Tristan Manuel Maningat

I have always had a passion for music since I was young. It manifested when I would hear songs on the radio every time we went on trips by car where my father usually plays jazz music. Then my parents decided to send me to Yamaha School of Music where I learned my basic piano lessons. My learning experience with it has never stopped since those days, with me playing a variety of pieces from classical to modern.

My skills are at an adaptive level – having knowledge of what techniques are necessary to play a specific piece, as well as the appropriate finger positions to perform them best. I have the ability to sight-read a piece – that is, to look at a series of music sheets that correspond to a track that is new to me and be able to play their notes, then fill out the dynamics as I go. At times, I would even play a particular piece just from listening to it once or a few times, a pitch-perfect skill. Of course, no practice session is complete without being patient, as there will be certain sections or phrases in which I may struggle with at times, so being sure to practice helps especially when I intend to play a piano piece as it was meant to be performed onstage.

There is a common saying that I like: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Looking back on my past experiences with the piano instrument, it’s impressive to see how far I have come since beginning with simple note patterns and chords. Now having moved up many levels of my proficiency, I believe that there is more to come in this talent. This will stick with me whenever there is a time to prepare for the next performance on my list.