On Playing the Guitar Anonymous

The guitar has a voice like no other in one’s soul. Its voice is soft and intimate when its player feels likewise yet also fiery and vehement given the slightest bit of oomph. When I play, I feel as if the guitar is really the one with emotion and my fingers are its instrument.

When I began playing guitar, I never wished to become a virtuoso or join an ensemble. My goal was just to learn my favorite songs by Nirvana and Alice in Chains! My eleven-year-old self had by then completed all of the “Expert Mode” songs on Guitar Hero 5 and decided that a guitar with strings instead of buttons would be a refreshing new endeavor. Though I have (and still do) held 90s rock and the Grunge movement as my favorite genre, I love studying pieces of all styles. Thanks to my amazing teacher Mark Farley, I have learned captivating works from some of the greatest virtuosos and even dabbled in composition!

Friends know me as an avid source for guitar and rock history, and my familiarity with the instrument gifts me rewarding opportunities to express my passion. My elementary school asks me every year to play at their Veterans Day assembly, and musicians I meet everywhere identify me by the long one-handed fingernails that adorn many classical...