How Has Music Impacted My Life

Throughout my life, no single thing has had a greater impact than music. It has made me who I am today, and I cannot remember a time when music wasn’t a huge part of myself - my earliest memories all contain the music that my parents played. Beyond being a product purely for enjoyment, as it was for a long time in my earliest years, music has gone on to become a fundamental part of who I am, how I spend my time, and who I spend that time with. It motivates me to be better for numerous reasons. I credit my early involvement in music with most of the successes I have had to this date.

In the first grade, I picked up a clarinet. It was my sister’s, collecting dust while waiting for me to play it. From the moment I produced my first sound, an ear-piercing squeal that frightened my dog, the path of my life took a turn for the better. I began teaching myself for the following three years, along with learning from my sister how to properly play the beautiful instrument. The music pushed me out of my comfort zone: concerts that forced me onstage, tests that made me play difficult songs, and teachers that pushed me to be an exceptional player. From the shy elementary school student I used to be to the outgoing band member I take joy in being today, music has shaped my everyday life.

In Nielsen’s Music 360 study in 2014, “93% of the country’s population listens to music” with “75% of respondents (saying) they actively chose to listen to music, even ahead of watching television at 73%”. The number of people that prefer to listen to music can be considered enormous and as the population grows, so does that number. This only goes to show how music has become commonplace in our lives such that “most U.S. residents listen to roughly four hours and five minutes of audio each day” (Stutz). As the world changes and new innovations emerge however, so does how we, as consumers, enjoy music. Over the years, there has been a gradual shift from physical copies of music such as CDs to their digital counterparts. As shown in the

I graduated from Hilliard Darby High School this past spring. My love for art began very young with my father who always made sure to encourage my creativity. I remember making coil pots with him during the summer and then painting them. In the ninth grade I took painting which I immediately became attached too. For the past four years I have continued to expand my abilities and strengthen skills with the help of my teacher Mrs. Kulick-Brown. From there I have completed several commissioned pieces for teachers and their families. Painting has taught me a lot about color and composition. During high school I also was involved in ceramics where I competed in the annual ‘Feats of Clay” competition. I love the focus and serenity I experience

It was late into the evening when I returned to my high school’s football field to recollect the jacket I had left back. It had finally come, it was the night of my last marching band rehearsal. In that moment, I was alone, but as the neighboring building lights dimly poured into the field, I could imagine the arena glow with life as I thought of my four seasons of marching band. It was at this location, out of many, that provided me the opportunity to share unique memories with my peers and develop my greatest talent: playing the clarinet. I initially chose my instrument without understanding as an elementary school student what band was, but through my first set of rehearsals, I quickly realized that playing an instrument was harder than I had anticipated. That, however, did not discourage me. I grew fond of playing and was determined to practice daily technics that would strengthen my musicianship. As I played into middle school and high school, my lung capacity, along with the ability to keep tempo, improved, but I believed by then that my performances should exemplify more than my skills. Through my participation in marching band and Wind Ensemble, I’ve aspired to take not only the audience, but myself included, into a world beyond music’s notes and phrases. I find comfort to know that I can create something out of pure air and have others find happiness within it. This is what kept me playing for nine years. I have incorporated music deeply into my life, but I believe it does not define me. Instead, I have learned valuable lessons that have benefited me off the stage such on time management and discipline and have grown alongside my talent.

I've been in marching band for four years, so you could say it’s a pretty big part of my life. I started in eighth grade and I joined the pit where I made a lot of new friends. I stayed in the pit for three years until this year. I switched to clarinet because pit just wasn't fun for me anymore. I'm glad that I switched because the girls in the clarinet section are all my friends now and I made lots of good memories with them. This year, our show was “Through the Woods” and it was fantastic. We worked so hard every moment that we could and had lots of fun together. It was a great group and we did really good. We made it to Semi-State again at Decatur Central High school, but on that cold October night, our name wasn't called when the announcer named off the bands that would go to State at Lucas Oil Stadium that next weekend. It was sad because we all thought that we had it in the bag.

Entering 6th grade, I decided to join beginning band at Torch Middle School in La Puente and chose the clarinet as my instrument. Out of the eight clarinet players that were in band, I was the worst. I became determined to become a better clarinet player and dedicated my time to practicing my instrument at home. By the end of 8th grade, I was impressed with my improvement and became third best out of six clarinets. However, freshmen year came along and I felt newcomer again. I was bent on becoming one of the best clarinet players.

