Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, so for today's little episode of this podcast, I'm just going to be taking a little dive into music and what music means to me as a whole and how that's impacted my life and developed in my life as well as just. I don't know, I just kind of want to talk about music. There's something. I don't know. I guess I'll start with this.
[00:00:20] There's something really powerful in music as a whole. There's something just the way it brings people together, whether, you know, let's take a concert as an example.
[00:00:32] There's something like having a mass group of people that like that come together for a purpose, and you see that in other things, but sometimes it's not so sincere, is you can just get with music and what. At my school here, we have these things called vespers, and there's always music in it, and there's this thing called afterglow at the end where we're just singing praise songs or Christian. And it just brings people together. There's something really special about that that you don't necessarily find in a lot of other things all the time.
[00:01:04] So I guess first off, I just want to say that about music that really has brought me to it.
[00:01:10] There's just something in connection that's really powerful. And sometimes you only really get that from something musical.
[00:01:15] Something else that I think I've always found amazing is it's like it's all another language. There's like taking the theory side of it. It gets really interesting. I don't know theory all that well. Like, I know like the basics with a bunch of stuff, but there's something really cool within, even just that it's its own language, which I just find fascinating, I guess. Music, language, I don't know. There's something cool in that, I guess.
[00:01:42] But music, it's just.
[00:01:45] It's amazing, really.
[00:01:47] All different kinds of music, and there's so much variety. So it makes it. Whether that's your genre or just how you perform, what you can do with it, whether that's.
[00:01:57] I don't know what I said. Singing at a concert, just playing an instrument by yourself, singing, making something, listening to some, like a song with someone, performing in an orchestra, a band, choir, whatever the above is.
[00:02:16] There's just something really cool and variety and how much you can do and all the different genres. Just taking like.
[00:02:23] With music in general, whether, I don't know, take pop, rock, rap, classical, country, I don't know, I like. For me personally, I like all all the varieties and there's stuff that I don't know all that well. And I listen to it. It's like, you know, I can find this sort of respect and value in every single aspect of music, which I think is really cool. Sometimes it's hard to see that, but. And there's certain songs or whatever, styles I don't necessarily like as much as others. I don't really know. I don't know if I can name one, but I'll hear something like, I don't really know if I like that all that much. But there's just something really powerful in music which I'd find amazing. And you don't find that other things.
[00:03:05] Now going into a little bit more of my musical journey, I guess is what we're going to call it.
[00:03:11] So I guess, yeah, I'll start here. So I've mentioned before on some other episode, I think if I remember from a while back, I remember talking about piano for me and how that's been in my musical journey.
[00:03:24] So my parents, they put me in lessons when I was around 3 years old, 3 or 4, in preschool, and they put me in lessons. And obviously I don't really remember anything at that point in my life with. I mean, anything in general, but with music, I don't remember it. It's not like it was. Maybe it was good for me early on. Now I would maybe do the same sort of something with my kids. But I guess that's kind of where a lot of it started. A lot of my more interests. So I started playing piano, preschool. And then I played up until second, third, fourth grade. I don't remember. It was around that time when I started like, oh, I guess not started around that time when I quit piano, I got decent. I was taking lessons from a teacher. I was learning how to read sheet music and play sheet music. And that's where my early beginnings with music really started.
[00:04:17] But it got to a point in fourth, third grade, second grade, around that time when I had had enough.
[00:04:23] I just thought it was boring. It isn't important to me. I know there was other kids who I was finding to be a lot better than me, I felt. And I was just like, like, what's the point? I'm not even having fun with that anymore. My lessons are getting boring and I just had had enough.
[00:04:39] And what I really found. I don't know what I did with my kids. What my parents did for me is they encouraged it, but they didn't force it at that point. They had like, I had to take it to. I think it was probably the fourth grade. And they're like, okay, you can make your own decision with it now. And I decided, yeah, no, what am I? Like, easy decision. I'm done.
[00:04:57] So I stopped just music as a whole.
[00:05:01] Obviously you still listen to music. And I've always loved listening to music.
[00:05:05] My. Yeah, no, I've just always loved listening. But my piano playing journey at that point came to an end.
[00:05:15] Now maybe, like, I'd see what was really inspiring for me is my dad would play the Furlies and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Like around that age. I was like, that'd be like my little flex to kids would be like, my dad, he can play the Fur Elise.
[00:05:28] And that was always kind of cool for me. Just wanted to like, maybe get back to that point at some point, maybe. But I didn't see how it could be possible.
