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Melissa Hubner
Ms. Grant
University Writing 1103
9 September 2014
Musical Literacy
I grew up in a family of musicians. Music has always been one of my greatest passions,
and since very young age I have had the urge to learn how to read music and play different
instruments. Almost every Sunday, my family would get together and play music until the sun
went down. I remember listening to them and wanting to be part of such amazing moment, where
everyone was having fun and sharing their talents. So when I turned twelve years-old, my mother
gave me my first music instrument.
I used to beg my mom to buy me a violin, but she kept telling me that I was too young to
have one. She thought that I would play it for a few months and then get tired of it, because that
is what I used to do with every other activity; however, on my twelfth birthday I woke up to an
awesome surprise, a beautiful maple classic violin. I was so excited that I started playing random
sounds from it around the house, and I guess that was the moment when my mom realized I
actually needed violin lessons, so on the next Monday I had my first lesson.
Learning how to play it was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be, but I sure
did not give up on it. I realized that literacy was something I could not gain overnight, it took
hours of practice, commitment and effort. In my case, every Monday I learned a new song, and I
would play the same exact song until it sounded as flawless as it could. Obviously there were
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times of frustration and difficulty, when I did not want to play it anymore, but taking a couple of
days off was all that I needed to get motivated again.
When I was illiterate in music, I wished that I was able to play with my family and learn
from them, but for some reason, after I started playing the violin, I did not want to play it in front
of anyone. For about four months, I only played it during lessons and by myself in the bedroom,
but that changed when I was invited to perform in a talent show that my school was promoting. I
was so nervous that I could barely breathe, but as soon as I saw my mother sitting on the front
row, I instantly felt relaxed and confident. I could see how proud and happy she was in that
moment, and that me gave motivation to play my best. After my performance, all my family
congratulated me saying that I should definitely pursue music. For the first time, I was thankful
for finally becoming literate in music.
Two years passed by, and I realized that I enjoyed singing as well, so I put the violin
aside for awhile and bought my own acoustic guitar. I had already learned the basis of music
reading, so I was able to teach myself how to play the guitar just by watching videos on Youtube.
It was very accomplishing, and it profoundly improved my musical literacy. Thinking about the
future of this journey, I can also relate to Sherman Alexies text, The Joy of Reading and
Writing: Superman and Me. He wrote he was trying to save lives through the power of literacy
gained from books, and his statement caught my attention because I also want to save lives, but
through music. One of my recent motivations is improving my musical literacy to the point
where I can possibly work with music therapy, which is the use of music interventions to
accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship (What is Music Therapy?).

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Lack of Literacy
A few years ago, I would have never thought that I was going to move to another country,
but on August 2, 2011, I left Brazil and moved to the United States. The experience of living in a
completely different culture is hard to be described, but I can honestly say that the challenges
that I went through only made me a stronger and more mature person. One of the greatest
barriers that I had to overcome was the language. My native language is Portuguese, and to be
able to communicate in English was definitely a difficult yet interesting journey to literacy.
Even before my family decided to come to the U.S., I was already taking English classes
twice a week at a private English school, because my parents have always thought that it would
be important for me to speak a second language in the future; however, those classes were more
focused on grammar than on daily basis vocabulary, which was exactly what I needed to learn,
but their teaching methods surely helped me on academic projects when I started going to an
American high school. When I was younger, my mother used to make me watch American
movies and cartoons with English subtitles, because she believed that I could learn a foreign
language just by often listening and reading it. She also bought me my first book in English,
which was Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.
When Sherman Alexie mentioned, My father loved books, and since I loved my father
with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well, I definitely related to him. My mother
loves books as well, and she had a huge influence in my literacy journey, just as Alexies father
had on his journey. Even to these days, my mothers collection of books is one of my main
sources of entrainment and information. I believe since most of the books I have read were
indicated by her, I have also developed the same taste for books as she has. For example, The
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Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, which I recently have started reading and it is an
absolutely great book in my mothers opinion.
Although I had some type of preparation before moving to the U.S., I still struggled a lot
during the first six months. My first class in high school was Earth Science Honors with Mr.
Caroll. I could not have gotten a more country teacher than him. I remember sitting in his
classroom and not understanding a single word he was saying due to his southern accent. It was
such an awful experience that right after class I called my mom saying that I was not going to be
able to get good grades or perhaps not even pass the class. I knew how important it was for me to
make straight As because I already had plans to attend an American university, so the pressure
on me was immense.
The lack of literacy in English also discouraged me when I had opportunities to make
new friends. I have always been very social and friendly, but every time that I had to approach
someone I would get scared. I thought people would not understand me, or they would make fun
of my accent. And many times when others were talking about a subject that I had a lot to
complement, I opted to stay quiet because I felt like if I had said something they would not have
taken me seriously.

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Literacy Improvement
I remember my last semester of senior year in high school. As much as I was excited, I
was also really nervous about my British literature class. I could not imagine myself reading
plays like Macbeth and epic poems such as Paradise Lost and Beowulf. The lack of literacy and
confidence in myself made me think that class was going to be my worst nightmare, so on the
first day of class I went talk to my teacher about my concerns. Mr. Bishop, a very patient and
intelligent man, said that I should not stress about it too much. He told me he had heard great
things about me from other teachers, and that if ever needed extra help he would be more than
happy to work with me. The clever words that I received from him made me want to try and give
my best in his classroom.
As days went by, I started feeling more comfortable in class. I found myself giving my
opinion without being scared of what my classmates would think, and I was not hesitating to
speak up in front of everyone anymore. So when Mr. Bishop said we were going to read Hamlet,
I felt ready and I just wanted to master the play. We started reading it in the classroom as a group,
but I also reread it at home. It was such an awesome experience to sit by my teacher and answer
all the questions correctly and get 100s on the exams. It was one of the first times that my friends
actually asked me to help them, and they showed me that they really did trust on my knowledge.
Improving my literacy level never felt so good. To be able to understand texts that even
native English speakers have a hard time to understand was very rewarding. In the end of the
semester, Mr. Bishop pulled me aside after class and he made me read all the paper that I had
written. It was amazing to see how much I had improved, and how well I was actually writing in
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English. If it was not for the great teacher that I had, I was not going to be able to improve as
greatly as I did.
Sylvia Scribner defines literacy as adaptation and power, and both definitions fit in my
literacy journey. I surely had to adapt to the level of literacy needed to succeed in the course and
to be prepared to college classes. Reading books over and over, spending hours trying to
understand the meaning of every single word in scholarly texts, and staying after school for
tutoring were my adaptations to overcome illiteracy. Being acknowledged for truly
comprehending the material also made me feel powerful. My classmates started showing respect
towards me by listening every time I made a comment in class and humbly asking for help.

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Work Cited
"What Is Music Therapy?" American Music Therapy Association. The American Music
Therapy Association, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2014