Storytelling is fundamental to the human experience. The greatest storytellers from Shakespeare to Dr. Seuss are credited with crafting profound works that capture the human essence. Yet these wordsmiths readily agree that words are incapable of fully expressing the entire spectrum of the human condition. However, I believe that music picks up where words leave off.
Even before I learned to speak English, I learned the language of music. So, while other kids studied the twenty-six letters that made up the alphabet, mine comprised of seven letters repeated across ivory and ebony keys. Beginning piano lessons in early childhood allowed me to concentrate on the various combinations and applications of these seven notes.
Equipped with restless vigor, a beaming grin, and a pair of Skechers Light-up Sneakers, I would excitedly illuminate the hallway leading to my piano teacher’s room every week. This insatiable zeal would extend into the lesson as my teacher frantically struggled to keep me sitting still. However, when I did play, energy would exuberantly radiated from my fingers into the keys as I would unapologetically bang out a crude rendition of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” complete with unintentional accidentals and miscellaneous passing notes. Although I was certainly lacking technical proficiency, my teacher always told me that nothing would replace …show more content…
With its ominous, foreboding notes, I envisioned sinister clouds permeating over a small, thatched village. As the villagers panicked in apprehension of the eminent downpour, the gloomy minor chords suddenly changed to triumphant major ones, signalling a refreshing, tender drizzle instead. Truly breathtaken, I strived as a solo pianist to colorfully portray similar vivid descriptions in my audience’s mind as I performed each composer’s marvelous