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[solarpsychedelic]

solarpsychedelic · illuminations of then

An EP I composed and recorded as a musical exploration..

Last year, instead of spending my holiday gift money on several small things, I decided to spend it on one speciality item and that item ended up being my MIDI keyboard.

I took piano lessons when I was young and I can’t say that I always enjoyed them. After learning the fundamentals and experiencing the excitement of making noise, I felt like I got stuck in exercises, and the fun and passion went out.

My teacher was a serious musician committed to classical music and she frowned on jazzy improvisation and self-expression. I felt frustrated and bored, like I wasn’t making progression, and dropped out.

Later on, as an adult, I had a better understanding of my teacher’s views and why practice and exercises were important. Being any kind of a musician is a rough road to travel. Being a classical musician is the hardest, because they spend years investing time, money, talent, and endless practice into an art form that fewer people appreciate.

(My statement is not to put down other genres of music, but to acknowledge classical as an under-appreciated art form.)

I felt regret about missing out on the fun side of music, so I got a basic Casio keyboard. I warmed up with exercises, then gave myself the permission to noodle around and have fun. It was healing and finally I felt like I had progressed. Then life got busy and I had other creative outlets, namely writing and photography.

Then for whatever reason, I started thinking about music again last year and got the MIDI keyboard and started to learn how to use Ableton and GarageBand.

It’s been wonderful to get back into music. As much as I like writing and photography, there is something transcendent about music.