This I Believe

I believe that music is the ultimate form of self-expression.

My experiences have shown me this through jazz. Scatting is easily my favorite part of vocal jazz. You have this amazing freedom to do whatever you feel like at that particular moment. You just make it up on the spot! No one can dictate what notes you should sing or what words you should say.

My jazz teacher, Mrs. Schmidt, placed heavy emphasis on improvisation in our pieces last year. She encouraged everyone to try scatting at least once in class, and recommended practicing at home. One afternoon I decided to take her advice. I devoted an entire afternoon to experimenting with some of our songs, but my scatting felt unnatural and forced. I was trying to conform to what I thought scatting should sound like.

When my mom came home from work at around five, I had pretty much gotten tired of trying to make the perfect scat solo. So, I loosened up and went crazy! Suddenly, I felt more comfortable singing than I had all afternoon. Just by simply weaving my personality in and out of the notes.

That’s when it became clear to me. In order for your vocal impov. to be powerful and personal, you have to reinforce it with your own emotions. You have to put a little bit of yourself into your music.

Ever since my jazz epiphany, I’ve used music, any kind, not just jazz, to tell the world what I think.

Whether we realize it or not, I believe that we all express ourselves through music. When we associate ourselves with it, by listening, writing, singing or composing, we tell a lot about ourselves to the others around us. It helps let them know what our personalities are like, and what we think. They just have to accept it.