Music Essay

I know I'm probably boring you people with my writing, but what do you think of this paper I had to write for school on my favorite hobby?

Music
By Gable Huff 27/10/08


My favorite hobby would have to be Playing, writing, and performing music.
I sing, I also play Piano, Guitar, and an instrument called the Dulcimer.
Music has always been a part of my life, but up until last year, I had never learned to appreciate everything it has to offer.
I learned Piano when I was very young, around 6 or 7, and I learned how to play the Guitar and Dulcimer last winter.
I went through two teachers in piano; Mrs. Rorabeck was my teacher for 3 years. That was the time when I learned how to use my basic musical talent.
Then I had Mr. Delay for a year, he taught me a lot of my music theory. Then there was a dry period where I didn’t have a teacher. I didn’t really feel that I wanted one either.
Then I took up guitar, and I fell in love with music.
I self-taught myself to play, and when I learned chords, I started writing music. Then I started taking lessons from Ayesu. He wasn’t (and isn’t) just a good teacher for me, he’s who I relay my music too. He’s the one the critiques me, and helps me make my musical knowledge even more full than it is now.
Music is more than just sound used in different ways, for me at least, it’s just another way to convey a feeling or an emotion.
I started using music to pass time when there was nothing to do. That, in turn, led to me using it as more than a past time. It became part of my life, of who I am. Seeing me without music is like taking the orange out of orange juice. It just doesn’t work properly.
When writing music, I try to make a story out of words and melody; they do not try to overpower each other, but share the time and space allotted to them, switching back and forth. They use each other as an accomplice, a safeguard to carry the song through its many measures, telling a story, or else, painting a picture, balancing each other out, to make for a beautiful piece of music.
It’s all up to the composer to make sure that each element of the song is doing it’s duty, If the composer lets one thing slip, the song falls into disarray, the piece of music, on the whole, doesn’t sound as It should.
That’s where the enjoyment comes in for me.
Learning to control sound and space, letting people feel the emotion radiating from the music. Plucking simple strings to make a beautiful song,
Or, in short, making something amazing, out of nothing.
Although, it’s not as easy as it sounds, music takes a lot of time and effort from the performer, and the writer.
For the writer you have to be able to twist the melodies into something people can relate to; relation makes for a good song.
For the performer, you must be able to push those emotions out, whether they are angry emotions, Sad, Exhilarated, mournful or otherwise, it’s your job to make sure that the people who are willing to hear what you have to offer, feel what you want them to feel. Take away what you want them to take away from the song.
When I’m practicing scales on the piano or guitar, listening to music, or anything else that involves sound, I’m constantly listening, subconsciously processing what every sound or word means. Not much escapes my ear; I’m always listening for a word, or a sound that strikes me particularly hard. Always looking because I know, I can build off of any one thing. Taking a sound or word and turning it into music. If there is a higher pleasure than hearing someone performing your music, or doing it yourself, I’m at a loss to find what it is.
It’s amazing, as a writer, to hear all of those words and instruments sing, everything you worked on coming to life.
Music has really helped me through some of my hard times when, otherwise, I would have fallen lower than I already was. Learning guitar was literally my pride and joy of life at the time I learned it, and without it I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
God has many ways of showing that life is worth living, and love is worth trying. Music, I believe, is his gift to me.
There is a quote by Victor Hugo that says “Music expresses that which cannot be said, but is impossible to keep quiet”
I heed those words, and believe in them, because in the midst of hearing the music, this quote makes sense. In the midst of the music, you aren’t just playing or listening, you are music, and the music is in you.
And that is why I love music, and why I spend most of my time nurturing musical talent. I enjoy every minute of it.

Nation wrote:

I know I'm probably boring you people with my writing, but what do you think of this paper I had to write for school on my favorite hobby?

You're not boring!

Quote :

My favorite hobby would have to be Playing, writing, and performing music.
I sing, I also play Piano, Guitar, and an instrument called the Dulcimer.

I've never heard of that before.

Quote :

Music has always been a part of my life, but up until last year, I had never learned to appreciate everything it has to offer.
I learned Piano when I was very young, around 6 or 7, and I learned how to play the Guitar and Dulcimer last winter.
I went through two teachers in piano; Mrs. Rorabeck was my teacher for 3 years. That was the time when I learned how to use my basic musical talent.
Then I had Mr. Delay for a year, he taught me a lot of my music theory. Then there was a dry period where I didn’t have a teacher. I didn’t really feel that I wanted one either.
Then I took up guitar, and I fell in love with music.

I used to play piano myself and I wasn't too enthusiastic about it either, kind of fun but it wasn't what I wanted to do either. I think it's cool that guitar gave you a better appreciation for music. I think this paragraph is written really well.

Quote :

I self-taught myself to play, and when I learned chords, I started writing music. Then I started taking lessons from Ayesu. He wasn’t (and isn’t) just a good teacher for me, he’s who I relay my music too. He’s the one the critiques me, and helps me make my musical knowledge even more full than it is now.
Music is more than just sound used in different ways, for me at least, it’s just another way to convey a feeling or an emotion.

