By Thomas C.

“Believe you can, and you’re halfway there” – Theodore Roosevelt

Self-belief is something I struggled with when I was younger. Because I wanted to be good at everything I tried right away, I did not have the patience to get better. I always second-guessed myself and never put everything I could into things, which made playing sports or learning instruments hard.

Then when I was six years old, I started playing guitar, which is not an easy thing to pick up and start playing. Each week I would go to Fan Guitar and Ukulele, co-owned by a couple of guys named Stu and John, to take lessons with Grant. I remember how at least one of them lived up stairs and how Stu walked around bare foot. The first songs I learned were Smoke on the water and Hot Cross Buns, which I learned in the basement of their shop where I sat on a broken sofa that felt the same as sitting on the floor but more bumpy.  I played for two years on an acoustic, which was cool, but what interested me the most was the electric guitar. I was inspired by bands and artists like Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Jimmie Hendrix, and Metallica because of their musical ability. They were all rock bands or artists with skilled guitarists. So after two years of acoustic I convinced my parents to let me switch to electric guitar. I then I moved to the main floor of the shop and played in a noise canceling room

I got my first electric guitars gifted to me by my uncles, who at a young age also started playing guitar. My uncle Mike gave me a matte red and white Squire Stratacastor with an anarchy logo on it, while my uncle Lucas gifted me a shiny red Epiphone Les Paul. The Epiphone has a clean sound like your generic guitar and the Strat has a reverb that makes you feel like you are playing in some kind of dystopian world. Having an electric guitar doesn’t just give you more sounds to work with, it also gives you a new feel like you are more powerful and capable than before. Just holding one made you find new confidence that you never knew you had, which was great for me because of my confidence problems. Now that I was using an electric guitar, Grant taught me Bone by King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard,  Enter Sandman by Mattalica, and Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen.

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When I turned nine, I stopped playing, feeling that I had not improved since I started. I did not want to go to lessons and would not practice at home. My mom asked why I stopped and I replied that I hadn’t gotten any better since I started, which was ridiculous because I had managed to play some hard songs. In response, she showed me a video of when I had just started playing at age six, and she asked me, “Are you sure? Because I see a lot of improvement.”

“But it’s hard,” I said.

“You can do hard things,” she replied. 

Since then, I never stopped playing again (except for the occasional vacation trip).

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My interest in guitar helps me connect with my family because I have a musical family, mostly on my dad’s side, so I’m not the only one in my family that owns and plays an instrument. Whenever we get together as a family people are playing instruments, birthdays, funerals, holidays, et cetera. 

Most of my family play a string instrument or sing but there is also a little bit of percussion. My grandpa plays acoustic guitar and stand up bass. My uncle plays the bongos, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. My aunt plays ukulele and sings, and my grandma plays piano and sings and every last one of them have been a big influence in my musical career. That being said I always will get pressured to play something in front of my entire family, which is cool, but I don’t like doing stuff like that. It’s really awkward when you take a break from playing and they ask you, “How’s your guitar playing going, learn any new songs?” I would try and make an excuse for taking a break from playing, which made it more awkward than it already is, then they would respond like, “Oh, I get it,” but in my mind I know they don’t.

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 When I started attending Seven Hills School, I made a lot of friends with interests in music similar to me. Then we started playing together in a mini band and talking about music. Now I call my friends and play with each other from our homes on our phones and computers.

In conclusion, playing guitar influences my life positively and helps me believe in myself. Practicing guitar made me realize you can do hard things if you stick with it until the end. I’m still struggling with self-belief, but playing the guitar has helped me with my self-confidence. Guitar helps me connect with friends and family and it teaches me that doing hard things are good for me.