30 days meme: Day 4, "Music"
Today's prompt is annoyingly vague. The words "Your Music" just don't offer nearly enough direction. What part of "my music?" My likes and dislikes? My musical abilities? What music means emotionally/philosophically/spiritually to me? How many gigs of it I have on my hard drive?
(If it's the last, I invoke the 5th.)
You see my problem, don't you? I've found 4 prompts in the original 1, and that's without even looking for them. If I gave it more than 30 seconds of thought, I could probably come up enough sub-prompts to fill the rest of the 30 days. Not that I would fill the rest of the days with them, as I like some of the upcoming subjects too much to give them up.
I play 3 instruments: recorder, flute and alto sax. Before we discuss my musical education, let me address the common misconception that the recorder isn't a "real instrument." It's often taught in elementary schools, which degrades its status, I guess. Those of you who agree can suck it. Yes, lots of people have some exposure to recorder. Lots of people have some exposure to piano, too. Instruments are not defined by the quantity of people who play them. If I'm not convincing, though, you are welcome to check other sources - perhaps the composers who wrote explicitly for the recorder: Handel, Telemann, Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach et al. I think they can safely be considered experts.
My recorder lessons began when I was 8. I wanted to play the flute, but my parents said I had to start on the recorder. Lucky for me, because I ended up loving the recorder. I still consider it my main instrument. For those of you who care, I mostly play soprano, alto and tenor. Bass is too big for my hands - I can barely handle tenor - but that's fine, because it means I can play the piccolino pretty easily.
In the 7th grade, I went to a new school which offered flute lessons. I'd had to choose recorder or flute before, because my family didn't have enough money to pay for both, but the lessons at BLS were free! I signed up immediately, and learned a lot of new technique in my lessons. In 9th grade I joined senior orchestra. Our conductor's hearing was scary-good; no one could play a wrong note without Mr. Pitts noticing.
After 10th grade I transferred from BLS to an arts school, because I wanted to be a professional musician. (I was mistaken about that, and I'm glad the realization came in high school instead of college.) I'd been accepted on the flute and recorder, but then the music director decided he needed an alto sax player. I found this out when he handed me an alto sax and a book. Teaching myself from the book went pretty well, except that the book didn't mention some of the more practical aspects of playing a saxophone. For instance, it is important to wet the reed before playing. Related point: if you put a dry reed in your sax, the reed might splinter. Into your tongue.
Much as I love playing, it doesn't captivate me like listening, and I listen to everything. I favored the darker stuff in my teenage years - Metallica, Disturbed (shut up, I was young), Pearl Jam, Prodigy (still young), etc. I also liked some sappy, poppy music, but I hid that from my friends. And there's always, always been chamber and orchestral pieces, what with all the music lessons. As I've grown, my music tastes have become more eclectic. I even like some hip-hop now, which I abhorred at 14. These days it's fruitless to classify my musical tastes. I have yet to meet a genre that I completely disliked. Well, maybe Ambient.
I'm not just listening to music, though, more like using it to complement/induce my various emotional states. That sounds kind of pretentious, I know, but the truth is that it takes me a long while, longer than it should, to really understand and articulate my own feelings, but I always know what sort of thing I want to be listening to. Putting it on helps clear my mind and figure out what's going on in my own head. Does that make sense? I suspect it doesn't. Like I said, though, articulation: not my strong suit.
Music was also my unhealthy coping mechanism of choice. Some kids drank, some smoked various substances. Some cut themselves. I would put my dinky stereo (it had a tape deck! and a manual tuner!) on the floor, turn it up as loud as I dared and lay next to it, my ear against the speaker. The songs coupled with the tremendous volume transformed my picture of myself from "upset girl on the floor" into "happy, capable girl anywhere," and in doing so, calmed me as nothing else could. That being said, as far as damaging coping mechanisms go, it's relatively harmless.
I don't do that anymore. Eventually, I realized that I like hearing more than escapism. Still, concentrating on music can really help my emotional state, so now I keep a soundtrack. On it are songs that I think describe me/described me once. (When a song stops being relevant it stays on the list, for its biographical value.) If I need desperately to calm myself, I listen to it and it reminds me of who I am. That probably also doesn't make any sense.
I lost the full set of songs on my soundtrack. My hard drive died a while ago, and while I was able to retrieve all of the music, I couldn't get the playlist file. That was all right, though, because I still had my iPod, and that had the playlist on it. Shortly after my hard drive died my iPod also died, and I had not been practical enough to write down the whole list. Still, I can remember some to share with you.
At This Point In My Life - Tracy Chapman
Lose Your Way - Sophie B. Hawkins
Worlds Apart - Jars of Clay
No One Will Ever Love You - Magnetic Fields
What A Good Boy - BareNaked Ladies
Perfect World - Liz Phair
Scars - Papa Roach
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of - U2
Perfect - Alanis Morissette
Who Needs Sleep - BareNaked Ladies
et al.
