Music To Me Then
So, you've probably read my title caption and wondered, why did he discover music so late? Or maybe you thought,
how? Well...I've never really been super invested in music. I would listen to music here and there, whether it was
playing on a radio at a barber shop or the supermarket, or someone was blasting music from their cars or speakers,
or if music happened to be playing in my house. It never really came from me. (I keep rereading this and it sounds
like I didn't like music, or I just didn't listen to anything willingly, and that is NOT what I'm trying to convey.) Anyway,
the first time I ever really started paying attention to music was with games.
One game that I vividly remember playing (starting from about the middle of 6th Grade) was Geometry Dash. Now, I don't
care what you say, this game was absolute flames when we were all little kids. I would play the levels and rage after
failing too many times, but there was one thing I always looked forward to: the music. Maybe this wasn't the best thing for me
because I ended up becoming really attached to the music in Geometry Dash. Throughout Middle School, I would spend a lot
of time listening to music from the game, if I wasn't playing it, which is not something you often see. Typically,
you start delving into music genres like rap or hip hop or pop, etc., so I wasn't really falling into the pool everyone
else was in. So from the exposure to this one game, I became incredibly interested in instrumental music. Just to bring a bit
of that world here, I'll share two of my favorite songs from video games or from artists who make video game music.
Maybe that's not for you, but I still quite like it. Moving forward, I grew towards liking other genres of music, like the generic teenager I am. However, there is so much more to music than the songs we listen to on our phones through our beloved streaming services. I never really grew up with instruments in my house because no one was really talented like that (though my older sister had a keyboard very briefly, and I have no idea what happened to it) so I found it pretty cool to see kids play a variety of instruments throughout middle school and into high school, whether it was the piano, trumpet, clarinet, trombone, you name it. Being in high school, I figured it was time to try something other than chess. I prefer to not be a one-trick pony. In my sophomore year, I applied for a piano class to take during my junior year. I strategically did this, as my school requires students to complete one full year of art/music or one semester of each by the time we graduate, and having done one semester of art, I figured I could use some change. The smart thing, though, was that after completing the one semester of piano I signed up for, I would have an extra free period that I could use however I liked in the following semester. I participate in a million things, so I thought it would be nice to have a break for once. But, of course, everything changed.
Music To Me Now
After finishing All Star Code, I was able to apply to Google's Code Next program. In succeeding getting into the program,
I had to choose a club to join, and I chose Python MC, because it was a club where you learned Python and how to use it
to create music. I thought the idea would be cool, especially because I could see how music is made, and do it from a coding
perspective, too. If that weren't enough, I successfully got in the piano class I applied for. Through this semester of piano
my entire mindset shifted. In only the first month, I made a lot of progress in the book the class learned piano from, and
whenever I had to play out loud, I rarely made mistakes. My teacher would congratulate me and I would feel like a bit of
a king. I, very quickly, started to fall in love with the piano. Subsequently, my Python MC Class started picking up, and
I was learning a ton of valuable musical concepts. I even started to work on my very own song from the library of beats
it had.
In just a few months of junior year starting, I began finding a real love for music. Whenever I was participating
in something piano-related or creating new songs, I felt happy with what I was doing. I would flex it all over my Snapchat,
and I would make sure to note it whenever I possibly could, because I was proud in what I was doing. I also became really
close with my piano teacher, especially since he saw how much I was invested in it. After showing much promise, he called
on me to assist him whenever he needed it. For example, I would prep new kids inside of the class for the piano. Really
great experience, and validation of my persistence. I began to find other people interested in either piano or beat-making
and I sort of fell into a little music community, something I probably would never have exhibited if I didn't take a
couple of leaps of faith.
Now I have a few songs of my very own on piano, I bought myself a piano and I decided to give up the free period and
take the Intermediate Piano class in my school. Looking at it now, it was a very worthwhile decision I made. Additionally,
I have a ton of songs from the beat-making I did, too. Thanks to my ability to try new things, I now have a newfound
passion, that I'll most likely take with me forever and ever.