[00:05:37] And I think surround seventh grade.
[00:05:41] So three, four years.
[00:05:43] Like between that three to five year range.
[00:05:46] After I quit, we had a keyboard in our house.
[00:05:49] And I don't exactly know what it was. I think I'd heard the song River Flows in you or River Flows and Me by Yurima, and I decided, I'm going to learn this.
[00:06:02] I hadn't played piano for around three to five years, but there's just something that got lit in me that was like, I really want to learn how to play this song.
[00:06:11] So I looked up on YouTube, hit keyboard in the house, and that's where it all began.
[00:06:15] I spent probably two to three months.
[00:06:20] Yeah, around there learning this song. And that two to three months was like maybe not consistently practicing for hours every single day, but I was pretty consistent with it. Like, I was determined to learn this song. I would spend time at school, go to the piano at school when I was there, go to my YouTube tutorial. I'd practice it there, I'd practice it at home. And I spent a good two to three months just getting this song down off of YouTube. And once I got that down, there was something that got lit in me that was like, jaden, I think you can do anything when it comes to this. I think you can learn a lot more. I think you can go somewhere with this. And that's where I think maybe my dad has a year. And I guess I kind of found that I seem to have one. And that's where that part of my journey also kicked up a little bit more when I was learning. It's like, hey, I kind of have a little bit of a talent when it Comes to this that I didn't notice or realize before and yeah. So from there after learning the River Flows new song River Flows. I can't even remember what it's called. I think it's river flows in you. But I just wanted to learn more and I learned this song Ever Glow by Coldplay, which I still love that song a lot. I love you. Ever flows in you a lot too to play. But then I just kind of went from there. I decided I want to learn maybe look up some YouTube tutorials and learn chords and then just learn some other stuff that can maybe help me. And I just got curious and I really wanted to learn and get good play again because I used to tell. I remember around that time like I would tell people I played or I used to play but I really, I don't know. But now I was getting back into it and I'd be able to tell people like I can play again whatever because that's somehow get brought up and that's where I guess from there I just kept learning and experiencing more learning from people. I took lessons for about a month from this dude who's like genuinely amazing but I wasn't really able to tell take the lessons lessons consistently. So I got kicked out. But since besides that I've just self taught, I mean YouTube self taught a little bit of the talent and I've asked people for advice and little tricks and things to learn especially from my improvising which is what I mostly play now. I've never gotten back into sheet music with piano, which is something I still thought we need to do at some point. And like there's definitely on the theory side of it is where I could definitely learn a lot more. But besides that, I mean I play the chords, I have a bit of an ear so I can usually figure stuff out, get the key down and then play along with stuff. I do a lot of piano for praise teams within my church and my school and that's just like chords and making stuff up, which is my favorite way to play. But so now piano, it's.
[00:09:06] I really couldn't see it. Not a part of my life anymore. It's something that I like. I love music so much, especially like piano. There's just something and I don't know how much will ever go away, you know, I don't consistently practice which I mean I could probably get so much better if I did at some point. But there's something I can always sit down at a piano and just start playing and really play what I'M feeling, which is something that's always helped me. Yeah. So I think about a year or two ago I kind of started. Maybe just a year, I don't know, I started writing some more songs and.
[00:09:41] Oh yeah, I have a piano piece on Spotify, so that's pretty cool. You type in Jaden Wols. I made it for my girlfriend and I thought that was pretty cool.
[00:09:49] But I started writing songs, just kind of. I have a lot of. I guess I'll get into guitar in a second, but just started writing songs about a year ago. Just getting some more experience with that and like understanding. I enjoy that a lot. It's usually pretty fast for me. I can come up with something in a chorus and then like get some good rhymes down, like poetry a lot.
[00:10:10] But then I struggle with like coming up with verses and that's when it gets a little bit more difficult. Like, courses are usually pretty easy. Just like, bam, I got something. I can work with this. But then it's. I don't know, how do I finish the song and make it good? And I don't know. I don't know how to add all that much percussion stuff yet into things. A lot of acoustic guitar and piano. But yeah, so writing songs, I enjoy that a lot now. That's been a little bit more of my. Actually I've kind of always done that since I was little. Like, wrote songs. I just have taken it a little bit more seriously over the last year. Just learning more when it comes to it. But yes.
[00:10:48] So getting the guitar here.
[00:10:51] Guitar, I remember it's kind of crazy. Like three years ago I was like, yeah, no, I'll never play guitar.
