When I was five years old, my parents signed me up for my first music lesson. “Lesson” was a far-cry statement – it was a teacher with four five-year-olds sitting in a circle creating a ruckus with the various instruments in the room. Despite what the lesson actually was, that was when my music career began. Nine months later, I would begin taking private piano lessons – one thirty-minute-lesson every week – with my parents urging me to practice during the hours in between. I did not enjoy practicing. I guess my attention span was not long enough, or I just did not have the discipline to practice. About a year later, I tried to learn the guitar, but it did not work too well for me. In the end, I decided to just stick with the piano.

Like most third-graders I knew, I was required to play the recorder for music class. I had a unique liking to the instrument – something about it was just so appealing. As a result, I was one of the better players in my class. In fifth grade, I had the option to join the band program. I hesitated, and missed my chance to join. Luckily, the band teacher still let me join two weeks later after my constant pleading. I chose to play the saxophone – it was similar to the recorder, and I was able to pick it up very quickly. Had it not been for my band teacher, who would eventually become my saxophone teacher, I would have never thought about learning how to play the saxophone. (more…)