By Josef Montejano
I was fourteen years old in my freshman year when I got into music, and it has stayed with me ever since. I’m not doing music as a profession right now, but rather as a hobby. Learning to play has also helped me take one step away from my depression.
I remember sitting with my laptop on my lap and playing a digital piano in my living room, typing different keys to match a song. Then I thought, “This doesn’t sound as nice as a real piano.” That’s when it came to me—my mom had a keyboard she had used that was stored in my closet. I remember jumping off my couch and going upstairs and into my room.
The keyboard was stuck in the corner of my closet, and I struggled pulling it out. Finally being able to remove it revealed a Casio WK-200. The keyboard looked very dusty as if no one had used it for years, but that didn’t matter to me. As long as it can power on, I’m set.
I carefully brought it downstairs in excitement getting ready to try something new in my life. Then I forgot that keyboards need to be powered with a power cable or D-size batteries, one of which I didn’t have. I quickly rushed back upstairs to my mom and asked “Hey mama, do you know where the cable for the keyboard is at?”
She responded, “I think the last time I saw it was on the shelf in the hallway”. I went ahead to check and there stood a box with piles of old pictures, frames, and my mom’s employee of the month awards so I had to check in deep.
It took some time, but there I found it, tangled up and dusty as ever. I took it, thanked my mom, and ran downstairs. I plugged in the cord to (what is now) my keyboard and sat it on my lap. It felt pretty light for something large. I powered it on, and the small screen in the center of the keyboard lit up. It had different sections cut in between it. One read what sound was being played. An image of the keys were displayed which indicated what notes were being hit. Not that it mattered as much, I knew where to start.
After some time on the digital piano , I already thought of which notes I should press. That’s when I hit my first note: E#/F. The tone of the note didn’t seem to sound right. It had this brief moment of sound when pressed, but then it would drop the moment I let go. It sounded very choppy with every note played: F-G-A. It didn’t seem to add up to those videos I’ve seen on Youtube.... Until I held the key down… and then this nice long soft soothing tone filled the area, of course it wasn’t really special but it sound pretty good.
After figuring out every key sound, I took everything I knew from the digital piano and played it on the keyboard. I remember playing like this…:-
(Song: Crossing Field by LiSa)
Then I told myself “This is amazing, this…. This I can do….” To me that meant I finally found something to help escape my depression. Before this, everyday felt negative. I was never really in my best moods. I’m always coming home to the same thing everyday and it just felt boring so I never really took things into consideration. I always tried new things, but then end up leaving them behind and do something else until that day. I’m also self taught. I never asked for a tutor; instead I search piano tutorials online and learn from that way.
Ever since then I’ve been playing and it’s always kept me in the mood. The more I played, the more I got comfortable with myself. It then got me to play some music for some people just for fun and help reduce my anxiety. Which explains the melodica you’d see me playing outside class. I’ve started off as a beginner, but now I play like an amateur. I played numerous songs, but none of them were as nice as this one…-
(Song: Overfly by Luna Haruna)
I had a conversation with someone who was into music as well, Jheremie Naval, a best friend of mine who shared his personal thoughts about his view of music and opinion about me.
“I thought it was random that you all of a sudden wanted to start playing piano, you were pretty good at the start also, but through the process of time and practicing, you got way better at it.”
He analyzed my playing and said I was the best musician he has ever heard. (Sarcasm)
“Music is honestly beneficial in my own perspective, it helps me think and put me at a state where I can be at peace. I feel like in solitary and I stayed in my mind of thoughts.”
According to the Effective Music Teaching website, music has several benefits when it comes to playing. One benefit is that it helps relieves stress, as described music therapy is useful in treating children or teens with depression,stress, and other disorders. Another is that it can help improve social skills. Many people who learn music will join bands or collab with musician and that helps build a bond through the activities you participate in with them.
Also, according to an article in Inc. by John Rampton, having a child learn to play music can help protect them against dementia and be a treatment for dyslexic children. It’s also said that music can increase blood flow in your brain. Just by simply training, the blood will flow to the left side of your brain, which gives off this burst of energy in your body.
As of today I still continue to learn; the more I practiced, the more I understood something. Life is full of big moments, little moments, and in between moments. It won’t always be glamorous or crummy, but most of the time, it just is. And you just have to appreciate all of these moments. Because if you don’t you’ll always be in a state of dissatisfaction.
