Essay Test: What Languages Do You Speak: Jazz, English, Google?

The following essay was written in response  to William and Mary’s 2017 essay prompt:

Beyond your impressive academic credentials and extra curricular accomplishments, what else makes you unique and colorful? We know nobody fits neatly into 500 words or less, but you can provide us with some suggestion of the type of person you are. Anything goes! Inspire us, impress us, or just make us laugh. Think of this optional opportunity as show and tell by proxy and with an attitude

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One year ago I played my first jazz piano solo on stage, if complete silence can be called a solo. I remember the panic I felt as I placed my hands awkwardly on the keyboard but did not press any keys. As a trained classical piano student, I only knew how to play the exact notes on the page. But jazz is about improvisation. Since jazz is not well known in my homeland of China, I had never been exposed to it. However, the minute I joined the school jazz band, I was in love. The freedom of jazz amazed me.

This was my introduction to jazz improvisation; I was clueless, but excited. When the band director asked me to play a walking bass line, I did the most obvious thing: I Googled it. I found lots of YouTube channels with great jazz tutorials for beginners. Mostly, they were about basic music theory, including different scales, common chord progressions, and jazz rhythms. A new world had been opened. I watched hundreds of videos and took a great many notes so I could ask questions of my music teacher. Because I was the player who had the least foundation, I practiced the most. I would get up early and practice until breakfast. My electric piano is in front of an east-facing window. I play as the sun rises everyday. And I play with the joy of a new morning and the miracle of music.

A difficult part of improvisation is to have confidence. I was easily embarrassed at first by my childish-sounding solos. My teacher made a good analogy to comfort me. He said that music is like a language. With practice, he could recite a French poem without knowing how to speak French, because it was already written by somebody else. This is classical piano. But jazz requires more than memorizing, and that is the real understanding of music. I love this analogy because I am also experiencing learning and using English as a second language.

Recently, I played a blues jam session with other new jazz performers at a downtown Italian restaurant. I still did not sound professional, but I enjoyed myself, because I was creating my own music. My fingers followed my instincts, mood, and feelings; that’s all. As Miles Davis said, “Do not fear mistakes. There [are] none.” Complex chord changes and sophisticated rhythms make jazz sometimes sound dissonant and chaotic, but the beauty of jazz is the spirit of taking risks and continuing to make progress. The experience of studying and performing jazz has given me the confidence to challenge myself with new subjects.

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Questions

Rate this essay from 1-5 with 5 being the highest. What rating did you give this essay and why?

What words would you describe the writer’s voice?

What words would you use to describe the writer’s character and personality?

How would you rate this writer’s ability in English compared to other students you know who are seniors in high school?

How much of a boost, if any, should students be given in admission for demonstrating fluency  in English if it not their native language?

How much of a boost, if any, should students be given in admission who whose first language is English,  but who are fluent in another language?

Should fluency in some languages be deemed more useful than others to the pragmatic global aspirations of a university (Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, Russian)? Why or why not?

Will this student add diversity to her university? Why or why not?

Does this student challenge any stereotypes? 

Should being able to play classical and jazz piano be considered a special talent? Why or why not?

Is this student smart?

Would you want this student to be your roommate?

How many languages do you speak fluently?