Freya Riding
Musician
Freya Riding
Musician
"At school, I was really heavily dyslexic, so I really struggled academically with reading and writing," she explains.
"I loved playing the piano and guitar, but I couldn't read music or other people's songs. Basically all my music teachers gave up on me, one by one.
"I loved playing the piano and guitar, but I couldn't read music or other people's songs. Basically all my music teachers gave up on me, one by one.
"Then, at the age of nine, I started writing my own songs as no one would teach me anyone else's.
"At the age of 11 I did my first open mic show, and it was one of those lightning-bolt moments where I suddenly found what I wanted to do.
Now I look back and I'm so grateful for that. It was one of the most defining moments of my life, as it meant I had to write my own songs."
Her advice for other would-be songwriters who aren't necessarily great academically is this: "If you can hear it and work it out, you can 'write' it."
Retrieved from an article written for BBC News Entretainment
