My Relationship to Music

Sitting in Choir today - I'm in my college's Advanced Choir, 1st Tenor - listening to John Rutter's "Gloria," I sat back and basked in the warm glow of the second movement, taking in the harmony while singing it silently to myself and found myself meditating on the nature of music and my relationship to it. Why was this spurred at this moment? Why did my mind wander in such a way to soak in the depths of my individual conscious, I'm not really sure, but the fact is, I sat and saw myself as a child growing up around and completely oblivious to music. Sure, I was forced at a young age to listen to the oldies - usually Motown or early 60s pop - I remember my first distinguished "favorite" which was, strangely enough, the Beach Boys - a favorite of my mother on long car rides, or, as it were, going to Grandma's or distant Aunts and Uncles house in the faraway brinks of civilization as I knew it. Starting in the choir in 3rd grade, which I subsequently quit, then as a saxophonist in 4th grade, I vigorously tore through the beginners book, teaching myself to play organ in the process before getting bored and, convinced I had mastered both instruments, through down the book and serious studies for another 6 years.Alas, what could resurrect a dead and buried interest in music? Who, or what, could instill a sense of passion, of teenage rebellion, of virtual overcoming of existential dread and spur an artistic creativity long dormant? Surely, it wasn't the high school marching band, a stringent cage of academic conservation according to the lines on papers and virtually meaningless, endless pages given out meant to be memorized in so-and-such weeks or else "slap on the wrist to you mister" - no, no that would but choke the caged bird (hats off to you, Mia) with military discipline of shaved heads and knee high marches. So where, then? Oddly inspiration came in an obscure form of a solitary figure - William Bailey, otherwise known as Axl Rose and the incarnation of the band in 2001. Sad, in some respects, due to the current state the band "Guns N' Roses" had become considering what it once was, but still, an icon at 14 is still an icon. Suddenly, my aim was to the stage, and quickly, I became engrossed with "Appetite for Destruction" which led to "Use Your Illusions" and so on... and then I branched out and held the hands of Metallica, Nirvana, AC/DC as statues on the rock icon stage in my head. Still a novice at my insight to music, I had the clearest perception that a guitar solo was the necessary part of music - a value unparalleled in every respect. A year passed of these three bands ruling my still buzz-cut head.Suddenly - reading a description of Guns N' Roses was the quote that they were the band that "rocked the hardest since Led Zeppelin" and I had no idea who they were, but I wanted to know more about these so-called "Embodiments of Rock and Roll's values" namely sex, drugs, heavy hitting guitars ect. As soon as I listened to the first crashes of Good Times Bad Times on the compilation album - "The Early Days" on a trip down to summer vacation trip down to Delaware I was absolutely hooked. Quickly following this I watched the movie "The Doors" and added Jim Morrison to the ever expanding list of rock icons. And now, I was hooked on what this generation calls formally as "Classic Rock" - Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jethro Tull, The Who, you name it I listened to their entire discography while drenching myself in multiple biographies, documentaries, histories, ect. Somewhere around there, I decided to pick up a guitar, discovered Bob Dylan, and made a pivotal decision to grow my hair long and quit marching band along with the saxophone. I also took up singing, inspired by my first girlfriend who sang soprano in an operatic broadway-style first, in the shower, doing my best Axl Rose impression my 16 year old lungs could muster, then with a guitarist whose passion for mimicking Slash and Jimmy page matched that of my adamant vocal stylistics to the classic rock tradition. I'll be the first to admit it, it sounded like sh%^, but it was a step. To be continued.