I think that's the way it's supposed to be with a good musician.

Quote :

I started using music to pass time when there was nothing to do. That, in turn, led to me using it as more than a past time. It became part of my life, of who I am. Seeing me without music is like taking the orange out of orange juice. It just doesn’t work properly.

Hehe kind of funny but it's a good line. It really shows how important music is to you.

Quote :

When writing music, I try to make a story out of words and melody; they do not try to overpower each other, but share the time and space allotted to them, switching back and forth. They use each other as an accomplice, a safeguard to carry the song through its many measures, telling a story, or else, painting a picture, balancing each other out, to make for a beautiful piece of music.

That's a good way to go about it. It annoys me when I hear a song where the music is so loud that you can't hear the words. I think that the words should be the main focus though with the instruments to add emphasis to the emotion. Then there are the power cords and stuff that can be alone to show emotion on their own.

Quote :

It’s all up to the composer to make sure that each element of the song is doing it’s duty, If the composer lets one thing slip, the song falls into disarray, the piece of music, on the whole, doesn’t sound as It should.
That’s where the enjoyment comes in for me.
Learning to control sound and space, letting people feel the emotion radiating from the music. Plucking simple strings to make a beautiful song,
Or, in short, making something amazing, out of nothing.

Pretty cool. Kind of like art with a pencil and paper. Making something beautiful out of something ordinary before.

Quote :

Although, it’s not as easy as it sounds, music takes a lot of time and effort from the performer, and the writer.
For the writer you have to be able to twist the melodies into something people can relate to; relation makes for a good song.

I don't think so. I think that if you just write whatever's in your heart will be the best. There will always be someone who can relate to it.

Quote :

For the performer, you must be able to push those emotions out, whether they are angry emotions, Sad, Exhilarated, mournful or otherwise, it’s your job to make sure that the people who are willing to hear what you have to offer, feel what you want them to feel. Take away what you want them to take away from the song.

I think you could've used a better phrase here. Pushing the emotion out makes it sound like they're not being emotional.

Quote :

When I’m practicing scales on the piano or guitar, listening to music, or anything else that involves sound, I’m constantly listening, subconsciously processing what every sound or word means. Not much escapes my ear; I’m always listening for a word, or a sound that strikes me particularly hard. Always looking because I know, I can build off of any one thing. Taking a sound or word and turning it into music. If there is a higher pleasure than hearing someone performing your music, or doing it yourself, I’m at a loss to find what it is.

I'm interested in this. It would be great if you could figure out how to express it.

Quote :

It’s amazing, as a writer, to hear all of those words and instruments sing, everything you worked on coming to life.
Music has really helped me through some of my hard times when, otherwise, I would have fallen lower than I already was. Learning guitar was literally my pride and joy of life at the time I learned it, and without it I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

How does it affect your personality or every day life?

Quote :

God has many ways of showing that life is worth living, and love is worth trying. Music, I believe, is his gift to me.
There is a quote by Victor Hugo that says “Music expresses that which cannot be said, but is impossible to keep quiet”
I heed those words, and believe in them, because in the midst of hearing the music, this quote makes sense. In the midst of the music, you aren’t just playing or listening, you are music, and the music is in you.
And that is why I love music, and why I spend most of my time nurturing musical talent. I enjoy every minute of it.

That's a really good quote you cited. I think that over all this was really well written and you'd probably get a good grade on it as it is.

Quote :

Quote:
My favorite hobby would have to be Playing, writing, and performing music.
I sing, I also play Piano, Guitar, and an instrument called the Dulcimer.

I've never heard of that before.

You sit it on your lap and pick it. The core notes are D D G D.

Quote :

Quote:
Although, it’s not as easy as it sounds, music takes a lot of time and effort from the performer, and the writer.
For the writer you have to be able to twist the melodies into something people can relate to; relation makes for a good song.

I don't think so. I think that if you just write whatever's in your heart will be the best. There will always be someone who can relate to it.

You can have an amazing Idea, and it can be the core of your music, but you have to build off of it. The idea alone can't carry itself very far. It's like having an amazing pianist without a piano.

Quote :

Quote:
For the performer, you must be able to push those emotions out, whether they are angry emotions, Sad, Exhilarated, mournful or otherwise, it’s your job to make sure that the people who are willing to hear what you have to offer, feel what you want them to feel. Take away what you want them to take away from the song.

I think you could've used a better phrase here. Pushing the emotion out makes it sound like they're not being emotional.

This was pointed out to me by my dad (and I'm homeschooled, so he graded my paper), I needed better imagery.

Quote :

Quote:
It’s amazing, as a writer, to hear all of those words and instruments sing, everything you worked on coming to life.
Music has really helped me through some of my hard times when, otherwise, I would have fallen lower than I already was. Learning guitar was literally my pride and joy of life at the time I learned it, and without it I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

How does it affect your personality or every day life?

