(Chinese & English text)

我叫郑子依，现在就读于女王大学的艺术管理专业。在此之前，我学习了接近10年的音乐，我学习过古筝，钢琴和声乐演唱，在本科期间学习的是音乐学理论，而我今年24岁，音乐一直伴随我左右，音乐是美妙的并且学习和欣赏音乐是能够给自己带来一些有益的影响，通过这个机会，我想和大家分享音乐给我带来了的一些变化。

首先，音乐影响了我的性格。我从小是一个非常内向的人，说实话，特别多的时候，我甚至不敢和其他人说话，无论是异性和同性，与此同时，我也不希望人们注意到我，我一直胆小且自卑。然后，我接受了一些音乐教育，开始学习古筝，伴随着一点一点的进步，再加之舞台演出的次数增加，我开始逐渐的变得很开朗，愿意和更多人说话，一点一点变得不那么自卑，也敢在人前表现自己，享受音乐给我带来的变化。伴随着获得了一些奖项和音乐带给我的感受以后，我发现音乐是能够调动人的情感的，就像补充能量一样，会让精神处于一种快乐兴奋状态，并且逐渐的让我感觉到我的价值感和存在感，这对一个普通孩子是非常的重要的。在我看来，培养建立自信心在成长过程中非常重要，接受一定的音乐教育是非常有必要的。所以，如果您最近感到不快或者沮丧，不妨试试去学习一门乐器或者唱歌，这可能会很有用。

其次，学习音乐也给我带来了一些机遇，我的文化成绩不是很好，但是因为我从小接受音乐教育，并且拥有很多演出的经验，所以我成为了一个艺术生（在中国学生的一个种类，艺术学生的文化分数比普通学生低），如愿的考上了音乐学院。不得不说，考上音乐学院是我目前为止认为最幸运的事情。在就读于学校的这段期间，我参加了很多场的演出，有义务演出也有付费演出，这不仅帮我获得了一些额外的收入并且也拥有了一些舞台经验，我开始对于音乐的舞台表演的策划，运作产生了一些兴趣，找到了我自己真正的兴趣点，这也是我的收获之一。于此同时，在本科的学习中，我学习到了很多有关于音乐的专业知识，对于音乐有了更深层次的理解。举例来说，我个人是学过欧洲乐器和中国传统乐器，在此之前我一直感觉，像钢琴这样的乐器更为辉煌庞大一些，织体也较为丰富，是更具艺术价值的。但是我学习过以后，我必须负责任的说，任何国家的乐器，形式和调式调性都没有高低之分，我们只是追求的东西并不相同。简单来说，欧洲整体的音乐发展偏向于层次感的体现，营造一种辉煌灿烂的效果，从历史层面看，这与早期的教皇和教会的影响是分不开的。不同的是，中国音乐的发展过程是民间的发展过程，音乐早期不带有功能性，只带有娱乐性和欣赏性，并且也是较为自由的发展在民间发展

在此过程中，中国的曲调偏向于单旋律的变化，再加之无品乐器过多，追求的是一种意境美。我在此分享一个较为意境美的中国古曲《梅花三弄》，本曲的主题在不同徽位的泛音上弹奏三次（上准、中准、下准三个部位演奏），故称“三弄”，非常具有代表性。https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvxbfpuccXo

在Beyond Skin参加志愿活动的期间，我参与了一个视频制作项目，这是我第一次参与制作这样的视频，我感到新奇又紧张。我和Kieron一起演唱了一首他创造的歌曲“You must like me”.我很赞叹Kieron的创造力，我非常喜欢这首歌曲，他的歌词让我感觉非常有力量。
在这次合作中，Kieron非常照顾我，因为我之前从未接触过摇滚音乐，他一直在引导我，并且在我做的不好的时候鼓励我，我非常的感动，我开始逐渐了解了摇滚音乐，这真是一个非常迷人的音乐种类，我从他的歌曲中感受到了力量，他的一切作品都非常的有意义。我非常开心能够和这样的音乐家合作，也很感动Darren给我这个机会能够参与这次的活动。在这次的视频录制中，我体会到了非常不同的工作文化，我感到我是自由的，我需要自己去发挥我自己的主观能动性，没有人要求我做成什么样，我可以更加自由的去创造，最开始我还非常困惑，我到底需要做什么，后来才发现，我只需要做我自己可以做的，逐渐从一种很担心和紧张的心态到非常的自由和安心，我很庆幸我能感受这样不同的工作氛围。总之，我非常开心在Beyond skin参加志愿工作，这是我在英国学习生活非常美好的回忆。

最后，音乐作为一种世界共通的奇妙艺术，音乐是自由的，不同语言和不同地域的人能够通过通过音乐联系到一起，我经常听到有人说“我跑调，我五音不全，我和音乐没有办法交流”，请相信自己，每一个人都可以和音乐有联系。在我看来，并不是只有演奏和创作音乐才叫音乐交流，聆听音乐，欣赏音乐，能够感受到音乐给你带来的愉悦感受，你就是一个懂音乐的人，希望每一个人都能够享受音乐所带来的乐趣。

My name is Ziyi Zheng and I am currently studying art management at Queen's University. I am also on placement with Beyond Skin. Before that, I studied music for nearly 10 years. I studied Guzheng, piano and vocal singing. During my undergraduate study, I studied music theory. And I am 24 years old this year. Music has always been with me. Music is beautiful and beautiful. Learning and enjoying music can bring some beneficial effects to myself. Through this opportunity, I want to share with you some of the changes that music has brought to me.

