I Love Music

Back in the day, the O’Jays put out a song called, “I Love Music.” The lyrics went:

“I love music, any kind of music, I love music, just as long as it's groovy. Makes me laugh makes me smile for the world whenever I'm with you, girl. While we dance, make romance, I'm enchanted by the things that you do. I love music, sweet sweet music, long as it's swinging all the joy that it's bringing.”

I love this song because I love music … any kind of music - well, almost. My love for music started early. What a lot of people don’t know about me is that I started taking piano lessons at the age of five and didn’t stop until I went to college. I studied classical piano for years with my teacher, Mrs. Gurvitz who cultivated within me a love for music and an ear for the musical influences of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky. She would listen to and critique my playing while providing me with opportunities to grow my love for music, on my terms. To this day, classical music still carries a strong presence in my life, and it always will. 

Something else many people don’t know about me is that while I’m no flutist like Lizzo, I started playing this elegant instrument while in elementary school and continued for fun through college. I even tried the piccolo too but the amount of wind required to emote a sound always left me feeling dizzy, so that was a short-lived experience. Playing the flute brought me great joy, and I earned many competition awards both individually and with numerous duets and trios I collaborated with. I loved playing my flute, and I appreciate everyone who was tortured as I worked to master major, minor, pentatonic, whole tone, and chromatic scales. Thank you for your patience.

But with my love for the classics, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a finger snap and a toe tap to artists such as Prince, whose Controversy album got me put on punishment (my parents didn’t realize his lyrics were so - controversial), Journey, who reminded us to never stop believing, and Shania Twain, who told us all what it felt like to be a woman. Oh - and where would we be without the musical anthems that have shaped our lives like Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” and any song put out by Tupac or Biggie? 

This month, The Herd will be sharing our love for music and how it shapes our lives. We invite you to follow us on all our social media platforms as we highlight a few of our favorite music venues, artists, and concerts.  We love music … any kind of music and are grateful for the joy it brings to our lives.