Personal Narrative: Music Theory

When I was in sixth grade, I went to the middle school band meeting to pick out our instruments. I immediately was drawn towards the saxophone, probably because it was so weird looking, and my dad suggested that I played it. Later, I met my new band teacher, Mr.McArthur, and it turned out that he played the saxophone in high school and college. My parents bought me the instrument that night and I brought it home hastily and opened the case straight away. I was so excited to play it, but with my inexperience, I put the mouthpiece on upside down. I tried practicing it a couple times but the only sound that came out was discordant squeaks and tuneless noises. Finally, school started and on Thursdays I rushed to the band room. Eventually, I started

Band camp began two weeks before the school year started. The director mailed all the band members the music they were required to learn. However, I ignored the mail and didn’t bother touching my trumpet or learning the music. I dreaded going to band camp the entire summer, but the day finally arrived when I was forced to go. My parents dropped me off at Niwot, I walked into the school, and lethargically headed straight to the band

I hate the fact that I did not even try to get in. I cheated myself out of an opportunity to become a better musician. What I learned from this experience was that the things I want in life aren’t going to fall into my hands. If I want something in life, I have to work for it. I cannot just sit around and hope for the best. I need to start believing in myself and my ability to do anything. Confidence is the key to get anything and everything in life. I hope that getting into Agnes Scott will help break me out of my comfort zone and gain the ability to strive in a world where being able to take risks and believing in what I stand for can make a difference. This is what it takes to survive a failure, to rise afterward and be

Failure allows people to grow and learn from their mistakes. Without failure I would have never been able to learn my true identity and overcome the adversity I had faced. I have faced failure in many forms and each time it affects me and I grow from it, progressing into someone who can defeat all obstacles. I have come to appreciate failure because it has developed me into the person I am today. There is one failure that truly affected me and it was when I was not accepted into the All State Choir.

After sophomore year, I switched to a different teacher in the piano school who was known for only teaching students that were above average musicians. I was baffled as to why she was taking me as a student, but it didn’t stop me from being elated. My junior year was spent playing challenging music by Bach, Grieg, and other notable composers. I couldn’t have been happier. That year I also played a piano part for my school’s musical and almost cried on several occasions because of its bewildering nature. The experience during the musical was the final decider that professional music wasn’t for

In seventh grade, Mr. Fulks asked me if I would like to play the tenor saxophone. I had no idea what it was be me being me told him sure. The first thought that went through my head when I first saw the bigger, less shiny, slightly less new, and weird saxophone was that I never told my parents. When I came home with it my parents flipped out on my. They came down on me like the Berlin Wall. But they understood that he needed a tenor saxophone player and he asked me to so I had to. On tenor I had to use more air, and carry a 100x bigger case. Through seventh grade I lugged around my tenor sax and still do. Besides getting a new saxophone, nothing big happened but eighth grade was filled with amazing

Soon after I had arrived at St. Timothy’s, Reverend Fran introduced me to the incumbent choir leader, Barb Knotts, and her husband Frank who was a Parish Councilor. I was hoping Barb would help me usher the choir through the upcoming reforms; however, both she and Frank were about to go on a two month vacation at their lakeside cottage. Until she returned home I had to work alone.

My Singstunde choices depict some aspects of my ongoing journey of finding meaning and finding my place in this life. Recently, I have been faced with uncertainty concerning who I am and what I want to contribute to this world. This is my last semester of my Senior year at Regis and I feel so thankful for the specific purposeful educational opportunity that I have been granted. Now, it is my turn to figure out how to live a meaningful life and how to best use this amazing Jesuit education. I hope that the Jesuit ideals, that have grown so close to my heart, can help inform a path to helping others in the most effective way that I personally can accomplish given my personality, strengths and weaknesses. While I know this searching for the right

As a teenager in their high school years, there is a definite shift in my music taste from elementary and middle school to where I am today. Looking back, I listened to classical music as a snob, thinking “music isn’t as good as it used to be”, and assuming that I am the best just because I exclusively listened to what I thought was “refined.” Of course, tastes change. As I transitioned to high school I was curious about rock. One of the first bands I got into was The Strokes, especially their debut album, “Is This It”.

“I don’t want to do it!” Those were the words I said as I sat with my mom, choosing my classes for the seventh grade. My mother was trying to convince me to joining the Wind Ensemble, the top band at James Workman Middle School. I had joined the Beginning Band that year as a clarinet, and it was literal hell. I was weeks behind because I couldn’t grasp the concepts of the class. I learned how to play the clarinet, but by then my classmates had passed me by miles.

In fourth grade our class was taken to the gym to see the older kids playing instruments. There were so many different instruments being played, the sounds they were making with their instruments were awesome. It looked like it would be a lot of fun to play an instrument in the band and I couldn’t wait to get to try it. They let us pick our top three instruments we thought we liked and let us see them closer up and try them out. The trumpet was the first and the only instrument I tried because once I played it I realized it was the perfect fit. I picked this instrument even though most of my other friends had picked different instruments; like the clarinet, the flute, and the several instruments that are part of the percussion

Music vocal or instrumental sound combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. As a small child, I never understood why people had a fascination with music. I always thought, “What’s so good about it? I can make noises too.” At the time music never interested me. However, a few years later music quickly becomes a big part of me life.

“How many times have I been asked this question” I think to myself as I’m about to answer.

Music is a powerful force. Music strongly affects our emotions, brings back memories, changes the way we express ourselves, and it can even affect our health. Music shapes our personality in ways we do not notice. The following three song’s show how my life has changed and how songs can be used to retell one’s own past through someone else’s lyrics.

For the past couple of years before I turned twelve, I’d been watching my cousin Brady be very successful through music and playing the saxophone. I have memories of going to his band concerts seeing him in the jazz band playing solos and in the concert band playing classical music. I wanted to be just like him. Flash forward to sixth grade registration... I’d woken up that day imagining playing the first note on my shiny, new saxophone (inspired by my cousin) later in the afternoon. The day went on, business as usual... Until it was time to make my final decision at my new middle school. After the question was popped “What instrument would you like to play?” My whole world stopped. Everything was going in slow motion. I had a vision of myself; I was holding a trumpet. I then walked over to my parents’ bed, and as loud as I could... I played the army reveille to wake them up. It was decided, I was going to play the trumpet! I