First of all, music has affected my character. I’ve been a very introverted person since I was a child. To be honest, there are many times when I don’t even dare to talk to other people, whether they are of the opposite sex or the same sex. At the same time, I don’t want people to notice me. I have always been timid and timid. low self-esteem. Then, I received some music education and started to learn Guzheng. With the little progress and the increase in the number of stage performances, I gradually became very cheerful and willing to talk to more people, little by little. I became less inferior, and I dared to express myself in front of others and enjoy the changes that music brought me. Accompanied by some awards and the feelings that music has brought me, I found that music can mobilize people’s emotions, just like replenishing energy, it will put the spirit in a state of joy and excitement, and gradually make me feel me The sense of value and existence of this is very important for an ordinary child. In my opinion, cultivating self-confidence is very important in the growth process, and it is very necessary to receive a certain music education. So, if you feel unhappy or frustrated lately, you might as well try to learn an instrument or sing. This may be useful.

Secondly, learning music has also brought me some opportunities. My cultural achievements are not very good, but because I received music education since I was a child and have a lot of performance experience, I became an art student (a type of student in China). , The cultural score of art students is lower than that of ordinary students), and was admitted to the Conservatory of Music as desired. I have to say that entering the Conservatory of Music is the luckiest thing I think so far. During the period when I was in school, I participated in many performances, obligated performances and paid performances. This not only helped me gain some extra income, but also had some stage experience. I started to learn about music stage performances. Planning and operation have generated some interest and found my own real interest points, which is also one of my gains. At the same time, during my undergraduate studies, I learned a lot of professional knowledge about music, and I have a deeper understanding of music. For example, I personally learned European musical instruments and traditional Chinese musical instruments, I have always felt that musical instruments like pianos are more magnificent and larger, with richer textures and more artistic value. But after I have studied, I have to say responsibly that there is no difference in the form or tonality of musical instruments in any country. We just pursue different things. To put it simply, the overall music development in Europe tends to embody a sense of hierarchy and create a splendid effect. From a historical perspective, this is inseparable from the influence of the early popes and the church. The difference is that the development process of Chinese music is a folk development process. The early stage of music is not functional, but only entertaining and appreciative, and it is also a relatively free development in folk development.

In this process, Chinese tunes tend to change in a single melody, coupled with too many fretless instruments, the pursuit of a beauty of artistic conception. I’m here to share a more artistically beautiful Chinese ancient song "Three Lanes of Plum Blossoms". The theme of this song is played three times on the overtones of different emblems (upper standard, middle standard, and lower standard), so it is called "three "Nong" is very representative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvxbfpuccXo

During the volunteer activities at Beyond Skin, I participated in a video production project as part of Strand Arts Theatre collaboration.  I participated in making such a video first time, which made me feel novel and nervous. I sang a song Kieron created called "You Must Like Me" with Kieron. I'm so impressed with Kieron's creativity, I love this song so much. His lyrics make me feel very powerful.
In the cooperation, Kieron takes care of me because I had never contact with rock and roll music, he has been in the lead me, and when I don't do well to encourage me, which allows me touched. I begin to understand rock and roll music, it's really a very charming music type, I felt the power from his songs, all of his works are meaningful. I'm pleased to be working with such a musician, and I'm so glad that Darren allowed me to be part of this project.in this activity, I feel like I am free, I need to play my subjective initiative, no one asked me to do what, I have more freedom to create. At first, I also very confused-What do I need to do? Later, I found that I only need to do what I can do. I gradually changed from an anxious and nervous state to a very free and secure state of mind. Maybe it's a cultural difference. I'm glad I can feel such a different working atmosphere. In a word, I am thrilled to participate in the volunteer work in Beyond Skin, which is a lovely memory of my study and life in the UK.

Finally, music is a wonderful art shared in the world. Music is free. People of different languages ​​and different regions can be connected through music. I often hear people say, "I am out of tune, my five tone is not complete, and I have nothing to do with music. Ways to communicate", please believe in yourself, everyone can have contact with music. In my opinion, it’s not just playing and creating music that is called music communication. Listening to music, appreciating music, and being able to feel the pleasure that music brings to you, you are a person who understands music, and I hope everyone can enjoy it. The fun of music.