While most boys my age were playing baseball or lacrosse, I embarked on a slightly different path. When I was nine years old my parents enrolled me at a local music school to take clarinet lessons. I couldn’t even spell clarinet. I still remember being fascinated by the cork connecting the upper and lower joints and particularly the bell. My brother had played the clarinet before me, so my fate as a musician seemed predetermined. I learned music on his clarinet even if the bell, the bottom piece, was slightly dented. However, I enjoyed the sound and the music I produced in my first year motivated me to be a better clarinetist.

Along my journey I have participated in multiple things including dance, art classes, and track. These activities have improved the possibility of me succeeding in my field. Dance for coordination, art classes for a wider spectrum of art, forensics for sales, and track for endurance. Coordination, art skills, and endurance are something that I plan to bring to college along with me. Art competitions help develop art skills. Placing in art competitions shows strengths in art, for example, I have placed first in sculpture and I also received an honorable mention at Pittsburg State

Music has always played an important role in my life. Even as a student of film, I tell stories inspired by song lyrics, for the words, rhythms, and instruments of rock music have impacted my life to an unimaginable extent. Whenever I edit video, the underscore is vital. When I write a script, there 's a poetic sound, a lyricism to the dialogue. I would not even be here in Los Angeles if not for artists such as Courtney Love and Jared Leto, who cross boundaries between music and film. In particular, Jared Leto 's career is something to behold. An award-winning actor, director, musician, and pure artist, Leto epitomizes my creative values: never settle, and don 't be afraid to be dedicated to whatever you want to do.

Music has been an intrinsic part of my life and I cannot remember a time when there was not some kind of musical instrument or sound system around me producing the music, which shaped my way of thinking. But as far as influence is concerned, I would say that my first public performance in an ensemble had the most lasting impact on me. Ensemble performances were quite important at the school I attended but I didn’t start until a little later than was the norm. This had some very important effects on me. I had heard groups play before, but for the first time, I understood what it meant to perform as a whole and not simply as an individual who happened to be playing while someone else was doing the same. As an individual player, I was always quite liberal with my timing – whenever I made mistakes I would go back, reread and correct them at my leisure, but as a group player, that would result in nothing short of pandemonium! It was quite hard for me to stomach the fact that my mistakes not only upset the other players’ flow, but they were also uncorrectable – once an incorrect note was sounded there was no going back and the audience would remember that wrong note more clearly than all the perfectly timed rhythms and melodies I produced. I think that all in all, music education cannot be an optional extra – the lessons I learnt, not just in learning to be more creative or having improved learning but in learning how to be a group player and sensitive to others around me, were

In the sixth grade, my friends and I were infatuated with video games, particularly Call of Duty. At the age of 11 and 12, my rank in a video game was more important than the band I was in. I loved music since the third grade, and the band had started when I was in the fourth grade, but looking back, it wasn’t a passion at the time, more like a phase. Not putting my full attention in music at that age is my biggest regret in life. However, if I hadn’t been on PlayStation I would have never had the music conversation with a gaming friend that changed my life.

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..

Media takes all forms of shapes, from video games to music it influences people daily because we are always surrounded by it. Music especially impacts individuals because in a lot of ways it can say what we want to say in times when we as individuals cannot say it. In those times we lean on music to help us understand the hardship we are going through, or as a mechanism to face our feelings or to block them out. Interpersonal violence which is defined as an individual using power over another in the form of violence whether that be emotional, physical, or sexual. With the many forms of interpersonal violence it’s apparent that it has been expressed in the form of music for quite a while, and sometimes not always in a preventative way. By

I have never been one to love writing with a passion, this is honesty. We all have different passions and ambitions that generally come to us naturally. My passion happens to be music, it always has been. From a young age I discovered music and it has had an extreme impact on my life so when we were asked to begin thinking of a central thesis question to research and write about, music came to mind almost immediately. But instead, I chose to challenge myself by writing about something that actually has a big meaning. Yes, of course I find music to be quite a big deal but I wanted to choose a subject that is an issue in this world and has such a great meaning that it could impact another individual’s life positively whether it be by