[00:11:00] I don't know. I just said that to myself. And that's why I concluded, no, I'm never going to play guitar. I got no reason to. I can play piano. So I would just not.
[00:11:09] I don't know, I guess I just somewhat didn't want to. I don't know. I went to this camp and I took ukulele.
[00:11:16] Ukulele class and I was. I was genuinely terrible. That was probably two or three years ago now. I started playing ukulele at this little thing and I like, first day I was holding my ukulele backwards and that's why I tried playing the first day. And after 40 minutes. Minutes, I finally realized I was holding it backwards. And then I guess I don't. I just. Terrible at the camp that I was at. But then, I don't know, I decided it's that. I don't know, I'm finding that with me, I randomly get really determined about something that I like, stick with it. But I said okay, you know what, I'm going to buy myself a ukulele. And once I buy myself a ukulele, I'm going to learn it. I want to look it up. It shouldn't be too hard. I know I can do this. So I did that with ukulele.
[00:11:57] Use YouTube as self taught and then just learn from there. Then that was probably two, two, three years ago now maybe even it's been like four years. That's crazy times going by. But then guitar kind of came into my life two years ago. So yeah, it's probably like maybe two years after I told myself like I learned ukulele, I have no reason to learn guitar. And then a guitar got borrowed to me and I was like, you know what, I'll teach myself this. And I started learning guitar and I got some advice from some other people. My buddy, he taught me some stuff and then I just took off with that. Then lately I've been doing like a lot of guitar. Taking lessons for a little bit. Like I didn't like okay, I say I started playing two years ago but that was like I learned how to play a C chord and a G chord.
[00:12:41] But since then I've learned a lot more doing scales and stuff and improvising and learning actual songs and then learning more chord shapes up the fret or up the, up the neck of the guitar.
[00:12:54] And yeah, I enjoy it a lot. I think there's definitely a lot more I could learn and that's why I want to get more music theory down with it. But guitar is fun because I got this little guitar so like three fourth size or whatever, so classical I just take around with me. It's very portable and it's fun. Just whip it out and then play a little something. Sing a little bit I guess. Oh yeah, singing is another thing. I could talk about singing.
[00:13:17] I'm not like the craziest singer of all time. I'm nothing like particularly special. I don't have some crazy talent but like I'm not like tone deaf and I can sing and I enjoy it a lot I guess is what gets me with it. Like I like singing, I want to get better. But there's something guitar just singing whatever the song is, there's something really amazing about it for me and it just helps me a lot. Whenever I'm anything really sad, happy, I don't know, just start playing something and I guess that's what music or what music has really been for me, it's always. Not always, as I just explained, like this entire episode. But lately, over the past however long I've been playing piano. Starting with that is just something I could escape, something I can always do, something that. And there'd be times that I'd get a little bit sick of it. Bored. It's like, okay, I'm doing the same thing over and over. But I guess what it's come back to is it's always just been something I enjoy. And especially learning from piano when I was little.
[00:14:16] It's like I never want to lose that joy ever again.
[00:14:20] Like, I never want it to be some chore that I'm doing, and then I get tired of it. I want music to be just something like. And always come back to pick up the guitar, get on the keys, the piano, sing a song. I've been. I've really wanted our cello really bad.
[00:14:34] I have. They're just expensive. And I haven't gotten a chance yet, really. But I want to at some point. And I'm pretty. I want to do that. But, yeah, music just always been that something that I've enjoyed and I want to get better. And that's something that's really cool.
[00:14:55] Like, there's so much more I can learn. I want to learn from more people. And that's why I've always kept my mind open with. It's like, okay, what can I take away from this? What can I get from this style? What can I get? I like beatboxing a lot and got my ocarina, my harmonica. I'm not good at those yet, but I enjoy it. It's funny and I just.
[00:15:14] There's something so powerful in music, and there always has been for me. And just that connection, that building with people, the relationships that can come from it. And I don't know, I think there's something really special about music as a whole.
[00:15:29] And to me, it's just meant a lot over the course of my life.
[00:15:36] So, yeah, I guess I'll start wrapping up the episode right as I'll wrap it up there. Just a little music talk in my career, or not career, but my overarching music journey that I've had over the last years of my life.
[00:15:52] And I plan to continue with it and just to continue to get better. And I don't ever want to lose that drive that I have towards it.
[00:16:02] Thank you for listening. And I'm going to start rapid dropping episodes because I got to catch up a little bit. So we'll get some more in here. Hopefully. Hopefully I stick with that, but, yeah. Thank you. Bye. Bye.
