“There’s no stopping curiosity / I wanna turn the whole thing upside down.”
From listening to songs by Jack Johnson from the “Curious George” soundtrack to the groovy melodies of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in his mom’s soccer van, junior Isaac Antao was always surrounded by music. However, playing an instrument had never crossed his mind he was presented with the opportunity to take guitar lessons in middle school.
“I never really took my lessons seriously At first, I wasn’t too interested, and then COVID hit, which made it difficult to find the motivation to play the guitar,” said Antao.
Yet, despite the internal isolation he experienced during COVID-19, Antao found originality in different genres of music, especially country and indie music, and drew inspiration from artists like the Smiths, Steve Lacy, Tyler Childers, and more.
“When my mom got me my first acoustic guitar in eighth grade, I started to take an interest in learning the guitar and listening to all kinds of music to find inspiration for my songs. Sometimes I don’t even listen to the lyrics of a song, just the guitar in the background,” said Antao.
Now, Antao practices the guitar daily—sometimes to the point where his fingers nearly fall off.
“Once I find a song I like, I practice it for about two to three hours daily. I like to go over things multiple times until I get it right. After practicing for a while, my fingers form calluses, yet it feels so rewarding to learn a new song,” said Antao.
Learning the guitar wasn’t always easy for Antao. But after several years of playing, he has developed a system to learn new songs yet still focus on the fundamentals.
“When I’m learning new songs, I like to cut it up into sections and work on each one of those individual sections. Most people want to rush the simple stuff, but you can’t just play at normal speed. You have to start out with a slower tempo first and then slowly build your way up and that’s really how you learn something new,” said Antao.
Antao believes music should be expressed freely, and oftentimes brings his guitar to school to play for his friends and teachers. He uses music as a way to reward himself and balance his academic responsibilities.
“Usually on Wednesdays and Fridays, I like to bring my guitar to play for my friends during advocacy and lunch. It’s a great way for me to destress from things like homework and tests while having fun with my friends,” said Antao.
Moreover, Antao uses music as a way to communicate with other people. Outside of school, Antao spreads his passion for music through recitals and plans to start a band with his friends and teach others how to learn guitar.
“I’m looking to start a band with my friends and get a bunch of other people to just start playing. I want to find others who also play music, and I think music is a common interest for strangers, because everybody listens to music,” said Antao.
Although Antao is only a junior, he is looking forward to playing the guitar in college as a hobby and is continuously experimenting with different styles of playing.
“I like to mess around with a song as I already know, taking chords from them and just starting adding my own and changing around the notes a little bit. Maybe in college, I’ll write my own songs,” said Antao.
Originally, Antao had never seen playing guitar as a hobby that would be taken this seriously, but over time he fell in love with it. He has developed a unique aptitude for playing music that he enjoys and encourages others to do the same.
“Learn songs that you want to learn and it makes you enjoy the guitar. If you’re learning something you don’t like you’re gonna be like really discouraged from playing. Once you learn the fundamentals and master them, I don’t think any song is too hard.”
