{"id":8772,"date":"2022-09-12T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-12T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=8772"},"modified":"2023-03-01T10:17:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T18:17:55","slug":"summer-swee-singh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/summer-swee-singh\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing Summer Swee-Singh, Our Newest Pianote Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pianote is proud to introduce our newest Coach, Summer Swee-Singh! Summer\u2019s course is all about re-imagining your favorite songs for the piano, and it\u2019s available now in the Members\u2019 area. Not a Member yet? Give Pianote a try with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer\u2019s musical journey is an interesting one. She was put in piano lessons to help with social anxiety and was destined for law school before switching to music. Today, Summer is a pianist, composer, and arranger, and runs the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aapimusicians.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AAPI Musicians Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#how-it-started\">How It Started<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#music-over-law\">Choosing Music Over Law<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#under-represented-musicians\">Supporting Under-represented Musicians<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#advice\">Advice for Emerging Musicians<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:22px\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Your Go-To Place for All Things Piano<\/b><\/h2><p>Subscribe to <i>The Note<\/i> for exclusive interviews, fascinating articles, and inspiring lessons delivered straight to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.<\/p><iframe class=\"email-form-include\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-it-started\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>How It Started<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer was a very shy child growing up. So shy that a teacher recommended she participate in a group extracurricular activity, which led her parents to sign her up for group keyboard lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first, Summer disliked having to read sheet music at these lessons. But she excelled at ear training, and at twelve years old, became the youngest person at the time to pass the Yamaha Music School\u2019s Grade 5 examination. Which is no small feat, considering that the level allows her to teach at Yamaha music schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>If there&#8217;s one takeaway from my career and life up to this point, it&#8217;s to trust your ear.<\/p>\n<cite>Summer Swee-Singh<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/AAPI%20Musicians%20Interview\/Summer%20one%20hand%20up.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"music-over-law\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Choosing Music Over Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While Summer\u2019s childhood achievements were impressive, it was never in her (and her parents\u2019) plans to pursue music. After high school, she majored in legal studies at UC Berkeley and took a law firm job post-graduation with the goal of entering law school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her free time, Summer played and arranged music for fun. She uploaded covers to YouTube, and Skrillex (one of the artists she covered) started reposting her medleys. Summer\u2019s success on YouTube&nbsp;and the encouragement of some select people in her life&nbsp;convinced her to quit her office job and pursue music professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/AAPI%20Musicians%20Interview\/Summer%20vertical.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"228\" height=\"341\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/AAPI%20Musicians%20Interview\/summer%20laughing.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2017, Summer shared a four-song medley of two Thrice and two Circa Survive songs. Circa Survive discovered the video and invited her on tour. The following year, Summer toured with&nbsp;Anthony Green for his solo tour and later also&nbsp;Chon (an \u201cincredibly virtuosic\u201d math rock band). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast forward to today:&nbsp;Summer is currently on a U.S.\/Canadian stadium tour playing keyboard for Kings Elliot and opening for Macklemore and Imagine Dragons. She played and wrote the keys part for a recently-released Polyphia track called <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CsDlDCWh9bk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cPlaying God (Acoustic)\u201d<\/a>, and has also accompanied&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/P7sEADuBhwM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bebe Rexha<\/a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<em>Ellen<\/em>&nbsp;and performed for two <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sP0I0MXk9ig\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TEDx<\/a> events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"under-represented-musicians\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Supporting Under-represented Musicians<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Early in her career, Summer recalls totally rocking an L.A. audition. The person in charge said she was \u201cthe best keys player that\u2019s played here today.\u201d However, she says, \u201cI did not expect the next line: \u2018Yeah\u2026you don\u2019t have the look. They want an all-white band.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This experience led Summer Swee-Singh to begin the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aapimusicians.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AAPI Musicians Project<\/a>. It\u2019s a blog that highlights rising artists in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. \u201cI knew there had to be tons of other Asian kids who were really freaking good at their instruments who were being overlooked. Whenever I would go to shows, I would rarely see Asian people on stage\u2014unless the music genre was K-pop, J-pop, Bollywood, or specific ethnic music.