Elegant Research Paper

Ever since I was a little kid I have always responded positively to music. It has consistently been my go to for personal expression. Whether it is listening or writing, I have always tended to gravitate towards different songs and rhythms as an emotional outlet. I believe some of my extended family is to thank for this way of thinking. My family on my Dad's side has always been very musically inclined. I remember as a young child I would go visit my grandparents in Louisiana, no matter what was going on I would usually end up in the back room where my Grandfather, “Papaw” kept all of his guitars and musical equipment. My Papaw is a fantastic, classically trained blues/ rock guitar player, and he never failed to show off his talents. For hours

I have always loved music as long as I can remember. I remember the days when I would have to wake up extra early to go to school as a 7 year old because I had to go to my piano lesson two hours before school even started. My mom

Growing up on a small farm in Purmela, TX, I was a shy kid with big dreams. My family all played musical instruments and we would go to my grandpa’s house often. Besides church, it was there where I watched my dad spill his sorrows, achievements and stories through his songs. With my grandpa on the fiddle and my cousins on various instruments, they would play on his back porch for hours upon hours. To a 10 year old kid, that back porch seemed bigger than the Grand Ole Opry. I loved to listen but it wasn’t until I turned 20 years old, that I picked up my first guitar. My dad surprised me with it one afternoon, and his exact words were, “you better learn how to play this thing”. So, I did and six weeks later I wrote my first

I was hooked. The enslaving adrenaline rushed through my veins. I can still recall the deep vibrations rumbling beneath my fingertips as I fumbled amateurly with the worn strings of my grandfather’s guitar.

All eyes were always on Madison. Thus, I often felt alone. In those moments of solitary, I turned to music. As a sixth grader who was struggling both at home and at school, music was my only friend. I fell in love with the french horn the moment I heard it be played in The Rolling Stone's song You Can't Always Get What You Want. I began playing in the school band and sooner rather than later, my entire life was surrounded by music. I would sit on the computer for hours researching genres ranging from 30 Seconds to Mars to Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue. I knew, that moment in sixth grade, was the beginning of a life long affair with my only true love, music. I made it into the Governor's School for the Arts in my freshman year of high school. It was there were I began developing my skill and love into bigger and better things. I transitioned from playing grade one band music to world renowned symphonies. For some students, the music was just music but for me a piece of music can completely alter my outlook on life. A piece of music can reach deep inside of me and clasp onto my deepest of fears and most passionate loves. It floats them

I patiently waited to be called. A loud thumping noise is heard as I head over to the door and open the door. It was my father. “There is no need to feel nervous. You worked so hard and pushed yourself to prove a point. Although that may be true, you worked so hard not only for success but also for the enjoyment of performing.” My dad had turned his back on me and faded away. I stood still thinking about what he has told me. There was a better reason to why I stood up so late and practiced so much. From the beginning, playing an instrument was a wonderful experience. With a confident look and a brighter self-esteem. I was ready to rock n roll!

After I had listened to Rylynn for the first time, it really had me questioning what made something “music”. Over time, I had started to become more open to trying new things; of course, it started with music, but eventually it bled into all areas of life. I noticed myself generally more relaxed, and enjoying life more, because I wasn’t sweating the small stuff and gave everything a chance – people, things, places, whatever else. If I could say anything to my great-uncle now I’d thank him for the guitar and for aiding me in changing for the

Music did not play a significant part in my early childhood, in fact, I despised it. I used to think music is too gentle, too soft to be sang or played by a person with strong masculinity such as me (god knows where did this idea come from), me and my friends together, we often laughed at the boys who practiced playing the piano, called them “p***ies”, and be proud of our “masculine” actions. Until Year 3, my cousin took (forced) me to a concert, the three hours we spent in the concert completely changed my attitudes I had about music.

While in Chicago for a family member’s funeral, my dad, granddad, third-cousin Molly and I went to the William Harris Lee violin shop in Chicago. My granddad always loved stringed instruments, and that intrigued me a little. Why were stringed instruments so special? As a seven-year-old, I didn’t really know. I also didn’t know that I’d walk away from the shop that day with something that would change my life forever.

When I was ten, I was finally old enough to take guitar lessons at school. My parents enrolled me in the music program, but the school refused to give me lessons, because of my dodgy hands. I was devastated, but I wouldn’t take no for an answer, and dragged my Dad down to the local music store, where he bought me a cherry red electric guitar, and a Fender amp. I taught myself to play using Internet tutorials, and became pretty good, to the point that I got a full scholarship at the Sydney Music Academy.

Music has been a large part of my life since before I walked the halls of middle school. Unfortunately that passion did not surpass listening to music. It wasn’t until late in the year of 2012 when I finally decided that since I loved music so much then I should be able to play it as well, obviously not professionally or for a living, I already had a career and that career had taken me all the way to the parched and mountainous land of Afghanistan. It was there where I had ordered my first guitar off Amazon. Upon it's arrival I proudly carried it from where I picked up my mail across

My desire to play the guitar seems to have existed forever. When I was younger, every time I asked my mom to take me to a guitar lesson, she said that I was too small, and I’d have to wait until I was older. For my fifth Christmas, I received a toy guitar with plastic strings. It was so out of tune that when I plucked one string at a time, I could play the doorbell song, mimicking the chimes of our doorbell. I didn’t know how to play, I would just touch the string like I saw people do on TV, but all that did was mute the sound. I didn't realize that to make different notes the string had to be pushed all the way down to the neck, in order to make a shorter string that vibrates at a higher pitch. My failure to make sounds other than the chimes of a doorbell did not diminish my interest in playing guitar though, it strengthened it.

On Saturday, I escaped to my room to take yet another attempt at my guitar. I opened my window to get some fresh air and the sweet smell of summer filled my I strummed some chords, just for the fun of it, and to my surprise, they were strummed right back again. I looked up to see the neighbor boy on his electric guitar, playing through his open window. Oh boy, I thought. I was starting to miss the privacy of my old town. “Hey, I’m Tony,” he uttered. I was embarrassed since I can’t play guitar for my life and I hadn’t socialized with someone my age in a few months. I managed a nervous laugh and rushed to say, “Glad to meet you, Tony. I’m Taylor.”

Thirteen years ago I first started learning to play the guitar and today I am still very passionate about developing my skills on the instrument. Looking in detail at the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, this reflective statement will explore my learning journey of playing the guitar and a challenge I faced with my development explaining the impact it had with reference to the chosen theories.

The brain is a complex organism that is stuffed in our skull to help up to move, think, learn, live. As the brain progresses through the stages of development, one of the things that really helps to have it develop right is music. Have you ever noticed how expecting mothers listen to music during pregnancy. This has many benefits, for one it helps the child bond with the mother, knowing her type of music and getting to know what she likes and her strengths and weaknesses. This makes for a stronger bond with the mother. It also helps with the development of the child, finding joy in music and understanding the awesome power of it. As we get older we start to really like whatever type of music we like but when we go back to that music that we heard while still not even born we get a warm fuzzy feeling that only comes from your mom listening to music while she was pregnant with you. As we grow up and move to middle school our brains start to have a different thing that happens and the rest of our body starts to change and we start to gravitate toward being our own person and like our own music. Music is a huge part of our lives and helps us through our development stages. Our brains are not done fully developing till we are 25 and the only way that we get through all of that is by listening to music and really giving ourselves the best chance to have our brains develop right. I’m not saying that by not listening to music our brains can’t develop, I 'm just saying that