The Keyboard That Made This House Its Home.

So Sunday I was asked to perform a poem based on a status I randomly posted. I was hesitant, I don't consider myself a poet, a lyricist maybe...so I said I'd work on a song instead, it's easier to sing infront of a crowd as opposed to speaking to them. I was adamant. Theme in tow, I started playing with phrases till one sounded musical so I let it become the backbone that demands fleshing up. Finished the draft, 'recorded' it for posterity's sake and it slipped my mind. 

Till yesterday when I stood next to the keyboard and step by steady step found the notes for the whole tune. Intro led to the verse, and in one fell swoop the whole song was taking shape. It didn't sound like I hear it in my head, the soundtrack to every song I pen is an orchestra complete with a harp. It, however sounded exactly the way I was singing it. So I wrote every note, painstakingly because that is the only way to document progress. I'm singing it in two weeks. 

Why won't I keep calm about that keyboard? I convinced myself I could never play an instrument. It was all me. I listened to everyone around me bang note upon amazing note, or strum it and I whispered poisonous profanities to my soul, I was incapable of exuding such awesomeness. I was comfortable in the mundane, in my mediocrity I reveled, oh its raindrops felt like golden showers on my skin. Growth, it demands tearing yourself from the familiar, and learning to navigate upon the murky tempestuous waters of novelty. The keyboard made our house its home, and with it my curiosity was sparked. 

The first song I was able to make out by myself was "Oh ye wolves in sheep's clothing..." Its a hymn we did last year at Michael Joseph Center, the first time in my life I was asked for an encore! So everyday I dare myself to try out a new song, by ear. Titanium was my motivation...find the notes, eventually the chords will come. I can play the chorus, the verse however I gotta refer to my journal but who's worried about that?

I am learning something I already knew, discovering the keyboard is a little like discovering your voice. Or Yourself. You fumble and stumble in the dark, eventually you start to get accustomed to the madness. I am learning that trying teaches you more than theory ever could. Do I wanna become a pianist extraordinaire*? Not really. Last year Kathy Kiragu told me to train myself to aleast play the melody of any song I write on the keyboard. It would ensure that no matter who I play with, they would hear it as I want it to sound before they improvise. Composing 101. Me play? Me? I told her I'd learn. That was the end of that discussion.

I am learning, albeit in a snail-paced manner. My housemate tells me I have awesome pitch. He's probably lying, the rascal! Still trying and seeing that I can pull off a chorus, a verse, it's encouraging me to wanna stretch the bounds of my 'new found skills'. I wonder what I can do in six months, if I fiddle with the keys. Maybe I'll play a whole song by myself. So every note I correctly make out on the keyboard is an ode to life, I can do whatever I gravitate towards if I dare myself and believe. It takes ten thousand hours to become awesome at something. The clock is ticking. Scales make a singer, playing them makes a 'composer.' I am becoming.