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/579688922\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.498314% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/579688922?et=AAKo7s2oSRBoRtwoItODeQ&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=sfXITiVYkDgQDfjXm8n0MEUA6RP63ciRg8DfgK59wVQ=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"395\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:471px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/992915994\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:126.114655% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/992915994?et=hUdxjfxTS-Nf367CgLMfqw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=-mrcHN5V80TFumvacMGwkTakdfPN8zBcJXKMfk_PRK0=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"471\" height=\"594\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>AAPI musicians Summer has interviewed include Isabelle de Leon (left) and Brendan Liu (right).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer also reminds us: \u201c\u2018AAPI\u2019 is a very large encompassing term, and the Asian diaspora is huge. So it\u2019s not like there\u2019s any one person that\u2019s representative of the entire community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>You are not here to be &#8220;the best.&#8221; You are here to contribute what your brain\u2014specifically, uniquely\u2014has given you. No one else can be you.<\/p><cite>Summer Swee-Singh<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"advice\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Advice for New and Emerging Musicians<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tips-for-nervous-musicians\" style=\"font-size:28px\">Tips for Nervous Musicians<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer admits that she still struggles with anxiety. But she credits having to deal with a constant baseline of anxiety for developing good coping skills. Summer has dealt with anxiety since a very young age and has had a lifetime of practice dealing with it. This doesn\u2019t make the anxiety go away, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apa.org\/ptsd-guideline\/patients-and-families\/exposure-therapy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">exposure therapy<\/a> seems to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/AAPI%20Musicians%20Interview\/yvette-redblue%20shirt.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Summer credits fellow AAPI musician <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/yvette-young-piano\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yvette Young<\/a> for connecting her with opportunities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>As for imposter syndrome, Summer has these words of wisdom: \u201cYou are not here to be \u2018the best.\u2019 You are here to contribute what your brain\u2014specifically, uniquely\u2014has given you. No one else can be you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tips-for-under-represented-musicians\" style=\"font-size:28px\">Tips for Under-represented Musicians<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI really hope that you can find someone that looks like you, that can help you stay motivated to become whatever type of musician you want to be, whether the goal is to become a professional musician or if music is something you just want to pursue as a pastime. I think it\u2019s very valuable\u2014even if I hadn\u2019t turned out to be a musician, it\u2019s something I am so passionate about, I\u2019m sure I would still play every day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope that more AAPI parents will be willing to allow their kids to pursue creative pursuits\u2026and I hope that even if the parents don\u2019t allow for things like that, that [the kids] rebel just a little bit! If you\u2019re really passionate about it, continue pursuing it regardless. That\u2019s essentially what I had to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"more-tips\" style=\"font-size:28px\">More Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer is a big supporter of practice. This doesn\u2019t necessarily mean practicing hours on end, however. She practices anywhere between 30 minutes to three hours a day, depending on her gig schedule. And as someone with anxiety, she notes that practice helps boost her confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her key is <em>focused<\/em> practice. It\u2019s not enough to just put in the hours. As an arranger, Summer has to juggle many parts in her head and needs to be very present.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, Summer is a big proponent of ear training. According to her, 90-95% of what she does is done by ear. \u201cIf there\u2019s one takeaway from my career and life up to this point . . . it\u2019s [to] trust your ear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/AAPI%20Musicians%20Interview\/summer%20performing.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about Summer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/summer-swee-singh-podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Podcast interview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/SummerSweeSingh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube Channel<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aapimusicians.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AAPI Musicians Project<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pianote Coach Summer Swee-Singh&#8217;s course is all about re-imagining your favorite songs into beautiful piano pieces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":8888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1132,1108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-musicianship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8772"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10399,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8772\/revisions\/10399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}