Music completes a person. It has the power to bring people together, spark emotion, create an outlet, and enrich the mind. From the time I was young, my interest in music was apparent; I channeled this interest by starting choir in fifth grade. Singing has, and probably always will be, my most intense passion within music, but it has been evermore enhanced by learning to play instruments.

I started learning piano in eighth grade, which is late compared to some, but I learned quickly because it was so interesting. The more I learned, the more I wanted to expand my knowledge. Being able to play and accompany myself brought a whole new level to my love of music. It helped me find a new way to express myself and gave me new confidence to show people what I learned. Aside from emotional benefits, learning piano increased my coordination and helped me learn to concentrate. Very rarely do you play a complicated piece perfectly on your first time through. This means you will have to play through it very many times until it has no mistakes, and it is hard to keep yourself playing if you are distracted by everything around you.

Music fosters music: as you advance in musical ability, there is an urge to see how far you can get yourself, and how good you can be. You will always be trying to improve and to show others how great you have become. The music world has a different perspective than “regular society,” and it suddenly becomes really cool to know how to play 20 different instruments, and know how to compose an 11-part song for your choir (which I have actually done, and it will be performed at graduation this year).

Becoming so integrated into this music world led me to learn guitar and ukulele. There are lots of other instruments that are on my list to learn, but most of them are quite expensive, so I will have to wait until I can save enough to buy them.

Music is an incredible outlet because it will relieve stress, and will brighten the day of anyone listening. I honestly don’t know where I would be today if music was not such a huge part of my life. It is so much more than writing can describe, and it is something you have to experience on your own. If music interests you, pick it up. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.