Close X

Thank you for trying the 8notes.com Audio Playback

You have reached your limit of audio playback for today.
Please subscribe for unlimited playback
Individual Subscriptions:

Click here for more info on subscriptions

James3

aka James Grider
Member Since: 27 Jun 2014
Status:   Registered Member
Points: 1 point
Region : United States  
Instruments Played:
Piano
About Me
Music has always been important to me, but I never knew it would be so much a part of

me. Growing up I was surrounded by music; Whether it was my Dad taking me to shows, my mom

playing loud music on the radio as she cleaned the house, or my brother and sister playing music

to fit the theme of the night as they got ready to go out. In any case, I grew up listening to music,

and, like most people, grew to love it. Music has a tendancy to speak directly to us; to bring out

our emotions or help us overcome them. Listening to music is theraputic in almost anyway you

look at it; However, creating music is something that has changed my life.

When I was about six years old, my mom took me to the store to go clothes shopping. In

the electronics section of the store they had keyboards on display for customers to test. I, like any

child, couldn`t resist. I began to play the keyboard, just hitting any notes I could, when out of the

chaos of sound I heard a familiar series of notes. "Mom, doesn`t that sound lkie a song," I said

enthusiastically? My mom was unable to make sense of the sound, but being a good mother she

replied "Yes honey, that sounds good!" It may not have made sense to her, but I heard

something, and as she continued rustling through the clothes, I continued my search for the next

familiar sound. As she tells it, she came back by me 10 minutes later and I played for her the first

half of the star spangled banner. She bought me the keyboard that day, and my journey as a

pianist began.

I could not contain my excitment when I returned home. I tore open the box and

marveled at the instrument in front of me. I played the song I discovered at the store over and

over again. At one point, I accidentally hit a button that caused the keyboard to play a song on its

own. I then found that there were over 100 songs programmed into the keyboard. I listened to

them again and again, only this time, I was trying to replicate them on my own. I found that I was

able to do so fairly easy, but not so much the advaned songs like Cannon and Fur Elise. There

was a period of about 8 months that I stayed with this hobby, until childhood interrupted my

interest. I fell into the normal activities and behaviors of a child, going out with friend to the park

and playing. My keyboard got put in my closet, and I didn`t play it anymore; until one day about 6

years later when I was cleaning out my closet. At the bottom of a pile of stuffed animals and toys,

I found a dusty old kayboard, and plugged it in.

Like my mom, I always listened to the radio while cleaning. Just for fun, I decided to try to

replicate the songs I was listening to, as I was listening to them. To my surprise, not only was I

able to play them, but my ability to do so seemed to have improved! My interest in this instrument

was rekindled, and would soon grow into an inextinguishable passion. I looked up actual piano

songs, composed by well know artists such as Yiruma and Brian Craine, and tried to replicate

them by listening closely and matching the sounds. The first piano song I ever played from

beginning to end was "The River Flows in You." and it was one of the most emotionally influencial

accomplishments I had achieved. From that point forward, I laid my emotions on those white keys.

I learned more and more songs, each associated with a deep emotion I was feeling at the time.

When I got yelled at I would press the keys hard and furiously; when I was sad I would play a

gentle relaxing song. Music had become my sanctuary, my expression of my feelings, and my

outlet to help keep an internal balance.

About a year ago, I had the idea to make a song of my own. I was unsure as to how to go

about doing this, when all in the sudden an idea came to me. I discovered my ability to play by ear

through a chaos of sound at a retail store, simply because those notes sounded good together. I

thought if I did the same, that I might be able to find notes that sounded good to me personally,

rather than conform to an already existing song. I played chaotically more and more, picking out

certain notes that I liked. Eventually the chaos dulled down and relaxed into the very first song I

ever compsed myself. I felt myself glowing as I played it over and over; I had discovered

something within me that brought about emotions I could only express through the music I played.

I found my heart, lying right there on the keys of that keyboard.

Since then, I have been through many trials in life. The painful separation of my parents,

the death of my father; I have had my heart broken, and my limits tested again and again. On the

latter, I have had some extraordinarily happy moments. I have had moments of pure bliss and joy.

In any one of these situaitons, the deep feelings that coincided with them were not harbored

within me; rather, they were expressed through songs I created to honor them. Since then, I have

made my own piano album titled "Do it For Love," I have created and performed at my very own

piano concert, and I can only hope that my path continues in this direction. At my concert, I

witnessed people crying, and people smiling, as I went from song to song expressing my

emotions. For every event in my life that I felt deserved a song, I saw my own feelings expressed

on the faces of others. The applause I got at the end of my concert will forever be one of the

greatest feelings of my life. There is no song I could create to express what I felt that day.

Right then and there I realized that music is a language all on its own. There are some

things in life that we experience that simply cannot be expressed in words. They are not defined

or contained within the limits of verbal communication; they are simply felt on a deep level. Music,

beyond any shred of doubt, is a medium for our feelings. When we listen to the song of another,

often we find deep meaning in it because the emotions of the song mirror our own emotions at the

time. Looking at it from an artists perspective, I know the feelings that are invested into music;

furthermore, I know that music is sometimes the only medium that can accurately capture what

we feel. Music is my art, the piano is my canvas; my feelings and emotions bleed through my

fingers to paint a picture of love and beauty. The piano, simply put, is my heart and soul.



© 2000-2024 8notes.com