Imagine the melodious, cheerful tune of an acoustic guitar followed by upbeat  and contemplative lyrics.

Junior Carolyn Fahrner is a self taught musician and songwriter, who has an Extended Play (EP) “Bones,” out on iTunes and Spotify.  Both of Fahrner’s parents are musicians and she played cello as a kid. Fahrner hopes for a more welcoming and inclusive community for songwriters at the high school in the future.

“Music has really always been a part of my life,” Fahrner said. “I taught myself guitar in seventh grade and that’s when I started writing my own music.”

According to Fahrner, music is a form of communication and it helps her understand her own thinking.

“I feel like it’s a release. It’s a way for me to understand myself and the world around me, so that’s why I write music; everything inspires me,” Fahrner said.

Fahrner is also in the acapella group, Note-a-Fy, and is seen as a leader in the group that underclassmen look up to for guidance.

“She’s really supportive. I’m new to the group and I ask her questions about what I should be doing, and she’s always willing to help me,” sophomore Lia Rosenblatt said. “She definitely is very talented with music, and she knows what she’s doing.”

At the moment Fahrner is working with a studio to possibly record another EP in addition to “Bones.” She has her own channel on YouTube and has tracks on Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

Although Fahrner loves to make music, and has been doing it since middle school, she said it has not always been easy to be an artist at the high school.

“I wouldn’t say it’s that welcoming,” Fahrner said. “There aren’t that many songwriters. There’s a lot of amazing musicians here, but songwriting is something unique, and it can be seen as something that’s not real music.”

Fahrner hopes to make the high school a more welcoming and inclusive community for students making and writing their own music.

“I was thinking about making a club, workshop thing for songwriting, so people can come together and share their songs, to give feedback. It’s really hard to find a songwriting community here but I know there are songwriters here that exist,” Fahrner said.

Michael Driscoll, a music and choral director and one of Fahrner’s teachers, thinks that the idea of a songwriting class isn’t totally out of the question.

“That’s possible. It depends on what the student interest is, as the population at the high school gets larger it’s more possible that we can offer classes like that,” Driscoll said.

Fahrner doesn’t think that her graduation from the high school means the end of music for her.

“I know wherever I go I will continue doing music, and I have my YouTube channel that I’ve done completely by myself,” Fahrner said. “I will continue doing music wherever I am. If I get lucky, and I’m given the opportunity to use it as a career, I will, but I won’t let it go.”