controlling the score in the subsequent matches.

This is also the habit of most judges.

This is also a drawback of having contestants appear early in music competitions.

But Ang Lee gave the students of No. 8 Middle School a score of 97 without hesitation.

Because he was genuinely moved by the children's singing.

Perhaps due to his lack of experience as a choral judge for the first time, he couldn't help himself.

It is said that the power of human voice is limitless.

Even without any musical accompaniment, it can still create a unique charm.

When he was in the audience, he didn't understand it as deeply, but sitting on the judges' panel, he felt the core of that statement.

The youthful mixed voice that hits you right in the face reveals a kind of spirit and an understanding of life.

Fang Zheng once told him something: "The human voice always has a touch more humanity than instrumental music."

At the time, Ang Lee said, "Isn't that obvious? The human voice is a sound produced by the fleshy throat, which doesn't give it any more human touch than other instruments."

Now he was beginning to understand the meaning behind Fang Zheng's words.

"Next up is the Foreign Language School Choir, performing the competition piece 'A Grateful Heart,' conducted by Zhang Nan and pianist Li Feifei."

Upon hearing the name Li Fei, Ang Lee immediately pictured a talkative figure in his mind. Was it him?
As a chubby, black figure followed the choir onto the stage, Ang Lee smiled, thinking to himself, "So this guy is a foreign language teacher."

Li Fei left a deep impression on him when he enrolled in his training course for young piano teachers.

His improvisational skills are very high.

"Wow—"

The boys in the foreign language choir were wearing crisp white shirts and blue ties.

The girls' red dresses shone brightly under the lights, and their ponytails swayed with each of their little steps, making them look adorable.

"A Grateful Heart" is also a common choral piece. Ang Lee glanced down at the information on the work submitted by the foreign language school.

Adapted by: Li Fei

Judging from the arrangement of the lyrics, this piece, "Foreign Languages," should be a mixed two-part chorus.

Compared to a four-part chorus, a two-part chorus is much simpler and is suitable for choirs with fewer members or lower singing levels.

However, the Foreign Languages Department won second place in yesterday's district competition, and given their stage presence, Li An thought it might not be that simple.

Let's hear what happened.

Withdrawing his gaze, Ang Lee looked up at the stage and waited quietly.

About five or six seconds later, Li Fei and the conductor exchanged a glance, their round eyes seeming to smile, and then Li Fei raised his hand and began to play the prelude.

Soothing, calming, pure, and gentle.

The arpeggios of the piano are extremely suitable for the opening accompaniment of such lyrical works. In just a few breaths, Li Fei created a tranquil stage space with the sound of the piano.

"can."

Li Anxin wondered if Li Fei's question to him about how to make long arpeggios more evocative was for today.

"I came from chance—"

Accompanied by the sound of the piano, the children from the foreign language school began to speak.

They faced the audience with smiles, focused eyes, and expressions that perfectly matched the lyrics, giving the audience an indescribable feeling.

That's what happens when you put something into a good arrangement; once it's on stage, the audience will notice.

Despite being a two-part chorus, the children's heartfelt performance made each verse just as effective as a four-part live performance.

"Whoosh————————"

When the applause from the audience rose again, Ang Lee hesitated for a moment before giving the Foreign Languages Department a score of 95.5.

Compared to the stage of No. 4 Middle School, the stage of the Foreign Language School was somewhat inferior overall, mainly due to the difference in the singing level of the two teams.

Ang Lee gave 95.3 to the choir and the extra 0.2 to Li Fei.

Without Li Fei's piano accompaniment, the stage performance just now would not have achieved such an effect.

"Wow————"

"Next up is Rongxi Middle School."

And so, our teacher, Ms. Li, gradually adapted to her new role.

As a judge for a choral competition, he gradually found his place.

Since he couldn't provide an evaluation from a professional vocal perspective, he focused on the accompaniment, arrangement, and spirit of each team.

At the same time, he is also humbly learning.

Just now in the conference room, Lin Hui and he were talking about the National Youth Choir Performance Event to be held in Yanjing at the end of the year. The team from Chengdu was recommended by Chengdu Academy. Lin Hui jokingly asked him if he would be willing to take on this tough job.

Ang Lee was certainly willing to endure this hardship; Wei had mentioned it to him a few days earlier.

When the time comes, the scholar will pay for it, and he can take the children on a trip to Yanjing. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

But if he wants to win fame both before and after his death, his teachers alone are certainly enough, though he will have to be truly involved in the production process.

