Each time I am asked the question, "are you a musician?" I do not know what response to give because I do not know what makes one a musician. Is it the ability to play a musical instrument? Is it the ability to sing? Or is it the ability to do both or perhaps perform for some group of persons?
Am I a musician or have a neighbor that is a musician?
One thing I know about music is that music is life. It's very therapeutic and I've loved music since I was a kid. I remember back in high school, I wanted to join the school choir but during the audition they said I croaked like a frog and wasn't qualified to join the school choir. Like seriously? Isn't that a place to help train people to become better singers? I loved singing. At that age, it didn't matter if I croaked like a frog or sang like a nightingale, all I wanted was to do music and that also was denied me.
I used to have a neighbor that loves to sing. I admire him a lot. Each time I hear him singing, it sends chills down my spine. He has a mellifluous voice and he also plays the guitar. It was always soothing to hear. Every evening he sits by his balcony and plays some nice tunes and all I do is listen and sing along in my house. I once asked him to teach me how to play the guitar but he needed me to get my parents permission to learn and sadly that never came.
Does someone in my close family play an instrument?
Nope! No one in my immediate family plays an instrument. I could have been the one to break the jinx though. We attend a church that does not worship with musical instruments and so my dad was against any form of musical instruments in the house. I once downloaded a piano on my phone to learn but honestly I never really got around to learning anything since I had no guide. I still believe it's never too late to learn how to play a musical instrument though.
Now I think of it, I once learnt that my paternal grand dad was a wonderful flute player. He used to play for the village dancing group. He was nicknamed "popopiriri". Turns out it was his favourite tune and so everyone started calling him that.
Is it difficult to listen many times to practicing sessions?
This might sound funny but one thing I look out for when renting an apartment is its closeness to a church. I don't hate churches but I once had a terrible experience of sharing a fence with one. Their choir practice session is one hell of a noise making session. The musical instruments are always louder than the singers voices and the singers are shouting on top of their voices so as to overshadow the instrumentalists. It feels like a show of power, who is gonna outdo the other and the noise is very unbearable.
Maybe you are not a musician, or have a musician neighbour... but you like to listen to loud music?
Loud music? Oh my goodness. You can't live with my younger sister and not learn to listen to loud music. My sister loves when the music is blasting through the speakers. She enjoys it when the neighbors are shouting to turn down the volumes. To her, loud music is good music. She plays it so loud that you can't even hear your own thoughts. We've fought severally because of it cos I end up having missed calls since I couldn't hear my phone ring and even when I do, I have to excuse myself to go answer my calls.
I have told her, it's either you learn to listen to music like a human being or you come home someday and the speakers are gone. My threats only worked for a short period of time and now we are back to the loud music😃😃😃. Funny enough, I'm kinda getting used to it.
What was the wildest thing you made in your flat bothering your neighbors?
Yaroslav S.Pexels
The wildest thing would be singing each time I'm in the bathroom. The bathroom turns me into a composer. One drop of water on my body and I'm composing and singing on top of my voice. I wouldn't know if it bothered them because none has ever complained but I know they do listen because I've gotten complimented on how good I sound so I believe it is soothing and not a bother to them...lol.
What is your favourite music you listen to very loudly?
Blues and country music. These are my favourite genres. I mean it makes no sense listening to good old country music with the volumes turned down low. Country songs aren't naturally loud because they do not have lots of beats and instruments. They are slow songs and very relaxing and so to really enjoy it, I turn the damn volume very high. Oh! That goes for blues too. It sets me in the mood.
What do your neighbours listen to, and do you like it?
My neighbours listen to different types of music. I have a neighbor that wakes me up every morning playing soft tunes . He loves RnB and I find it thrilling waking up to such nice tunes every morning. I also have a neighbor that listens to only Christian music and that's quite comforting for me as I'm a gospel singer myself.
I have another neighbor that does only hip hop but thankfully he does that in the evenings after he's back from work. He sits at the balcony and blasts away. Most evenings we do not have power supply so everyone sits outside for some fresh evening air and I would say it's kinda relaxing.
I started the story by telling how I was rejected by the school choir because I can't sing. This didn't kill my love for music, instead it spurred me to go online and seek for some voice training videos. I also attended musical classes to learn how to sing. I discovered I'm a beautiful alto singer and now when I sing, instead of have people wear a frown, I have them wearing a smile.
Music is my passion.