I couldn't possibly recognize that it was going to be as important a moment as it's become.
But I knew that nothing else along my life's journey had affected me in that way.
And that was it.
I heard the lap steel guitar and there was no turning back.
Hey you!
Yes, you.
What's that light inside of you?
Is it a dream?
A beat?
A beautiful sound?
A heartbreaking song?
Whatever it is, we're here with working musicians to help you grow and share that gift with this wild and wonderful world.
Guitar, first of all, is something that you can carry around with you.
I really, really love that about it, because I had a lot of feelings about not belonging and trying to find my place in the world.
So having the guitar as this very travelable companion made a lot of sense to me.
It accompanies the voice so well.
So for me, it was about the songwriting.
It was about the singing.
And the guitar was just the vehicle to do that.
So like, I don't think the clarinet would have worked for me.
I started on.
You know when everybody starts their instrument.
In the fifth grade I played the clarinet.
I loved playing music with other people, played the flute for a little while and then eventually moved on to the alto saxophone.
I think I was just, I just wanted to try them all.
But finally, I wanted to be in a symphony orchestra.
So I had heard of the oboe.
I didn't know anybody that played it.
I went on YouTube and just watched video after video and you know player after player of this interesting instrument.
I just, I mean, the rest is history.
I loved it.
I am obviously an oboist and I've been playing for probably 14 years now.
I heard the lap steel played when I was very young, and it was the sound that pulled me in in a way.
That was a mystery that, to this day, I've been in pursuit of.
It's always difficult to put words to what and why an instrument pulls you in.
That mystery is part of what makes it special to the person playing that instrument.
I have very clear memories of music finding me.
And I think as a child, maybe I was struggling sometimes and I needed to escape.
And I had this shelter, which was music.
Over the years, so as a very young child, I played different instruments.
I ended up playing guitar and then bass. and for me it works really well with my personality.
Bass is more about sort of a combination of rhythm and harmony.
You have to love groove and you have to sort of appreciate the power of repeating a bass line.
Basically,
I always loved meditating and I think from early age I found playing bass somewhat like a meditation.
First answer, real honest.
I chose the piano because this girl I had a crush on in third grade played piano.
So I was like, oh shoot, let's go.
I also fell in love with the piano, so that worked out well.
I was eight or nine when I started playing piano.
I was 13 when I started telling people I was gonna be a songwriter for a living.
And it never really stopped from there.
I played alto saxophone for probably 10 years because I love jazz.
There was a part of me that had to realize you only have a certain amount of hours in a day.
And if you're going to play something and play it to a professional level, you got to like triage, right?
So saxophone was awesome and I love it, but it just wasn't doing it.
You know what I mean?
I think the piano is a superpower instrument because all of music theory is laid out before you once you understand the piano.
Now, I also play guitar.
It's not as linear.
I can bring theory structure to the guitar because I understand it on piano first.
I will give credit to one of my first piano teachers.
Her name is Florence.
I would bring her a song and I'd say, I wanna learn this song.
And she'd say okay, first try it on your own with your ears, and then come back and I'll show you what you should adjust.
And so I fell in love with the sheer process of realizing that all of these keys in front of me mean something.
And if I sat here long enough, I could sound like people that I look up to.
Music, I love it.
How did I get from a love of music to the drums?
I think that...
There's an element of patience, I think, that's required in learning music.
I think drumming didn't inflame my lack of patience.
I had plenty of opportunities to learn piano, and I felt disconnected from it.
I had plenty of opportunities to learn guitar.
I felt totally intimidated by it.
Drumming.
It seemed to be initially simple enough and also loud enough to where I felt an immediate shock of power and excitement, and I didn't feel intimidated by the complexities.
I felt a balance of gratification and satisfaction.
The fact that it gave me that so quickly.
It then kind of circumvented my tendency to be impatient and unwilling to learn.
I think when you pick an instrument, you shouldn't skip the part where you think what kind of person am I?
Is this going to be a good avenue to express myself?
Or am I going to be just frustrated?
If you need constant attention and you want to be in the front of the band all the time, Try the guitar.
I think when you want to make that choice let's say you want to get into a band or you want to pick an instrument and there's guitar and there's bass and you want to decide which one is right for you you might want to consider the element of rhythm, the sort of ability to move a whole room of people, basically with playing a bass line.
In the beginning, I just wasn't really very passionate about it.
Now I pick up my guitar and I can't imagine doing anything else.
It's an outlet for me.
It's like my form of self-expression, like the same way I love art and photography.
Like music is just another way for me to like express myself.
There are guitars with nylon strings.
There are guitars with steel strings, all different shapes and sizes electric acoustic, acoustic and electric guitar.
They feel so different.
And you definitely do have to cater your playing style to it.
And I actually find that playing acoustic transfers over to electric better than playing electric transfers over to an acoustic guitar.
Yeah, it's an exciting venture, the guitar.
I mean, every time I pick it up, I'm learning something.
I'm still learning new things every day and trying to improve myself.
It's the connection, like music, it's a language, it's a way to connect.
When you go to see shows, see what moves you.
If something touches you, probably you have something within yourself that is similar.
So what's your thing?
You probably have your own special thing to bring as a performer.
Sometimes it's an energy thing, like you open doors and the right thing will find you.
Are you ready to find your instrument?
Start exploring and let us know in the comments which instrument intrigues you or which instrument steals your heart.
For more insights from beloved working artists on what it means to think like a musician, check out another episode in this series.
