College Admissions Essay: How Music Has Influenced My Life

My eyes are closed. I can feel my heartbeat in my ears, beating in time to the bass drum. Is this a spiritual experience? I stand in the crowd, surrounded by hundred of people feeling the same vivid emotions as I do. The music is what connects me to these strangers. It’s the common thread running from my veins into theirs. We’re all having a life changing experience, right there in that small music venue. But for the band on stage, it’s just another night on tour, going through the motions, playing songs they wrote years ago. And yet, my heart is telling me one thing: This is what I want to be someday. I want to change people’s lives. I want influence the dreams of individuals everywhere, just like those musicians who have influenced my dreams.

In my environmental studies program, I have been lucky to attend a number of field trips and experience real world situations first hand. The program at Salisbury has been an amazing experience. I joined the Environmental Student’s Association and became involved in the community. I was honored to be chosen to go to a leadership conference with Upstream Alliance (a non-profit that encourages young leaders in the environmental field) and had an informative weekend engaging with professionals interested in the Chesapeake

When words fail, music speaks. Music starts off as five lined, four spaced staff. The four spaces spell out the word face, F.A.C.E., which are the names of the notes. The five lines stand for: Every Good Boy Does Fine. Most people think an artist just write the words down, makes it rhyme and POOF!!, You have yourself some music. Although this is true, music has thousands upon thousands of creative steps you must take. There is a lot more to music, and a lot more I’m still learning though.

Piano had always been a huge staple in my life since the age of six. It consumed most of my time, even more so than school did. As I practiced for hours on end every day, I developed self-discipline and responsibility knowing that the speed in which I progressed depended on my personal effort. Eventually, the issue of deciding between completing my Pedagogy Diploma or focusing on academics came up. While I was ready for a change in scenery and eager to improve my social life and grades, the decision came harder than I imagined.

When I was younger, I loved to watch musicals on our small tv at home, especially The Sound of Music. I would sit for hours, watching it over and over. I learned all the songs by heart and would walk around the house singing “Doe a deer, a female deer” over and over until I was blue in the face. Finally, my parents took me out to see Hairspray on Broadway. Throughout the whole musical, I kept asking my parents where the music was coming from and after the show, they took me down to the pit to meet the orchestra. From that moment, I wanted to play one of those instruments. I realized that even though pit orchestra isn’t the most focused on the element even though it wouldn't be a musical without it.The music sets the mood, foreshadows and tells a

For a year, I danced to polka music every night. I was a preschool student at the time, and after a long day of coloring and napping, I would cut loose on the dance floor that was my living room. I would often put an expression of awe on our parents’ faces with the physical absurdities I was capable of. It felt as though every facet of my life as a toddler was brought together in these moments, and the music perfectly represented this phase of my childhood. I have since realized how powerful an effect music has on me, and how the music that I love always seems to define the stage in my life which it occupies.

Most days, my head reminds me of a snow globe. As I wake every morning, my thoughts get shaken up and gently rain down in my mind, condensing into full, solid ideas. Most days, I think up fantasies.

I sat and listened to the beautiful yet invigorating song being played on the piano. I reminisced about the future, when I would be able to play such a complex piece of music. Six years later I sat awaiting my turn to perform this piece of music I had so long dreamed about. I felt butterflies dancing in my stomach, but at the same time I felt a sense of peace and contentment. I played this song flawlessly and from that moment on, I knew that I wanted to use my knowledge and talent of playing the piano to change the world for the better. I desired to impact young, aspiring piano students just as the song that impacted my life so long ago. I long to do so by studying music in college and continue to teach piano.

As college is approaching and I am transitioning into adulthood, I have been reminiscing on some aspects of my life that have lead me to become the person I am now. Choir has been my saving grace and my life would be nowhere near the same without it. I was placed in choir in junior high by mistake, and six years later, this mistake led to an audition that might very well have saved my life. I grew up performing. First it was dance, then theatre, and now choir.

I stood up in front of a hundred curious, gleaming eyes. “Hey guys,” I began, “I’m going to show you why the trombone is the coolest brass instrument ever!” I immediately whipped the slide out and performed a series of sequential glissandos, each one with more vigor than the last. That morning, I was performing with my school’s jazz band at the KIPP Elementary Academy in Philadelphia. Over a decade passed since I had last stepped foot in a Philadelphia school, when I attended the James Dobson School in kindergarten, yet the cozy gymnasium and the children’s crisp uniforms instantly evoked memories of my childhood. But one thing I did not remember from the past was having the opportunity to experience jazz at a young age. Thus, I desperately wanted to display the awesome power of brass instruments that is the soul of jazz music and inspire the kids to partake in the timelessly euphoric journey of music that I am blessed to have taken.

Ever since I was a young kid, I was extremely fond of music. Music was all around me: on the television, in school, at the store, and especially in the car. Not only did I love to listen to music, but I loved to play it as well. I am not saying I was any good at playing music, because I was not. But to a young child, hitting their hand on anything could be music, and to me it definitely was.

Music has been used for many different things throughout history. It is said that music influences a person’s brain, and by doing so, has an effect on overall behavior or activity of a person. Many Indian tribes across North America used percussion instruments (drums) to contact the spirits of their ancestors. During the Renaissance period, during many parties held by royalty, “classical” music was played to keep a happy atmosphere about the ballroom. In the next few paragraphs, we’ll look at how today’s society blames Metal Music for many behavioral disorders amongst the youth.

It is no doubt that music has played a vital role in our society. Everything from loud, head-banging concerts to religious ceremonies have utilized the medium of music because of its awe-inspiring qualities. Music is basically the control of sound. We can control this sound by varying the pitch, tempo, octaves, dynamics and so on. There are thousands of ways that we can use music and to shape it to how we want to hear it. But how much has music influenced the way we think today? Why is it so popular?

Music, it's a part of everyone's life. From childhood sing-a-long songs, to garage grunge music, and everything in between music is everywhere. Growing up with an extremely musical background it was in my genes that I would become a musician. Playing music has helped me become the person I am by being a release for my anger, broadening my future and make new friends..

What is the only art that can be felt? Music is the answer.We can't touch music, but music touches us. It is an expression of certain aesthetic ideas through rhythm, tune and language. Music is that bridge which connects our soul-that inner self in us which is hidden from the society and even our conscious selves, to the outside world, or more specifically, to other people's souls. For this reason I have been able to devote the time and energy necessary to musical accomplishment even though money has always been tight and that’s why I need a strong financial support to reach my dreams.