My Musical Identity

Writing Assignment 1: My Musical Identity Music, in all its complexity can be seen as a living, breathing mechanism that has the ability to sink deep down into one’s soul and create feelings of awe, excitement and wonder. Music speaks to and connects people of all cultures, backgrounds and ideologies, creating a common bond between various members of the human species. When listening to a beautifully composed piece of music, I myself cannot help but feel connected to the instruments, the artists and the composer. It has been my experience that music not only helps me learn, but also helps me grow. From an early age I grew up listening to the sounds of Motown with my dad. He would sing songs to me like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terell, and I would listen diligently, unknowingly acquiring the ability to make beautiful melodies and soulful sounds with my vocal chords. Then one day it happened. I sang. In fact, to say that I sang, would be saying the least of what actually happened. I didn’t just sing, I sang well. And it was around the age of 8 that I realized I had a gift for music, a raw talent if you may, and I was determined to use it. From then on, I sang wherever I had the privacy of developing my talent on my own. I sang in the shower, on my way to school, and even while my family was sleeping. Around that time, which was during elementary school, I wasn’t comfortable with having the ability to sing well, and while I liked to sing, I didn’t like doing it publicly. After a while, some members of my family learned that I could sing and I had no other choice but to share the talent. It took some time but I was finally beginning to enjoy singing in front of others. I began to love music, regardless of the genre and I wanted to share it with all who would listen. Then on day, the inevitable happened. My feelings about singing changed. This significant and abrupt change in my musical interest occurred after I decided