Senior Freya Li is a very talented musician, who pays tribute to her Chinese culture with her musical performances.
Li started her music journey when she was eight years old. The first instrument she chose to play was the piano; Li has now been playing the piano for a decade.
Once when she was playing a video game, she heard the music in the background and was captivated by it immediately. The music was intriguing because the sound was unique and different from the instruments she had ever played
After researching that specific sound, Li discovered that the instrument played was called a pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument that was invented in China during the Qin dynasty.
The pipa has 29 or 31 frets, six on the neck and the rest on the body of the instrument. The four strings run from a fastener on the belly to conical tuning pegs in the sides of the bent-back peg box, which was usually made of silk.
The pipa requires people to play it with their five bare fingers, and it is typically held vertically on the player’s thigh. It also needs the cooperation of two hands; the right hand plucks the strings to produce sound, and the left hand is engaged in pressing, bending, or acting on the strings.
Li had two options when it came to choosing another instrument in addition to piano, violin, or pipa; she eventually chose the pipa over violin, not only because of the beautiful sound pipa made, but also because it highlighted her Chinese cultural background.
The pipa is a sophisticated instrument; it requires a lot of performance techniques and a huge amount of practice.
“After my performance, there were always people asking me how I can play for so long without even looking at the sheet music,” said Li. “My answer was always practice; it takes me several months to perform a single song on stage.”
Li’s signature work is called “Ambush from Ten Sides.” This is a song that was written in the Wu dynasty, and describes a decisive battle in 202 B.C. at Gaixia between the two armies—Chu and Han.
Because it describes a battle, to make the song more immersive and intense, the sheet music of this song is extremely difficult, and it is usually played by virtuosos. Despite its complexity, Li did not give up after hearing the difficulty of this piece. She practiced for months and months, and finally performed it in front of the school during the New Year.
Li also focuses on bridging her own culture and Western cultures. While studying in the United States, she used the pipa to perform a lot of Western music pieces, such as “Flight of the Bumblebee”, combining both cultures and also showing the versatility of the pipa.
Li’s journey in music taught her numerous valuable lessons.
“Playing instruments taught me a lesson, all the beautiful performances required loads of practice, it will only pay back once you try hard,” said Li. “If you want to master both academics and hobbies, you must learn how to balance them effectively, and you cannot give up one because of the other.”
