In the past, I was just singing anything off of the radio that I know the lyrics fairly well of for fun. It was not until high school did I start to treat singing not only as a higher level, but as a career in the future. Music had become a major part of my life. If it were not for the choral classes provided in my high school, I would probably not be the same person that I am today.
The road started with my freshman music appreciation class. A female teacher selected me and a few other students to come with her to test out for the chorus. We were brought around a piano and she started to play scales for us to sing. Out of those group of students, I was the only one suggested to return to the chorus room to try out for the choral class. After auditioning for the main choral professor, she accepted me and placed me as a baritone for one of her choral class.
I walked into the choral class for the first time, I was surprised. Unlike a regular classroom with desks and chairs of around thirty students, there were more than 100 students in the class, all seated in chairs, some without desks. The air in the room was lively and bright, with chatter and laughter filling the room. In my eyes, I was in another world different from how I portrayed it to be. Someone came up to me as asked what voice I was. When I told her baritone, she brought me to my designated section. After that, the choral teacher came in, the same scales that I was auditioned for were played, and the class stopped talking and sang those notes. I followed suit. After that, we sang classical/pop pieces that I have never heard of. Even with my piano skills, I still did not know exactly what I was doing. The only thing I could do was mimic what was around me.
As my freshman year continued, like any class, I treat them as seriously as possible. I would usually be the one to tell others to be quiet, settle down, and stop what they were doing. Some of the upperclassman were stunned at my authoritative nature due to my low status, and I became an object to bully at. Some of their actions, I let go and ignored, but there were some things that they did to me that truly hurt my feelings. On some instances, I would ask to go to the bathroom, when, in truth, I went somewhere desolate and private in order to cry. I held these feelings unto myself, not talking to anyone about my problems. During one incident where I was crying somewhere, a music teacher whom i knew saw me and asked what was wrong. I told her everything. She confronted my problem with the choral teacher. A few days later, the choral teacher brought me and the students who were bullying me outside and confronted with them. She told me not to be too serious about it and to have fun and relax at her class. Her class was meant to be fun while having a serious tone thrown here and there. I tried to relax and took the class not as seriously as before, and I indeed found out that her classes can also be fun and entertaining. All this time, I was so focused about getting the notes correct and correcting others that I could not see beyond the music score inside my paper. It was then that I thought that maybe I could try singing as a career goal, since it now became something that I enjoy doing.
Now that I am in college, I can try out my new found career goal at that time and place it in reality, starting out slow ans slowly work my way up to become the best singer I can be. Currently, I am doing going for a bachelors degree in the performing arts as an undergraduate. I am taking private lessons with a choral teacher, participating in a performance class, and trying out the opera workshops and classes provided in my college. After that, I hope to go to an accredited music conservatory for graduate school and obtain my masters degree in voice, work with more private instructors, and eventually, audition in various opera houses and obtain a role as a supporting or main character of any opera. This is my dream; I will make it a reality. I know that there will be people who tell me that I cannot make it due to my personality, but how will I know unless I try? I hope that, one day, they will be able to see through my eyes my musical world.
Other instruments that I play besides my voice is piano. I have played piano seriously for 10 years until my high school senior year. After I passed my piano efficiency exam and became a certified piano teacher, I stopped playing seriously. Now, I find musical scores online (mainly anime scores) and play it for fun. I want to continue my love for playing the piano for fun.. I enjoy it very much and hope that I still have that talent for years to come.
Another thing that I am picking up recently is musical composition. With thanks to playing songs from many composers for so long, I figured, “Why not create some works myself?” So, I have tried playing random key signatures and time signatures, creating my own melodies. So far, I have managed to create a few musical works, short and long. As soon as I feel as if I have created a decent amount for presentation, I will present it here via a link to a site that allows me to create my own sheet music to present to you.
heavensvoices 