My Musical Odyssey.
This taught me that although I’m a maestro at Poetry, I needed to have patience and humility in order to learn how to play the guitar.
We all have that one uncle who is an embodiment of what your ideal future-self should be, he is the big brother you never had, the best friend who will always throw nuggets of wisdom at you every time you need advice on something you thought was a life-ending conundrum. He always is the silver lining to the proverbial clouds that clouded my judgment. (pun intended...😃😃) This for me is Uncle Billy.
I would be lying if I said I was anything short of vexed when he effortlessly schooled me about automobile aesthetics, he talked about how each car he had driven had an inherently different feel to it. Something so inherently abstract only an eccentric individual like him could apprehend, and here I was, my ignorant self in awe, quietly contemplating how I would consciously bring this up in a conversation with my friends to look cool.
I always looked forward to attending Gayaza Scripture Union Camp at the end of my hectic academic years. This was a social hub for all the cool Christian kids in high school and for me, an opportunity to meet new people and learn the lyrics to all the new Pompi songs I’d finally get to listen to. This particular lazy afternoon, we had just had lunch coupled with a heated argument about Jesus’ ethnicity, this was due to the occasional satirical depiction of ‘Black Jesus’ in Boondocks. (I miss throwing around my fabricated facts……😎😎)
Uncle Billy had been invited to speak to us and he additionally decided to perform a song with his guitar, truth is I can’t remember anything about that day save for his breathtakingly jaw-dropping performance. I was subjugated by his musical aesthetic which ultimately led me onto my novel musical odyssey. I ardently became a pilgrim enthralled with the workings of the pristine stringed musical instrument, the acoustic guitar. This led me down a rabbit hole of multiple YouTube tutorials, and ultimately to this breathtaking performance by Hans Zimmer of his masterpiece, the ‘Inception’ suite.
Fast forward, the much-dreaded lockdown started due to the coronavirus pandemic and I was convinced nothing good could come of it. Little did I know, I was going to have my first guitar lessons…. The excitement this brought me can only be conveyed in emojis….💃💃 I started off with the occasional musical alphabet (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do....🎼) coupled with descriptions of how frets, a plectrum, strings, and consistent practice were instrumental for me to become a seasoned guitarist.
The truth is it was hard at first, my left arm was strained and hurt occasionally, my right arm had to learn how to strum the guitar and I hadn’t attained the muscle memory needed to produce meaningful melodies. This taught me that although I’m a maestro at Poetry, I needed to have patience and humility in order to learn how to play the guitar. Two weeks down the road I was able to play my first song effortlessly.
I learned that with the right amount of determination and consistent hard work, we all can achieve what we set our minds to. Thank you for reading and for the wonderful feedback I got from my previous blog post!!😃😃