Monday, the morning lecture covers concentration. The music director provides lengthy music tracks. I do a report on the day’s exercise, and it gets a recommendation. I understand that the mastering of concentration can reveal the hidden elements in music that makes it melodious. Tuesday, I polish on the learned piano chords. The music director demands that no reference should be in any learning materials. I confidently play the pieces of music. My music director is surprised by how well I combine both the simple and complex chords. I enjoy the presentation and feel my confidence well built. Wednesday, cripples me with a sore throat. The music director advises that I take the day off, but I just sit in class and listen to others do their practice. I get challenged to put more effort as soon as my throat got well. Thursday, I sit at the piano at home and write a simple song. A classmate checks up on me. I do a piece for him, and he advises me on some corrections. The music director also calls on me, finds us perfecting the piece, and he is proud. I feel moved by their concern for me.
Friday, I present my simple song to the class. They are surprised, as I was, on how well I could hit high notes despite living under a two-day sore throat. My classmates take their time and listen to my music. It was considered a masterpiece and I feel proud. Saturday, I sit for my theory examination in the morning and practical later that afternoon. The exam involving writing progressions of a song and later playing the written pieces during the practical session. Having done and perfected one before, it was quite an easy examination. I top the class. I feel that the hard work never goes unrewarded. Sunday, I go to church and volunteer to play the piano. Surprisingly, I am requested to teach the young children a song. I teach them the two songs I wrote during the week. They get excited at the sweet melodies. I feel satisfied and glad that the week was a success.
Analysis of the Week’s Experience
Monday morning lecture covered the topic concentration. I noted that I listened to music for assignments and exercise recklessly and passively. While some music tracks are boring and long, concentrating on detail while the song was being played brought to concern some elements in the music that bring out the melody (Stein, 2005). I learned that listening to the music over and again was not boring. In fact, it got sweeter each and every time. The lessening of the boredom in a song was because of identifying of a new and interesting element used in the musical piece. A mind concentrating on the instruments used in a musical piece would enjoy more as compared to that listening only to the lyrics. Tuesday dawned and brought determination of perfecting the piano chords learned before. The directive that no reference materials were to get used during the practice session brought out the possibility of mastering music. Playing pieces of music with no prepared reference materials results to the courage and competence of an instrumentalist. The instrumentalist would also enjoy when fully involved in the music with no reference interference. Wednesday turned out to be an unfortunate day. I woke up with a sore throat. It was a day I planned to work on my vocals, so I attended school. The sore voice would not let me enjoy the music that I sang and played. My music director advised me to take some time off. I did not leave the premises immediately. I sat and listened to other classmates do their assigned pieces of music. I began thinking of what people heard every time I sang. No one would fancy listening to unmelodious compositions. I got challenged to work on my vocals as soon as my throat got well.
I did not go to school on Thursday because of a sore throat. I sat at the family piano and composed a song. A classmate checked up on me. I proudly played the piece I worked on all day. He commended my work and made some alterations. I missed Thursday’s lecture, and that would have been bad if I did not employ what the music director had taught. Later on, the schools music director showed up and found us playing the piece of music. He felt proud. On Friday, I presented my piece to my classmates who learned it quite quickly. It got approved as a masterpiece to be listened to and analyzed in the report. I felt proud. Everyone was surprised, just as I was, at how I could hit the high notes after living for two days under a sore throat. My confidence got boosted, and I realized that I had potential (Meltzer, 2010). I sat for theory and practical examination on Saturday, which was in my favor. Not only was it an opportunity to proceed with my music classes, but also an opportunity to write another song. The test was easy since I had written a song within the last two days. The degree of perfection in the second song that week was higher. Having presented the song I did in class made it easy to go through the practical bit of the examination. Teaching young children the two songs I wrote during the week was the climax of the week. Seeing them so excited would not have been more satisfactory. The music, being teachable to children left me surprised at how effective the objective of music can get achieved with different target groups. At week’s end, I felt energized due to the results of the work done all week. I had the urge to live instilled in me because of the achievements of that week. The relationship with friends changed positively. I had classmates who looked up to me. Most felt that they would do music that, however simple, would embody the sweetness intended. At church, I created a good relationship with the children. I am sure they will look up to me to teach them another sweet song. The potential I displayed while that one week brought my teacher and I closer.
Finally, my goals did change. With the resources and knowledge at the music school, I would make some children happy using music. Every week, my goal would be to have a song perfectly done, and easy enough to teach the children. The current identity status is foreclosure where I have made a commitment to teaching the children new songs each week. It is foreclosure because no alternatives have gotten explored (Marcia, Waterman, Matteson, Archer, & Orlofsky, 1993).
References
Marcia, J. E., Waterman, A. S., Matteson, D. R., Archer, S. L., & Orlofsky, J. L. (1993). Ego Identity: A Handbook for Psychosocial Research. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.
Meltzer, M. (2010). Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music. New York: Faber and Faber
Stein, D. J. (Ed.). (2005). Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
