I Love Music

Music is something that I have been raised with since I have musicians as parents, and it’s also something in lives of everyone. Music is often taken for granted but it lends to our every day in simplistic ways. Music isn’t just something that orchestras perform, but found in movies, bird’s songs, even our rhythmic heartbeats. Life without music would be like life without the enhancement of colors: dull and monotonous.
I love music and it’s something I hope to make a career out of, music performance in particular. I’m often told by people that it’s a fantasy that can’t be reached being I play one the most competitive instruments. A teacher once said to me it’s impossible to be a successful musician and get good grades in school. Confidence is something I struggle with because of this challenge, but my love for music just makes me push myself harder.
Music is significant in my life for several reasons. First, it’s something I’ve grown up with. My parents have provided me with numerous musical opportunities even before I picked up an instrument. Whether it be my mom singing Beethoven’s 7th Symphony to me as a baby or the numerous concert I’ve been brought to, music has always been there. Right from when I picked up a flute for the first time I found it exciting and I was willing to accept any challenge so that one day I could “be like mommy.” Since then, music has built up my work ethic and perseverance through frustration and tears. I’ve made strong friendships with those who share music as a common interest with me. I’ve learned lessons that not only apply to music, but apply to life. Music is just a never ending cycle right from the start. As some things become clearer, other things become more ambiguous. This is something I’ve always found so intriguing and intellectually stimulating. Now I’ve come so far from where I’ve began, and I know I have a very long way to go, so it’s something I plan to work at for the rest of my life.
Also, I find the best way to calm down is to listen to music. I love listening to music, just not exactly the kind of music one would expect a teenage girl to be listening to. For me, a lot of music connects me to personal events in my life. Whenever I need to just lie down and close my eyes and think, I listen to the Barber Adagio for Strings because it just helps me calm down. Some of it is very nostalgic, like Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony which brings me back to Tenerife, or Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” which is the piece that got me into orchestral playing. There’s just always something there for me for whatever mood I’m in; something for me to listen to emotionally connect to when there’s no one there for me to let my feelings out to. There are some pieces that I feel like after I listen to that make me understand life more, like Brahms’s 4th Symphony. It’s the kind of music that grows with you, that just evokes more feelings with its mysterious language the more you listen to it. It’s a difficult concept to explain, because the only thing that really does it justice is experiencing it.
Lastly, there’s nothing I love more than performing, whether it be in an orchestra or solo performance. Being up on stage has been some of those most exhilarating and memorable experiences in my life since 4th grade. When I’m performing I just get this strong sensation of “this is home.” As much as I love solo performance, performing with an orchestra is different because there’s a common energy felt between everyone in the group. When the performance is over, everyone shares in the excitement of success together. People question why I want to go into music performance when I could be making a lot more money with another job. They don’t understand that I don’t plan on becoming famous, or rich; I just want to spend my life doing something I enjoy considering it’s the only life I get. Music is a language of its own, and being able to connect to an audience, delivering the charisma I get from the music right to them is amazing. I want to give people what I get from music. . I want to be able to tell stories with my music and bring smiles to people’s faces. Music is my form of self-expression and reflection; it helps convey what I can’t put into words. Sometimes what appears to be the most simplistic music is really the most difficult, for getting the right colors and images is very challenging. It is something there is always room for improvement in, but when the right connection and image is made, it really comes across to an audience. Witnessing this being done is inspiring, and I am now influenced to inspire others the same way I am.
I love to learn and I hope to achieve my goals with music. Music notes are in black in white, but the beauty created from them is not. As much as I try to, music isn’t really something I can describe, so the best thing you can do is just sit back and listen.