Guitar Is Great, Right?

KAZUKIN started guitar in high school.

In middle school I was into basketball, but once I got to high school I became interested in guitar.

The trigger was truly simple.

“I hear being in a band makes you popular.”

I heard that and took the bait perfectly.

Looking back now, rather than starting from a pure passion for music, my motive was quite impure.

But whatever the entry point, the fact remains that I picked up a guitar.

You don't need a lofty reason from the start.

Wanting to be popular.

That's enough, isn't it?

As for whether I actually became popular, let's not touch on that here.

Hooked on board sports, guitar went dormant

In college, I got deep into snowboarding in winter.

And in snowless seasons, I took up surfing and skateboarding, and before I knew it I was chasing only board-riding play.

Snowy mountains in winter.

The sea in summer.

Skateboarding in between.

My body was always on some kind of board.

Guitar, meanwhile, went largely untouched for a long stretch.

When you stop playing, your fingers astonishingly lose their movement.

I forgot the chords I'd practiced so much.

My fingertips softened and hurt right away when I played again after a long time.

The human body ruthlessly reclaims skills you don't use.

Still, I want to play again

Some time after I started working, a music store I dropped into on a whim led me to resume guitar after a long gap.

Even after being away for a while, my interest never fully disappears for some reason.

Just strumming the chords of a song I like, or repeating a chord progression I like, is fun.

I don't need to play a whole song perfectly from start to finish.

I don't need to play a difficult solo.

Strum the same chords over and over, and “today felt a little good.”

That alone satisfies me.

Guitar is a hobby that works even alone.

You don't have to form a band with anyone.

You don't have to perform in front of people.

You can play guitar even without any gigs planned.

In KAZUKIN's case, a big part of it is playing to feel good myself rather than to let anyone hear it.

Even if I get bored, I come back

Basketball, guitar, snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding.

Looking back, what I've been absorbed in has changed over time.

If something interests me, I try it first.

I get absorbed.

Eventually I drift away a little.

And when it catches my interest again, I come back.

KAZUKIN's hobbies continue in roughly that way.

I don't practice every day without fail.

There are times I don't touch it for a while.

Even so, at some odd moment I pick up the guitar and strum a chord.

Strum.

That single sound changes my mood a little.