These groups are currently the best choirs of their age group in Chengdu. The fastest way to improve is to discover the strengths in other people's works, absorb and digest them, and make them your own.

Through his observations, Ang Lee did indeed discover some commonalities.

Any stage that qualifies as excellent is generally handled with exceptional care in its choreography.

Among them, the Tie Er Middle School choir, which Lin Hui helped rehearse, did the best in terms of "details".

Both schools sang "Daylily Flower," and the sixth school to perform, No. 3 Middle School, sang very well, but it was far inferior to the school that performed later, No. 2 Middle School.

"Teacher Lin, did you also choreograph this piece?"

"Hmm, it's alright, isn't it?"

"Great."

Firstly, in terms of rhythm changes, in order to increase the expressiveness of the song, the rhythm of the second section of the song was changed in many sections.

For example, in the line "If one day, I understand sorrow," the Third Middle School uses the natural beauty of harmony to create atmosphere, while the Second Middle School uses free tempo variations to emphasize the tone and highlight the artistic conception of the lyrics.

In the final repetition of the line "It seems like you have never left my side," No. 3 Middle School uses a gradual decrease in volume, while No. 2 Middle School employs a technique of first loud and then soft, similar to the sfp technique in instrumental performance—that is, after a particular note is emphasized, the volume immediately returns to a gentler level, creating a strong contrast in the dynamic changes of the music, which can be described as quite dramatic.

It's similar to the way instrumental performances are handled, but vocals have an added touch of humanity.

"Human touch? Teacher Li's summary is brilliant."

Upon hearing those two words from Li An, Lin Hui pondered them carefully, a smug smile appearing on his face.

Seeing this, Ang Lee gave Fang Zheng another thumbs up in his heart. It seemed that Lin Hui and Fang Zheng had a lot in common.

I gave Tie Er Middle School a score of 99.

"Next up is the Linyin No.1 Middle School Choir, performing the competition piece 'Farewell,' conducted by Ma Mengyao, with accordionist Zhu Yuhua."

Following the guitar and harmonica, another instrument that is not accompanied by a piano has emerged.

"Whoosh————————"

The competition had already reached a fever pitch, and the children sitting in the northeast corner were also busy. Wang Xiaohu and Xiao Che were arguing on their phones again.

Since a match was taking place on stage, neither of them could make a sound.

Wang Xiaohu: Tie Erzhong clearly relies on volume to drive the emotion, especially in the choruses. Didn't you notice? Every time they enter a chorus, their volume is a little louder than the last time!
Little Car: It's clearly the accompanist's doing, okay? Every time before the chorus, the accompanist is building up the volume. Without the accompanist's build-up, their chorus wouldn't have that effect!
It has never lost to the exclamation mark car.

Sending that message wasn't enough for Xiao Che, so he handed the phone directly to Tang Xiaoxing.

Tang Xiaoxing quickly edited: Linlin is right!!!

Wang Xiaohu laughed in exasperation: "Fine, fine, it's all thanks to the pianist. You pianists don't make any sense at all."

Car: Who's being unreasonable?

Wang Xiaohu: You two! What's the essence of choral singing? It's the singing! Everything else is just fancy stuff! Want me to explain it to you? A four-part chorus is divided into soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Why is it divided like this? Because each part has its essential purpose. The soprano has a bright tone and is responsible for the main melody; the alto has a warm voice and is responsible for harmonic support; the tenor echoes the soprano, enhancing the expressive power of the melody; and the bass is deep and powerful, forming the foundation of the entire choir! Frankly speaking, whether a chorus has accompaniment or not doesn't matter! These four parts are enough!

While Wang Xiaohu was editing this message, Xiao Che felt like the other person was fighting a battle with their phone screen.

Even the car chuckled after reading this so-called science popularization video: Too long to read.

Wang Xiaohu: Show me!
"The ends of the earth—"

"The End of the Sea—"

As the song from Lin Yin No. 1 Middle School played, Xiao Che rhythmically edited: "Can the opera be performed without an orchestra?"

Wang Xiaohu nearly spat out a mouthful of blood: You... is this the same thing?!

Xiao Che: What do you mean, why aren't they the same thing? What's the difference between accompanying a choir and accompanying an opera? Aren't they both instrumental accompaniment for vocals?
The car then handed the phone to Tang Xiaoxing.

