🎤64 Years Spent Listening to Music, Starting with a Folk Guitar🎤

Before I knew it, I was 64.

When I was young, I thought being in my 60s was a long way off, but looking back, I feel like I've raced through life alongside music in the blink of an eye.

Even now, I sometimes take out the folk guitar I used to play and strum it.

The moment that sound rings out, I can feel my younger self suddenly peeking through.

My encounter with music was back in elementary school.

It was an old folk guitar my brother owned.
The body had several small scratches, and the strings were rusty.

But I still remember clearly the day I first picked up that guitar.

I couldn't play it well, but for some reason, I was drawn to the 'twang' sound it made when I plucked the strings.

Back then, folk songs were often playing on the radio and TV.

Takuro Yoshida, Kaguya Hime, Yosui Inoue... every song was packed with the winds of the era and people's emotions.

I didn't think deeply about the meanings, but listening to their songs gave me a feeling like something was burning inside me.

I tried imitating the chords and copying down the lyrics in a notebook—that's how I gradually became obsessed with music.

By the time I was in high school, my interest had shifted from folk guitar to electric guitar.

I miss forming a band with my friends and performing at the school festival.

We didn't have much equipment back then, but the sound coming from the amp expanded our world.

In the music room after school, we practiced the same song over and over, and we all laughed together the moment the sounds finally clicked.

That time might have been the moment I felt most 'alive' in my life.

After I started working, the time I spent playing guitar decreased.

Work, family, raising children—there were times when music felt a little distant.

Even so, somewhere in my heart, the sound of a guitar was always playing.

On nights when I was tired from work, I would quietly pick up a guitar and hum old folk songs, and strangely, my feelings would settle.

Music has always been like a small light that supports my heart.

Around the end of my 50s, I picked up a ukulele for the first time in a long while.

It is lighter than a guitar and has a softer sound. Every time I strum the strings, I feel like my heart is relaxing.

While playing the ukulele, I remember my younger self. My 20s, when I just rushed forward with momentum, and my 30s, when I looked ahead even while feeling lost.

Music was by my side in every era.

For me now, music has become less of an 'object of obsession' and more like a 'friend that colors my days'.

Recently, when my grandchild comes to visit, we sometimes play the ukulele and sing together.

Watching them keep rhythm with their small hands, I deeply feel that 'the joy of music is something that is passed down across generations'.

Just as I received a guitar from my older brother, I would be happy if my grandchild came to love music someday.

Even at 64, playing the guitar makes my heart feel young again.

My fingers don't move like they used to, but each note feels deeper and gentler. Music is mysterious.

Rather than trying hard to get better, as I get older, 'savoring the sound' has become more important.

Now, every time I play, I can truly think from the bottom of my heart, 'I am glad I lived with this sound'.

Looking back on my life, the guitar and music have always been by my side.

Whether I was sad or happy, music supported me.

No matter how old I get from here on out, I want to be someone who can pick up a guitar and play a song.

Because music is like magic that brings back youth.

Thank you for reading until the end.

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