You’ll always be waiting for the next big thing without appreciating the moments you’ve had. And those in between moments? Without those, you wouldn’t have much of a story. Never forget that. Always appreciate the subtleties of life.
I remember sitting with my laptop on my lap and playing a digital piano in my living room, typing different keys to match a song. Then I thought, “This doesn’t sound as nice as a real piano.” That’s when it came to me—my mom had a keyboard she had used that was stored in my closet. I remember jumping off my couch and going upstairs and into my room.
The keyboard was stuck in the corner of my closet, and I struggled pulling it out. Finally being able to remove it revealed a Casio WK-200. The keyboard looked very dusty as if no one had used it for years, but that didn’t matter to me. As long as it can power on, I’m set.
I carefully brought it downstairs in excitement getting ready to try something new in my life. Then I forgot that keyboards need to be powered with a power cable or D-size batteries, one of which I didn’t have. I quickly rushed back upstairs to my mom and asked “Hey mama, do you know where the cable for the keyboard is at?”
She responded, “I think the last time I saw it was on the shelf in the hallway”. I went ahead to check and there stood a box with piles of old pictures, frames, and my mom’s employee of the month awards so I had to check in deep.
It took some time, but there I found it, tangled up and dusty as ever. I took it, thanked my mom, and ran downstairs. I plugged in the cord to (what is now) my keyboard and sat it on my lap. It felt pretty light for something large. I powered it on, and the small screen in the center of the keyboard lit up. It had different sections cut in between it. One read what sound was being played. An image of the keys were displayed which indicated what notes were being hit. Not that it mattered as much, I knew where to start.
After some time on the digital piano , I already thought of which notes I should press. That’s when I hit my first note: E#/F. The tone of the note didn’t seem to sound right. It had this brief moment of sound when pressed, but then it would drop the moment I let go. It sounded very choppy with every note played: F-G-A. It didn’t seem to add up to those videos I’ve seen on Youtube.... Until I held the key down… and then this nice long soft soothing tone filled the area, of course it wasn’t really special but it sound pretty good.
After figuring out every key sound, I took everything I knew from the digital piano and played it on the keyboard. I remember playing like this…:-
(Song: Crossing Field by LiSa)
Then I told myself “This is amazing, this…. This I can do….” To me that meant I finally found something to help escape my depression. Before this, everyday felt negative. I was never really in my best moods. I’m always coming home to the same thing everyday and it just felt boring so I never really took things into consideration. I always tried new things, but then end up leaving them behind and do something else until that day. I’m also self taught. I never asked for a tutor; instead I search piano tutorials online and learn from that way.
Ever since then I’ve been playing and it’s always kept me in the mood. The more I played, the more I got comfortable with myself. It then got me to play some music for some people just for fun and help reduce my anxiety. Which explains the melodica you’d see me playing outside class. I’ve started off as a beginner, but now I play like an amateur. I played numerous songs, but none of them were as nice as this one…-
(Song: Overfly by Luna Haruna)
I had a conversation with someone who was into music as well, Jheremie Naval, a best friend of mine who shared his personal thoughts about his view of music and opinion about me.
“I thought it was random that you all of a sudden wanted to start playing piano, you were pretty good at the start also, but through the process of time and practicing, you got way better at it.”
He analyzed my playing and said I was the best musician he has ever heard. (Sarcasm)
“Music is honestly beneficial in my own perspective, it helps me think and put me at a state where I can be at peace. I feel like in solitary and I stayed in my mind of thoughts.”
According to the Effective Music Teaching website, music has several benefits when it comes to playing. One benefit is that it helps relieves stress, as described music therapy is useful in treating children or teens with depression,stress, and other disorders. Another is that it can help improve social skills. Many people who learn music will join bands or collab with musician and that helps build a bond through the activities you participate in with them.
Also, according to an article in Inc. by John Rampton, having a child learn to play music can help protect them against dementia and be a treatment for dyslexic children. It’s also said that music can increase blood flow in your brain. Just by simply training, the blood will flow to the left side of your brain, which gives off this burst of energy in your body.
As of today I still continue to learn; the more I practiced, the more I understood something. Life is full of big moments, little moments, and in between moments. It won’t always be glamorous or crummy, but most of the time, it just is. And you just have to appreciate all of these moments. Because if you don’t you’ll always be in a state of dissatisfaction.
You’ll always be waiting for the next big thing without appreciating the moments you’ve had. And those in between moments? Without those, you wouldn’t have much of a story. Never forget that. Always appreciate the subtleties of life.