The End of an Era // May
- Abhay Liginlal
- May 11, 2018
- 5 min read
Here We Are...
Wow. So it's the end of the year. That went by fast, almost too fast for me to quantify, and yet here I am writing this post. I know I have a tendency to make these posts detailed and long to dictate everything I did throughout the year, but I want to make this one short, sweet and simple. Let's look at an overview of my quest, my favorite moments, and a final song of the month. (gif)
A Look Back
In reflection of my Quest over the last year, I am so incredibly proud of the progress I've made. I started off as a kid who had almost no musical experience or talent, and now I have confidence to play a variety of songs, learn different styles of guitar music and even play in front of a crowd (more on that later).
I started off with almost no direction. Any long time readers will know that I started my blog off by saying I would use 'Yousician' to learn the guitar, but it turns out that never happened. It was so slow and used the exact same chords over and over again. Conversely, I think my usage of a 'Song of The Month' was absolutely vital to my success, as it helped me learn so many different techniques or playing styles. The 'Song of the Month' also connected me to types of music that I didn't frequent enough, like Jazz and Oldie Pop, while strengthening my already strong love for K-Pop at the same time. (completely unrelated gif of queen iu)
My technique of learning a technique and accompanying it with a song was very effective, and nothing proves that more to me than my growth as a player. I remember back to when I began guitar this year: I knew a total of 3 chords and 1 song, didn't know how to strum upwards and dreamt of even getting close to finger picking. Now I learn songs on the regular and I find it so effective as a way to release stress and occupy my mind at the same time. (gif)
Something I failed to mention in my last post was my final presentation for my class. It went pretty well, but I had a pretty colossal screw-up. I played a song on the guitar for the class, but totally forgot the lyrics halfway through. God, that was embarrassing. Even so, my presentation went fairly well, and I was chosen to present and play on Quest Night! It went pretty well, but I was extremely anxious considering how much I messed up the song last time, but I went in with my head held high. More on that a bit later though, it's time for...
My Favorite Moments!
I've talked plenty over the course of this blog about my struggles and hardships, but it would be pessimistic for me to do that at this stage of the year. I want to take some time to celebrate!
I'd say the most interesting endeavor that I took this year in guitar was the finger picking section I did in February. it was grueling and took a while to do, but I found it so captivating that there were literally hundreds of ways I could play a single song. It also proved to me that I was versatile, and capable to try new things; I didn't have to be stuck on a single strumming pattern or finger style forever.
I was going to tell you what my favorite 'Song of the Month' was, but I think my essays (they practically were) on IU's 'Through the Night' kind of speak for themselves. Instead, I want to talk about BLACKPINK's 'STAY', which I performed in March. Though it wasn't my absolute favorite, it rekindled my love for the Korean girl group. BLACKPINK was quickly fading from my mind and I didn't really think about their music too much, but playing that song reintroduced it to my ears, my head and, most importantly, my playlist. What was your favorite song of the month? Make sure to tell me in the comments so I can pretend like I care. I'm kidding of course, I'd love to hear your feedback! (photo)
Finally, my favorite moment of this entire project is better summed up through listening than speaking. Coincidentally, this also leads nicely into my song of the month, so without further adieu (I learned it from my last google adventure, yay!), let's get right into this bad boy.
Song of the Month!
The highlight of my project by far was my performance for Quest Night, where some of the best presenters of the grade told their Quest stories in front of their peers, teachers and parents. Like I said earlier, I had to both present as well as play guitar for the audience. My presentation was great and all but, and I don't mean to be cocky, I kind of expected that. I love Forensics and oration, so the speaking part was not the challenge for me that night. The real challenge came when I decided to perform Green Day's 'Time of Your Life', the song I previously attempted to play during in class. It was a huge risk to do it in front of a crowd, but I decided to challenge myself! (album cover)
I decided it would be best for me not to sing since that could be a possible health risk for the audience, so instead I brought in Rawan Ibraheem to sing over my guitar (You can check out her blog here).
It was one of the best nights of the year and I'm not going to be forgetting it in a hurry! Here's a video of our performance!
A Summation and a Statement
I've spent all this time talking about my highlights within the Quest, but in honesty, this entire project has been a highlight of the year. Whenever I'm faced with challenges in my AP classes, my relationships, my leadership positions or my sports, I know I can always find solace in my guitar, and I don't think that would have been possible without the Quest this year. (gif)
I'm saying good bye for now, but I can promise you that this isn't the end of my Guitar journey. I learned that perseverance and passion is the key to progress, and now that I've started guitar I don't intend on giving up. If you've been reading this blog regularly, thanks for sticking by, and I hope this blog has given you motivation to pick something up that you thought you could never do! This may be the end of an era, but it isn't the end of my journey.
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