I spent most of my childhood dancing, singing and air guitaring in front of the mirror to my favourite CDs. I was copying moves from the likes of all my favourite artists including:
- Shania Twain
- Avril Lavigne
- Britney Spears
- Shaggy
And I pretended to play the guitar whilst I imitated my childhood favourite rock legends including:
- Led Zepplin
- Aerosmith
- Jimi Hendrix
- Dire Straits
- Pink Floyd
First Taste of Playing an Instrument
I remember my first real taste of playing an instrument. Whenever I visited my grandparents, i would head straight to the piano, which I would spend hours on just making up random melodies and songs. When I first saw the orchestra play at school, I was fixated on the elegance of the violin, and that evening, I told my mum I would love to play. So, my generous parents and grandparents all chipped in to make sure I was able to get violin lessons. I did this up until secondary school, and was able to obtain my Grade 2, despite still not being able to read music whilst playing, as I memorised every song that could have come up in the exam and just pretended to be reading it.
First Few Tastes of Performing
In year 6 I performed as the Tin Man in the school play, but I worried the heck out of my teacher, as I didn’t learn my lines until the day of the play, and despite this I still managed to pull out a good performance with my peers. (I’ll keep an eye out for the photographic evidence as i know it exists 😂)
After primary, I attended some lessons and Pauline Quirke Academy for performing arts, which was a fruitful experience making a few friends, but I think I realised during this time that acting wasn’t as fulfilling for me.
My first taste of performing a song, was for the Midsummer Music event at the school I attended. I got my time to shine in year 10, where I performed B.o.B – Magic, which I still perform to this day, because, well the rap is epic, it’s so fun, and the songs aged well, it still pulls in a crowd.
Before the performance, I had so much confidence, nothing could stop me… and up to the second verse, everything was going to plan. Then I noticed my ex-boyfriend sat at the front of the crowd and my mind froze. I don’t know why but I guess that’s somewhat a normal human reaction. Anyway, I forget the words to the second verse, so I decided to replace the rap with an old time Eminem favourite – When I’m Gone – which completely changed the tone of the performance but also fitted into the tempo and beat perfectly, and to my surprise a row of people at the back of the crowd were singing and dancing to the Eminem rap, despite the mishap. In fact, it had more of a reaction than the first verse as I guess it was more well known to that crowd.
I guess looking back at this moment reminds me that mistakes can often actually improve a result, overall. If you try to see the silver lining, rectify the mistake quickly if necessary and learn from it, something will come from it. Sometimes in the moment, sometimes after, but eventually it will enrich your life in some way.