My Experience Of My Music : My Life Of Music

Like almost every other 3rd grader in my elementary school, when the enrichment program came to talk about joining the orchestra and band, I was fascinated. I admired the kids, not much older than me, who could play their instruments flawlessly and effortlessly. Immediately I knew that orchestra was for me, and I rushed home with a paper in hand begging my mom to let me take lessons at my school. Originally, I wanted to play the cello and pleaded with my mom to let me play one; I loved the deep, rich sounds of the strings. Instead, my mom convinced me to play the violin, a less expensive instrument and much easier to carry around than a cello.

Music. When I started in the band in 8th grade at Saints Francis and Clare, I didn’t really want to be there. It was just another class, in another day, of my last year of school. This began to change after I realized all of the amazing people I met in the band. Band led me to be happier and become friends with people who I never even knew I would meet. It has even lead me to a path that I would like to go into in the future. I love music and band so much that it has made me want to teach it or join a band as I go into college and just for the rest of my life. Through music I have even had the opportunity to meet some very amazing people, and I have been able to work next to some of those people.

I don’t remember if it was my choice or my parents, but in 5th grade when we were given the choice to be in band, I was very anxious to start. We got to meet with Mrs. Jones and try a few different instruments before making a decision. My top three choices were percussion, trombone, and clarinet (only because my sister had played it). I tried the clarinet first and thought it was alright, but not my favorite. I tried the trombone next, and while it was difficult, I really wanted to keep trying. I also tried percussion- she just had me keep a beat on my leg- and I thought percussion may be difficult for me, but I still wanted to do it. In the end, Mrs. Jones decided I would be best fit for the clarinet, mostly because I could use my sisters and not have to buy a new instrument. I was happy with the choice, mostly because I was excited to be playing anything!

I started playing the marching baritone my freshman year of high school and it has been the symbol for a lot of the change that has happened since. I’d played the trombone all through middle school and switching to the baritone meant I almost had to relearn a new instrument. It was heavy, awkward, and I was the only girl who played it, so I almost felt like I wanted to prove myself in a way. But along with the baritone came the whole concept of the marching band and all of the commitments that came with it. Everyone was so outgoing and social that it almost became stressful for me. I was known for my shyness and always being quiet around people, so an environment like that was not exactly my preferred place to be. But, I soon found that it

Summer band wasn’t easy but it did teach us lessons such as discipline, teamwork, resilience, and time management. Being in band is commitment all year round and through that commitment you are taught skills other people aren’t exposed to. Learning how to adapt to others is a skill you need to survive in a band. There are 200+ people in a lot of high school marching bands, which means over 200 different characters you have to work with no matter any difference. With most of us coming from different backgrounds of course there are going to be differences. Two years prior to high school there was a school split between and I lived on the edge of the zoning border. I lost most of my friends the following year and thought I would be by myself all throughout high school. When I joined band I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. The band was essentially my family and my directors were my parents. My school had a large band population so I never had a class without at least two other band kids. Also, the band kids were considered to be the smarter kids and since we all took Per-AP/AP classes we all had classes together. You couldn’t separate us because it was just that strong of a bond. Band on top of that was all

I have been in band for six years. I have been in the Northglenn High school Performance Ensemble for three years. I first picked up a flute when I was just an anxiety-ridden 12-year-old who became flustered talking to anyone who I hadn’t known for over a year. I preferred to stay in very tight knit groups where everyone had been friends for five plus years. I made the decision to stay in band when I realized I had made new friends without any effort (an occurrence I had never experienced), and on top of that, I was having a great time. At this stage in my life, my family was experiencing a lot of issues. I practically lived in the hospital waiting room my entire sixth grade year; that newfound friendship meant all that more to me. I officially decided to remain in band and join marching band when I was 14 with much encouragement from my band teacher and the promise of being able to spend more time with my newfound best friend. The summer before freshman year was spent marching on a field in grueling heat with kids who all already knew each other; the prospects of new friendship didn’t look too great… My anxiety had yet to subside but, I was having the time of my life. As the years have gone by, I’ve evolved and grown with those kids who I once was terrified to talk to. They are very much

