Play Time: Guitarist brings free instruction to elementary schools
By Rick Wilson
Copyright © 2004 The Grand Rapids Press,
All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Photo taken by photographer, Rex. D. Larsen,
Copyright © 2004 The Grand Rapids Press,
All rights reserved. Used with permission.
When Dan Anderson was 11, he walked into a music shop in hopes of buying a clarinet.
His father, faced with sticker shock, suggested another instrument, Anderson said.
"My dad looked at the prices and said, 'We have one of Grandpa's old guitars in the attic. How'd you like to learn to play that?'"
Anderson, 41, has been playing the guitar ever since.
Now, the Grand Rapids man wants to spread the joy he has found in the instrument to elementary classrooms throughout the area. He is offering free guitar lessons to elementary school teachers who will use the instrument in the classrooms.
"We hope they incorporate it into their classrooms or curriculum, if the school district chooses," he said. "We also teach simple song writing so teachers can commit lessons into song if they choose. It's much easier (for children) to memorize a song."
Anderson is part of Guitars in the Classroom, a California-based school project founded in 1998 by Jessica Baron Turner, author of a popular children's guitar method.
The nonprofit organization, which funds 10 groups nationwide, was formed out of a concern that school arts programs suffer during budget cuts.
"Teachers were being asked to provide music in their classrooms, which isn't fair to ask of them without training," Turner said. "I was basically trying to fill a burgeoning need."
Anderson, who teaches private lessons to 40 students at Meyer Music, said the lessons are funded by individual donors and the Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association.
Free lessons for beginners start Jan. 24 at Meyer Music and run for six weeks. Intermediate-level lessons begin March 6.
Loaner instruments are available, and picks, strings and capos also can be provided.
"The whole point of this program is 'No sweat,'" Turner said. "You don't have to be Paco de Lucia. It's basic three-chord guerrilla guitar."
Anderson also hopes to form student guitar clubs. "We'll have guitar clubs in schools where I'll come in once a week and teach the kids, if the teachers don't feel they're proficient enough to do that."
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