Tang Xiaoxing started editing: The accompaniment can be appropriately changed according to the rhythm and emotion of the song. If it is replaced with an orchestral accompaniment, it can enrich the timbre and expressiveness of the song. Different orchestral instruments can play their respective advantages in different sections. String instruments can better express emotions in lyrical sections, while wind instruments can enhance the momentum in the climax!
The car retrieved the phone: As a commander, you can't possibly be unaware of even this, right? Really? Really???
Wang Xiaohu was so angry he almost vomited blood. He said "doremi" and got the reply "Xia Chundong," but the two of them said something that left him with no temper at all.

Wang Xiaohu thought to himself, "A good man doesn't fight with women. In a one-against-two situation, especially against these two, I'm indeed outnumbered. In that case, let's meet on stage later."
Car: Let's cheer each other on!
Wang Xiaohu was taken aback. He thought Xiao Che was about to say something that would make his blood pressure spike again, but before he could even feel a little warm inside, he was stunned.

next second.

Car: Anyway, you can't beat us.

Wang Xiaohu sighed inwardly. "Fine, fine, this is the cruel feeling I wanted: Just you wait and see."

Xiao Che didn't bother to reply. She wasn't angry, but Wang Xiaohu's arrogant attitude at the beginning annoyed her, so she retorted a few times.

"The ends of the earth—"

"The Corner of the Earth—"

"My close friends are mostly gone—"

"."

"When will you return, my friend?"

"Do not hesitate when you arrive—"

"When will you return, my friend?"

"Do not hesitate when you arrive—"

But upon hearing the last few lines of the lyrics, Xiao Che suddenly felt a little soft-hearted.

It was as if Wang Xiaohu was about to leave.

In a flash, a sense of melancholy arose in her heart; Wang Xiaohu had indeed left immediately.

Especially in the final accordion coda, the deep sound seemed like a distant lingering echo, or a candle flame gently swaying in the breeze.

It was subtle, yet it touched the softest part of her heart.

I don't know if Tiger can take care of himself when he goes out. He's almost taller than Aunt Xu when he stands up, and he's still so clumsy.

Hey.

Thinking of this, Xiao Che took out his phone: Make up!
Wang Xiaohu had been keeping an eye on his surroundings out of the corner of his eye. He saw Xiao Che take out his phone and then put it down, and then the phone on his lap lit up.

As the accordion accompaniment slowly faded, Wang Xiaohu pretended to be nonchalant and picked up his phone.

'Reconciliation'

Upon seeing those two words, Wang Xiaohu paused for a moment. He subconsciously turned his head and met Xiao Che's clear eyes. For some reason, he couldn't help but smile.

"Wow——————"

Qiao Zhizhi, who was sitting on the other side of Wang Xiaohu, happened to witness this scene.

Then, some indescribable feelings arose in her heart. In fact, she had noticed long ago that there were times when Wang Xiaohu and Sister Linlin had a relationship that went beyond that of good friends, just like at this moment.

"Next up is the Chengdu University Affiliated High School Choir, and their competition piece is as requested."

When Ah Liu appears, the entire audience must stand up!

Wang Xiaohu clapped his hands excitedly, but Lin Guoguo, who was sitting in the last row, was even more excited.

Lin Guoguo had been waiting for almost the entire morning, and finally, Brother Liu made his appearance!

Although Brother Liu is a bit naive, he still bought her delicious food!

"Brother Marco, it's been so long since we got to Sister Linlin."

"After your brother Liu finishes singing, the next one will be brother Xiaohu, and after brother Xiaohu finishes singing, the next one will be sister Linlin."

"Ugh, Brother Marco, I need to pee."

"."

Upon hearing the noise, Senior Sister Ji handed her phone to Marco and quietly slipped out of the concert hall with Lin Guoguo.

This little girl is really something. Is Senior Sister just for show? Why is she so clingy to Brother Marco? Just because there are beef cubes?

Soon after, the sound of a piano filled the air on the stage.

"You are the long road ahead—"

"A light in the thick fog of the mountains—"
-
"Come on, bro!" Wang Xiaohu signaled to the choir members to get ready halfway through the call. They would have to go backstage through the emergency exit to prepare for their performance once the applause started.

"Wow—"

"Zhizhi?"

"what?"

"What's wrong with you? It's time to go backstage! Get moving!"

"oh oh!"

Amidst the applause, all members of the Shuren Choir sprang into action.

Behind him, the cheers of his brothers from Shipo echoed.

Ah Qian was very excited. Although they were opponents, he sincerely hoped that Shuren could present a perfect performance like yesterday.

"come on!"

"Go, Teacher Tang!"

Old Tang, at the very back of the group, turned around and gave a victory sign.

Eight minutes later, applause rang out again from the audience.