Six string sensation

Tucked in the music hall of Wenatchee High School is a room famous not for its number but its dubbed title, the Band Room. It is there the Golden Apple Band magic happens, where the tubas tremble, the trumpets blare, and the flutes ring.

But four times a week, the room takes on a different tune, one of strummed chords and fingerpicking.Though often forgotten in the shadows of WHS’s major music programs, the Beginning Guitar class offers an equally stimulating opportunity for students to become life-long musicians.

“Our goal is that students won’t be great guitarists but they will have the tools and understanding to take guitar playing further on their own,” Beginning Guitar teacher Jim Kovach said.

Along with Kovach, Choir Director Dawn McCormick began teaching the class when she transferred to WHS last fall. Though she has her own experience with the instrument, she never taught it before and thus uses Kovach’s curriculum for instruction. This single semester program covers two main units.

“We do a classical guitar unit, which is the learning of notes and individual strings on the guitar, and then we do a folk slash rock unit where they are learning chord, strum, and picking patterns,” Kovach said. “Kids have different interests in music, so the classical unit is more for the kids who want to do that older style, but a lot of kids like the rock, so we give them the opportunities to see what both are like, so again they can choose what they want to do.”

Additionally, there are units where the students pick what they play and then perform the pieces to the class. Besides these few instances and tests taken in front of the instructor, performances are a minor component of the class.

“Years ago, WMEA, the Washington Music Educators Association, suggested that there was at least one musical class that didn’t require performances to the public for those students who want to learn but don’t want to go up and perform,” Kovach said.

With a more casual atmosphere than orchestra or mariachi, Beginning Guitar attracts a wide gamut of students. In the past, nine to 40 students, ranging from those who never touched an instrument, have strummed a few chords, or simply want to earn an art credit, have filled up the class.

For juniors Emily Johnson and Maddie Berdine, differences in musical backgrounds haven’t stopped them from working together and performing numbers such as the “The Reason” by Hoobastank. Johnson, who had some guitar experience, was convinced by the testimonies of her older siblings, while Berdine came with piano lessons under her belt.

“My fingers do not stretch that way,” Berdine said. “I guess actually putting your fingers on the board, it’s so different, like the reach, for guitar than piano, so in the beginning I really struggled with stretching out my fingers.”

Some students sign up for the class having already played around with the instrument, though this is not to say their learning curve is any less steep.

“I took a [guitar] class in seventh grade, but most of the stuff I got taught is completely different than what Mr. Kovach is teaching,” freshman Jason Mason said. “He’s teaching different techniques, and I got old techniques, and I try fixing that, and it doesn’t work.”

Kovach agrees the class can provide the greatest challenge to players with “preconceived” techniques. To combat this, he makes no exceptions in how he expects his students to play.

“It is all about a new kind of connection in the brain,” Kovach said. “Students need to develop muscle memory.”

When students do get over old tendencies or even simply the fear of performing, it can be priceless.

“We just performed today, and of course no one volunteered, but then you see them afterwards, and they are like, ‘Ah, I got this,’ ” McCormick said.

For seniors like Kyle Norland or Logan Tidd, who enrolled mainly to get in that last art credit, building on a hobby also brings a sense of accomplishment. Once the semester is up, strumming will be just that, a hobby for most students, though there are a few exceptions.

“One of my friends is planning to make a band, and he wants me to be lead guitarist,” Mason said.

Regardless where music will take them, McCormick believes by learning an instrument, students gain a skill any musician would clamor for.

“I think it is a positive for any vocalist to learn an instrument outside their body because it helps them become a more well-rounded musician,” McCormick said. “And [they earn] an appreciation for instrumentalists and other instruments.”