Guitar teacher career of a foreign affairs student

(Baonghean.vn) - There is no music connoisseur who has not heard Thuy “Meo ú” play the guitar. Her deep and sad guitar voice seems to fall into the silence in the rainy afternoons, in the quiet night, it makes people live in memories, in beautiful memories. Those hands seem to dance on the keys, making people think of a talented artist, an artist who forgets guitar techniques to play it with emotion, with a technique known as thinking with fingers.

Even though she became a famous guitar teacher and made a comfortable living from her profession, and an artist in tea rooms, Thuy still considered herself a student forever and was still tirelessly pursuing the sound techniques of this rustic yet classy form of music.

Truong Xuan Thuy was a student at the University of Foreign Affairs, but he chose to perform and teach guitar after graduating from university. Photo: NVCC

Truong Xuan Thuy came to the guitar as if by fate. The first time he was fascinated by it was when he watched someone perform Trinh's music. "I was fascinated by it because only 6 slender seconds could resonate such captivating harmonies. Why can a person play a guitar like a band, and even replace the lyrics in the songs of a talented musician?"

Once you're hooked, you try, try, and commit yourself without realizing it, until you forget to eat and sleep to practice the instrument, to figure out from the notes.

During his teenage years, he could not give priority to practicing the piano regularly because he had to spend time studying. Thuy was a boy who was good at Math and studied all subjects equally, so even though he was not a bookworm, he still had good academic results.

“I am passionate about the guitar, so even though I have to study to pass the university entrance exam to please my parents, I still have the desire to play the guitar, to play the songs I like and to explore all the sound techniques of the guitar. So the determination to pass the university entrance exam is also an excuse to go to the capital to study guitar,” Thuy said.

Truong Xuan Thuy during a performance for singer Minh Hoang at a tea room in Vinh City. Photo: NVCC

Then, when he passed the entrance exams to two prestigious universities in two different groups, Thuy made his parents proud and he chose the University of Foreign Affairs according to his family's wishes. "When I was studying, I only focused on the subjects I liked and devoted the rest to music."

“At that time, a friend in the boarding house heard me playing the guitar and invited me to join a coffee shop where many famous artists played. At first, I did not agree, but with my passion and desire to learn more from this environment, I agreed.”

From this very coincidental nod, Thuy's life and career as a musician seemed to turn a new page. "When I came to listen and see their playing, I was so stunned, stunned by their professionalism, technique and artistry," Thuy said.

Thuy said that the guitar is the musical instrument that combines the most sound techniques. It is both a percussion instrument and a string instrument. It can replace the flute or the monochord, but it can also be the only instrument that can be both an accompaniment and a solo instrument. "Therefore, to master the guitar, you probably cannot learn all its techniques even after a lifetime of studying. Therefore, guitar players need to practice hard every day as well as have innate talent."

Supporting the voices in tea rooms is Thuy's passion. Photo: NVCC

So learning guitar is learning every day and never stopping. Therefore, in every class, he first and foremost instills passion in his students, and especially Thuy always advises that if you don't really have the talent, don't pursue guitar.

When asked about Thuy, "Why did you choose to play the guitar as a foreign affairs student?", Thuy said that it was because he was determined to pursue it, and also because fate had given Thuy the chance to follow this path.

While still a student, in addition to playing for many talented people in coffee shops, Thuy also studied with a famous guitar teacher. That was Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, a lecturer at the National Conservatory of Music. It was also by chance that Thuy got to know the teacher, "At that time, the teacher had not taught anyone guitar for a long time, but when he came to the coffee shop and saw me playing, he called me down and said, come here and I will teach you."

“It was Mr. Tuan who taught me the most difficult techniques, such as the technique of maintaining the vibrato, the fingerstyle technique used in solos (a technique of moving the fingers to create sounds like percussion), or the Tremolo technique (the sound of flowing water). Not everyone can learn these techniques, because to learn them, the student must have real talent and have studied guitar for about a year or more...”, Thuy shared.

And most importantly, the teacher taught Thuy a new way of thinking, a new way of thinking and a new way of behaving with each piece of music, with each space. “Many times with the same tab but with each different mood and space, I play differently. And the teacher taught me that more than technique is aesthetics, your aesthetics can make that piece of music better than any harmony.”

Now that he has truly established a foothold in Vinh's music scene, using the Steamby support tool, he has expanded his teaching audience mainly online, including students and international students abroad.

“Teaching guitar has helped me to sustain my passion without having to worry about money. But from those lessons, what makes me happier is that I have inspired my students, orienting them to new aesthetic values ​​and musical tastes.”

According to Thuy, this is very important because it will create a trend of listening to music among young people, and spread the culture of enjoyment in every space; creating a healthy musical life in every coffee shop, every music venue.

Thanh Nga