Any Musicians Here?

[Rae]

Wow! Lots of instruments!
I personally am a TERRIBLE singer! I have my mother's range which is quite large, but I have my dad's ability to actually carry a tune, so I'm all over the place when I sing! lolol

[Wade]

I play a little guitar and sing (mostly for the lulz). I play piano quite seriously though. I'm currently working on a Bachelor's degree in music, which is a lot of work (derp).

I took piano lessons starting at age seven until I was fifteen and participated in a program called Certificate of Merit which was an annual giant exam that included performing specific memorized repertoire pieces, written theory exams, and an aural exam. There are ten levels (one level per year) and if you passed level ten you are considered an "Accomplished Pianist" by the Music Teacher's Association of California, and you're given a special piece of paper and everything! I made it level 8 before I quit. I was pretty good.

The bummer is after I quit (because my teacher moved away and I lost interest) I didn't really play again for years. When I was twenty one I fell into a job as a Music Director for a performing arts focused day program for adults with developmental disabilities. I got the job, and created the music program from scratch, basically because I said I had taken some piano lessons as a kid. But the thing about piano is that playing it is really not like riding a bike at all. You know what I mean? Of course you do: When you pop a tire on a piano, you really can't use a bicycle pump to fix it............ what?

What I meant to say is that I kind of forgot everything. I had to reteach myself everything I had forgotten. I ended up really loving it and started composing incidental music for the first time for plays that we wrote and toured as a company. Then I started writing little funny (that's subjective) musicals. I enjoyed the process so much I decided to quit my job and go back to school to learn how to do it properly. Yay!

I'm still learning. The thing about music (and probably everything) is that every bit of progress you make is met with a growing realization of just how much you truly don't know.

In terms of composing, I avoid using the software. My school requires all music students to purchase a macbook pro (I'm serious) and a shitload of programs. I was clearly very naive about how people write music today. I didn't really expect that... I should have, but I didn't. I'm not that keen on using computers. I totally understand that those programs are fantastic tools for those with the know how and patience, but I really thought that all I would need to write music is some candle light, a quill and some parchment. I mean, c'mone, I saw "Amadeus."