For as long as she can remember, sophomore Corinn Conant has always loved singing. She has also been taking guitar lessons for two years but it was only a year ago that she started performing in front of a crowd.

Coming from a musical family, Conant was influenced to start her own music career as well.

“My grandma plays piano and my uncle has his own recording studio in downtown Ventura. He used to have an old band. I’m not sure if he still has it, but he plays guitar. My grandpa played guitar too,” Conant said.

Conant first took guitar lessons when she was 13 years old. She decided to take up guitar lessons because she wanted to play an instrument to accompany her singing. The hardest part of learning the guitar were the chords.

“I still don’t know how to play a lot of barre chords yet, so that’s what I’m working on,” she said.

When musicians play a certain barre chord shape on the fretboard of the guitar, they move their fingers up and down, playing the same barre chord but at a different pitch.

Conant performs at the Glen Tavern Inn every other Friday and has been in  Air Guitar and the Festival of Talent. She has played over 50 times in front of a crowd. When asked which was her best performance, she said that it’s hard to judge one because you can always improve.

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Despite the numerous times she has performed on stage, Conant still gets nervous before a show.

“I get nervous for like the first few lines, but then after that I forget I’m even on stage and that everyone is watching me,” Conant said.

The hardest song for Conant to learn was ‘Say Something‘ by A Great Big World. Her current favorite song is ‘I Choose You‘ by Sara Barielles, which she performed at Air Guitar.

Sophomore Nicole Rockholt, a friend of Conant’s, believes that she has a lot of talent and potential to succeed in the music industry.

“I have known Corinn for 5 years and yet she still tends to amaze me,” Rockholt said. “At first it was just her voice and then she got into guitar and now piano. I know she will follow her dreams and will get somewhere with her talent because she is very talented and never gives up.”

Conant hopes to attend a music university, although she doesn’t know which one yet, and wants to pursue music as a career.

“I like being able to express myself through music,” Conant said.

Her advice to those who want to pursue a music career is to “follow your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make it. With hard work, good things will happen.”

Credit: Kazu Koba/The Foothill Dragon Press