Personal Narrative: How Music Changed My Life

Rachmaninoff stated, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” Essential to all nationalities, generations, and people, music can make your soul soar, put you to sleep, or bring you to your knees in tears. All din and clamor goes silent. Every eye is riveted on the conductor. The baton lifts. Suddenly, in a myriad of melodies, harmonies, timbre, and texture, a whole new realm is unraveled. The extraordinary feeling of unwinding and renewing your mind by listening to the flow of music is inexpressible. Nothing compares.

My sophomore year I was given a choice: Either continue in the solo classical piano I had played my whole life, or join jazz band and put effort into learning a new style of music. I chose jazz. The comping, sight-reading, and working with a group of people made jazz crazily different from classical. I loved it. I would listen to jazz for hours to discover how to make the keys sing like Count Basie and Oscar Peterson.
It soothes, brings joy, and creates emotions which swell until all you can do is close your eyes and soak in the beauty of it. As Plato himself stated, “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to