Top 3 Casual Reasons Why You Should Study Music This Summer

I know what you did last summer. (long pause here)

No, I don’t. #justkidding #that1997movie

But I certainly know of a way to make this summer vacation of yours a little more than worthwhile. If your last few summer vacations were spent on the usual gatherings with family and friends and/or killing time at the beach convincing yourself that you love the sun (when in fact you avoid it all cost when you’re in the city), well, it’s time to make it a little more different this time. I say, enrol yourself in a music class. Yes, that random.

It’s time to give music its long-awaited chance. I have here a couple of reasons why you should consider studying music even for just a short period of time.

Do something different with your life this summer.
Source: www.favim.com 

If you’re a student and you love music so much so that you always see yourself belting out that classic Whitney Houston song or strumming that acoustic guitar in front of a big crowd, I believe that this summer is the summer that you have been waiting for.

If you’re a young professional like me, well, all the more that you shouldn’t be wasting time. A lot of music classes are being offered everywhere especially this season and it’s time for you to get something started NOW.

But first, let’s try to see how my list of reasons looks like. Please tell me using the comment box below if you agree, or agree.

You should study music because-

1. You have already watched enough American Idol, Pilipinas Got Talent, The Voice, X Factor Philippines and other singing competitions on TV. If you are the type of person who had always imagined yourself joining one of those competitions mentioned above, then you should really be studying music. Why? Because these competitions are all about music. Well, yes, it’s about performance too but, for me, it’s just a secondary element. If you want to become a good singer, do what singers do. #music
2. You want to perfect that song by Aegis in karaoke. OK, let’s say you have been singing that Aegis song (e.g. Halik, Ulan and etc.) with your friends in karaoke for quite some time now and you’re wondering why you’re not getting enough rounds of applause and standing ovations. Maybe it’s time to find a music teacher. But here’s the thing, stop thinking that your teacher can turn you into an Aegis singer. But a good one will definitely help you discover your own “music”. It’s either he or she will help you sing that Aegis song YOUR WAY or maybe he/she will give you another song. Maybe that song is not for you. Maybe you should be singing something else, like, I don’t know, Call Me Maybe? I mean, who knows?
3. You were inspired by Sunshine Corazon who came from the Philippines where it’s sunny everyday, except for monsoons. I mean, wow! Charice on Glee. Charice on Ellen DeGeneres show. Charice on Oprah. Charice in a David Foster’s concert. And Charice in a duet with Celine Dion. Wow! I am more than inspired! Charice had truly placed the Philippines on the map of the world. But not only her, there’s also Jessica Sanchez, Jasmine Trias, Leah Salonga, Sarah Geronimo, Raph Salazar and many more! I won’t argue with Ellen when she said, “some of the best singers are from the Philippines”. When you hear good comments like this for your fellow Filipinos, I mean, won’t you really give music a chance? It runs in the blood, you know?

Other reasons. Well aside from the reasons I stated above, there are actually MORE SERIOUS reasons why you should start thinking about attending a music class- may it be a voice class, piano class, guitar class or whatnot. Here are some of them.

Music can-

Music can help you become more sociable.
Source: www.memeblender.com

• Enhance your respiratory system
• Relieve your stress
• Improve your memory
• Improve your time management and organizational skills
• Improve your listening, reading and comprehension skills
• Improve you math
• Sharpen your concentration
• Help you conquer your stage fright
• Teach you important values such as discipline, perseverance and responsibility
• Help you become more sociable
• Be an outlet for your self-expression
• Make you happy

KeyStrings Music

If you live in Manila and is currently on a lookout for a music class that you can enrol yourself in, I am happy to tell you about KeyStrings Music. I’ve met the founders of KeyStrings during one of the most unexpected moments in my life, when I was invited by my friend to sing for her wedding.

Let me just tell you that I almost didn’t go because of my lack of belief in myself that I can really sing in a wedding setting. But my friend, the bride, believed in me. I mean, it’s her own wedding right? Imagine the risk she was taking during that time. I was so mad at her for even considering me.

But something amazing happened. The first time I rehearsed with the team, I knew that I belong there. With music. (insert Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major here)

And so I want all the aspiring musicians out there who want to give music a shot, to meet this wonderful team, the KeyStrings Music team. They are currently offering classes for kids, juniors, teens and adults. If you’re five years old or above, yes, you are qualified to enrol in any of their classes.

