Music

Years ago, my family and I returned from a concert where a phenomenal violinist had played. My dad asked me if I would ever want to play an instrument and I said sure, maybe. The next thing I knew, my parents had bought me a violin and I was taking lessons. Throughout my elementary, middle, and high school years, I've played a variety of instruments; violin, flute drums, ukulele, guitar and piano are just to name a few. I guess you could say I'm slightly obsessed with music.

Now the steps to learning how to play music? Well I don't really know where to begin. Most people would tell you to learn how to read music, but oddly enough I can't really read music. I grew up listening to music, then picking it out on the piano or figuring out chords on the guitar and ukulele. I learned violin by Suzuki, a method of learning a song and memorizing it while you were playing it; therefore, I never really learned how to read music. Instead, I see numbers. (I can't really explain it since it only applies to certain instruments.) So, my steps for you? Listen to music a lot. Not Dubstep or Lil Wayne, but music that features beautiful instruments where you can hear chords come together and start to hear tri-tones. (That's a whole other level, though.) Develop a passion for music where you are motivated to learn about music and how it's all put together. Then learn to play slowly, whatever instrument you want. Make sure before you try to go on to tricky music to make sure you can play in tune and hear the melody coming together. That's when you start getting picky with dynamics and such. From there, take it wherever you want and don't let anyone tear you down. Advice and help is always needed, but not if it's telling you to quit. 

I love music, and that's what keeps me going, learning, and pushing forward.