Sharing of Grant Recipients - LAM Wan Ki Teresa

Due to the condition of my mental illness, I am not able to follow my initial plan to start the lesson in January 2021. I started the lesson in June, with the modifications of the learning syllabus, in order to maximise the learning outcome in this elementary course. We focused on the choice and control of stops, pedalling, and the control of the swell box. For training purposes, we used church hymns, which are easier pieces in organ, to learn the above skills and techniques. The outcome was fruitful despite only seven lessons being attended.

Initially, I thought that hymns were very easy to learn. However, my concept is wrong. The organ is still a new instrument to me, and I did not have a lot of experience and chance to play it. And the most important is that it is totally different from the piano in terms of skill and techniques even in hands. These features of the organ make the easy hymns becoming complicated. Ms Chow taught me the attitude to treat this instrument, and the ways to cope with the difference between piano and organ. It is very difficult to control the articulations and manage the technique in the beginning, and I was very frustrated. That was a very important lesson to me, which I learned to be patient and break down the piece into small parts for practice. Also, I have learned to lower my expectation and standard, so that my stress level will be decreased.

Indeed, the workload is very heavy when there are two lessons per week. I also doubted how I should treat myself in terms of level. However, in Ms Chow’s lessons, I understood that it is never a matter of level, but the actual technique that I mastered, and the improvements that I made in the process. It is not the most important for how much I can achieve, but the enjoyment and happiness that I had during the lessons and practising. As long as the passion for learning exists, all the difficulties met in the journey can be overcome one by one.

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