Although my parents never hounded me to master an instrument or be some kind of prodigy, there was always an expectation that I would adopt some sort of music-related hobby. Eventually, I dabbled in piano for a year in second grade and played the viola for five years from fourth to eighth grade. While the middle school orchestra was fun to participate in, the strict practice times and the classical pieces did not do much to kindle a musical drive in me.
With this personal history, I didn’t think I would have ever wanted to experiment with instruments on my own time again — especially not a stringed instrument like guitar.
In mid-December, a month after I had finished watching the Korean TV show “Mr. Plankton,” I became addicted to its soundtracks — most of which heavily featured the guitar. After listening to “Smile” by Junha Park and hearing only three individual notes being repeated throughout the entire song, I knew I had to try to play it myself. So, I asked one of my guitar-playing friends to tell me which three notes were being repeated. Somehow, he ended up teaching me how to also play another song that same day. With two songs to practice, I grew excited.
A week later, another friend sent me the link to a random Chinese song by a random Chinese artist (蒲公英的约定（吉他谱)), and suggested I learn how to play it. I ended up learning that song too; although I had to play each note excruciatingly slowly, the song was so pretty that it was worth it.
Audio recording by Nicole Lee
Dec. 31, 2024: excerpt from Jay Chou’s 蒲公英的约定（吉他谱).
Conveniently, I had a guitar that I bought six years ago, and my brother also had a backup. In sixth grade, I participated in a program at my church, where a group of interested students would meet with teachers once a week and learn how to play various instruments at an amateur level. With the option to choose either the guitar, piano or drums, I chose the guitar. While I had a lot of fun taking this course, I never found the internal motivation to keep practicing outside of Friday afternoons. I ended up learning how to play four chords, all of which I had forgotten within a year.
The difference between my experience playing guitar now versus then, though, is the fact that I don’t have any pressure to excel. While I don’t think I play amazingly well, I’ve realized it’s fine, because I am just playing the guitar as a hobby.
Audio recording by Nicole
Jan. 4, 2024: excerpt from Beabadoobee’s Coffee.
Audio recording by Nicole
Jan. 27, 2024: introduction of Yung Kai’s Blue.
Audio recording by Nicole
Jan. 31, 2025: Bella Ciao.
Feb 2, 2025: (TW: blood). I practiced too much, and my hand got a little scratched up.
Video by Nicole
Feb. 3, 2024: excerpt from Endless Love (無盡的愛 Wujin De Ai – 美麗的神話 Meili De Shenhua).
