Wednesday, September 15, 2010

History of Music

So i haven't blogged in quite a while.... ha sorry. Anyway I wrote this Essay about my own personal music history. Hope everyone enjoys it!


My first memory of being exposed to music was ten years and 36 days ago. On my 8th birthday my sweet mother introduced me to the beauty of the piano through formal piano lessons. Very rapidly in my studies of the piano I was introduced to wondrous and beauty melodies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. While I was learning basic musical theory and classical style music on the piano, my mother once again introduced me to music coupled with words, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Although I did receive many queer looks from my schoolmates when I informed them that my favorite music was classical, I was very proud of my musical tastes. The combination of classical music and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir served as a base to my favorite musical styles for years to come.
After my 8th birthday, the only music I can recall listening to (other than piano music I was playing and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) was in the movies that I watched. I quickly developed a taste for musical scores from movies. In fact, the first song I ever purchased was a song from the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and I still enjoy musical scores today. Through grade school and seventh grade I participated in the band programs as a percussionist to stay involved with orchestra type music. I even won a student of the year award, and from that award I was able to obtain an acoustic guitar. I quickly set to work teaching myself the rhythms of the acoustic guitar, and I still have a small knowledge of that instrument today. By 8th grade I was able to play the piano, the acoustic guitar, snare drums, bass drums, vibraphone, xylophone, and many more percussion instruments fluently.

When I entered 8th grade, I quickly found my musical selection changing. Because of my background in piano, acoustic guitar, and percussion, I was drawn to music that had primarily those three instruments. In time I found my favorite artists: The Fray, Jack Johnson, and Jon Schmidt. All three have piano, guitar, or percussion as the main instrument portrayed. While I do enjoy other types of music; the more piano, acoustic guitar, or percussion a song has in the song, the more drawn I am to enjoy it. My background with these three instruments helps me relate to the song better.
Music to me is a way to serve. A wise man once told me, “May you have the sense of using your talent as a means of bringing beauty and joy into the lives of others.”I believe that music is a way to uplift and make people feel good. I strive to use the music that I play to serve people. I consider myself a musician, and as such I make music quite often. While I love playing music, I still love to listen to other artists as a consumer. Listening to other artists as a consumer helps me also as a musician. It helps me imagine new music puzzle pieces that I put together when I create my own music.
I enrolled in Music 1010 hoping that it would be an introductory course on musical theory. I was sorely disappointed on my first day of music 1010. I took the class because of the fine arts credit offered, but I stay because of the fascinating information I learn about my own craft. From learning the history of music, I can provide a more melodic future for music.

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