The guitar class at Community School for Social Justice helps students earn art credit and expand creativity. Students are learning the basics in how to play guitar like strumming a chord by brushing the strings with their fingers, finger positioning, barre chords, and basic chord shapes.
Students use two types of guitar, electric guitar and acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitar is great for open chords and it is also for students to play barre chords to reach higher notes while using it. When John was asked about teaching the guitar class, he said “I really like to see students’ creative and artistic side because I am usually teaching math. One of the students, Zepheni said, “It is a very good class, I like it because it is fun and enjoyable.” Another student, Christian, said that “it is easy because I already know how to play the guitar.” The final project for this guitar class is that every student gets to perform their own special song that means something to them, using what they learned in class.
John has been playing guitar for more than 20 years, and this is his second year teaching guitar. The benefit of learning to play guitar is building up music skills. They are able to strum the following notes first: C, D, E, Em (E minor), G, A, Am. Eventually, if they want to, they can pursue music in the future.
At the end, students will choose a song they like, and play it in a mini concert. This also determines whether they learned anything in class and were able to build music skills. Overall, John’s guitar class is able to teach students the importance of playing music and how to play it correctly. He also let kids show their passion for music and how they can pursue it if they put the effort into it. John also lets the kids practice during lunch and take their guitars home to build their skills. John is trying the best he can to let kids follow their musical interests.
