A musical education is hard to come by these days. Gone are the times when the little old lady down…read morethe road gave piano lessons to neighborhood kids, either because fewer and fewer kids can be pulled from their video games or little old ladies have no interest in trying to teach music to children who would rather pretend to play music. And, as local school districts search for more ways to cut their budgets, music programs are often targeted resulting in water-downed programs that at best can only whet the appetites of future musicians.
It's a wonder that music hasn't become a lost art.
Thankfully, there are still places like Suffield Music to pick up the baton thrown away by public education and little old ladies down the road.
Suffield Music offers a wide variety of incredibly affordable personal music lessons ranging from guitar to piano to violin to everything. I really can't think of an instrument I haven't seen taught there. The owner Josh is so plugged into the local music scene that if a student was interested in learning a unique instrument like the sitar, he could find a teacher.
When my son's proficiency at the guitar exceeded my elementary knowledge of a dozen or so chords, I called Suffield Music and they paired him with an instructor that matched his musical interests. The instructor, who himself was not only a Berklee College of Music grad but a veteran of many bands, plugged into my son's musical interests and taught him how to connect his passions to his instrument, and the results were nothing short of inspiring.
When my daughter, whose musical tastes centered around the work of a country-turned-pop artist, she was paired with a different instructor who taught her how to hold an audience with just her guitar and her voice. About a year later, she got up on stage in front of the entire middle school a performed a solo acoustic version of Niall Horan's "This Town" to, no exaggeration, thunderous applause.
So, it goes without saying, I got my money's worth for my kids' music lessons.
When my wife bought me a very expensive Fender Telecaster for my birthday, I resolved to raise my grunge-era guitar skills to a new level. And, I knew where to go. I was paired with an instructor who was nothing short of a musical savant. He took me, upon request, from the 12-bar blues to songs with wild alternative tunings. He taught me how to build and release audience tension along with some basic tips about handling a very cool instrument. I've played solo gigs numerous times, including twice at my town's annual fair, and reached a level where both my instructor and the owner said I should consider playing professionally at local bars and microbreweries. I guess I graduated.
Look, music is not for everyone. It takes work, patience and perseverance. It is not for the dreamer who doesn't want to put in the effort. From a musical education, you get what you put into it. If your child or you, for that matter, truly want to know how to play an instrument at the highest of levels, give Suffield Music a shot. The experience, if you let it, will be truly transformative.
