If You Only Listen to Music, You Don't Have to Try

As a kid, I was semi-forced by my mom to start learning the piano.

I started out taking lessons with a teacher and kept at it on and off for several years. Only as an adult did I realize what a blessing and rare privilege it was to pick up an instrument at a young age. Not only did you have endless time, but what you accumulate growing up feels completely different from trying to learn later in life.

Back then, I knew nothing about music theory—I just genuinely loved playing the piano. Later, by chance in middle school, I started learning the guitar. Even though I only studied it for about a year, I learned to strum chords and became a “first-five-frets warrior” (I could only finger chord shapes within the first five frets). Then, also somewhat reluctantly, I learned to play the harmonica. As it turned out, I even learned to play two harmonicas at once, plus a chromatic harmonica.

I still remember being deeply moved after watching Forest of Piano. I rushed off to practice the third movement of Mozart’s K535 Sonata, and it took me over three months of practicing just to make it sound halfway decent.

In middle school, I once dreamed of getting into a specialized music class. But the tuition was expensive and my family couldn’t afford it. On top of that, without real talent, I figured I might starve to death, so I chose the more pragmatic academic path instead.

In high school, under immense academic pressure, the piano became my sanctuary.

Every day after school, I would practice for a couple of hours before hitting the books. Back then, I loved browsing Niconico, especially marasy8, famous for his pink monkey mascot. Much like SLSMusic, he often arranged anime songs; his piano playing was virtuosic, and his arrangements were incredible. So I’d often track down sheet music transcribed by others and play along.

Looking back at high school, I don’t really know why I never joined the rock music club or guitar club. One reason was probably that I couldn’t afford an electric guitar and an amp.

After entering college, my passion for music waned. For one thing, after moving from Kaohsiung to Taipei, my rental apartment didn’t have a piano; for another, my interest simply faded over time. Even so, I still joined the piano club in college and played a few pieces at the club showcase.

Influenced by the NiceChord channel, I started learning basic music theory. After graduating from college, I bought a Roland FA-06 synthesizer, exploring different patches and tones while learning how to compose. Later, because my rented room was just too small to fit it, I never took it out again and eventually sold it off.

Music theory was the same story—I watched tons of videos but couldn’t put anything into practice. Every time I listened to the bland, awful musical phrases I came up with, I couldn’t help wondering if I lacked talent, often wishing I had been born into a musical family like Fujii Kaze.

I still envy the younger version of myself who had endless hours to practice. Even though that was one of the darker periods of my life, I only realize now what an invaluable gift it was to be able to practice so much in my youth.

What truly triggered an impulse purchase of an electric guitar was the anime Bocchi the Rock!.

It was still during the pandemic. After finishing the anime, I was deeply inspired and thought the tone of an electric guitar was amazing, so I bought a Yamaha PACIFICA. That motivation lasted for a while before fizzling out again. The moment I picked up the electric guitar once more was during my “Refresh” leave—a 10-day special vacation granted for reaching five years at my company. I traveled to Ochanomizu in Tokyo and bought a Fender Stratocaster.

Another turning point came in July, when I attended a trial electric guitar class at the Fukuoka campus of ESP College of Entertainment. ESP is a well-known guitar brand, and owning an ESP is a dream for many guitarists. The school is located right near Tenjin, which makes it very accessible.

Beyond electric guitar majors, they also offer programs for songwriting, DAW/audio production, and vocals, as well as behind-the-scenes disciplines like stage production, lighting, and sound engineering. While enrolled, students can also take courses outside their main major.

The trial class kicked off with a performance by a student band from the school, with the stage, lighting, and sound all run by students. Honestly, sitting there listening to their performance, I was overwhelmed with emotion. The bass drum thumped right in my chest. The young musicians on stage—mostly high school and college students—were singing their own original songs. Watching how completely immersed the guitarist was, I couldn’t help standing in the audience and picturing myself up on that stage…

“How amazing would it be to perform on stage?”

After the performance, the instructor led us to a classroom for the trial session. What left a deep impression on me was going straight into the school’s rehearsal studio to jam through a short ensemble piece alongside a group of high schoolers. Playing live is worlds apart from playing along with a video: you have to stay locked into each other’s tempo at every moment, and the drummer’s consistency is truly the soul of the entire band.

My guitar playing is still very amateur and clumsy, but I thoroughly enjoyed that feeling. It was the closest I’ve come to a state of flow recently, and it’s one of the goals I want to pursue.

Whether it’s scales, fretboard shapes, guitar techniques, songwriting, arranging, or chords, I’m learning at a slow pace. Seeing high schoolers who play guitar with such breathtaking skill, it’s hard not to feel a bit envious: If only I had picked up the electric guitar as a kid; if only I had grown up in a musical family.

Of course, that’s just hindsight talking. If I had chosen music back then, I probably wouldn’t be living in Japan and working as a software engineer today.

I’m reminded of a former coworker who had a background in music, a bachelor’s in physics, and a master’s in astronomy. Sometimes I wondered if switching careers to become a software engineer was selling himself short. He learned at lightning speed, making me wonder if people who can focus all day in a practice room simply perform a “dimensional strike” on whatever new field they enter. I also have other former coworkers who are developers and play killer guitar.

I really envy people like that.

Eventually, I realized that the reason I could never take that first step came down to self-criticism. If you approach your own creative work with judgment rather than finding joy in it, then creating becomes sheer agony.

In the early days, I always played just to entertain myself and never systematically recorded my playing to listen back. Later on, I bought Logic Pro with a student discount. Despite having such great software, I never once finished a single song.

There are probably two deeper reasons for this. First is insecurity: the fear of having others hear how bad my work is, of being told it sounds terrible, or of being accused of plagiarizing because it sounds too much like another song. Second is the massive gap between taste and technical ability, just like what NiceChord once wrote about.

Now that I know the root causes, I can make adjustments: create a safe environment by sharing my work only with close friends, and learn to embrace and enjoy the process of receiving criticism.

Funny enough, I recently met someone at work who also has a musical background—he’s a drummer in a band, while working as a software engineer for his day job.

I’m taking it as a sign: “Hey, maybe you should make music too.”