I am a Big Player
Chapter 344 - 342, Another New Theory (First Update)_1

Chapter 344: 342, Another New Theory (First Update)_1

As soon as her mother-in-law left, the two of them were completely without restraint in America. That very evening, Ren He huddled in Yang Xi’s apartment, watching television while listening to her practice the piano for another three hours before returning to his own place.

Three hours of practice wasn’t much; in his previous life, there had been a master who performed a complete sonata taking over two hours. It seemed that even piano masters engaging in performance could consider it a physical task...

Of course, this was a rarity.

Moreover, time spent practicing piano should not exceed six hours because beyond that limit, one would be exhausted and unable to maintain focus.

The next day during class, Ren He walked into the piano room and suddenly noticed a peculiar phenomenon: there were many people he didn’t recognize at all in the room!

"Who are you...?" Ren He asked in surprise.

"We’re from the composition department, just here to observe," someone said.

Others said, "Professor, we are from the violin department, here to sit in on the class."

Since everyone’s class schedules were not very fixed and could even be set by the lecturers themselves, instructing students to attend as they wished, these students with nothing better to do made up half the audience to watch how this young professor taught.

After all, the entire school was abuzz: the young professor teaches everyone how to make poetry out of music!

Indeed, their attendance was reasonable, for what Ren He taught was not just piano technique; he was imparting how to handle dynamics, an issue all instrumentalists had to consider, and Ren He was the first teacher to systematically offer this instruction, so everyone came to listen.

In the past, Ren He had heard that when certain teachers gave lectures, they were so good that people would sit in, filling even amphitheaters to standing room only. He thought those teachers must be truly exceptional to attract such phenomena.

Yet, unexpectedly, the same situation arose in his very first lecture.

However, Ren He thought for a moment and still emphasized, "It’s fine for everyone to audit the class, but please do not interrupt my teaching pace, and no one is allowed to record videos during the lecture for outside circulation. Can you do that?"

"Definitely, definitely," everyone agreed. As long as they could attend the class, why worry about the rest?

Once the class started, everyone experienced the legendary scene of teaching with two grand pianos in a demonstration. For some reason, everyone thought this method of teaching was really impressive; the efficiency was extremely high, and students could hear standard demonstrations anytime, anywhere.

At that moment, someone also identified a trait of Ren He: no matter which practice piece he randomly pulled from a stack of sheet music, he only needed to glance at it once and then no longer needed to look at the score...

It was as if he had memorized all the pieces by heart, and he could effortlessly play any section on the spot, even when interrupted to guide a student.

Although everyone memorized scores, in their eyes, Ren He’s memorization ability was still somewhat explosive!

The reason they envied him was that in modern concerts, 99.99% of piano solos required playing from memory. Memorization was the most basic requirement, even for amateur exams.

New music could be played with the score in view, because the notes were too complex and nearly devoid of traditional patterns.

Most piano practitioners relied on their fingers’ muscle memory, playing automatically, just as walking doesn’t require conscious thought from the brain. The brain actually doesn’t know what each note is, but because of frequent repetition, the correct notes would still be played—however, this approach was risky.

With such method, how could one invest emotion into interpreting the notes?

Generally, scores were necessary for repeat performances, four-hand duets, dual piano concerts, and accompaniments, in case the collaborative artist made a mistake and the continuation was lost.

Furthermore, concert performers often only found out who they were playing with and the repertoire just a few days before the performance, leaving no time to memorize the score.

It was because of this that Ren He’s formidable memorization ability was so admirable. The score was in his mind; having the score or not made no difference at all.

Moreover, Ren He’s demeanor was so casual, as if he himself didn’t find the situation to be particularly remarkable...

Because by now, Ren He had grown accustomed to his extraordinary memory...

In this process, in fact, everyone also noticed something quite striking: the difference in sound before and after the piano students managed the dynamics and pedal coordination was simply too great to the ear.

If they hadn’t heard the sound after the adjustments, they might have been satisfied with the melody, but having heard it, the previous playing seemed like undercooked leftover rice, difficult to swallow.

This was also the thought that crossed the minds of most ordinary performers after hearing the masters play—they’d feel their own playing was utter crap in comparison.

Little girls might think it looked cool to see some geniuses’ fingers flying across the keyboard, but their venerable teachers were nearly popping out of their coffins.

When the class ended to applause, it seemed like they finally understood what their previous teachers had been saying: "This passage lacks strength! This passage is too soft! Enhance the resonance with the right pedal!"

Before, they barely understood why, thinking that was probably just how it was supposed to be done, but now they truly understood: it was to bring the music to life!

It was as if Ren He had personally poked a hole through a layer of paper for them.

However, as Ren He prepared to leave the classroom, someone timidly called out to him, "Professor, you haven’t recorded a new piece today!"

Ren He was taken aback; he saw everyone looking at him with bright, expectant eyes, as if this was what they were most looking forward to...

He had said yesterday that he would record four pieces, but he never promised to complete them all at once, yet these students had remembered...

Since everyone wanted to listen, there was no need for him to hide his talent, and it was pointless to be coy.

Ren He sat back down at the piano, today choosing "To Alice."

All the students present thought it would be a rhythmically lively and compact piece like yesterday’s "Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 3," but upon listening, it turned out to be such a soothing song!

Some had guessed that today might feature the "Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2," since there was a third and a first... Who would have thought Ren He had composed the third directly...

There he was, sitting in front of the piano, as the melody of "To Alice" enveloped everyone’s thoughts like a warm river, so euphonious.

It was beautiful, indeed living up to everyone’s expectations; no wonder the Juilliard School of Music initially hired him as a composition professor!

Still with his back to the camera, when Ren He finished playing, a composition student asked, "Professor, why don’t you teach our classes as well? We really insist that you do!"

"Yes, we strongly request you to come and teach, Professor!"

It was no longer the time when Ren He crossed the ocean and shattered others’ skepticism; now, it was the opposite—he didn’t want to teach, and people were demanding he do so.

This reversal amused Ren He, and he said, "Composing is really too complex to teach. Some teachers will instruct you on how to consider the connection between notes, but I don’t think composition is that simple. Just like I say playing piano is like writing poetry, does composition have a relationship with literature? It does. For instance, if we’re studying a master composer, we should examine the era they lived in, and the prevailing thoughts and literary works of the time. And not just that; this helps you understand the emotions they were experiencing and how they expressed them within their era. So, does it relate? Composing is quite complex, not just a matter of talent, but also of depth—and depth is not solely about literature."

All the composition students were stunned: Fuck, does composition have something to do with literature? To study a master, you need to examine the literature of their era too? That actually makes a lot of sense; everyone grasped a truth: the text you read eventually becomes your character.

While emphasizing the significance of literature, Ren He conceded it was just part of the equation, but this was indeed the first time they were exposed to such a theory!

The professor had proposed a new theory!