My Significant Place

      I doubt that my choice will surprise anyone, but, I will present it anyway. My special place is my piano at home! Before any of you readers jump to that judgemental "Uhhh, musicians" comment, allow me to explain, in vivid detail, why I am so in love with my piano, and all classical/jazz music in general.
      I was born with something very rare, and I was not aware that this particular thing is as rare as it is until a few years ago when I was told that I had it. Well, I suppose I was told as a child but I probably did not listen. Anyway, this "gift" as many people today call it, is absolute pitch (many call it perfect pitch). For those who do not know what it is, it is the ability to identify exactly the pitch of a note without any external reference, and the ability to produce a given tone without any external reference. Some might think, "Oh, well don't all musicians have that?" The answer is no. One in 10,000 people have this ability, and I am, in a way, blessed to be one of them. For those who have it, it manifests itself in very different ways. A composer named Scriabin had incredible synastesia and would literally see sounds as different colors, even with his eyes open. For me, I hear notes in solfege in Spanish; Spanish was my first language and my mom first taught me all the different notes in solfege in that language. C is Do, D is Re, E is Mi, F is Fa, G is Sol, A is La, and B is Si. As for sharps and flats, they are generally as such: C sharp is Do, E flat is Mi, F sharp is Fa, A flat is La, and B flat is Si. However, they are always subject to change, depending on the mood of the song, or the notes that precede them. So, in other words, I hear words instead of sounds. If I have my eyes closed for a while and listen to, or play music, I will only be able to see chords as colors. For example, C minor is navy blue, A flat major is purple, E major is yellow, C sharp minor and E minor are my favorites because the former is a dark white (not not gray, just a dark white) and the latter is an ocean. Weird huh? What's even stranger is that when I play my saxophone, my brain will essentially "switch keys" and my hearing will shift down a full step, making it so that everything I hear is in reference to my tenor. When I am not using my saxophone, I will hear in concert pitch, unless I am listening to a saxophone piace that I know, in which case my hearing will switch. I understand that this might seem like a giant tangent, but bear with me here, this is just background information leading to what I have to say next.
      So, as to why my piano is my significant place... well let's put it this way: considering that I hear notes as words, whenever I sit at a piano and begin to play... I am a choir conductor, and the keys are my 88 white and black singers who rely solely upon my conducting to make them sing. They are excellent musicians because they do exactly what I want them to do! Most of the time. My piano is the only place where I can actually say "Yeah, this is exactly what I want to do, and this is exactly what I want to hear in return." If I am ever angry, or sad (which honestly rarely happens), I can go to sit at my piano, and express my emotions through loud playing, usually my favorite choice is Chopin's Revolutionary Etude (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi5VTBdKbFM). Enjoy.
      I rarely listen to modern day music, except of course Stevie Wonder and a few others, because I do not need words to tell me what is happening, or how I should feel. I love the interprative freedom that classical music provides, and the fact that the story I envision changes every time I listen to, or play a song.
      To me, interprative freedom and the ability to illustrate a story or envision a story with the help of a song is the most beautifl thing a person can experience.