FAIDA SEBUHORO is a 29-year-old guitarist, who has over 20 years of experience in playing guitar and can seamlessly replicate a full band on single guitar completely live, Bass, harmony melody, and percussion. Born and raised in Rwanda, Sebuhoro says he has a calling to inspire people to work with faith and love what they do, because that is a better way to overcome the pain of failure, and therefore he is committed to teaching guitar to over 100 students around the world. He started learning music at 8 years old and choose to focus on guitar at 11 years old. “When I was pursuing my studies at the University of Rwanda I got inspired by the former vice-chancellor Prof. Phil Cotton, I wanted to walk in his shoes I wanted to wear as many professional hats as his in my career. He used to narrate well my music potentials and my definition of reinterpreting several career paths he told me to never give up on music,” he says. Sebuhoro describes prof. Phil, as his mentor and a reason why he is still able to serve the Rwandan population with good music. Faida Sebuhoro He has played in different bands, churches, and theatres but his journey in music was not always a great one. He used to travel on foot for two hours to reach the famous choir in the village so that I can play their amplified guitars and get new skills and challenges. When he reached university, he started learning from different guitarists. “The first time I stood on stage at UR Huye Campus, everything changed, I started getting invitation from different People, and the principle herself Usta Kayitesi at the time, told me to carry on. Here I am, I play to inspire,” he proudly states. Faida loved teaching since 2012 and that is what motivated him to start an online class with the purpose of teaching and inspiring many to love playing guitar. “Guitar strings hurt, but the beauty of sound production, the feelings it gives, makes the pain completely disappear. When I started teaching online a young handicap man called Jacques Masengesho texted me from the USA and was positive that I could teach him as he wanted to serve the Lord by playing in church, I was convinced I was able to teach him and so I did and it worked very well for six months,” he says. After that Faida was introduced to many who wanted to learn and were passionate about learning the guitar and therefore he started a class with the few technology skills he had. Being raised by a single mother, he received huge support from his mother which also kept him going although he faced so many challenges. “The biggest challenge is the promotion, I think the music career requires something bigger than talent and hard work, because if someone makes a song and has no way of promoting it doesn’t matter how good it is. The challenge was and still is the promotion,” he says. Faida studied the basics of music with Compassion International Project and learned online advanced skills, he writes songs and plays in various theatres. Teaching and inspiring is no longer a commitment to him, rather a calling he wants to teach people to play for their loved ones, to sing for their kids. “The successful people are the ones who can express themselves. I have never seen a timid guitarist, and therefore want to share the skill of playing guitar. The world we are in and the opportunities we have today, the great country like Rwanda, all we have now has never been there before, and the time waits for no man to fix himself,” he says. He believes that if we set aside the excuses and blame and focus on what we can do and give now, we can be all we want or want to be.
