I have been playing instruments for over fourteen years now, In first grade, I learned my first instrument through lessons, which was piano, and then started teaching myself through books and listening to songs by ear. Then I started learning how to play the drums through the Paul Green School of Rock. This is a place where kids can receive lessons on how to play an instrument and also have a three-hour rehearsal period once a week to prepare for a show that they would perform in front of a live audience in an actual venue approximately three months later, The School of Rock also helped with stage presence and helped me explore other instruments and techniques like singing and songwriting. School of Rock performances included small venues like House of Blues in West Palm, or a big event like Sunfest, where we have to perform and taught other people how to perform.
The School of Rock itself also had its own workshops for its students that involved song writing, producing, and stage performance to focus on skills for kids who possibly wanted a career in music in the future. I also took a guitar course at Florida State that helped me gain the basic skills to play guitar, which also led me to learning ukulele as well. The School of Rock and my other musical lessons have also helped me to explore different types of music, as piano usually focused on classical pieces and the School of Rock performance shows each had a different music theme (ex: indie, metal, Beatles, etc.), All these experiences and lessons have helped me to develop has a musician and as a songwriter. I enjoy writing my own music, especially lyrics, I will usually find my inspiration through listening to songs by my favorite artists, life events that have a huge impact on me, and strong personal feelings that l have at the time when I write.
I usually write lyrics almost every day, sort of like a musical diary. When I feel like I write a song that is worth spending more time on, I will use my phone keyboard to find a melody to go along with it. Knowing so many instruments is useful in my construction of my songs because I can write out all the pans to the song; the drums, the chords, vocal melody, bass line, everything, I usually will write my melodies out while I write my lyrics because as I write the words, I usually sing how the song goes in my head, My layout usually looks like this: Verse: C D E D CD B All the words seem pretty far CDEDCDE Like the trails of falling stars EFGFE D EF ED Mysterious as hidden planets GFEDEFED And small treasures in the attic This helps me remember the basic melody so when I go back to look at the words later, I can remember how I wanted the song to sound. Music that I write is extremely personal to me, so when I write a song, I usually never let anyone see or hear my music.
My parents have never seen any of my lyrics and the ones I shared above are probably the first and only ones that anyone will ever see. However, if I were to join or create my own band, I feel like my perspective on sharing my music would change because it would notjust be me involved with writing music anymore, but a group of people, I would be able to receive feedback and have more than one person reviewing and analyzing what I write. Someone in the band could come up with a better guitar riff or bassline than me since I have less experience with stringed instruments, or someone could help with better lyrics or even add more to my songs, While my writing may not be as personal to them, it would be a better outlet of sharing my lyrics with a group as a collaborated concept.
When I first started writing my own lyrics, around six years ago in high school, it was definitely a new and difficult process. Sometimes I would hit roadblocks with a song and just not be able to continue it and have to throw it away, Other times I would be able to write tons of choruses and no verses and vice versa. Then there are days where I could write up to four or five whole songs in a single day. Over time, this has not changed, no matter how much I have written) but I know that writing lyrics has helped progress my understanding of the music behind the words and how to manipulate it to get the sound I want.
