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yeah, and that's why I think it is still possible to love one's music - as long as one does not impose it upon other people it is not arrogant I guess?

What are your thoughts around performing your own piece or having others perform your piece? Performing your piece can be a great way to share your interpretation and intentions of your own piece, and playing your own piece forces you to assess the playability of your piece, and make adjustments where necessary. You can prove your piece can be played by a human, removing accusations that it is just a computer-generated "impossible" piece. However, since different people have different abilities and interpretations, playing your piece might not necessarily help in making your piece more accessible (though it still can), especially when one performs and reinforce opinions of one's piece, as if a self-fulfilling prophecy, where your piece is the prophecy itself, which can be limiting - but again, this can be countered with an open mind. Personally I always find it interesting how people can have so many different interpretations and ways of playing the exact same piece, with the exact same notes, markings and instructions, we all to some extend follow the score, took things out, or added things, according to our practical abilities and personal preferences, it reflects character - whether the persona or the person. Same goes to one's piece, one cannot expect everyone to have the same interpretation as you, even if you are the composer. Yet, it can be quite personal because your piece is almost like a part of you and when others play it it is like engaging with you/ a part of you. It can be fulfilling when someone plays or improvise in an interesting and you thought " Oh, I never thought of that", or way of expressing love, like between Schuman and Clara, yet sometimes one may be offended as what might be disrespect as well. Chopin liked it when Liszt played his Etudes with virtuosity but not when adding unnecessary ornaments to his nocturnes. How y'all experience this? Have you had experience of playing your piece in front of an audience (irl or online) - how was the reception like? Have you had someone else play your piece? how did they play/interpreted it and how you feel about it? Any other thoughts about these Personally I realized I have really played/ have others play my piece? Maybe I should haha, and post them in my socials...

Definitely. We're not loving it as any claim to greatness or mastery (that really would be arrogant). We just love it because what's come out of us naturally resonates with us. Unless we're exclusively technical in how we write, we put, to varying extents, part of ourselves into the music. We write what we find to be beautiful, even if no-one else does, so it's not surprising that the same beauty strikes us when we hear it back.

After joining YC I have quite a lot of experience playing my own pieces now, though only by recording with only myself at the piano without an audience. Yeah this is exactly why I record my own piece with my own interpretation. I played my ( ) piano piece back in 2012 because it was to be submitted to the Exam Bureau and I found the trill of the Sibelius rendition disgusting, and the rubato was very unsatisfactory, so I recorded the piece myself. Even though it's full of slip, the recording is full of emotion and honesty, and I heard from my teacher that the piece's recording was played in Teacher's Seminar and those teachers were in awe of my playing which is full of slips haha. Playing my own piano pieces gives me a chance to polish the details further because music play by hands is much different than Augensmusik or Öhresmusik. I can prove this piano music can really be played. Also, even though the piece once composer is not belong to me exclusively, the interpretation from the original composer is important to know. I have also played through all Vince's @Thatguy v2.0 12 Piano Preludes. He did mention I brought in something he didn't think of before (at least not ruining his pieces haha). Actually when I receive reviews of my pieces I always discover something I have never thought of. No one ever plays my pieces haha, tho @PCC once arrange my piano piece Moment Musical for Organ. I would be excited if anyone plays my pieces, especially my Piano Sonatas, haha! Henry

Yea, it is good find out what works for oneself like you have done. I think at the end of the day, to try out and and do what works best for oneself - interesting to see how different individuals approach composing and how our habits may stay or evolve over time. Interesting to hear your approach: Personally, while I generally compose in sections, in order, before moving on, it is not a rule I will stick to strictly. Because I tend to change things after composing the next section so I feel it "makes more sense",the transitions are smoother, and the overall piece is more coherent overall. Sometimes I just have parts where I am not as sure about compared to others so I'll work on the others first, even if they may not appear in chronological order in the piece.

Hi @Aw Ke Shen! Wonderful piece! I really like it a lot! I think your piece is very differentiated and has a lot of contrasts and a lot of different sections within it and ideas all thrown together. Perhaps another characteristic of scherzi is their (4) driving tempo and rhythms and (5) sudden and surprising changes in dynamics. You certainly have some sections of the piece which have intense driving rhythms in a fast tempo. And your score shows that (especially starting at measure 40) you do intend for there to be sudden dynamic changes, but the rendition doesn't really make that audible for some reason. Also I could add a 6th characteristic: the inheritance of a dance-like nature from the Minuet-Trio-Minuet form which the Scherzo came from. Even though the Scherzo is considerably faster than a Minuet, usually it can still be considered to have the same dance-like character. I'm also unsure if your piece is a scherzo because it is so heterogeneous. Like I said, it has so many different parts and ideas thrown together, while a scherzo would customarily just have the driving Scherzo idea and one contrasting Trio idea. But no matter, I am working on a Scherzo myself right now and it doesn't meet all the requirements either, so ultimately, it is up to you whether you call it a scherzo or not. Thanks for sharing!

I don't think it sounds arrogant. At its best, our music is a deep unconscious expression of our own essence. It carries our signature like nothing else does. If we don't love it, we don't have a healthy relationship with ourselves. Even if no-one else resonates with it - it's important that we do, else what are we making it for?