“I got really sick, and in the hospital, I decided to teach myself how to play guitar. I was playing piano and violin classically, and it was a little intense”: Yvette Young on why choosing the guitar felt “magical” – and what it represents to her

Yvette Young is one of the best-known guitarists to emerge from the math rock and YouTube scenes, with her two-handed tapping and fingerstyle playing garnering admiration across the guitar world. Now, as the guitarist forges her own path – which includes solo music and putting aside Covet, at least for a little bit – she reflects on how she even got to the point of playing guitar.

“I got really sick, and in the hospital, I decided to teach myself how to play guitar,” she tells bassist extraordinaire Blu DeTiger in conversation for Sweetwater.

“Prior to that, I was playing piano and violin, like, classically, and I think it was a little intense. I don't know if your parents ever pushed music on you or anything, but it was totally pushed on me. And guitar for me was magical, because it was the first thing I chose for myself.”

Yvette Young & Blu DeTiger Conversation: How They Got Started and Thoughts on Performing Live - YouTube

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Young explains that for her, the guitar represented a sense of autonomy that she didn't get with the other instruments. “I played it for fun, and then I became an art teacher, not thinking that I'd ever have stability being a musician. I just started touring. I think I was like, posting videos online, and, yeah, stuff was popping off, and pretty soon I quit that job, and here I am touring.”

Despite setbacks over the last couple of years, Young still finds the instrument full of untapped potential.

“Guitar is still so exciting. There’s so many ways you can utilize it," she said in a Guitar World interview earlier this year. "Once I stopped thinking, ‘I have to be able to play this live,’ a whole world opened. Who cares if I can’t do this perfect live? I’ll figure it out later.”

Young recently released Always and is set to tour China and Japan with Covet over the next few weeks.