A Tapestry of Sound by Miles

A Tapestry of Sound by Miles - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I was a freshman in an unfamiliar school. I had gone through three of my new classes so far that day when I found myself in front of the band room. From my first impression, it seemed unlikely that band would become my favorite class. There were a bunch of hostile-looking upperclassmen glaring at me. I stood sullenly with the other freshmen. When the conductor, Mr. Rabuse, opened the doors, I went back to the percussion section, as I was a percussionist, and looked around worriedly. It was me, my friend Pat, and nine upperclassmen. I searched in desperation for a piano, my instrument, but I saw none.
Mr. Rabuse walked toward me, looking ominous, and told me that he didn’t need a piano in the band, so I was at a loss as to what I would do. He did mention, however, that he needed a French horn. I immediately knew my course of action; I would play the French horn on keyboard. The keyboard has many different sounds on it, including the French horn, so I could become any instrument that Mr. Rabuse desired.
Then came the inevitable issue of finding a keyboard, but after that, it was easy. I played more and more instruments that the band lacked on the old school keyboard, with its broken-down display and screechy speakers.
My sophomore year came. Mr. Rabuse convinced me to play cymbals for the Mozart song, Amadeus. I stayed after school and learned how to play the cymbals. I thought I would learn it faster than I actually did (cymbals are harder to play than they look), and I was quite frustrated. I stuck with it, and, at the next concert, the program had my name next to “cymbals.” I was so proud of myself for mastering a new instrument that I saved that program. I still have it. As the year went on, Mr. Rabuse commanded me to play bass drum for the Memorial Day parade. Again, I stayed after school and tediously learned how to play bass drum. Though I didn’t like it, my persistence paid off. At the parade, I was one of two bass drums who played the part correctly.
Junior year, and I was halfway through learning all of the instruments in the percussion section. Once again, Mr. Rabuse needed me to play new instruments. I had already learned a heap of various percussion instruments, but I finally felt that I could handle the challenge. The band was counting on me, so I learned the timpani, quad-toms, and snare drum, staying grudgingly after school instead of going home and having fun. It was worth it. I ended the year having played every percussion instrument the school owned except the gong.
So what did I learn from this? Mr. Rabuse taught me musical versatility. I learned to go outside my comfort zone. I defeated my self-disbelief about my inability to play drums. I was willing to help out to make the band sound better as a whole. Even though I didn’t like it at first, and it took extra work, the whole band was counting on me to play my part and contribute to the weaving of the overall fabric of the song. I learned perseverance, and that practice actually does make perfect. Surprisingly, band turned out to be my favorite class. The struggle of learning new instruments was overcome by the joy I got from my newfound skill and knowledge.