Name That Tune: Aria Parikh

This week’s Name That Tune is brought to you by Aria Parikh. You may remember her older sister, Tulsi Parikh, who recently participated in Name That Tune. Younger sister Aria is a talented musician and thespian, just like her older sister. Read on for excerpts from our interview and watch her video to see if you can name that tune. 

Age: 11 years old
Profession: Sixth grader at Memorial Middle School
Instrument: Guitar
Watch Aria's video here
Watch Aria's reveal video here

How did you get into playing the guitar?
My whole family is musical. I would watch my sister play piano when I was younger, so then I started playing. I played the piano for a little bit, but I lost interest and got focused on guitar. So then my sister got the piano all to herself!

Do you take lessons or are you self-taught?
When I started piano, I took lessons. I also had a teacher for guitar, but I recently stopped taking lessons. And now, I’m self-taught. You can basically learn whatever you want to on YouTube!

What songs have you learned on YouTube?
Recently, I’ve learned “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, and “All of Me” by John Legend, and “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran.

I like your song choice. Why did you choose it?
I like to learn songs that I am already familiar with. It helps me learn the song faster!  And I love to learn songs I can sing along to!

From your song choices, it seems like you gravitate towards the pop genre. Would you say that’s true?
Yeah. I also like playing songs that I can sing! And I listen to pop, so all of these songs were already familiar to me, making it easier to learn and to sing along to.

Who are your favorite pop artists?
I really like Sara Bareilles and John Legend and Ed Sheeran.

How has quarantine affected your practice time?
With school being online, I have a lot more free time, so I’ve been learning a new song every two weeks. At the beginning of quarantine, my older sister and I would learn a song and play it together and sing. For example, we learned "Shallow" and "Imagine" together. We’ve stopped that now that school is in session. But we still play on our own.

Do you participate in theatre like your older sister?
Yes! I’m actually in a show right now at Wildfish Theatre. We are doing a Halloween themed revue. And earlier this summer, I did West Side Story. I’m also in choir at school. Because we are still virtual for school, I don’t know what choir is like yet. It’s kind of hard to participate. But when we get back in person, we are going to learn a song from the Sound of Music to perform!

Do you want to continue with theatre and music? 
I definitely want to continue with theatre and music, but I want to be a doctor like my dad! I love watching him work and sometimes, I even get to help out at his office over the summer. This summer, I didn’t. But usually, I get to help out and organize and I get to see what they do in the hospital as doctors! It’s fun.

Editor’s note: Recently, sibling Tulsi Parikh participated in Name That Tune as well. See her Q&A and videos here. Play a musical instrument and interested in participating? Email [email protected].