Naia Banderman, a freshman at OHS, has been playing guitar since she was 13. Banderman’s interest in guitar started at a young age and her progression in guitar has developed exponentially over the years. 

“The guitarist in the band Hello Halo actually gave it to me for free,” Banderman said. 

This pushed Banderman to take action and start playing guitar, although she has been interested in pursuing this hobby since she was young.

“Michael Clifford influenced me to play guitar,” Banderman said. “He’s in the band 5 Seconds Of Summer.”

Although Banderman was inspired by a pop rock guitarist, the genres of music she plays varies. 

“The songs I play are mostly from 5 Seconds of Summer, Green Day and Ed Sheeran,” Banderman said.

Banderman has since been progressing her guitar playing skills by getting lessons for a year to get her started and since has been practicing by herself.

“I think I will definitely use it in the future,” Banderman said. “I would love to make it into a music career and play for a lot of people.”

Although she would like to do something with music in the future, Banderman has been struggling with social anxiety, which she thinks might affect how she plays in front of people, but she would feel very accomplished if she were to do something in the music industry.

“I mean, I would like to go into the music industry, but I would have to start playing in front of people, which is hard for me when I have social anxiety,” Banderman said. “But playing with other people could help me overcome it.”

Banderman didn’t expect a single hobby to have such an effect on her. 

“It really helped me with expressing myself,” Banderman said, “and helped me understand the complexity of music.”

Playing the guitar has helped Banderman through tough times and has had an incredible impact on her.

“I play the guitar to have fun in a way and also calm myself down,” Banderman said. “I feel like I can express my emotions when I am playing to myself.”