"If I could teach the world to sing/ that is to sing in perfect harmony".
Whoever sang that must be right.
Of course, the sentence implies peace in the world, for all of its inhabitants to co-exist in perfect harmony.
All love, No hate.
However, music is a common denominator in all cultures.
Even in the animal kingdom, the sounds they produce are created for communication.
The sole of purpose of music is expression.
Be it about something tragic, something joyful, or something plainly ridiculous.
Music expresses emotions like no other word or gesture.
When I was middle school, I was terribly shy.
I have this nervous condition, you see.
It made me anxious of my surroundings, of people, of sounds.
I would wake up in the middle of the night with melody in my head.
You might think that I am genius because of that.
The problem then was that I could not put it out of my head, and into paper.
I told my parents about these episodes.
It does not only happen to me at night but also during the day! I will be in the school playground, minding my own business.
Then out of nowhere, a tune will be playing in my head over and over and I will be whistling and humming the tune until a new one comes along.
These "tune-popping-in-my-head" episodes became a social hindrance.
I was not very vocal about these episodes because I thought I was freak.
The other kids thought so too.
I do not have to talk about it because they can see me in all of my musical glory.
Suddenly, my mom had a brilliant idea of sending me to a voice tutor so I can learn to sing my tunes, instead of simply humming them.
The voice teacher did not think I was a freak.
She saw me as a raw gem that can be polished to something that is genuine and great.
This made me comfortable with myself and gift! I am no longer a queer whistler, but a music jewel! I was not the only student who wanted to learn to sing.
There were five other kids whose focus in life were music, music, music.
I was hesitant at first to approach them because I thought they looked a bit geeky, a bit intimidating.
But when they open their mouths, the first whoosh of their breath, the most enticing voices came out to play.
To the hardest critics, they might still be young when it comes to techniques.
But the sincerity in the deliverance put me at ease.
I thought to myself, that is what I want to do.
Put people at ease, to calm them down, and for their pain to go away.
I bravely approached them and they were very welcoming.
I was no longer the strange kiddo.
In fact, they were in awe that I can create an original composition in my head! I was no fool.
To learn to sing like they do, I had to put in the work.
I was behind them, in years and in vocal experience.
Luckily, they are very helpful.
Our voice tutor taught us the technical side of singing.
I learned how to stay in pitch, how and when to breathe when singing, how to stand and the like.
The other kids taught me the practical side.
The foods that I should avoid to maintain the quality of my voice like chocolates and dairy.
The activities that I should avoid which are parts of growing up like smoking and drinking alcohol.
When my mom sent me there to learn to sing, I learned how to live.
Sure there are melodies in my head that I can now put on paper and sell for money and for other artists.
But that is nothing compared to the joy of actually making a contribution in my society, of having the sense of belonging, of putting people at ease with harmonious notes.