ToneGym Hero: Jing Xi Ang

A heartfelt storyteller, disciplined creator, and rising singer-songwriter, blending her love for poetry, Taylor Swift-inspired honesty, and relentless self-growth through daily musical practice and expression. Jing Xi is this month's ToneGym Hero!

How did you first find your way into making music? 

The first time I actually played an instrument, was when I was 7, in my primary school’s Guitar Ensemble. I was not a serious guitarist back then, but there was something about playing & singing that always intrigued me.

When I was around 16, I started writing poems, which sometimes came out of nowhere, and other times, inspired by my thoughts that day. Since then, I have been trying to write songs, but it just never worked out.

Five years down the road, on not a typical Tuesday night, I was attempting to play Taylor Swift songs on the guitar. I eventually gave up, and was strumming random chords, while thinking of an old poem I wrote. Minutes later, I had my first song. It was a magical experience for me, and I shocked myself the next day, when I wrote what you would know today as my debut single “sometimes I wish”.

Aside from music, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy?

My top hobby would be reading. I enjoy reading young adult books, and adult mystery books. These books bring me to different worlds, which is really interesting and fun.

Sewing is also another favourite activity of mine. It is satisfying to create something out of fabric! I tend to not follow any patterns. Instead, I like to visualise what to do in my mind.

What’s something you're surprisingly good at that has nothing to do with music?

I think I would say that I am a fast typer. My fastest typing speed is 130 words per minute. This is a useful thing for myself as a songwriter that usually writes lyrics before anything else.

If you could play or create with any artist, who would it be and why?

If I had the chance to create with any artist, I would love to collaborate with Taylor Swift. I may not have grown up as a hardcore fan of hers, but over the years, I have heard of her endeavours, and have been following her closely ever since she started the reclaiming of her masters journey, back in 2021.

There is so much to learn from Taylor. Her dedication, hard work, perseverance, and talent are some things I really admire about her. Her confessional style of songwriting is also something that I am playing with, along with her clear artistic vision for each album.

What musical instrument do you love the most, and what makes it irreplaceable for you?

Although I do not know many chords and definitely do not know how to look really cool while playing the guitar, I would say that the guitar is irreplaceable. Typically, I start off writing songs on the guitar, and I find it really easy to express my emotions through various strumming patterns which I spontaneously come up with.

Sometimes when I hit a roadblock in writing a song, I would itch to play some chords  on the guitar, and sing along. It does help me to continue writing, as there is just something really familiar and comforting in playing the guitar.

What daily or weekly habits do you have in place to keep you creating?

I get onto ToneGym everyday, for ear training, amongst the other skill sets that you can pick up on ToneGym. It is really fulfilling, seeing my progress at the games.

As a budding singer-songwriter, I create social media content daily too, and I have a daily schedule to keep me on track – to practice my vocals, my instruments skills, my songwriting skills, and my production skills too. Putting things online, gives me a need to show up daily, rain or shine, so as to not let down my supporters.

Talking about social media, you may find me @jingxi.music_ on Instagram, my most active social media platform!

What keeps you motivated to continue making music?

Seeing my progress over time, is one of my biggest motivators. I would probably never be the best musician out there, but all I am driving towards, is to be the best of myself. After all, if I were to give up one day, that would mean that I could never improve. If I were to keep going, like what I am doing, I may eventually get where I want to.

Another motivation of mine would be my idol, Taylor Swift. She is always striving to beat her own achievements, to keep doing what she likes, even if not everyone in the world supports her, which is really an impossible thing to achieve.

Taylor Swift’s journey, especially during the period of time when she was “globally hated on”, she continued to create music, and eventually went on to create a record that she finds perfect now, years later. It inspires me to keep going.

What song would you choose as the soundtrack of your life?

This is definitely a tough one. Since I am only in my early 20s, I don’t exactly have much life experience, so I would pick a song that I hope will define my life in the next few years.

This song would be “Sweeter Than Fiction” by Taylor Swift. It was used in One Chance, a biographical drama film based on a British opera singer’s journey from being a shop assistant to a successful opera singer. I admit that I have not watched the film, but based on the lyrics, it has been a challenging journey for him, and yet, he has his wife’s support, believing in him from the start.

I understand that we may never be able to turn around people’s opinions of us, and I am aware that I have some people who would really like to see me fail at this musical journey. However, at the same time, I know that there are people who support me and my dreams, and their cheers will be what matters the most when the lights go down. “Sweeter Than Fiction” really encompasses this notion.

What's your favorite feature on ToneGym, and how has it helped you in your musical journey?

My favourite feature on ToneGym would be the Chord Progression game, known as Route VI. At the beginning, It was one of those games that I could never get past level 1. It was nowhere near my favourite at the beginning. However, over time, with practice, I started being able to hear and identify the slight differences in chords. I am nowhere near perfect yet, but I am very proud that I have reached level 18, miles away from where I was at the start.

I think that Route VI was also useful in teaching me to listen out for the different chord qualities, like major, minor, or diminished, which has also been useful in helping me improve in the other games.

Being able to recognise the chord progression better has been useful in my musical journey in terms of listening to other songs, and being able to roughly identify what the songs are trying to achieve with the chord progressions. The emotions and feelings of the different chords are definitely something that I can delve further into, to understand which chords may be able to better fit into my different songs, or different parts of the songs.

What’s something exciting you're working on or looking forward to?

I have just released my 1st EP, titled "sometimes he's just a friend". It is a compilation of my first 4 singles, and another 2 new songs, all as part of the theme of unrequited love, and love that was never, or hardly reciprocated.

I am still promoting the EP, but I am also working on my 2nd EP, which I am really excited for. The theme of this EP is about one of my toughest periods, when I left my full-time engineering job. That job was something I really enjoyed, but due to certain things which I will be mentioning in my 2nd EP, I made a life-changing decision to move on, from engineering to music.

Honestly, I am not sure if most of these songs will click immediately with the majority of my listeners, as some of them are still studying, but this is definitely something that I want to put out, as it’s a definitive period of my life.

It has been a great journey so far, and I have no regrets, although sometimes I wonder what life would be, if I stayed in the job. It was not a simple decision, so I am really happy with myself for mustering the courage to leave. I am happier, and definitely living the broke musician life (for now), but it is worth it, at the end of the day.

You can follow Jing on her Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, Youtube, or listen to her music on Apple Music, Spotify or Bandcamp.

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