Music is what feelings sound like

So music has always been a part of my life...

«Wait! Are you doing this everyday now?
What happened to you not liking to write?»

Well, I'm a bit bored and I had this idea in my head already and I wanted to put up some new stuff on the side bar to the right, there...

«Oh. OK.»

The posts will be more frequent at first as I'm establishing everything, getting my bearings, finding my voice, etc...

«Sure that all makes sense.»

Is that OK with you? I have your leave, then?

«Yeah, go ahead. Carry on.»

(...Jeez. Who's blog is this anyway?)
...So music has always been a part of my life. I have participated in producing it — vocal and instrumental — as well as listening to it. It has always brought me great enjoyment. Both of my parents were involved in music, so it was quite natural for me and my siblings to pick it up. We were always singing, I took piano lessons from quite a young age until high school, even picked up a bit or organ, I played clarinet in school, played some drums as well, sang in choirs, and performed in musicals. Yet even with all that, I don't feel I'm that good at anything musical. Decent, but not great. Having said that, I do still feel somewhat competent musically and I believe I have some potential beyond the level at which I currently perform. I try not to hide my talents a lot more now, which helps to develop them (more than I'd expected, too). I take more time to practice, particularly the piano, trying things that stretch my abilities, improve my skills, and force me to learn new things. I've always want to learn more musical theory, and I've even considered taking lessons again. I have also considered expanding my talents to other common instruments like the guitar.

«Good for you.»

Yes, and besides making music I've been working on my music appreciation in general.

«Wha...? How could you be that involved and need to appreciate music more?»

Obviously, I really appreciate music and I don't think one could appreciate it too much, but I guess I mean more being able to talk about music that I like coherently. I've always know what I liked in music, but was never good at naming songs or bands. I wasn't one who collected CDs or mp3s. I could say I liked pretty much all kinds of music besides raunchy hip-hop or rap, or country (*shudder* that's a whole other story), yet I couldn't say what was my favorite. Recently I've become much better at identifying what I like the best. It began simply, but I have found something amazing that has made a big difference. I take no real credit for this discovery and for many it is old, old news. I had heard about this website called Pandora (link on the right side too), but it was some time before I made the time to truly check it out. I love it! It has helped me so much in identifying and listening to what I like. It's helped me bring a lot of things together in an enjoyable way. At the right you'll also see a list of groups that I like. It is by no means a complete list and really only includes the top genres of music that I like to listen to regularly. Besides what's listed I really like Jazz, classical, Reggie, and a cappella — to name a few.

«Hey, wow. Looks like you're coming into your own now.»

Yeah. I feel like this is an important part of myself. Developing and understanding it better can only help to make me a better, more complete, and thriving individual.