Music__Expression_or_Perfection_

Humans use art to express various emotions and ideas. This art takes on many forms, but these emotions are shown most vividly in the beauty of music. Throughout history humans have worked to perfect the creation and performance of music but, as in life, this quest to perfection can cause a detriment the original point, which is to express emotion. In some cases music has just become another chore in our lives and a target for criticism. When I was young, before I had received any training in music whatsoever, I would sing a solo at my school concerts. These were times of great pride and happiness for me. Even at such a young age I had the greatest connection with the music, and would simply get lost in the moment and I loved to stay late after the concerts and hear the praise from the teachers and parents. Though I remembered little of my performances, afterword I felt as though those were the moments that I was truly myself. Since those days at my small Catholic grammar school, I have attended voice lessons every week, and am in several choirs. I have learned a lot about music and its complexity. When I get a new song I find that I have a hard time learning the rhythm, so I practice using strange sounding syllables until I know the placement of every eighth note and rest. And then I delve into learning the pitches and find that the time I spent learning the rhythm was fruitless. Eventually I start to sing the actual song mostly using solfege syllables such as do, re, and mi, and continue this for much of the learning process. Learning the words comes later depending on the language of the piece and if the song is in another language the translation of the text is the last thing I learn. In those days at my grammar school this process would seem so foreign and difficult to me, but now I couldn’t learn any other way. It is how I do justice to the music and is how I “create perfection”. But by whose standards is this “perfect”' How can I restrict something so honest and free to fit these standards' It is not entirely right for me to speak negatively of these methods and this struggle to perfection, because the hard work has brought with it many unbelievable experiences. I have sung in famous concert halls around the world, have been different characters, and performed with amazing musicians and dear friends. Without hard work and the knowledge I would have never been giving these opportunities. But somehow I can recall every detail of these performances. Every beautiful sound and feeling stays fresh in my mind as well as every mistake and wrong note. I no longer have the ability to leave myself as I once did in my childhood. Working hard at something that means a lot to you can affect you in other aspects of life. It is important to have a high standard of living to be happy and to live the best life possible, but we must choose our standards wisely. Emotions should be put in everything we do or the hard work means nothing to ourselves and to others. As I grow up I am learning how to work hard at connecting with what I am singing while still keeping the technical aspects in mind and apply this to school and my relationships with other people. Still I know that I should not have to be constantly tapping my foot to feel the beat of my life.