Guitar is one of many of the fine arts electives offered at AHS. With course selection for the next school year looming over students, it’s important that they are exploring all of their options for classes.
There are four different Guitar classes that differ by performance level including; Guitar 1, 2, 3 and Guitar Ensemble which is the most advanced of the four.
The Guitar class focuses on teaching students how to read standard music notation and finger styling techniques. “We usually begin with a warm up then introduce or review the learning objectives,” guitar teacher Joey Ikner said. “Then the students have time in class to practice individually and receive one-on-one instruction, then towards the end of class we rehearse as a group,”.
The music tastes of students these days could not be more diverse, in this class there’s no limit on the types of music you might learn to play. “We explore a variety of styles like Rock, Blues, Reggae, etc.” Ikner said.
When considering the workload of this class, it seems like class time is of great value. “Students can make great progress with guitar just by utilizing the time they have in class. If a student wants to practice at home, then their progress will be accelerated,” Ikner said.
What a student learns depends on how much effort they’re willing to put into the class. “A big part is wanting to learn, you have to be motivated to learn strum patterns and chord charts for example, to help you further build your knowledge in playing,” junior Vilma Reyes-Rosales said. “But of course Mr. Ikner always checks in and helps with anything we need!”.
Learning how to play an instrument can be frustrating at times but in this class students have lots of time to practice individually and as a group. “It’s a little tricky at the beginning but if you practice the right techniques and don’t fall prey to bad habits then you’ll advance a lot more quickly,” freshman Andrew Banks said.
Like many musical classes, having guitar on your schedule is a break from staring at a computer and completing the same assignments every day. “It’s definitely a fun class if you enjoy music and just wanna have some down time to play guitar and get better at it,” Reyes-Rosales said. “We also have times where we watch videos and hear guitar solos from famous artists which I really enjoy as well,”.
At the end of taking any of the guitar classes offered, with the right amount of commitment, students will have developed a new skill and integrated music into their life in a new way.
