Music Classes At School And School

From the moment I heard the majestic scream of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar, I knew I had to learn how to play guitar. I was but only a listener at the time, but the passion of a musician budded within me, and locked my vicarious attention on every note. The more I listened to Van Halen, the more I wanted to stop being a listener, and start being a creator. It was like some insane urge came over me every time I listened to them - telling me to create something. It was a musical high.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve observed people playing music around me. My family is musically inclined, which I believe is the reason I’ve been drawn to it. In 2006, I began taking guitar lessons but I never had much interest in playing. Things changed in 2009, and I wished to be different. I wanted to be good at something so I began to teach myself guitar and have stuck with the guitar until now. In 2010, I began to play on my church’s worship team and I enjoyed it very much. I have now been a worship leader for the past four years and it’s something I love to do. I love it so much that for the past two years I have gone to Camp Electric to

I learned two instruments my Senior year. This experience has taught me that if you are truly committed to something, you can achieve it, even if you didn’t start young.

It was October first when I woke up in my nice and cozy bed. Awakened by my light in my room and my mom yelling: “Rachel get up! You have to get ready for band.” I slowly opened my eyes and got up to go eat my usual breakfast, a Pop Tart. After I threw everything down, I got into my car and headed to the school. Once I got there I could see the two yellow buses that were going to take us to our destination. Everybody was all still tired and looked like they just got out of bed, with their hair in buns and in the clothes they slept inform the night before. When everyone eventually got on the buses we headed off to Sioux Falls. The whole ride there I wasn’t very nervous because I’ve performed this marching show so much but the tables will soon

Across the United States many elementary school music classrooms are filled with simple and popular tunes such as Hot Cross Buns and The Ode to Joy, played on the recorder, while high school students may be playing collegiate or professional pieces of music such as Armenian Dances and Carmen Suites. I have been very fortunate to have gone on the journey of progressing through different music education programs within Fairfax County Public Schools. If I was never exposed to music while in elementary school I might not have ever found one of my greatest passions or been able to create such fond and unforgettable memories. While music education programs across the country appear large and strong, many schools are beginning to experience budget reductions. As a result, music is often the very first component of a school 's curriculum or programs to be cut or significantly reduced, but I believe this is not the right course of action. It is important to preserve and promote music education in public schools because of the proven cognitive, character,and academic benefits for students.

In the second grade, I told my mom I wanted to play guitar. Watching School of Rock may or may not have affected that decision. A couple weeks later, my mom brought home… a violin – Guitar Center had run out of guitars, she claimed. And though it wasn’t exactly what I had asked for, I ended up liking the violin, and came to appreciate classical music. But my other musical tastes stuck with me, and quickly expanded – my iPod soon contained rock, jazz, alternative, heavy metal, hip-hop, rap, country, and everything in between. As I listened to various musical styles, I gradually picked up more instruments – electric guitar, bass, classical guitar, and so forth.

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

On Christmas day, a thirteen-year-old boy opens a gift from his mom. With excitement and joy the boy receives his first guitar, an Ibanez electric. The boy plugs the new guitar into a solid state Marshall amplifier and makes noise. Not knowing any chords or how to play, that moment of creating sounds and feedback on his own. He formed a passion and love of the instrument for many years to come. The music of Jimi Hendrix, The Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones filled his head. He wanted to be like the masters, so he practiced every day and took lessons when he could. With persistence and love for music, the boy learned chords and scales and started to create music of his own. Guitar changed his life and made his hard upbringing better. The struggles, his mom had raising a kid on her own. Working two jobs and being a single mom made her happy knowing her son had a hobby and a love for music. Of course hearing loud guitar playing at 3 am at night can be aggravating at times. The mom knew she had created a brighter and a more artistic life for her son. For that, the boy is forever grateful for his mother and what she

