When I was three to five years old my mom was in a Christmas play at our church. I think I may have done some music stuff before, but not much. The church had a kid's choir that was singing a few songs in the play, but they had some troubles with it. The first night of the performance the worship director looked over and noticed that me and my friend were singing along with the entire play! We had memorized it during the practices, our moms both being in the play. So the worship director asked if we could do it with the big kids.
I'm not sure how good an idea that was. When it was our group's turn to sing, I noticed there was a microphone just standing there. It was obviously there just for me, so I picked it up and started singing into it. Meanwhile my friend started dancing to it. Our moms could not do much about it because they were up with the choir in front of everyone.
So for the next few years I sang in various children's choirs, usually led by my mother. It was a lot of fun! I was also in children's plays, also usually directed by my mother. Meanwhile my mom started trying to teach me piano. It would have gone well, except that what I really wanted to play was guitar. I was obviously a rock star, everybody else just didn't realize it.
The first instrument I actually started learning was the trombone. My parents had started us up with a homeschool concert band, led by an amazing director. It was really fun! For a while I was struggling a lot to do everything right, but after a while I started to get it. Now I can do it pretty well, and I have a lot of fun playing it. Interestingly that was when I started to learn to read music for singing, so when I was in church choir I could read the male parts.
The second instrument I learned, and my absolute most favorite instrument ever, was the guitar. I started learning on my mom's acoustic guitar, but I did not like it very much. It was just to big for me, since I was only eleven. Soon, however, we learned that the intern was setting up a youth band, so I signed up.
This time I was able to use my dad's electric, which was a lot easier to hold and play. The leader taught me how to play the guitar, use the capo, tune the guitar, all that jazz. Eventually we played for the church during a youth Sunday! I have heard since then that I was not the best guitarist in the world, but it was fun!
After the intern left the youth band continued for a little bit, then just kind of died. Nobody was able to lead it. I stopped practicing guitar because there was no reason for me to play.
After a while I started to pick up guitar again. My dad had recently gotten a Martin acoustic, and since I had grown I was able to actually reach around the guitar to play. I started using an app to learn a lot of my favorite songs. I soon got a lot better than I had been, and was interested in starting a band.
My youth minister had gotten a bunch of new teenagers to join the teen leaders group, where we basically helped lead the youth group. We each had jobs that we were supposed to perform, and I asked if I could represent our special needs ministry and act as the music and drama coordinator. As part of the second I wanted to start back up the youth band. It took about a year to set up, but eventually we got to the point where we could start practicing.
I played acoustic and sang, while we had a pianist, drummer, bassist, flute, and a lot of singers! We started out playing for kid's church, just playing about three songs. That summer when we started we had a week long youth event that ended in a lock-in, where we played five or six songs. That was a big change!
Starting that fall we played twice a month, once for youth group and once for kid's church, plus a few special events. We usually played three songs a set, before one of which I'd break down the song to get the meaning across. I wanted everyone to understand how powerful the lyrics were. Most of the time we sing all the songs at church and never fully digest the meaning, but that's a topic for another time.
I led that group for about a year, and would occasionally pick up my electric, but I didn't have a good amp for it. We played in church once, a talent show, etc. I enjoyed it a lot, and I liked helping everyone grow both in music and in Christ. Eventually all things come to and end, however. After a couple months of doing it my family decided to move, so I had to drop it.
So now I am about to move to a new area. I have been in musical activities for a while, and have gained a lot through them. I'm not sure where I'll be playing next, but I am sure of one thing: wherever and whatever I play I will do for the glory of God, and I hope I am able to help people grow in Christ through my music.
I'm not sure how good an idea that was. When it was our group's turn to sing, I noticed there was a microphone just standing there. It was obviously there just for me, so I picked it up and started singing into it. Meanwhile my friend started dancing to it. Our moms could not do much about it because they were up with the choir in front of everyone.
So for the next few years I sang in various children's choirs, usually led by my mother. It was a lot of fun! I was also in children's plays, also usually directed by my mother. Meanwhile my mom started trying to teach me piano. It would have gone well, except that what I really wanted to play was guitar. I was obviously a rock star, everybody else just didn't realize it.
The first instrument I actually started learning was the trombone. My parents had started us up with a homeschool concert band, led by an amazing director. It was really fun! For a while I was struggling a lot to do everything right, but after a while I started to get it. Now I can do it pretty well, and I have a lot of fun playing it. Interestingly that was when I started to learn to read music for singing, so when I was in church choir I could read the male parts.
The second instrument I learned, and my absolute most favorite instrument ever, was the guitar. I started learning on my mom's acoustic guitar, but I did not like it very much. It was just to big for me, since I was only eleven. Soon, however, we learned that the intern was setting up a youth band, so I signed up.
This time I was able to use my dad's electric, which was a lot easier to hold and play. The leader taught me how to play the guitar, use the capo, tune the guitar, all that jazz. Eventually we played for the church during a youth Sunday! I have heard since then that I was not the best guitarist in the world, but it was fun!
After the intern left the youth band continued for a little bit, then just kind of died. Nobody was able to lead it. I stopped practicing guitar because there was no reason for me to play.
After a while I started to pick up guitar again. My dad had recently gotten a Martin acoustic, and since I had grown I was able to actually reach around the guitar to play. I started using an app to learn a lot of my favorite songs. I soon got a lot better than I had been, and was interested in starting a band.
My youth minister had gotten a bunch of new teenagers to join the teen leaders group, where we basically helped lead the youth group. We each had jobs that we were supposed to perform, and I asked if I could represent our special needs ministry and act as the music and drama coordinator. As part of the second I wanted to start back up the youth band. It took about a year to set up, but eventually we got to the point where we could start practicing.
I played acoustic and sang, while we had a pianist, drummer, bassist, flute, and a lot of singers! We started out playing for kid's church, just playing about three songs. That summer when we started we had a week long youth event that ended in a lock-in, where we played five or six songs. That was a big change!
Starting that fall we played twice a month, once for youth group and once for kid's church, plus a few special events. We usually played three songs a set, before one of which I'd break down the song to get the meaning across. I wanted everyone to understand how powerful the lyrics were. Most of the time we sing all the songs at church and never fully digest the meaning, but that's a topic for another time.
I led that group for about a year, and would occasionally pick up my electric, but I didn't have a good amp for it. We played in church once, a talent show, etc. I enjoyed it a lot, and I liked helping everyone grow both in music and in Christ. Eventually all things come to and end, however. After a couple months of doing it my family decided to move, so I had to drop it.
So now I am about to move to a new area. I have been in musical activities for a while, and have gained a lot through them. I'm not sure where I'll be playing next, but I am sure of one thing: wherever and whatever I play I will do for the glory of God, and I hope I am able to help people grow in Christ through my music.