The music in me: classical and jazz

Among my plethora of passions and interests, I definitely think singing is the one I’m best at. I’ve been singing since I was able to phonate. Some footage of my parents singing a duet at my uncle’s wedding shows me, cradled in my mom’s arms, babbling into the microphone and stealing the spotlight. I never stopped singing!

I found a video of my very first time singing for an audience, when I was 5. Here it is:

I think I was really good for a 5 year old!! When I listen to this recording now, I feel so impressed with my baby self for having a clear understanding of the soulful pop style of the song, and for being able to do those riffs and belts. For my entire childhood I continued to cultivate my musical knowledge and practice.

I grew up in the children’s choir in my church, and while I was in it, I found that I was a musical perfectionist. I would be painfully aware of when the choir was slightly flat or sharp. I would feel annoyed if I noticed the choir falling out of tempo. I was a little 8 year old Amanda, getting pissed at all these innocent kids for not being professionals, which is kinda hilarious.

Those kinds of experiences kind of made me hate being in choirs. I joined choir in middle school and I didn’t love it, either. I was like, “okay, choir isn’t my thing, and I’m not going to do it anymore.”

Then, in my sophomore year of high school, the choir teacher at my school heard my voice and pushed me to audition for choir. And I was like, no. To my surprise, despite skipping auditions, I found myself on the list for the highest level classical choir (Chamber) and the highest level vocal jazz group (Jazz 1). I was like, no, I’m not gonna do it. I ended up giving in and doing it. And it was THE BEST DECISION EVER. I haven’t the slightest clue of where I would be now if I didn’t choose to join choir.

In chamber and jazz, we were determined to put something on the stage that was truly good. Rehearsals were spent marking and memorizing exactly what vowel to use, exactly how long to hold a note, exactly when to cut off. We worked on dynamics and style and tone. For the first time I realized how challenging yet fun it was to make good music with other people. I learned that, even if I’m singing perfectly, the choir won’t sound any better unless we’re all working together. I loved collaborating with my friends. I loved that I had to focus on so many little aspects and details to make the music good. It was so meticulous. The musical perfectionist inside me was happy.

Both choirs required us to learn a bit about music theory, and I became totally fascinated with it. I never really cared for math or chemistry or any of that stuff, but MUSIC THEORY is where it’s at. While I wasn’t passionate about my required academic subjects or anything STEM, I was a total music theory fanatic. I loved sight singing and rhythms and, most of all, EAR TRAINING. It’s so freaking fun to me. Throughout senior year I was a huge nerd about ear training with my choir buddies. We would find the pitch of random things we heard around school. We would hear the bell ring and determine what note it was. I kept on training my ears and now I have perfect pitch, which basically just means I can recognize the pitch of any note or produce any given note without a reference note. I may not be able to do calculus, but I can do that!

I also discovered within myself tons of passion for singing both classical and jazz music. Before joining choir, I pretty much exclusively sang showtunes, so I really learned a lot about the vastly different styles. In chamber, my teacher would tell us to do one thing, and then a few hours later tell us to do the opposite in jazz. I found it SO fascinating! Classical choir music was all about resonance and crisp diction and blend and complete rhythmic/pitch accuracy. Jazz was all about IMPROVISATION and style and sometimes ditching blend.

Here’s one of my performances in chamber choir from junior year (I have the solo in the first half):

And here’s a jaaaazzy solo I did with the Jazz Band for my school’s holiday album:

Music and singing is like my world. I love it so much. Music taught me to be detail-oriented and flexible with multiple styles. It taught me to focus on many things all at once. It taught me to improvise. It taught me to see music in all my surroundings, and apply my knowledge to things I see or hear every day. It shaped me into a lover of TEAMWORK and COLLABORATION. It also turned me into a good leader. I might be a psychology major right now if I didn’t choose to do choir. I’m so glad that I’m instead pursuing what I’m in love with.