The Beauty in Song

Music's always been something that really speaks to me. Whether it be a form of therapy, or just listening out of boredom, or physically playing guitar or piano, music's always been an outlet for me. My love of music probably started when I was a baby. My dad used to bring me in my little baby carrier over to my great Aunt Winnie's house, where she used to teach him piano. So every Sunday, for the first year or so of my life, I heard hours of beautiful piano playing, and as I've grown up with pianos and singing and music of every kind, everytime my dad plays Moonlight Sonata on the piano, I get this sense of calmness, and relief. I guess that's what he must've been learning with my great aunt. 

I started actually playing music in maybe 3rd or 4th grade, my dad would teach me simple songs on the piano to keep me distracted for awhile. But I'd always be ready for something new. So, in fourth grade, when we were given a choice of instruments to begin learning, I decided to play the trumpet. Which I did, for about 3/4 years. And I liked playing trumpet, I did, but it was never really something that I did because I wanted to, or because I was passionate about it. I did it because it was homework, and because my dad always used to say "I love hearing you play trumpet, Harp." And being a kid, all I wanted to do was make my parents proud. 

But I gave up on trumpet. And I started playing piano more, and after a few beginner lessons from my dad, I started playing chords, and those chords turned into songs, and before I knew it I was just hopping onto the piano and looking up the chords for whatever song was playing on the radio, and spending my Saturday afternoons perfecting it. I still do that now, and it's really become not just a passion of mine but some kind of therapy. Something about playing music puts me at peace every time I sit down to play. 

I also started playing guitar about two years ago, and I play guitar just as often as I do piano. I love playing guitar, I think it's such a beautiful instrument and I love the variety of things you can play. My favorite kind of music to play on guitar is probably anything with picking in it, I've recently been working on Ronan by Taylor Swift and Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver.

Guitar and piano have both been such great outlets for me, and I took this week to write about music because a lot of people don't know how passionate I really am about it. I started writing songs probably when I was like 10, just making silly songs up on the spot. But they turned into real songs, and now I have a couple that I think are actually pretty decent. So, yeah. I hope you enjoyed this little look into how music has affected my life, because I think it's something everyone should enjoy, too.