How has music changed my life? The question seems at first unanswerable, general, and vague. However, when I rearrange the words to make a statement it seems so clear. Music has changed my life. This statement is completely true and could explain one of the most exciting parts of my life.
It was probably around 6th grade when I began to love music. Before then it was something to listen to. In band and choir I learned the basics; dynamics, rhythms, sharps and flats, how to play and sing with technique. Listening to my older sisters, sing and play inspired me to get better. Day after day of practice, lessons, and class I got better and soon enough I was second chair clarinet. By my 8th grade year choir and band were the only classes I looked forward to in the school day. In a way music helped me escape my bullies, and other personal problems.
Although any one can be taught to play a clarinet, or sing a scale like I have, no one can teach anyone to fall in love with music. Without a doubt, Tchaikovsky could teach anyone to play the piano flawlessly, he could never teach how to make music move through your body. As much as I hate to admit it, learning about composers and their lives also helps strengthen the bond between musician and player. When you study composers, their music, and what was going on in their lives at the time of composition, that in itself can tell you everything. A composer who fell in love and wrote a symphony wouldn’t be writing in a minor key, leaving the listener feeling as if they were about to die. Likewise, composers who were very depressed wrote some of the saddest-sounding music, which can be in some cases, the most beautiful music you have ever heard. For example, Tchaikovsky wrote one of his many symphonies, the sixth, very soon after the deaths of many of his relatives. The deep, minor melodies from the low brass and high-pitched cries of sorrow from the violins, go hand in hand with the feelings Tchaikovsky must have been...