Growing up in a family of musicians, there’s a bit of a shadow that is cast over your life. Not a bad shadow, mind you, just an ever-present expectation that you probably have that talent too and not honing it might be a disservice to… well honestly I have no idea. I don’t think the world is waiting for me to do anything here. The thing is, most of my family plays Guitar (and pretty well too), to the point where I started wondering if this was going to be what I needed to do: play guitar, be like them and just be happy. Weirdly enough, this is not what happened at all, and I think that expectation of learning the Guitar broke me in a funny way because to this day it’s my least favorite instrument and I have very little desire in learning it.
In the 6th grade I ended up learning Cello which I think suits me pretty well. Bass clef is pretty great, I was usually at least 2nd or 3rd chair (probably deserved a worse seat) and I would continue to do that until graduation of high school. This instrument and its classes taught me a lot of things, such as how to be competitive in something that probably shouldn’t be (UIL), how to play gigs and put together set lists that won’t bore people, and more importantly how to work with multiple parts of a moving puzzle and make sure you’re blending in correctly. With the latter, it enabled me to play in a production of Annie Get Your Gun with a full symphony, something that I look back on with a great amount of pride.
Years have gone by and my musical life has evolved in weird ways, from learning and teaching the Ukulele, doing some Barbershop Quartet here and there and even attempting to learn the Harmonica, which by all accounts is the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to teach myself and I’ve never been more humbled in my entire life. But throughout all of this time, there was an instrument that I never really expected to lift me where I think I truly want to be, and I never thought more about it because it was just a role in a party video game that no one wanted to do because it was either loud, hard or the kick pedal didn’t make sense.
After playing Rock Band for so many years, buying an e-kit and just learning as I go, I’ve become mad okay at the instrument. I’m still trying to get down paradiddles and learning how to conserve energy but I’ve been wanting more and more for quite a while. Throughout my entire life I’ve been looking back at my orchestra days and missing being in a group, a part of something bigger. A friend recently let me sit in a session with their band that they’re looking to bring back after the pandemic put a wrench in things, and while I’m no professional, I was able to actually hold my own and use everything that i’ve learned to at least trick them into thinking I’m okay.
All of this is to say I’ve recently joined a band as a drummer, and while nothing is set in stone yet and I can’t share the name or any tracks, I’m looking forward to investing myself in this project. I’ve always wanted a way to express myself but I’m really not good at the “words” part, which is partially why I started this blog. But if I can’t sing or write it, I sure as hell can play it, and I’ll do my best doing it too.
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