#DontStopTheMusic

As a musician, I feel that this campaign is so so so important.

If you guys don't know what I'm talking about.... James Rhodes (a classical pianist) is campaigning to get people to donate any instruments they have lying around for the benefit of children in schools that may not have a chance to have a musical education.

Music has always been a part of my life. My father is very musical, and so I grew up with music being a presence in the house. When I was six, I began to play the piano. When I was 7, I picked up the violin. And finally when I was 8 I was given an oboe. I gave up violin for the oboe and stopped piano lessons (because I didn't like my teacher....) but I still play every now and then.

My local music service were very active and gave me the opportunities to have lessons, play in various ensembles and perform on stage. They even gave me a student oboe to learn on.

Music has really been the only constant in my life. It's been there through moving schools and moving house. It's been there for me when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Through learning to play the oboe I have made some of my best friends, met boyfriends along the way, had the most amazing opportunities, and it's all topped off by having unforgettable experiences.

I study the oboe at a music conservatoire now, I have been a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, and I received a music scholarship to one of the top schools in Wales. I am now going to study in one of the highest establishments of music in Prague, Czech Republic for a year. These are only a few of the wonderful things that music has allowed me to do with my life.

I can't explain the impact that it has had. Sure, people have picked on me because it's not "cool" to play an instrument (and lets face it, the oboe isn't the coolest instrument out there!!), but I didn't let that bother me. In fact, I took that negativity, and worked extra hard to show those non-supporters what I could do!

As I've said above, it has helped me create memories and make the best of friends, however it also helped me in many other ways:

I grew in confidence, I knew that I was good at something. It is nothing to be ashamed of to allow yourself to say you're good at something.
I became a team player. When you're playing in an orchestra, you learn to work as an orchestra. You learn to listen to those around you, to know when you're the melody and when you're the accompaniment. You learn to hear if you're sharp or flat and now that can affect the whole of the orchestra.
Multi-tasking. If people had any idea how much skill it takes to work in an ensemble, I swear there would be no issue with musical education in the UK. You need to read the music in front of you, while watching the conductor. On top of that you need to listen to what's happening in the music around you, and that's all before you actually play the instrument and think about the notes, the dynamics and the wiggling of your fingers and letting the sound out.
Perseverance. Oh boy, as someone who isn't a fan of hard work, this really was a tricky one for me. But sure enough, 12 years of practice and look where I am! It takes so much time and effort to learn an instrument and to understand the music. It really does pay off, I promise!
Responsibility. You never know responsibility really as a child, and when you're holding £1500 worth of instrument in your hand, you become so protective. It is also your responsibility to make the time and effort to practice and to get better.

I really can go on and on and on about the other benefits I've had (memory, maths, reading, concentration. anxiety reduction, physical stamina, sense of achievement), but I think you get the picture, right?

I have no idea where I would be right now if I wasn't introduced to music. I am very lucky that my home-town had such an active music service, and I am very thankful to them for allowing me to have the opportunities I was given, which has lead to where I am in life right now.

It therefore really distresses me that there are schools and areas that don't have the funding for giving children the chances I had when I was their age. It could give them a future. It could keep a child from a life of drug addiction and abuse. It could keep a child from the streets.

So please, if you have an instruments lying around the house, take them to your local Oxfam where they will be found a home and loved once again.

I can't imagine life without music, so please, let's #DontStopTheMusic.

What If?

Do you ever stop and think "how did my life lead me here?" I do. 

I wonder what my life would be like if my Parents hadn't of moved me to Wales at the age of 4. I definitely wouldn't be speaking Welsh. Would I still be doing music? Who knows. I might have stuck with doing languages, but would I be any good with them even though I didn't speak Welsh?

What if I hadn't of fallen off the beam when I was 7? Would I have carried on doing gymnastics? I could have been training for the Olympics. I certainly started young enough. Then I may not have done music at all as I would have been too busy swinging off the bar or jumping off the vault.

What if I had never picked up the oboe? Would I still be attempting (badly) the violin because I didn't know that there was another instrument calling to me. I probably would have studied something different in university. I may be reading a serious subject like history, or studying to be a medic. Who knows.

What if my Parents hadn't of moved me to France at the age of 10? Would I still have the itchy feet that want to lead me onto an adventure? Would I have just stayed being a homebody, simply because the seed of different cultures hadn't been planted?

What if I had gone to a girls school at the age of 12, like I had originally planned. I would never have become such good friends with the people in my music service. I would never have had the relationships I did, but would I have branched out from the girls school bubble? Who knows.

What if I had decided to stay in my comprehensive school for sixth form? Would I have made it to music college? Probably not. I would be a completely different person. I probably wouldn't have got the grades I wanted to get into university as I wouldn't have worked as hard as I did. I may have gone travelling the world, or stayed at home and started a business. 

What if I had decided to go to a different Music College? I would be surrounded by different people, living in a different city, and have a different teacher. Would I have thrived or would I have hated it so much I quit?

What about the smaller stuff? Would my life have taken a slightly different course if I had decided to have an apple instead of a banana with my lunch yesterday? 

Let's look bigger now, look at the most successful people who have ever lived. What if Steve Jobs had never started Apple? What if Walt Disney hadn't of been rejected from a magazine for "laimagination"? Imagine a world without Apple or Disney. I wouldn't be sat in College writing this on my ipad because it wouldn't exist, and what film would I have watched last night if Tangled had never been written?

Thinking of all the 'What Ifs' in your life can make someone go mad. I'm beginning to go a bit doolally thinking about it all. However, every single one of these paths were determined by choices. Nothing about your life is out of your control, and every tiny choice you make has an effect on the way you live. So maybe next time you're faced with a difficult decision, plan the different lives that your choices can take you. If you begin to feel that you'd constantly be thinking "What If", then do it. Why not? The most important thing is that you don't live life with any regrets, so that when you're old you can look back fondly the path your choices have taken you. So you don't look back at a junction in life that you wish you'd taken left instead of right.