Music weaves together cultures and lives; the notes of a guitar can carry a thousand stories without a single word.

Steven Xu (11), a student in Instrumental Music, uses his guitar and eclectic music influences to express his creativity and convey his perspectives. At eight years old, Xu started his musical journey with the ukulele in hand. Though Xu’s parents were the ones who pushed him to pick up the ukulele initially, and he did not enjoy it at first, he eventually grew to love music. He soon switched to guitar, which became his main instrument. He plays the guitar fingerstyle, a technique where one plucks the guitar strings directly with one’s fingers instead of using picks.

“One of my favorite pieces [for the guitar] is Carmen Opera,” Xu said. “I played that [piece] at the first concert of the year. It’s really cool, and it’s very high technique.”

On top of playing guitar, Xu composes his own music and rearranges pieces by other musical artists on Logic Pro.

“If you’re rearranging others’ music, it’s kind of practice, like technique practice,” Xu said. “You get familiar with all the techniques of composing music. But for when you’re creating your own stuff, it’s all about your [own] creativity, but you also have to have a lot of skills.”

One musical artist who inspires Xu is David Tao, a Taiwanese singer. Xu often transcribes Tao’s work to develop his skills.

“His music is wonderful,” Xu said. “Especially when you’re composing, you should listen to his songs for all the skills and inspirations, and also his music is [just] really good from all the perspectives.”

He likes how many of Tao’s pieces blend “Chinese and Western musical cultures,” such as by combining Peking opera lyrics and Chinese pentatonic scale with R&B influences and Western arrangement styles.

Xu believes that analyzing pieces by “outstanding musicians” such as Tao helps him improve his own music compositions.

“Transcribing music requires listening closely to every instrumental detail in the original track and striving to recreate the arrangement faithfully,” Xu said. “It’s an excellent way to train my ear and musical sense. Apart from reproducing every single note accurately, the subsequent tuning and mixing processes also [helps] me pick up plenty of arrangement techniques.”

To produce his own music, Xu “takes a long time” to think deeply. One piece he composed, a fingerstyle guitar piece, captures his interpretation of the popular Chinese mythological character from “Journey to the West:” Sun Wukong.

“I recorded this video a long time ago, back in the summer of 2024,” Xu said. “At that time, the Chinese game ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ became a global hit. As the protagonist of the classic novel Journey to the West, Sun Wukong is upright and unyielding against evil. He is a hero in every Chinese child’s heart, much like China’s version of Superman.”

As the game skyrocketed in popularity, Xu began to view Wukong from a different perspective. He saw Wukong as a “tragic figure” who is “trapped by fate and has no choice but to leave behind his beloved ones to embark on the pilgrimage for scriptures,” namely the Journey to the West. Xu was inspired by how, in the end, Wukong “sees through mortal vanities and comprehends the true meaning of life.”

“I named this piece ‘Wukong’ primarily to portray this iconic character,” Xue said. “Meanwhile, in Chinese, the name ‘Wukong’ literally means to awaken to one’s true self and let go of all worldly thoughts. I also hope to convey this state of mind, and the spirit of rising above the mundane world through my music.”

When his academic workload becomes heavy, Xu is forced to spend less time on his music, but he also uses music as a tool to deal with stress.

“When you’re under high pressure, playing music is also a very good way to relax and … help your academic stuff,” Xu said.

For Xu, there are many different facets to the value of music.

“[For one,] the artist him or herself will enjoy the process of doing music,” Xu said. “And also, [for example], if I am David Tao … I produce music, [but] I don’t produce music only for myself. I produce music for everyone, for new generations, so they can have inspirations or be activated [to] step into the field of music.”

Xu also highlights how music can be a safe space for those with disabilities, helping to “assist their rehabilitation” as specific pitches and frequencies are able to alter neural processes. Xu plans to do research in this domain in the future. 

“[Music] is a language that needs no words,” Xu said. “For children with developmental disorders, music treats everyone equally. If they love music, they can fully experience its beauty and enrich their lives.”