Reverb: The Official UTF Blog

Music has been a very central part of my life from an early age. As a small child, my dad played records by artists who were true musicians, singers, and artists. My dad’s record collection consisted mostly of R&B, Soul, and Funk music. I grew up listening to Prince, Luther Vandross, the Gap Band, Earth Wind & Fire, Parliament Funkadelic and yes, the Acid Queen herself: Tina Turner. I loved the sounds flowing through my dad’s speakers and was curious about the different instruments that made those sounds. While curious, I admit that the thought never occurred that I should play one of those instruments.

My dad played electric guitar and tenor/baritone sax when he was younger. Surprisingly, he stopped playing once he married his high school sweetheart (my mother) after graduating high school. Now, my mother never played any instruments but always wanted to take up piano. Unfortunately for me, she decided to live her dreams vicariously through me when I got older. I was “forced” to take up piano lessons after school; I hated them. I had trouble reading sheet music for piano, and I hated the (boring) material my piano teacher had me play. I probably wouldn’t have played or taken lessons as long as I did (for 5 years), but my mother discovered that I had the gift for playing by ear. When I was around age 9 or 10, I played bits of a Prince tune on my paternal great grandmother’s piano, and my mom heard it. From that point forward, she strongly encouraged me to continue taking the lessons. Now, while I hated the lessons, I didn’t entirely hate the piano. I liked playing cool things I heard on the radio on my keyboard at home, but the music my piano teacher had me play was extremely boring and unsatisfying. However, I did find that I liked to perform live. I sometimes played a tune, here or there, at Sunday church services with my god sister; she also took the lessons with me. For someone who was/is shy, it probably sounds odd that I liked playing live, but I got a high off of it and enjoyed the applause. While playing at Sunday church services was exhilarating, I was ready to move on to a more exciting instrument. Read more