For a little while, it was something I'd be on and off with, just going to the local mom & pop instrument shop, picking up a guitar and fiddlefucking around with it, asking questions, talking with the clerks, and such. But that wasn't entirely something I felt too serious about--until 7th grade, I believe. My best friend had just gotten a children's practice electric guitar, and he was writing music, and he brought up the idea of starting a band. This was before I even owned any instruments. For a little while we bounced around with that shit, nothing serious. When music really took off was in 8th grade when I got my Epiphone Dot-Studio electric guitar (which is still my only one, and she still serves me well to this day). It was Christmas. Picked it up and just played. Went to YouTube, found some song tutorials, learned. Since then, I've just had a deep love for music, a fire that just will never die, even after going months without fuel. Then came 10th grade, when I met a rapper in my Digital Media class who also had a deep passion for music, Deze. He had the drive, but not the equipment. I had both. This was the inception of Ambition Asylum's second movement (AAI was a thing even before I joined). The two of us were joined by two other friends of Deze's. For a little while, it was quite the same process. I'd record them, mix them, post it up. We were doing pretty well for ourselves, despite our numerous

When I was merely five years old my Grandma told my mom that she wanted me to play the violin. The reason for this request was that my Great Great Aunt Jane asked my mom to play, but instead she was given piano lessons. My mom reluctantly agreed to let me begin lessons, as Jane offered to give them to me for free and let me borrow her violins. So in December of my kindergarten year I began to take lessons with Jane, who happened to share a birthday with me. At the time of our beginning she was eighty-eight years old and I was a tiny five year old girl holding one of her miniature violins.

Going into college I wanted a major that I knew I would have the motivation to work hard at, while being able to enjoy the process of getting my degree. The main reason that I choose to go into music education was to help teach the younger generations, and be there to help them through their childhood and shape them into what they will do later on in their lives. Education is one of the most important jobs in america, without teachers the younger generations wouldn't be able to grow up and be successful or fill in the jobs that the older generations have left for them. Teachers also play an important role in the developmental stage of kids, often times kids can pick up traits from their teachers and take that on later in life, this often gives

When I first got a guitar in the third grade I thought I could a rock star, so my parents took me to a music studio. When I first walked into the music studio I was amazed by everything. There were so many guitars, drum sets, and pianos that I couldn’t even imagine it in my mind. I just knew I could be a rock star here, so my parents signed me up for music lessons at that music studio. The next day when I was going back to the music studio I remembered that I would have to make a first impression to my guitar teacher. When I got to the music studio I opened the door, and walked over to the front desk to ask where my guitar teacher will be, and the front desk person pointed right behind me. I looked behind me and got scared because my guitar

In middle school, all students were required to play some form of instrument. Most students took the traditional route choosing band or chorus, but my school offered a unique program in guitar. Guitar seemed like an interesting instrument to play and my brother had already started guitar and loved it. I could instantly imagine myself rocking out some guitar solos and learning hot new songs. I quickly learned that I wouldn’t be rocking out any time soon. First of all, most of the music we played was classical, but the greater challenge was learning how to play. My first year of guitar in middle school was pretty rough; the first teacher never showed up and after that we had a revolving door of teachers. Some had guitar experience and others

I first joined the band in the fourth grade playing the drums. I played for about two weeks then I quit because I didn't like it, mostly because of the teacher. In the sixth grade we got a new music teacher and told me I look like a trumpet player, so I gave it a try. I was taking music lessons but after the first one my music teacher told me she had to leave because she

The first obstacle I encountered was trying to get access to the lessons. When I studied the guitar, I played by reading sheet music. It was difficult and it acquired a lot of my time, since I did not know where the notes were on the actual guitar. Then in high school, I took a guitar class and I was taught how to read tabs. Tabs are an easy way to play the guitar, and they are especially useful for beginners. Tabs can be simply described as a drawing of the guitar strings on paper. During that class, I was also driven watch some of my classmates, whom knew how to play, and learn from them. Learning to play the piano doesn't have as much variety. I had to either read sheet music or watch someone else play. The only access for me was YouTube, since there is no one close who can teach me. All I had to do was continuously