What makes KeyStrings Music special is their unique program called DoReME. It’s a music ensemble class for adults. Through this program, students will have the chance to learn music with other students. Talk about well-rounded learning right? Through this program, students are envisioned to appreciate music even more and to connect with fellow “musicians”. After each DoReME level, students will perform in a recital as their final output that will allow them to move on to the next level.

Rehearsing with KeyStrings Music during my friend's
wedding in Caleruega Church. Liza on violin (leftmost)
and JM on keyboards (rightmost).

It’s also exciting to know that Keystrings Music also invite some of their students to play with them during events such as weddings, debuts and other functions. They value the fact that their students can take their learning to the professional level to gain more experiences outside the classroom and consequently become better musicians.
.
Sounds good music enough, eh?

So if you’re ready, why don’t you grab that phone and start giving this ah-mazing KeyStrings Music team a ring? Here are the digits: 09228935935 and 09064789177.

For more information about KeyStrings Music, please visit their ultra-beautiful website at www.keystringsmusic.com.

Postcript: What I like the most for being able to produce one’s own music is the great opportunity to sing or play an instrument to God during one’s quiet time. If you aspire to become a part of the music team at your local church, I believe that this also is a great motivation for you to study music with a professional music teacher.

God bless you!

A Chapter Ahead

Today, just like any other day, there are just too many reasons to be thankful to God. First, I was able to attend the fourth session of my Foundation 4 Victory training. I know that this is a great blessing already because of the many changes that occurs with my schedule at work every now and then. Just this week, my rest days were changed from Tuesdays and Wednesdays to Mondays and Tuesdays. My F4V trainings happen every Wednesdays. Thank God it starts at 6:30pm and I’m off from work by 4:00pm. By next month, for all I know, I may be transferred to another work schedule again (we operate on 24/7 schedule) and I may not be able to attend the nexy training but still, I thank God that I was at the session earlier. Every session counts!

The old One 2 One book. The latest version
was made available this year, 2013.

Second, the fourth session was led by Pastor Nuel Nanez and the topic is about Discipleship. I thank God for the many learning I have acquired in just a single session (which lasts for only about 3 hours) that I want to go home immediately to blog about them. Pastor Nuel is such an animated speaker. I am deeply honoured to be sitting inside his class. I thank God for Pastor Nuel and for all the pastors at Victory Ortigas!

Third, I am back to blogging again. After a long time, there will be another blog post for Passion 4 Jesus again. Looking back, my last blog post was written July of last year. That’s around 7 months ago and a lot of things had happened already. I just became a born again Christian around 9 months ago and a lot of things worth sharing had not been shared in this blog yet. I thank God for every single moment that I live as a Christian. A lot of times I say that I “searched” for God and “found” Him but because of the session earlier, I realized that God was the one who was actually searching for me and found me indeed. It’s not the other way around. God was not lost. I am. I am more than joyful that I responded to His call.

 Discipleship is about responding to God’s call. From the time Jesus started his mission on earth and said, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) to the time that he ascended into heaven and left the apostles with the Great Commission when he said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19), we knew that his core mission was to “call” people.

My second One 2 One buddy is Dan. 

As a Christian, I know that this is not an easy task. Even the seemingly simple task of inviting my friends and relatives to Victory Ortigas even just for a time had proven to be a very daunting task to carry out. But if you will ask God for grace and if you will continue to cultivate a meaningful relationship with the people that you want to reach out to, victory is at hand. This is one of the reasons why I am so glad that I belong to a church that puts a very high premium on creating relationships. Victory actually encourages us to make meaningful relationship with others, one soul at a time.

I thank God for the One 2 One book. This book had not only changed the lives of many by leading them closer to Jesus, but it also created many meaningful relationships around it. Through it, a Christian is not anymore required to become a very fluent public speaker in order to share the Gospel. A Christian only needs to know how to create meaningful relationships- and this, I believe, is common to all human beings. 

The One 2 One book had truly given everyone a great opportunity to introduce Jesus to others in an easier way. By simply being a chapter ahead, everyone is given the power to change another person’s life.

To know more about Discipleship in Victory Church, please visit www.discipleship.ph.