Do I have what it takes to be a musician?

While I was waiting for my high school results, I worked part time as a piano and electronic organ demonstrator at a popular music school. This kind of work does not require training. Other than the piano, I just needed to familiarize myself with the features of the various models of electronic organs to do a demonstration. I was drawn to everything and anything that has to do with music.

Right after my results was announced, the ensuing decision by me to put tertiary education on hold was to give myself a bit of time to decide on my vocation. Coincidentally, the music school approached me with an offer to join their faculty and I immediately accepted. Furthermore, I will receive training to be certified as a music teacher.

It was at that time when I began considering a career in music though I was never quite serious about it before. Then, the question was, which specific area of music do I want to go into for a career? Do I want to be a performing musician, a composer, an arranger, a producer, an educator, etc? I was soul-searching again. However, I told myself that whatever it was in music that I will end up doing, it would specifically have to do with the jazz genre. I was into jazz big time by then and I listened to no other music except jazz. It was jazz 24-7 for me and I could not get enough of it.

Why jazz? It is everything that is happening in jazz, especially the complexities in the rhythm, groove, harmony, melody and improvisations that intrigued me. I can listen to jazz non-top and even listen to the same piece again and again, and always discover something interesting about it that I never realized before.

But I knew I could not further myself back home, as there was no one to teach me more about jazz music. I decided that I had to go away to experience more jazz to help me with my decision. Like a grand design, the path to a career in music seems to be mysteriously laid out for me.