With a strum of her acoustic guitar, freshman Sasha Anthony simply needs to pluck and pull a few strings to bring her music to life.
Anthony plays guitar almost every day. What started as a family tradition turned into one of Anthony’s most beloved hobbies, one that allows her to tune in with her inner self and fully express who she is.
Her favorite genre to both play and listen to is rock, specifically grunge, which is an alternative rock subgenre that fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal. Some of her biggest inspirations include 80’s and 90’s bands like the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.
“I don’t really know why I love music so much,” Anthony said. “I just grew up with it. It makes me feel good, and understanding how to play all the songs I love makes it even better.”
Despite four years of experience, Anthony still considers playing the guitar a learning process that she is figuring out every day. Anthony taught herself to play the guitar at home by using online tutorials and consistently practicing in her free time. A helpful skill that she’s picked up along the way is being able to read tabs, which are shorthand charts that document music for stringed instruments like the guitar, and allow her to play a larger variety of songs.
“Because I’m self-taught, there’s still a lot of things I don’t understand and want to learn, like music theory. It’s difficult for me to learn by myself,” Anthony said. “But being able to read tabs is pretty cool already, so I can play more fun music.”
Anthony’s love for music is strongly influenced by her family. The majority of her family also plays guitar as a hobby and enjoys making or listening to music together.
[Music] makes me feel good, and understanding how to play all the songs I love makes it even better.
“My dad plays music all the time, so we get to bond over that. If I ever need help at all when playing guitar, he’s always willing to teach me one or two songs. All of my music taste is from my parents,” Anthony said.
She first felt inspired to pick up a guitar when she saw her brother playing. He only played occasionally as a side hobby, but it was enough to compel Anthony to do the same.
“I realized guitar looked really fun and 10-year-old me wanted to do everything my brother did, so I started learning and ended up really enjoying it,” Anthony said.
Anthony’s favorite part of playing her guitar is how connective and eccentric it is, and how music overall can bring people together as a community. Whether that be through playing and learning guitar with her own family or seeing other people come together as bands to create music, Anthony believes that music has the power to make people feel genuinely connected with each other.
“Most people just love music, which is pretty nice. You don’t see any other animals coming up with weird instruments and getting together for concerts,” Anthony said. “Humans are just weird like that, and that’s what makes music so cool.”