Edit: Thought of another one! Fall Out Boy - Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued
More edits: Yet another song! Crucify - Tori Amos
Edit the 3rd: It happened again! Do You Believe Me - The Juliana Theory
Edit the 4th: Too Little, Too Late - Bare Naked Ladies
(If it's the last, I invoke the 5th.)
You see my problem, don't you? I've found 4 prompts in the original 1, and that's without even looking for them. If I gave it more than 30 seconds of thought, I could probably come up enough sub-prompts to fill the rest of the 30 days. Not that I would fill the rest of the days with them, as I like some of the upcoming subjects too much to give them up.
I play 3 instruments: recorder, flute and alto sax. Before we discuss my musical education, let me address the common misconception that the recorder isn't a "real instrument." It's often taught in elementary schools, which degrades its status, I guess. Those of you who agree can suck it. Yes, lots of people have some exposure to recorder. Lots of people have some exposure to piano, too. Instruments are not defined by the quantity of people who play them. If I'm not convincing, though, you are welcome to check other sources - perhaps the composers who wrote explicitly for the recorder: Handel, Telemann, Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach et al. I think they can safely be considered experts.
My recorder lessons began when I was 8. I wanted to play the flute, but my parents said I had to start on the recorder. Lucky for me, because I ended up loving the recorder. I still consider it my main instrument. For those of you who care, I mostly play soprano, alto and tenor. Bass is too big for my hands - I can barely handle tenor - but that's fine, because it means I can play the piccolino pretty easily.
In the 7th grade, I went to a new school which offered flute lessons. I'd had to choose recorder or flute before, because my family didn't have enough money to pay for both, but the lessons at BLS were free! I signed up immediately, and learned a lot of new technique in my lessons. In 9th grade I joined senior orchestra. Our conductor's hearing was scary-good; no one could play a wrong note without Mr. Pitts noticing.
After 10th grade I transferred from BLS to an arts school, because I wanted to be a professional musician. (I was mistaken about that, and I'm glad the realization came in high school instead of college.) I'd been accepted on the flute and recorder, but then the music director decided he needed an alto sax player. I found this out when he handed me an alto sax and a book. Teaching myself from the book went pretty well, except that the book didn't mention some of the more practical aspects of playing a saxophone. For instance, it is important to wet the reed before playing. Related point: if you put a dry reed in your sax, the reed might splinter. Into your tongue.
Much as I love playing, it doesn't captivate me like listening, and I listen to everything. I favored the darker stuff in my teenage years - Metallica, Disturbed (shut up, I was young), Pearl Jam, Prodigy (still young), etc. I also liked some sappy, poppy music, but I hid that from my friends. And there's always, always been chamber and orchestral pieces, what with all the music lessons. As I've grown, my music tastes have become more eclectic. I even like some hip-hop now, which I abhorred at 14. These days it's fruitless to classify my musical tastes. I have yet to meet a genre that I completely disliked. Well, maybe Ambient.
I'm not just listening to music, though, more like using it to complement/induce my various emotional states. That sounds kind of pretentious, I know, but the truth is that it takes me a long while, longer than it should, to really understand and articulate my own feelings, but I always know what sort of thing I want to be listening to. Putting it on helps clear my mind and figure out what's going on in my own head. Does that make sense? I suspect it doesn't. Like I said, though, articulation: not my strong suit.
Music was also my unhealthy coping mechanism of choice. Some kids drank, some smoked various substances. Some cut themselves. I would put my dinky stereo (it had a tape deck! and a manual tuner!) on the floor, turn it up as loud as I dared and lay next to it, my ear against the speaker. The songs coupled with the tremendous volume transformed my picture of myself from "upset girl on the floor" into "happy, capable girl anywhere," and in doing so, calmed me as nothing else could. That being said, as far as damaging coping mechanisms go, it's relatively harmless.
I don't do that anymore. Eventually, I realized that I like hearing more than escapism. Still, concentrating on music can really help my emotional state, so now I keep a soundtrack. On it are songs that I think describe me/described me once. (When a song stops being relevant it stays on the list, for its biographical value.) If I need desperately to calm myself, I listen to it and it reminds me of who I am. That probably also doesn't make any sense.
I lost the full set of songs on my soundtrack. My hard drive died a while ago, and while I was able to retrieve all of the music, I couldn't get the playlist file. That was all right, though, because I still had my iPod, and that had the playlist on it. Shortly after my hard drive died my iPod also died, and I had not been practical enough to write down the whole list. Still, I can remember some to share with you.
At This Point In My Life - Tracy Chapman
Lose Your Way - Sophie B. Hawkins
Worlds Apart - Jars of Clay
No One Will Ever Love You - Magnetic Fields
What A Good Boy - BareNaked Ladies
Perfect World - Liz Phair
Scars - Papa Roach
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of - U2
Perfect - Alanis Morissette
Who Needs Sleep - BareNaked Ladies
et al.
Edit: Thought of another one! Fall Out Boy - Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued
More edits: Yet another song! Crucify - Tori Amos
Edit the 3rd: It happened again! Do You Believe Me - The Juliana Theory
Edit the 4th: Too Little, Too Late - Bare Naked Ladies