Passion for Music

I'm not sure exactly why I have such a huge passion for music. There are several people and events that took place in my life that I believe I can look at as being a part of it.

A little over two years ago I was actively following my family's history and I found that four of my great-great uncles were musicians, playing the banjo, guitar and fiddle. I was able to find an audio cassette and a video recording of them playing and I remember that the first time I saw it my heart just swelled with love and pride. All but one were alive when I saw it, but they lived far away and I could only remember ever meeting one. Now all but one have passed on and I have had the good fortune of meeting them and even playing with the guitar player. But now I'm getting ahead of myself. After seeing and listening to them my grandfather bought me a banjo for Christmas of 2005. I took 4 lessons on it, but went and taught myself after that. Six months later in June I taught myself how to play the guitar and mandolin.

I started an after school choir club toward the middle of my sophomore year of high school in 2006. We had a piano and soon gained a guitar to accompany us. One day I heard him playing "Dueling Banjos" in a corner and I knew part of it on the banjo so I went and played as much as I could with him. I then decided to learn the rest and we started to play that tune together almost everyday after school. Playing with another musician drove me to do better and play in time. After awhile of playing together we decided to start a band. He wanted to start a Bluegrass band, but I didn't see that as being possible since the instrumentation needed wasn't available in our area. So I said why not play various styles of music and invited anyone who could play any type of instrument to play. So I started the POPS Band at my high school. At the start we had a few clarinets, 2 bass clarinets, 2 trumpets, an oboe, a flute, and a piano along with my friend and I on guitars. The first year we played music made for full concert bands, but we were definitely much smaller. We sounded empty and so I started to work with writing arrangements for the band. Of course I was just getting to learn what it meant that the Clarinet was in Bb. I was clueless. So I took an independent study class with the band director, Mrs. Brenda Bressler and she was able to help me fill in the gaps when it came to music theory.For the most part I taught myself, but she was there to make things clearer. I believe I owe her more credit than any other for my love of music. It was after a semester working with her that she invited me to join the marching and concert bands the following school year.

I was very eager to join the school band and be able to play music with so many other musicians. It was after a few months with the band that I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to teach others about music. Before the year was over I had taught 4 students to play the guitar and I had learned to arrange music for more than a dozen songs. All of these were for my smaller POPS Band, but I had also spent about 6 months writing a full concert band arrangement for the Beatles song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." So it was because of my family, my friends, my instructors, and my enviroment that I was able to gain such a passion for and devotion to music.

To be continued....