I thought I would never get anywhere until my aunt made me practice hard and made me become better. “Drop your jaw and open up your mouth,” my aunt instructed me when I was learning my first solo for choir. I never sang out or asked questions in 6th grade. Now that I have been in choir for 7 years I have learned to sing out more and to be who I am. Acting like a little kid hiding behind their mom only I was hiding behind myself.  I was afraid of people judging me if I sang the wrong note. I now know that if I sing out I can get corrected on things I am doing wrong. Not only is singing a hobby it is also a chosen lifestyle by almost thousands of people. Everyone can sing, but the ones who choose to learn how to use it become great. If I had never heard my aunt singing all those years ago from the time I was 4 to even now I probably would have never started singing. Singing is meaningful to me because it can lift up my spirits when I am down and at some points it just makes me happier. Music brings a certain understanding between languages. Songs come in many different languages and it connects us all. I remember when I was told, “Caitlyn you have a lovely voice. Sing out,” by my choir teacher Mrs. Hope. It gave me the confidence to practice and to better myself for the future. Being part of a choir or just singing solo is a great and wonderful way to become comfortable with who you are. Learning and knowing how to sing are two different things. Learning is getting to know the basics. Such as sight reading, solfedging and learning how to find DO. Knowing is already having that knowledge of how to portray these things. With the knowledge of key signatures one can identify how many beats per measure and what note gets the beat. Being able to sight read helps out the singer tremendously when learning a new song quickly and more efficiently. I love sight reading because I just love the way the notes dance around in my head before i release them from my lips. Just hearing others sing makes me want to automatically join in. Most of the time I sing because I want to not because I have to. When singing songs for class I fall in love with the notes and the way the harmonies and melodies just fit together like glorious puzzle pieces. Just the way voices fill up a room when people open up their mouths to let the wonderful, blissful sound of their voices ring down the hall. For me I love singing a song with a meaning behind it. A song with meaning to it is a way for the reader to connect to the composer.

Connecting through music is one of the strongest bonds anyone can have to another. Like i have said before, singing brings me my happiness. Without singing I would most likely still be that shy little girl I was 6 years ago. Never coming forward or asking questions. Singing can change you. I know it has changed me in many different ways. It has changed me physically by helping me become more open and expressive. Whenever I sing all of my emotions just seem to melt away like snow. My mind, I believe, has become stronger and more focussed. From singing I have learned that sometimes it is great to just be loud and proud of who you are and what you do.