No Longer Eun-iform // April

Guns Blazin'

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I have been really eager to write this post for a long time, and have been looking forward to this far more than anybody should with a school project to be honest. Now I would claim this is because I 'love English so much and it's my passion!' But as much as it may break my teacher's heart, that's just not true. The only reason I have been steeped in anticipation is because for the last month I have been preoccupied trying to master one song. (gif)

Yes, a single song.

I feel like if I don't take the time to show my learning of this song I'm cheating myself. More importantly though, I feel like if I don't show someone what I've learned for the last couple weeks I'm gonna implode.

So for the first time in 'DFPIU' (Don't Fret, Pick It Up) history, a month will be entirely dedicated to a 'Song of the Month'. For this special occasion, I decided to learn a piece of music that, for me, is more than just a song, it's art. (gif)

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Song of the Month!

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Through The Night - Lee Ji Eun [IU (아이유)]

My love for K-Pop has been heavily emphasized throughout the course of this blog, but my love for this song in particular transcends all others. Out of my 600+ K-Pop songs and the dozens of artists that produce them, Li Ji Eun (a.k.a IU) is, to me, the greatest singer of all time. Besides the fact that her voice is beautiful and her instruments are symphonic, what really sets her apart from almost every other artist is her willingness to stray from the mainstream. Whether it's 70's jazz, Ballads, Indie, Classical or R&B, IU's range of music is something rare not only in Korea, but in the world. Before we begin, I really want to make it clear HOW EXCITED I AM TO PLAY THIS SONG AHH IT'S SUCH AN HONOR!! Okay that's my fangirl-ing done, please continue. (album cover)

Through the Night is a Korean ballad, sung with very simple lyrics and accompanied by a classical guitar. It's a love letter to the music of Korea's past, and has a music video that reflects that vibe, with traditional imagery, simple clothing and an oldie aesthetic.

This song was really hard for me in the beginning. I tried to learn it October actually, but I had not practiced enough finger picking to truly get a hang of it. Now, 6 months later, I have returned with a vengeance. I learned the song in chunks, just like how I learnt BLACKPINK's STAY in March. I mostly used tutorials by GrabTheGuitar and Caffeine Guitar, so check them out in the hyperlinks above. (gif)

I didn't want to go over every part of the song independently, because honestly if you don't listen to the song in its entirely it loses a lot of the value. I decided it was best to play the song in its entirety, and give some thoughts and opinions. I didn't want to write TOO much because I truly believe this month should be all about the song.

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Okay, Now the Song ^_^

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First of all, I am really, really proud of how this came out. There were transitions for this song that I could never get right, even when I practiced without the camera. The fact it all came together is incredible to me.

Here's the thing about this song, it really isn't simple to describe because there isn't a set chord pattern or finger picking style. When I said I was upgrading from BLACKPINK, I really meant it. Every month I write out either the tablature or chord pattern to my song, but in honesty that's simply not possible with the this song.

Most parts of the song is based off of what you think sounds good; sometimes you'll hit a high-E string just because you feel like it, sometimes you'll miss a G string because it feels right, There isn't a set pattern because it simply depends on what you feel like sounds best. That's what I like best about this song: There's some basic chords you have to play, (and if you want the whole chord pattern, check out the aforementioned Caffeine Guitar's sheet music), but most of the strumming and picking is purely instinctual. (gif)

I bet my friends have gotten absolutely sick of this song at this point, but I feel so accomplished finishing it that I don't really care! The best compliment I got for this was from my mom when she told me it sounded like 'I was playing the sound of raindrops'. It was comments like these that really pushed me to continue putting so much effort into my blog, and I really could not do it without awesome people like my mom :). (gif)

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Almost Done!

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I'm so incredibly glad I got to play that song before the year ended, because honestly if I didn't get to show that off my life would have no meaning. Speaking of the end of the year, I have recently realized how close we are to this academic calendar finishing. It's gonna be really sad writing my last post, but hopefully I'll have a good time reminiscing on the good times I had! (gif)