My personality is completely and utterly different than It was before guitar.
I was in an awful place, my brother had just died, and everything was piling up inside, and I wanted it out. I turned to a lot of things that didn't help (I won't elaborate), and finally my step dad gave me a guitar, and I just poured my heart and soul into it.
In everyday life, It affects me, because If I hear a lyric or melody I like, dislike, am jealous of, or if it strikes me as unique or something, it changes the rest of my day. It sets a mood. I always try to figure out what the artist is trying to get across, and I know I always want people to spend time thinking about the real point of my music, in their opinion.

Quote :

Quote:
God has many ways of showing that life is worth living, and love is worth trying. Music, I believe, is his gift to me.
There is a quote by Victor Hugo that says “Music expresses that which cannot be said, but is impossible to keep quiet”
I heed those words, and believe in them, because in the midst of hearing the music, this quote makes sense. In the midst of the music, you aren’t just playing or listening, you are music, and the music is in you.
And that is why I love music, and why I spend most of my time nurturing musical talent. I enjoy every minute of it.


That's a really good quote you cited. I think that over all this was really well written and you'd probably get a good grade on it as it is.

Thank you!
And I got a 92%, I had some grammatical and Phrasing errors.

The dulcimer looks like a squashed guitar.
I always wanted to learn to play the quitar, but I really have no patience for it.

mcr666 wrote:

The dulcimer looks like a squashed guitar.
I always wanted to learn to play the quitar, but I really have no patience for it.

Aren't those the ones with double strings?

Nation wrote:

My favorite hobby would have to be Playing, writing, and performing music.
I sing, I also play Piano, Guitar, and an instrument called the Dulcimer.
Music has always been a part of my life.
I learned Piano when I was very young, around 6 or 7,
and I learned how to play the Guitar and Dulcimer last winter.

That sounds just like me. -the Dulcimer part.

Quote :

Music is more than just sound used in different ways, for me at least, it’s just another way to convey a feeling or an emotion.

Without emotions, there would be no music, all music conveys emotion on some level.

Quote :

Seeing me without music is like taking the orange out of orange juice. It just doesn’t work properly.

That's actually pretty funny. Nice quote.

Quote :

When writing music, I try to make a story out of words and melody; they do not try to overpower each other, but share the time and space allotted to them, switching back and forth. They use each other as an accomplice, a safeguard to carry the song through its many measures, telling a story, or else, painting a picture, balancing each other out, to make for a beautiful piece of music.

That takes talent.
And usually makes for great songs.

Quote :

making something amazing, out of nothing.

Thats what nearly all forms of art are based on.

Painting=Making beautiful pictures out of colored goo.

Sculpting=Taking a big hunk of marble, and carving it into a detailed figure.

Music=what you are describing.

Quote :

Although, it’s not as easy as it sounds, music takes a lot of time and effort from the performer, and the writer.
For the writer you have to be able to twist the melodies into something people can relate to; relation makes for a good song.
For the performer, you must be able to push those emotions out, whether they are angry emotions, Sad, Exhilarated, mournful or otherwise, it’s your job to make sure that the people who are willing to hear what you have to offer, feel what you want them to feel.

Thats what many people fail to do.
I hate hearing musicians and singers who halfheartedly play their
parts and forget to actually feel the music.

Quote :

Take away what you want them to take away from the song.
When I’m practicing scales on the piano or guitar, listening to music, or anything else that involves sound, I’m constantly listening, subconsciously processing what every sound or word means. Not much escapes my ear I’m always listening for a word, or a sound that strikes me particularly hard.

Same here.

Quote :

Always looking because I know, I can build off of any one thing. Taking a sound or word and turning it into music. If there is a higher pleasure than hearing someone performing your music, or doing it yourself, I’m at a loss to find what it is

Well I've never had anyone play my music,
but I'd imagine I actually wouldn't like it.
Usually if I write something on guitar or piano,
I feel Like It's mine only i play it.

Quote :

It’s amazing, as a writer, to hear all of those words and instruments sing, everything you worked on coming to life.
Music has really helped me through some of my hard times when, otherwise, I would have fallen lower than I already was. Learning guitar was literally my pride and joy of life at the time I learned it, and without it I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
God has many ways of showing that life is worth living, and love is worth trying. Music, I believe, is his gift to me.
There is a quote by Victor Hugo that says “Music expresses that which cannot be said, but is impossible to keep quiet”
I heed those words, and believe in them, because in the midst of hearing the music, this quote makes sense. In the midst of the music, you aren’t just playing or listening, you are music, and the music is in you.
And that is why I love music, and why I spend most of my time nurturing musical talent. I enjoy every minute of it.

I feel kinda similar,
It's great read.
Very interesting,
and i agree with almost all of it.

I'll give you 1+
on EB because I don't think we have karma here.