Humans of ASIJ – Sean McGuire ’20

Article by Marine Savoure, Writer

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Whenever I’m playing guitar, whenever I feel inspired, it’s like I’m in a trance. I’ve never really owned a video game console, so this has been my means of passing time forever. Guitar is a way for me to express myself or communicate my emotions. It’s fun to play. As with anything you do, once you get to a point where you can do what you want to do, then you gain a sort of freedom with it, and then that’s when it becomes really inspiring to play.” 

“Guitar has been a part of my life for years and years and years. I don’t really have a single genre that I pursue, so it really comes down to me wanting to become a better version of myself. I’ll get home, set down my stuff, and then I pretty much go right to my room and just jam for a bit. Or if I need a homework break, I’m just playing. If I’m not playing, I’m constantly listening to music in the background, and then whenever I hear something I like, that gets me inspired and I have to play.” 

“There’s never really been a time when I’ve hated the instrument. There have been times where I’ve been challenged, when I want to give up because I couldn’t do something. Or I’ll see someone that’s crazy good, and I want to be them but I feel like I’m never going to be them. It is a moment of challenging my ego, in a sense. Sometimes when I’m really challenged, or there’s a big period of growth that I need, I throw away my ego and just be like, yeah, I need to buckle down, practice, and just learn that.” 

“My advice to anyone who wants to learn an instrument? Do it. Get past those initial stages where you’re learning the bare fundamentals, and find your musical inspirations. Because as long as you have inspirations, you will have a reason to continue.”