Ever since I got my first guitar one Christmas, I would spend countless hours teaching myself how to play off of online tabs, YouTube videos, and later through private lessons. The more I played, the more my love for playing guitar exponentially increased. I played for my church youth ministry, and even performed at a wedding. Eventually I considered starting my own band. I shared this dream with a friend, who was a drummer, and we found two other people and our band was made. With permission from my private tutor to use his studio, we met weekly either to play songs like "An Cat Dubh" by U2, or to work on original songs. When our school's Battle of the Bands came up, we signed up instantly. I never imagined performing live in front of so many people. Even though we did not win first place, it was still an amazing experience. To this day I still jam weekly with my friends, and perform for as many school events as possible. No matter what I do with my future, playing guitar will always be a significant part of my life.
I realized as I typed this that it sounds weaker than I had first imagined it would be in my head :/ Advice/suggestions?
You speak your heart out.
You showed commitment.
I think thats what they are looking for.
Help with mine :)
Good experience, but Ithink you should talk more about your reaction and any kind of growth/development you gained from all these events...cuz so far it just reads kind of like a list, to me
I'd like to know if guitar playing gave you any emotional edification and why...if it gave others that...how it kind of shaped your world from your eyes...because many people play guitar and if I were a famous guitar player Icould also make a list of really cool guitar gigs and accomplishments...But, it is about how you feel and your own feelings with your guitar experience and the creativity/style/artisticness in it that makes you stand out even with such a widely played instrument
Hope this helps, don't mean to sound harsh:)
___
Can you also look over my essays and tell me what you think? Thanks!
I agree with cup noodle123, esp in the beginning half, it's a lot of telling, not showing.
you should skip the whole line about forming bands and maybe even less details about how you learned from online/youtube etc. that will leave you more room to elaborate on specific events or feelings. (Maybe you can describe what type of music you guys play? and perhaps how long you've played? And since you mentioned your band, it's a good place to elaborate on things like friendship/teamwork.)
I liked how to mentioned the song by U2, it gives readers an insight to what type of music you play, and I think you did a good job on referring to the variety of experiences you had playing guitar.
Hope that helped. Good luck.
cool! thanks for the suggestions!
'pick up my guitar' - Common App Activities Essay
Can I get advice/suggestions for this? thanks!
Coming home from a tiring day of school, cross country, and tutoring, I lie on my bed and pick up my guitar. At first I play around plucking a few strings, then chords begin to slowly form as I search for a progression that will allow me to pour out my emotions exactly the way I felt them. Expressing exactly how I felt was never easy. Although I conveyed my emotions through studying or spending time with friends, something was always missing. Yet playing the guitar allows me express myself in ways that I could not express myself by any other means. If I felt stressed about my AP Chemistry final or emotionally fatigued from an argument, I always found the chords that would soothe that pain. Along with helping me when I am alone, the ability to play the guitar in songs like "An Cat Dubh" by U2 has formed bonds between the members of my band in ways that couldn't be possible through words alone. My guitar, my band, and music have impacted my life in ways I could not have imagined.
This essay would need some work. How did your guitar, band, and music impact your life? You need to elaborate on that more. And isn't this suppose to be a profession organized activity you are suppose to talk about? Not a hobby? Not trying to sound too critical, but you need to re-write this essay. I would talk about a professional organized activity or volunteer experience, and how it impacted or just what you got from it.
Hope this helps. Sorry for sounding too critical. But you can review my essays and be just as critical if you want.
I'm sorry, but I agree with the other guy. It doesn't quite fulfill the requirements. Maybe talk about how your guitar playing has affected those around your community. Have you ever done a benefit for an unfortunate person or something of that nature? Try writing about that.
thanks for the advice guys! Ive performed in some gigs with my band and even performed for a wedding, should I use those or just use a different EC altogether?