The wind tousled my hair around as I closed my eyes and took deep, shaky breaths. The faint sound of the crowd cheering upstage didn't help with my nerves, so, instead, I turned my ears to the delicate waves rolling up the beach. I opened my eyes and gazed out at the lake; now an open canvas for the golden sun which had began setting. Quietly, I plucked each string of my guitar- though I’d already tuned them several times. On the outside, I may have seemed ready, content, and excited; however, on the inside, no matter how tranquilizing the back stage scenery was, I was terrified to the core.

I started band in the 6th grade, I honestly thought that I wasn’t going to make it to my senior year, but here I am a senior in band. I am not forced to be in band I can get out at anytime anyday, but I choose not to. It is hard when you are marching and it feels like 100+ degrees. You feel like you want to pass out, but you just have to suck it up and be tough. Throughout the years I have been in band I have created friendships. I have my closest friends in band. I have created many memories in band that will last a lifetime, that I will share one day with my kids. I do not know what I would do without band. Getting in band has been the best decision I have ever made. Band has been the highlight of my high school years. One of the scariest moments I have experienced in band was when we messed up at U.I.L. contest, I was terrified I did not want us to make a 2, it all happened so fast. It was time to get our results, we made a 1, I was so happy. The judges said that if you were to close your eyes and listening to us, you would not know we messed up. We never stopped playing and we recovered so fast, we were so matured when this happened. Band takes up

Ever since my older sister, Molly, had gotten into our high school’s marching band I have longed to join; that was almost 3 years ago. As the years went on I went into middle school and started my band life there. I went to 6th grade as a new percussionist. I wasn’t the most social person so playing in front of people soon became the main worry. I would deal with this difficulty all of middle school. But I learned to overcome it at my tryouts for the marching band.

When I joined marching band, I never intended to become so involved. I only saw it as a chance to make friends. However; without my realizing it, I quickly became immersed in band. As the years went by, I developed a love for band, the people in it, the way it felt to perform. I was a shy person; I lived in a bubble of what was safe, what was comfortable. I kept my thoughts to myself and kept others at a distance. So of course, it was a shock to both my friends and myself when I decided to audition for drum

In the beginning of the second semester in 8th grade, I decided to play the trombone in the jazz band, in addition to playing bass clarinet in the concert band. At one of our band festival competitions with the Association of Christian Schools International, our jazz band won first place and we performed once again at the closing ceremony for the all the schools that attended the festival to hear. But, I decided to stop playing the trombone following that second semester and focus on the bass clarinet. Still to this day, I am one of the two bass clarinet players in my band and I am continuing to enjoy doing it. Playing music has taught me that having a strong work ethic can help you accomplish anything. In addition to that, music has given me a newfound appreciation of many genres of music and to truly admire the work of many

Fifth grade was intimidating, it was where all four elementary schools combined. Fifth grade was also when you could start band. I had taken piano lessons in the third grade and had loved learning to play an instrument so I was extremely excited to join band. I was particularly looking forward to being able to play another instrument. I had no idea what to play, my mother had hoped I would choose the drums instead I had defied her wishes and picked the clarinet. I had two reasons for picking the clarinet, the first reason being I thought it looked really cool and decided I wanted to learn to play it. The second reason was based on the suggestion of Stephenie, our original plan had been to play the cello together but at the last moment she decided to play the flute. It was after this shift in instruments she suggested I play clarinet so we could play across from each other. Without any sort of idea as to what

Tonya, my sister, was the first to join band in school, making me feel expected to join in sixth grade. I played the clarinet all the way through eighth grade until freshman year ;unfortunately, I struggled through the beginning and made the decision to quit. Rejoining has given my some of the best memories of my

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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