I would like to invite you to listen to the pieces I've been working on this year and see the creative processes behind them. This semester my main goal in terms of my music in both exploration and education was to push myself in different areas. Each of these pieces covers not only a different genre of my interest but different areas that I struggle in musically as I attempted to expand my knowledge. Breath and Step for me was a huge learning curb in terms of electronics, something that I like to joke about and question why I study it when in truth, it honestly is so useful and amazing, I just don't understand it. So with this piece I chose the elements with which I had the most fun and took it further than 'just an assignment I have to do' and actually made a piece I enjoyed and meant something to me. The Teacher was my chance to write something I wouldn't usually delve into and probably won't ever again, but that was something I enjoy listening to and would happily perform any time. Having to study the music of another culture and understand how and why the music is the way it is was exciting and I honestly enjoyed how structured and self-explanatory the genre of Tango is which still being exciting. Last semester I worked on a group of pieces, a Russian piece, a Celtic piece and this; I chose to develop this piece because it just made sense to me and I know if I worked hard I could create something different. The Good Fight was a project that is the ideal image of what I desire to be doing in the future, writing worship music for a contemporary church, something that everyone can easily learn and get involved in but that still maintains its musical integrity and unique character. To be able to work with a band and actual shape the piece into something I'm proud of and something I get to showcase as genuine worship with my own lyrics and heart behind it, I can only hope that when it is performed it carry's the same heart I envisioned.

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Through doing all this I have begun to realise that music doesn't have to have strict rules or laws, well, at least in the areas I wish to pursue. Just because I can't write exactly for a specific instrument or I don't know how TAB works or whatever the issue may be, does not mean that I should just avoid the instrument. It doesn't mean I should cut corners however, and I think that working with a band for the first time has pushed me to ask the performers what I should do and how they understand their instruments scores the best.