HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY — I first met 14-year-old Anthony Delgado a few months ago when I visited his 8th-grade class at Shields Middle School in Hillsborough County.
That’s where I learned about his musical talents. So I had to pay him another visit during the last week of school.
Watch report from Larissa Scott
“Really, it started in 4th grade,” said Delgado.
That’s when he was gifted a small keyboard, and everything changed.
“I use music as a therapy thing because a lot of times life gets tough,” said Delgado.
He turns to music to cope with the bad days.
"Whenever I play piano it’s like I just shut all the doors of bad thoughts out of the way and a lot of music that I play helps me with it,” said Delgado.
He plays piano for a few hours every day, getting lost in the notes.
“I just love the feeling it gives me,” said Delgado.
It’s a feeling that he’s created because Delgado is self-taught. He can’t read music and plays completely by ear.
“The hardest part about it though is playing two different things at the same time,” said Delgado.
Playing by ear is like a memory game for him.
“When I play by ear, I first look around the piano, I press a few notes and whatever note that matches the memory… So I think of the song I was listening to, then I press a note on the piano that matches that,” said Delgado.
He figures out the notes until he finds the right melodies.
“Then I’ll learn the background music. From there I put them together and then I’ll create the song,” said Delgado.
His world is colored by black and white— the piano keys are his canvas and the music is his art.
“A lot of times when I want to pay a song I think of the story behind it. So whenever music has an emotional impact on me I think of 'hey I should play this song?'” said Delgado.
Finding purpose in is passion for piano, he loves to share his talent.
“When I see other people smiling because I gave them that joy, that makes me feel like I’m a better person… I hope that they feel like a sense of genuine happiness like they feel like they’re content, they’re safe, when I play my music,” said Delgado.
He wants to encourage other student to find what makes them happy, too.
“Life goes quickly. And you should do what you want to do,” said Delgado.
His goal is to become a professional pianist and he plans to learn how to read music this summer to get even better.
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